Wikipedia

1987–88 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1987–88 Toronto Maple Leafs season saw the Maple Leafs finish in fourth place in the Norris Division with a record of 21 wins, 49 losses, and 10 ties for 52 points. Despite posting the second-worst record in the league, they qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs on the last day of the season in part due to playing in an extremely weak Norris Division; the division champion Detroit Red Wings were the only team in the division with a winning record. Their .325 winning percentage is the third-worst in franchise history and one of the lowest ever for a playoff qualifier (Across all major North American sports leagues). For an NHL team, their .325 percentage is the worst mark to qualify for the playoffs for a team that played at least 70 games. They lost to the Red Wings in six games in the Division Semi-finals, including an embarrassing 8–0 defeat in Game 4.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

1987–88 Toronto Maple Leafs
Division4th Norris
Conference9th Campbell
1987–88 record21–49–10
Home record14–20–6
Road record7–29–4
Goals for273
Goals against345
Team information
General managerGerry McNamara
CoachJohn Brophy
CaptainVacant
Alternate captainsWendel Clark
Borje Salming
Unknown
ArenaMaple Leaf Gardens
Team leaders
GoalsEddie Olczyk (42)
AssistsMark Osborne (37)
PointsEddie Olczyk (75)
Penalty minutesAl Secord (221)
WinsKen Wregget (12)
Goals against averageAllan Bester (3.81)

Off-season

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Regular season

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The Maple Leafs finished last in power-play goals scored (54), power-play opportunities (347) and power-play percentage (15.56%).[7]

Final standings

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Norris Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Detroit Red Wings 80 41 28 11 322 269 93
St. Louis Blues 80 34 38 8 278 294 76
Chicago Blackhawks 80 30 41 9 284 328 69
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 21 49 10 273 345 52
Minnesota North Stars 80 19 48 13 242 349 51

[8]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

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Norris Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

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Vs. Wales Conference


Schedule and results

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No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 8, 1987 7–5 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 1–0–0
2 W October 10, 1987 5–2 New Jersey Devils (1987–88) 2–0–0
3 L October 14, 1987 3–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 2–1–0
4 L October 16, 1987 2–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 2–2–0
5 W October 17, 1987 7–4 Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 3–2–0
6 L October 21, 1987 3–10 Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 3–3–0
7 L October 24, 1987 4–7 Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 3–4–0
8 W October 28, 1987 5–2 New York Islanders (1987–88) 4–4–0
9 W October 29, 1987 4–0 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88) 5–4–0
10 W October 31, 1987 6–5 Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 6–4–0
11 W November 4, 1987 7–3 Winnipeg Jets (1987–88) 7–4–0
12 W November 5, 1987 7–6 @ Boston Bruins (1987–88) 8–4–0
13 L November 7, 1987 3–4 St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 8–5–0
14 L November 9, 1987 1–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 8–6–0
15 L November 11, 1987 2–3 Boston Bruins (1987–88) 8–7–0
16 W November 14, 1987 6–0 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88) 9–7–0
17 L November 15, 1987 4–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 9–8–0
18 L November 18, 1987 3–6 St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 9–9–0
19 T November 19, 1987 3–3 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 9–9–1
20 T November 21, 1987 6–6 OT Los Angeles Kings (1987–88) 9–9–2
21 W November 24, 1987 4–3 @ New York Islanders (1987–88) 10–9–2
22 L November 25, 1987 3–5 @ New York Rangers (1987–88) 10–10–2
23 L November 28, 1987 2–4 Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 10–11–2
24 L December 1, 1987 2–3 OT @ Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 10–12–2
25 L December 3, 1987 3–5 @ Calgary Flames (1987–88) 10–13–2
26 L December 5, 1987 2–5 @ Edmonton Oilers (1987–88) 10–14–2
27 W December 7, 1987 5–4 OT Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 11–14–2
28 W December 12, 1987 4–3 New York Rangers (1987–88) 12–14–2
29 L December 13, 1987 1–5 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 12–15–2
30 W December 15, 1987 5–3 Washington Capitals (1987–88) 13–15–2
31 L December 18, 1987 2–4 @ Washington Capitals (1987–88) 13–16–2
32 L December 19, 1987 2–6 Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 13–17–2
33 T December 21, 1987 0–0 OT Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 13–17–3
34 W December 23, 1987 5–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 14–17–3
35 L December 26, 1987 2–4 Montreal Canadiens (1987–88) 14–18–3
36 T December 28, 1987 4–4 OT Washington Capitals (1987–88) 14–18–4
37 L December 30, 1987 1–3 @ Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 14–19–4
38 L January 2, 1988 4–6 Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 14–20–4
39 T January 4, 1988 7–7 OT Vancouver Canucks (1987–88) 14–20–5
40 T January 6, 1988 5–5 OT Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 14–20–6
41 L January 8, 1988 3–7 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 14–21–6
42 L January 10, 1988 3–4 @ Winnipeg Jets (1987–88) 14–22–6
43 T January 13, 1988 3–3 OT @ Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 14–22–7
44 L January 15, 1988 3–7 @ New Jersey Devils (1987–88) 14–23–7
45 L January 16, 1988 3–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88) 14–24–7
46 L January 18, 1988 3–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 14–25–7
47 L January 21, 1988 4–5 Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 14–26–7
48 L January 23, 1988 2–3 Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 14–27–7
49 L January 25, 1988 3–11 Calgary Flames (1987–88) 14–28–7
50 W January 27, 1988 5–2 Los Angeles Kings (1987–88) 15–28–7
51 T January 29, 1988 3–3 OT @ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 15–28–8
52 T January 30, 1988 5–5 OT Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 15–28–9
53 L February 1, 1988 4–5 St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 15–29–9
54 L February 4, 1988 1–6 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88) 15–30–9
55 L February 5, 1988 2–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1987–88) 15–31–9
56 L February 7, 1988 2–4 @ Hartford Whalers (1987–88) 15–32–9
57 W February 11, 1988 4–3 New York Islanders (1987–88) 16–32–9
58 W February 13, 1988 7–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1987–88) 17–32–9
59 L February 14, 1988 2–7 New Jersey Devils (1987–88) 17–33–9
60 T February 17, 1988 4–4 OT @ Edmonton Oilers (1987–88) 17–33–10
61 W February 19, 1988 5–0 @ Vancouver Canucks (1987–88) 18–33–10
62 L February 20, 1988 0–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1987–88) 18–34–10
63 L February 22, 1988 2–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 18–35–10
64 W February 24, 1988 4–2 Minnesota North Stars (1987–88) 19–35–10
65 L February 27, 1988 2–6 St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 19–36–10
66 L March 2, 1988 3–4 Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 19–37–10
67 L March 3, 1988 3–5 @ Boston Bruins (1987–88) 19–38–10
68 L March 5, 1988 1–10 Winnipeg Jets (1987–88) 19–39–10
69 L March 8, 1988 2–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 19–40–10
70 L March 9, 1988 3–4 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 19–41–10
71 W March 12, 1988 6–4 Chicago Blackhawks (1987–88) 20–41–10
72 L March 15, 1988 2–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1987–88) 20–42–10
73 L March 16, 1988 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–88) 20–43–10
74 L March 19, 1988 3–4 New York Rangers (1987–88) 20–44–10
75 L March 22, 1988 3–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1987–88) 20–45–10
76 L March 24, 1988 1–7 @ Calgary Flames (1987–88) 20–46–10
77 L March 26, 1988 2–3 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1987–88) 20–47–10
78 L March 28, 1988 4–6 Edmonton Oilers (1987–88) 20–48–10
79 L April 1, 1988 3–7 @ Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 20–49–10
80 W April 2, 1988 5–3 Detroit Red Wings (1987–88) 21–49–10

