# 1988–89 Quebec Nordiques season

The 1988–89 Quebec Nordiques season saw the team finish in fifth place in the Adams Division with a record of 27 wins, 46 losses, and 7 ties for 61 points.

## Off-season

Quebec announced that interim head coach Ron Lapointe would come back on a permanent basis as head coach of the team. Lapointe had a 22-30-4 record with the Nordiques in 1987–88.
At the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, Quebec had two picks in the first round, the third overall pick, and the fifth overall pick. The Nordiques selected Curtis Leschyshyn of the Saskatoon Blades with the third pick. He had 14 goals and 55 points, and would see regular playing time with Quebec in the upcoming season. With the fifth pick, the Nordiques selected Daniel Dore. Dore had 24 goals, 63 points and 223 penalty minutes with the Drummondville Voltigeurs in 1987–88. In the later rounds of the draft, Quebec selected Valeri Kamensky and Alexei Gusarov of CSKA Moscow.
The Nordiques made some trades during the summer months, as they dealt away Mike Eagles to the Chicago Blackhawks for Bob Mason. Mason appeared in 41 games with Chicago, going 13-18-8 with a 4.15 GAA in 1987–88. Quebec then traded away Terry Carkner to the Philadelphia Flyers for Greg Smyth and the Flyers third round draft pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. Smyth had a goal and seven points in 48 games with Philadelphia, as well as 192 penalty minutes.
Quebec's biggest trade of the summer was trading away Normand Rochefort and Jason Lafreniere to the New York Rangers for Bruce Bell, Jari Gronstrand, Walt Poddubny, and the Rangers fourth round draft pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. Bell played his rookie season with the Nordiques in 1984–85, however, he spent most of the 1987–88 season with the Colorado Rangers of the IHL, where he had 11 goals and 45 points in 65 games. In 13 games with New York, Bell had a goal and two assists. Poddubny was coming off of a 38-goal and 88 point season with the Rangers in 1987–88. Poddubny scored 40 goals and 87 points with New York in 1986–87. Gronstrand had three goals and 14 points on the Rangers blueline in 1987–88.

## Regular season

The Nordiques began the season with three wins in their first four games, however, Quebec would slump, and fall to 6-12-2 after twenty games. The team made some trades in December, acquiring former team captain Mario Marois from the Winnipeg Jets, however, the club continued to lose, and had an 11-20-2 record after 33 games. The Nordiques then fired Lapointe as head coach, and replaced him with Jean Perron on an interim basis. Perron had coached the Montreal Canadiens to the 1986 Stanley Cup. Under Perron, the club continued to lose, as Quebec quickly fell out of the playoff race. The team finished the season with a 27-46-7 record, earning 61 points, which was 18 points behind the Hartford Whalers for the final playoff spot in the Adams Division, and tied with the New York Islanders with the lowest point total in the league, On the basis of the Islanders winning more games (28–27), the Nords claimed last place in the overall standings.
Captain Peter Stastny led the club with 85 points, as he scored 35 goals and 50 assists in 72 games. Walt Poddubny scored a team high 38 goals in his first season with the Nordiques, as he also had 37 assists for 75 points. Michel Goulet saw his numbers drop to 26 goals and 64 points, his lowest totals since his rookie season in 1979–80. Rookie Joe Sakic had 23 goals and 62 points.
Jeff Brown had another solid season on the Nordiques blueline, scoring 21 goals and 68 points, good for third on team scoring. Brown had 13 powerplay goals, tied with Peter Stastny for second on the team, one behind team leader Walt Poddubny.
In goal, Mario Gosselin saw the majority of action, appearing in 39 games, earning 11 wins and a 4.24 GAA. Bob Mason had a tough season, earning only five wins in 22 games with a 4.73 GAA, while Ron Tugnutt had a 10-10-3 record in 26 games, with a team best 3.60 GAA and a.893 save percentage.

