1987–88 Montreal Canadiens season

Offseason

• Canadiens General Manager Serge Savard was part of the four man committee that would select players and coaches for Team Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup. Canadiens head coach Jean Perron would be selected as one of the assistant coaches for Team Canada.

Regular season

Defensively, the Canadiens were the best team in the league, finishing the regular season with just 238 goals against. They also allowed the fewest power-play goals, with just 64

On April 3, Stephane Richer becomes the sixth player in Montreal history to score 50 goals in a season with two in the season finale against Buffalo.

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|- |1||T||October 8, 1987||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers||0–0–1 |- |2||W||October 10, 1987||6–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres||1–0–1 |- |3||L||October 12, 1987||2–5 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques||1–1–1 |- |4||L||October 16, 1987||3–4 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils||1–2–1 |- |5||W||October 17, 1987||3–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins||2–2–1 |- |6||W||October 19, 1987||5–1 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars||3–2–1 |- |7||W||October 21, 1987||10–3 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs||4–2–1 |- |8||L||October 23, 1987||3–5 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres||4–3–1 |- |9||W||October 24, 1987||3–2 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals||5–3–1 |- |10||L||October 26, 1987||3–5 || align="left"| Calgary Flames||5–4–1 |- |11||W||October 28, 1987||3–1 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers||6–4–1 |- |12||W||October 30, 1987||5–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings||7–4–1 |- |13||T||October 31, 1987||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Boston Bruins||7–4–2

| Legend:

Playoffs

Adams Division semi-finals

Hartford Whalers vs. Montreal Canadiens

The Habs almost squandered a 3–0 series lead. The deep Habs roster was the best team in the Wales Conference during the season, consisting of one 50-goal scorer, five 20–goal scorers and another six with between 10 and 20 goals. Their best assets were goaltenders Patrick Roy and backup Brian Hayward who won 23 and 22 games respectively. The Ron Francis-led Whalers went 2–4–2 against the Canadiens during the season, twice losing by just one goal.

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–2

Adams Division finals

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

The Wales Conference's two best teams, and the NHL's two best defensive teams, met in this series with equal rest time. The Habs had beaten Boston in the Adams Division semi-finals four years in a row, sweeping the Bruins in three of the past four seasons, and beating them 3–2 in a best-of-five the other year. This time, the Bruins' defence would wear down Montreal, as Ken Linseman, Ray Bourque and Cam Neely provided the offence to finally conquer the Canadiens, this despite the fact that the Habs beat them in Game 1 by a score of 5–1. It was the first Bruins' playoff series win over the Habs since the 1942–43 season.

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–1

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Goaltending

Playoffs

Scoring

Goaltending

Awards and records

• Frank J. Selke Trophy: Guy Carbonneau
• Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Mats Naslund
• William M. Jennings Trophy: Patrick Roy/Brian Hayward
• Patrick Roy, goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star

Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1987 NHL entry draft held at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

References

1. Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup, p.8, Ed Willies, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2007, {{ISBN. 978-0-7710-8942-8
2. Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup, p.4, Ed Willies, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2007, {{ISBN. 978-0-7710-8942-8
3. "1987-88 NHL Summary".
4. [http://ourhistory.canadiens.com/greatest-moment/Richer-Pots-No-50 Richer Pots No. 50]. Our History – The Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved 2013-June-19. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140324190433/http://ourhistory.canadiens.com/greatest-moment/Richer-Pots-No-50 Archived] 2013-06-22.
5. "1987-88 Montreal Canadiens Schedule".
6. "1987-88 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com.