Playoffs

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Main article: 1988 Stanley Cup playoffs § (N1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (N4) Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs were defeated 4 games to 2 against the Norris Division winning Detroit Red Wings.

Player statistics

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Regular season

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Eddie Olczyk C 80 42 33 75 55 -22 14 4 3
Gary Leeman RW 80 30 31 61 62 -6 6 0 0
Mark Osborne LW 79 23 37 60 102 -3 4 2 0
Al Iafrate D 77 22 30 52 80 -21 4 3 4
Tom Fergus C 63 19 31 50 81 5 5 0 0
Russ Courtnall RW 65 23 26 49 47 -16 6 3 1
Vincent Damphousse C 75 12 36 48 40 2 1 0 2
Al Secord LW 74 15 27 42 221 -21 2 0 0
Miroslav Frycer RW 38 12 20 32 41 8 1 0 2
Peter Ihnacak C 68 10 20 30 41 -6 0 0 0
Rick Lanz D 75 6 22 28 65 -12 3 0 0
Borje Salming D 66 2 24 26 82 7 1 0 0
Todd Gill D 65 8 17 25 131 -20 1 0 3
Dale DeGray D 56 6 18 24 63 4 1 0 1
Wendel Clark LW/D 28 12 11 23 80 -13 4 0 1
Greg Terrion LW 59 4 16 20 65 -6 1 0 1
Dan Daoust C 67 9 8 17 57 -7 0 0 1
Sean McKenna RW 40 5 5 10 12 -11 0 0 1
Luke Richardson D 78 4 6 10 90 -25 0 0 0
Ken Yaremchuk C 16 2 5 7 10 -7 0 0 0
Mike Blaisdell RW 18 3 2 5 2 -5 0 0 1
Dave Semenko LW 70 2 3 5 107 -8 0 0 0
Ken Wregget G 56 0 5 5 40 0 0 0 0
Chris Kotsopoulos D 21 2 2 4 19 -3 0 0 0
Mike Allison LW 15 0 3 3 10 0 0 0 0
Allan Bester G 30 0 3 3 6 0 0 0 0
Brian Curran D 7 0 1 1 19 3 0 0 0
Marty Dallman C 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
Ted Fauss D 13 0 1 1 4 6 0 0 0
Mike Stothers D 18 0 1 1 42 -6 0 0 0
Leigh Verstraete RW 3 0 1 1 9 -2 0 0 0
Wes Jarvis C 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Derek Laxdal RW 5 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0
Chris McRae LW 11 0 0 0 65 0 0 0 0
Jeff Reese G 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Ken Wregget 3000 56 12 35 4 222 4.44 2 1712 1490 .870
Allan Bester 1607 30 8 12 5 102 3.81 2 879 777 .884
Jeff Reese 249 5 1 2 1 17 4.10 0 128 111 .867
Team: 4856 80 21 49 10 341 4.21 4 2719 2378 .875