### Final standings

Adams Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Montreal Canadiens | 80 | 53 | 18 | 9 | 315 | 218 | 115 |
| Boston Bruins | 80 | 37 | 29 | 14 | 289 | 256 | 88 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 38 | 35 | 7 | 291 | 299 | 83 |
| Hartford Whalers | 80 | 37 | 38 | 5 | 299 | 290 | 79 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 27 | 46 | 7 | 269 | 342 | 61 |
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
#### Vs. Wales Conference

1988–89 NHL records :
| Team | BOS | BUF | HFD | MTL | QUE | Total |
| Boston | — | 0–5–3 | 5–3 | 0–7–1 | 4–1–3 | 9–16–7 |
| Buffalo | 5–0–3 | — | 3–5 | 3–5 | 3–4–1 | 14–13–5 |
| Hartford | 3–5 | 5–3 | — | 1–7 | 4–3–1 | 13–18–1 |
| Montreal | 7–0–1 | 5–3 | 7–1 | — | 4–4 | 23–8–1 |
| Quebec | 1–4–3 | 4–3–1 | 3–4–1 | 4–4 | — | 12–15–5 |
1988–89 NHL records :
| Team | NJD | NYI | NYR | PHI | PIT | WSH | Total |
| Boston | 2–0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1–1 | 1–1–1 | 9–4–5 |
| Buffalo | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 11–7–0 |
| Hartford | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 9–8–1 |
| Montreal | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1–1 | 11–4–3 |
| Quebec | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2–1 | 7–10–1 |

#### Vs. Campbell Conference

1988–89 NHL records :
| Team | CHI | DET | MIN | STL | TOR | Total |
| Boston | 3–0 | 0–2–1 | 0–2–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 9–4–2 |
| Buffalo | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 8–5–2 |
| Hartford | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0–2 | 2–1 | 9–4–2 |
| Montreal | 1–0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0–2 | 2–0–1 | 2–1 | 7–3–5 |
| Quebec | 0–2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 4–10–1 |
1988–89 NHL records :
| Team | CGY | EDM | LAK | VAN | WIN | Total |
| Boston | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 10–5–0 |
| Buffalo | 2–1 | 0–2–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 5–9–1 |
| Hartford | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1–1 | 2–1 | 6–8–1 |
| Montreal | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 12–3–0 |
| Quebec | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–11–0 |

