1987–88 NHL season

The **1987–88 NHL season** was the 71st season of the National Hockey League. It was an 80-game season with the top four teams in each division advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The NHL introduced a new trophy, the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which was to be awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution in his community.

## Regular season
### Final standings
***Note:** W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes*
#### Prince of Wales Conference
#### Clarence Campbell Conference
### Scoring leaders
## Stanley Cup playoffs
*Note: all dates in 1988*
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### Adams Division semi-finals
**Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins'*

*Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–2*

**Hartford Whalers vs. Montreal Canadiens**

*Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–2*

### Patrick Division semi-finals
**Philadelphia Flyers vs. Washington Capitals**

*Washington wins best-of-seven series 4–3*

**New Jersey Devils vs. New York Islanders**

*New Jersey wins best-of-seven series 4–2*

### Norris Division semi-finals
**Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues**

*St. Louis wins best-of-seven series 4–1*

**Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings**

*Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4–2*

### Smythe Division semi-finals
**Winnipeg Jets vs. Edmonton Oilers**

*Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4–1*

**Los Angeles Kings vs. Calgary Flames**

*Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4–1*

### Divisional finals
:**Adams Division**
**Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens**

*Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–1*

:**Patrick Division**
**New Jersey Devils vs. Washington Capitals**

*New Jersey wins best-of-seven series 4–3*

:**Norris Division**
**St. Louis Blues vs. Detroit Red Wings**

*Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4–1*

:**Smythe Division**
**Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames**

*Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4–0*

### Conference finals
:**Prince of Wales Conference **
**New Jersey Devils vs. Boston Bruins**

*Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–3*

:**Clarence Campbell Conference**
**Detroit Red Wings vs. Edmonton Oilers**

*Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4–1*

### Finals
**Boston Bruins vs. Edmonton Oilers**

*Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4–0''

## NHL awards
### All-Star teams
## First games
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1987–88:
*Tommy Albelin, Quebec Nordiques
*Rob Brown, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Sean Burke, New Jersey Devils
*Adam Graves, Detoit Red Wings
*Craig Janney, Boston Bruins
*Calle Johansson, Buffalo Sabres
*Brian Leetch, New York Rangers
*Jeff Norton, New York Islanders
*Luke Richardson, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Mathieu Schneider, Montreal Canadiens
*Brendan Shanahan, New Jersey Devils
*Ray Sheppard, Buffalo Sabres
*Kevin Stevens, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Ron Tugnutt, Quebec Nordiques
*Pierre Turgeon, Buffalo Sabres
*Glen Wesley, Boston Bruins
*Scott Young, Hartford Whalers

## Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1987–88:
*Bob Bourne, Los Angeles Kings
*Richard Brodeur, Hartford Whalers
*Clark Gillies, Buffalo Sabres
*Doug Jarvis, Hartford Whalers
*Pierre Larouche, New York Rangers
*Dave Lewis, Detroit Red Wings
*Gilles Meloche, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Rick Middleton, Boston Bruins
*Wilf Paiement, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Steve Payne, Minnesota North Stars
*Denis Potvin, New York Islanders
*Doug Risebrough, Calgary Flames
*Dave Semenko, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Charlie Simmer, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Brian Sutter, St. Louis Blues
*Perry Turnbull, St. Louis Blues
*Tiger Williams, Hartford Whalers

## References
*Hockey Database
*NHL.com
*SI Flashback to '88 Finals