Playoffs

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Eddie Olczyk C 6 5 4 9 2 1 1 1
Al Iafrate D 6 3 4 7 6 2 0 0
Tom Fergus C 6 2 3 5 2 0 1 0
Todd Gill D 6 1 3 4 20 1 0 0
Mark Osborne LW 6 1 3 4 16 0 0 1
Borje Salming D 6 1 3 4 8 0 0 0
Russ Courtnall RW 6 2 1 3 0 0 0 0
Mike Blaisdell RW 6 1 2 3 10 0 0 0
Peter Ihnacak C 5 0 3 3 4 0 0 0
Gary Leeman RW 2 2 0 2 2 2 0 0
Greg Terrion LW 5 0 2 2 4 0 0 0
Ken Yaremchuk C 6 0 2 2 10 0 0 0
Daniel Marois RW 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Al Secord LW 6 1 0 1 16 0 0 0
Vincent Damphousse C 6 0 1 1 10 0 0 0
Dale DeGray D 5 0 1 1 16 0 0 0
Allan Bester G 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brian Curran D 6 0 0 0 41 0 0 0
Dan Daoust C 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Miroslav Frycer RW 3 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
Terry Johnson D 3 0 0 0 10 0 0 0
Rick Lanz D 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Sean McKenna RW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Luke Richardson D 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ken Wregget G 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Allan Bester 253 5 2 3 21 4.98 0 135 114 .844
Ken Wregget 108 2 0 1 11 6.11 0 62 51 .823
Team: 360 6 2 4 32 5.32 0 197 165 .838

[10]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

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Transactions

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The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1987-88 season.

Trades

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September 3, 1987 To Chicago Blackhawks
Rick Vaive
Steve Thomas
Bob McGill 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Al Secord
Eddie Olczyk
September 8, 1987 To Hartford Whalers
Bill Root 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Dave Semenko
September 17, 1987 To Calgary Flames
5th round pick in 1988 – Scott Matusovich 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Dale DeGray
December 14, 1987 To Los Angeles Kings
Mike Allison 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Sean McKenna
March 8, 1988 To New York Islanders
6th round pick in 1988 – Pavel Gross 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Brian Curran
June 10, 1988 To Detroit Red Wings
Miroslav Frycer 		To Toronto Maple Leafs
Darren Veitch

Waivers

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October 5, 1987 To Buffalo Sabres
Kevin Maguire

Free agents

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Player Former Team
Mike Blaisdell Pittsburgh Penguins
Mark Kirton Vancouver Canucks

Draft picks

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Toronto's draft picks at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft held at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The Maple Leafs attempted to select Grant Paranica in the second round of the 1987 NHL Supplemental Draft, but the claim was ruled invalid since Paranica entered school after age 20 and therefore did not meet eligibility requirements.[11]

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 7 Luke Richardson   Canada Peterborough Petes (OHL)
2 28 Daniel Marois   Canada Verdun Junior Canadiens (QMJHL)
3 49 John McIntyre   Canada Guelph Platers (OHL)
4 71 Joe Sacco   United States Medford High School (USHS-MA)
5 91 Mike Eastwood   Canada Pembroke Lumber Kings (CJAHL)
6 112 Damian Rhodes   United States Richfield High School (USHS-MN)
7 133 Trevor Jobe   Canada Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
8 154 Chris Jensen   United States Northwood School (USHS-NY)
9 175 Brian Blad   Canada Belleville Bulls (OHL)
10 196 Ron Bernacci   Canada Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)
11 217 Ken Alexander   Canada Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)
12 238 Alex Weinrich   United States North Yarmouth Academy (USHS-ME)

Farm teams

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Calgary Flames regained the lead in the NHL... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  2. ^ Archives, T. H. W. (December 6, 2023). "The Worst Teams in Stanley Cup Playoff History". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  3. ^ Hafner, Dan (April 4, 1988). "NHL Roundup : Devils Need Overtime to Make the Playoffs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  4. ^ McIndoe, Sean (April 18, 2017). "Down Goes Brown: 10 worst Maple Leafs playoff games of the past 30 years". www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  5. ^ "After being pummeled by the Detroit Red Wings Sunday... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  6. ^ Barrett, Michael (October 1, 1988). "The youngest general manager in major-league sports is wary... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  7. ^ "1987-88 NHL Summary".
  8. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  9. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  10. ^ "1987-88 Toronto Maple Leafs Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
  11. ^ "1987 NHL Supplemental Draft -- Round 2 Selections". Hockey Draft Central. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
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