## Schedule and results

1988–89 regular season :
October
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
1WOctober 6, 19885–2@ Hartford Whalers (1988–89)1–0–0
2LOctober 8, 19883–5New Jersey Devils (1988–89)1–1–0
3WOctober 9, 19884–1Minnesota North Stars (1988–89)2–1–0
4WOctober 12, 19886–5@ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)3–1–0
5LOctober 14, 19884–5Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)3–2–0
6WOctober 16, 19885–3@ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)4–2–0
7LOctober 20, 19882–5@ Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)4–3–0
8LOctober 22, 19883–7@ New York Islanders (1988–89)4–4–0
9LOctober 23, 19882–8@ New York Rangers (1988–89)4–5–0
10LOctober 25, 19884–7Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89)4–6–0
11LOctober 27, 19882–6@ Boston Bruins (1988–89)4–7–0
12WOctober 29, 19883–2 OTNew York Islanders (1988–89)5–7–0 :
November
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
13LNovember 1, 19881–3Los Angeles Kings (1988–89)5–8–0
14WNovember 3, 19886–2@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)6–8–0
15LNovember 5, 19882–5St. Louis Blues (1988–89)6–9–0
16LNovember 8, 19884–8Winnipeg Jets (1988–89)6–10–0
17LNovember 10, 19881–4@ Washington Capitals (1988–89)6–11–0
18LNovember 12, 19883–4@ St. Louis Blues (1988–89)6–12–0
19TNovember 13, 19885–5 OT@ Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89)6–12–1
20TNovember 15, 19885–5 OTBoston Bruins (1988–89)6–12–2
21WNovember 19, 19886–5Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)7–12–2
22LNovember 23, 19883–4@ Hartford Whalers (1988–89)7–13–2
23WNovember 24, 19885–3Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)8–13–2
24LNovember 26, 19882–4Hartford Whalers (1988–89)8–14–2
25LNovember 28, 19884–7Edmonton Oilers (1988–89)8–15–2
26LNovember 30, 19882–6@ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)8–16–2 :
December
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
27LDecember 1, 19883–7@ Detroit Red Wings (1988–89)8–17–2
28WDecember 3, 19886–4Detroit Red Wings (1988–89)9–17–2
29LDecember 6, 19882–3@ Calgary Flames (1988–89)9–18–2
30LDecember 7, 19883–8@ Edmonton Oilers (1988–89)9–19–2
31WDecember 9, 19884–2@ Vancouver Canucks (1988–89)10–19–2
32LDecember 13, 19881–4Washington Capitals (1988–89)10–20–2
33WDecember 15, 19886–4Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)11–20–2
34TDecember 17, 19882–2 OT@ Boston Bruins (1988–89)11–20–3
35WDecember 18, 19884–2Boston Bruins (1988–89)12–20–3
36LDecember 21, 19884–6@ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)12–21–3
37WDecember 23, 19885–4@ Winnipeg Jets (1988–89)13–21–3
38TDecember 28, 19884–4 OTHartford Whalers (1988–89)13–21–4
39LDecember 29, 19885–6Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89)13–22–4
40LDecember 31, 19881–6@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89)13–23–4 :
January
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
41LJanuary 3, 19891–5@ Calgary Flames (1988–89)13–24–4
42LJanuary 4, 19892–4@ Edmonton Oilers (1988–89)13–25–4
43LJanuary 8, 19892–4Boston Bruins (1988–89)13–26–4
44TJanuary 10, 19894–4 OTWashington Capitals (1988–89)13–26–5
45LJanuary 12, 19892–7@ Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)13–27–5
46TJanuary 14, 19891–1 OTBuffalo Sabres (1988–89)13–27–6
47WJanuary 17, 19897–4New Jersey Devils (1988–89)14–27–6
48WJanuary 19, 19895–4@ New Jersey Devils (1988–89)15–27–6
49WJanuary 21, 19894–3Calgary Flames (1988–89)16–27–6
50LJanuary 23, 19890–5Hartford Whalers (1988–89)16–28–6
51LJanuary 26, 19893–5@ Minnesota North Stars (1988–89)16–29–6
52WJanuary 28, 19893–2 OT@ Hartford Whalers (1988–89)17–29–6
53WJanuary 30, 19894–3@ Detroit Red Wings (1988–89)18–29–6 :
February
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
54LFebruary 2, 19891–6Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)18–30–6
55WFebruary 4, 19896–3Minnesota North Stars (1988–89)19–30–6
56LFebruary 5, 19892–3New York Islanders (1988–89)19–31–6
57LFebruary 9, 19892–5@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)19–32–6
58WFebruary 11, 19898–1Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)20–32–6
59WFebruary 13, 19893–2@ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)21–32–6
60LFebruary 16, 19892–3@ Vancouver Canucks (1988–89)21–33–6
61LFebruary 18, 19893–11@ Los Angeles Kings (1988–89)21–34–6
62WFebruary 21, 19894–3Winnipeg Jets (1988–89)22–34–6
63LFebruary 23, 19892–4@ Hartford Whalers (1988–89)22–35–6
64LFebruary 25, 19892–7New York Rangers (1988–89)22–36–6
65LFebruary 28, 19892–3Vancouver Canucks (1988–89)22–37–6 :
March
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
66LMarch 2, 19892–5@ Boston Bruins (1988–89)22–38–6
67WMarch 4, 19896–2Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)23–38–6
68WMarch 5, 19898–2@ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)24–38–6
69LMarch 7, 19894–6Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89)24–39–6
70LMarch 9, 19892–5Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)24–40–6
71LMarch 14, 19890–4Los Angeles Kings (1988–89)24–41–6
72TMarch 16, 19892–2 OT@ Boston Bruins (1988–89)24–41–7
73WMarch 18, 19898–3New York Rangers (1988–89)25–41–7
74LMarch 22, 19890–8@ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)25–42–7
75WMarch 23, 19896–3Hartford Whalers (1988–89)26–42–7
76WMarch 25, 19894–1Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)27–42–7
77LMarch 29, 19891–3@ Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89)27–43–7
78LMarch 30, 19893–4 OT@ St. Louis Blues (1988–89)27–44–7 :
April
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
79LApril 1, 19894–5Boston Bruins (1988–89)27–45–7
80LApril 2, 19892–4@ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)27–46–7 :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Forwards

| Player | GP | G | AST | PTS | PIM |
| Peter Stastny | 72 | 35 | 50 | 85 | 117 |
| Walt Poddubny | 72 | 38 | 37 | 75 | 107 |
| Michel Goulet | 69 | 26 | 38 | 64 | 67 |
| Joe Sakic | 70 | 23 | 39 | 62 | 24 |
| Iiro Jarvi | 75 | 11 | 30 | 41 | 40 |
| Paul Gillis | 79 | 15 | 25 | 40 | 163 |
| Marc Fortier | 57 | 20 | 19 | 39 | 45 |
| Anton Stastny | 55 | 7 | 30 | 37 | 12 |
| Gaetan Duchesne | 70 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 56 |
| Mike Hough | 46 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 39 |
| Ken McRae | 37 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 68 |
| David Latta | 24 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 4 |
| Jeff Jackson | 33 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 28 |
| Alain Cote | 55 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 14 |
| Trevor Stienburg | 55 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 125 |
| Mark Vermette | 12 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Lane Lambert | 13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 23 |
| Darin Kimble | 26 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 149 |
| Dean Hopkins | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Jacques Mailhot | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 |
| Joel Baillargeon | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |

### Defencemen

| Player | GP | G | AST | PTS | PIM |
| Jeff Brown | 78 | 21 | 47 | 68 | 62 |
| Randy Moller | 74 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 136 |
| Robert Picard | 74 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 61 |
| Curtis Leschyshyn | 71 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 71 |
| Mario Marois | 42 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 101 |
| Steven Finn | 77 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 235 |
| Tommy Albelin | 14 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 27 |
| Gord Donnelly | 16 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 46 |
| Jari Gronstrand | 25 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
| Bobby Dollas | 16 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
| Greg Smyth | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 70 |
| Scott Shaunessy | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | W | L | T | SO | GAA |
| Mario Gosselin | 39 | 11 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 4.24 |
| Ron Tugnutt | 26 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3.60 |
| Bob Mason | 22 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 4.73 |
| Mario Brunetta | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.04 |
    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;

## Transactions

The Nordiques were involved in the following transactions during the 1988–89 season.

### Trades

| July 5, 1988 | To Chicago BlackhawksMike Eagles | To Quebec NordiquesBob Mason |
| July 25, 1988 | To Philadelphia FlyersTerry Carkner | To Quebec NordiquesGreg Smyth 3rd round pick in 1989—John Tanner |
| July 29, 1988 | To Winnipeg JetsFuture considerations | To Quebec NordiquesJoel Baillargeon |
| August 1, 1988 | To New York RangersNormand Rochefort Jason Lafreniere | To Quebec NordiquesBruce Bell Jari Gronstrand Walt Poddubny 4th round pick in 1989—Eric Dubois |
| December 6, 1988 | To Winnipeg JetsGord Donnelly | To Quebec NordiquesMario Marois |
| December 12, 1988 | To New Jersey DevilsTommy Albelin | To Quebec Nordiques4th round pick in 1989—Niklas Andersson |
| December 15, 1988 | To Minnesota North StarsFuture Considerations | To Quebec NordiquesStephane Roy |
| June 17, 1989 | To Washington CapitalsBob Mason | To Quebec NordiquesFuture Considerations |
| June 17, 1989 | To New Jersey DevilsWalt Poddubny 4th round pick in 1990—Mike Bodnarchuk | To Quebec NordiquesJoe Cirella Claude Loiselle 8th round pick in 1990—Alexander Karpovtsev |

### Waivers

| December 20, 1988 | To Detroit Red WingsBruce Bell |

### Free agents

| Player | Former Team |
| Brent Severyn | University of Alberta Golden Bears (CWUAA) |
| Dean Hopkins | Edmonton Oilers |
| Jacques Mailhot | Fredericton Express (AHL) |

## Draft picks

Quebec's draft picks from the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/junior/club team (league) |
| 1 | 3 | Curtis Leschyshyn | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (WHL) |
| 1 | 5 | Daniel Dore | Canada | Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 24 | Stephane Fiset | Canada | Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 45 | Petri Aaltonen | Finland | HIFK (Finland) |
| 4 | 66 | Darin Kimble | Canada | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) |
| 5 | 87 | Stephane Venne | Canada | Vermont Catamounts (NCAA) |
| 6 | 108 | Ed Ward | Canada | Northern Michigan Wildcats (NCAA) |
| 7 | 129 | Valeri Kamensky | Soviet Union | CSKA Moscow (Soviet Union) |
| 8 | 150 | Sakari Lindfors | Finland | HIFK (Finland) |
| 9 | 171 | Dan Wiebe | Canada | Alberta Golden Bears (CWUAA) |
| 11 | 213 | Alexei Gusarov | Soviet Union | CSKA Moscow (Soviet Union) |
| 12 | 234 | Claude Lapointe | Canada | Laval Titan (QMJHL) |
| S | 3 | Phil Berger | United States | Northern Michigan University (CCHA) |
| S | 8 | Jamie Baker | Canada | Saint Lawrence University (ECAC) |

## Farm teams

* Fredericton Express—AHL