RE-LIVE THE EDMONTON OILERS 1987-88 SEASON
8 years ago
The 1987-88 season will forever live in franchise folklore as easily the most significant in team history. It was one in which the Oilers hoisted their fourth Stanley Cup in five seasons, capping a dominating 16-2 playoff performance with a four-game sweep of the Boston Bruins on May 26, 1988.
It would also prove to be the last season Wayne Gretzky would play for the Oilers. With another Stanley Cup celebration fresh in the minds of Oiler fans, owner Peter Pocklington sold Gretzky, the greatest player to ever lace his skates in the NHL, to the Los Angeles Kings for $15 million, Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas and three draft picks.
With the announcement of the trade Aug. 9, 1988, outraged Oiler fans went from partying on Jasper Avenue 12 weeks earlier to hanging and burning Pocklington in effigy after Los Angeles owner Bruce McNall swung the deal with Pocklington, then jumped a private jet for Tinseltown with the Great One aboard after a tearful farewell at Molson House.
The Cup win aside, everything else that season became a footnote.
RECORD 44-25-11 (99 points), 2nd in Smythe Division
GD 363-288 plus 75 SH% 15.5 SV% .880
NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS
| Los Angeles Kings Acquire | Date | Edmonton Oilers Acquire |
| Wayne Gretzky
Mike Krushelnyski Marty McSorley | August 9, 1988 | Jimmy Carson Martin Gelinas 1989 1st round pick (#18-Jason Miller) 1991 1st round pick (#20-Martin Rucinsky) 1993 1st round pick (#16-Nick Stajduhar) cash |
| Edmonton Oilers Acquire | Date | Washington Capitals Acquire |
Greg C. Adams | July 22, 1988 | rights to Geoff Courtnall |
Boston Bruins Acquire | Date | Edmonton Oilers Acquire |
Andy Moog | March 8, 1988 | Geoff Courtnall Bill Ranford 1988 2nd round pick (#39-Petro Koivunen) |
Boston Bruins Acquire | Date | Edmonton Oilers Acquire |
Moe Lemay | March 8, 1988 | Alan May |
Buffalo Sabres Acquire | Date | Edmonton Oilers Acquire |
Scott Metcalfe 1989 9th round pick (#183-Donald Audette) | February 11, 1988 | Steve Dykstra 1989 7th round pick (#140-Davis Payne) |
Minnesota North Stars Acquire | Date | Edmonton Oilers Acquire |
Moe Mantha | January 22, 1988 | Keith Acton |
Edmonton Oilers acquire | Date | Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire |
Dave Hannan Chris Joseph Moe Mantha Craig Simpson | November 24, 1987 | Paul Coffey Dave Hunter Wayne Van Dorp |
Edmonton Oilers Acquire | Date | Chicago Blackhawks Acquire |
Dave Donnelly | October 19, 1987 | future considerations (cash) |
LEADING SCORERS
Player | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S | S% |
64 | 40 | 109 | 149 | 39 | 24 | 211 | 19.0 | |
77 | 37 | 74 | 111 | 21 | 103 | 182 | 20.3 | |
80 | 43 | 53 | 96 | 25 | 30 | 207 | 20.8 | |
80 | 38 | 50 | 88 | 5 | 58 | 255 | 14.9 | |
80 | 23 | 51 | 74 | 21 | 153 | 142 | 16.2 | |
59 | 43 | 21 | 64 | 15 | 43 | 118 | 36.4 | |
79 | 12 | 43 | 55 | 40 | 286 | 116 | 10.3 | |
76 | 20 | 27 | 47 | 26 | 64 | 124 | 16.1 | |
77 | 13 | 28 | 41 | 23 | 71 | 163 | 8.0 | |
80 | 15 | 17 | 32 | -3 | 47 | 90 | 16.7 |
SEASON RECAP
It didn’t take long after McNall assumed ownership of the Kings from Dr. Jerry Buss until he started working Pocklington about the possibility of acquiring Gretzky. A fourth Cup secured, despite a year in which the Oilers had a stretch of six straight seasons with at least 100 points snapped and with 44 wins marking the lowest total since Edmonton’s first two years in the NHL, Pocklington was willing to listen.
By the time the NHL handed out its year-end awards in Toronto, McNall was in hot pursuit. “McNall leaned over and said, ‘I’ll give you $15 million, plus some players.’ At that time, $15 million was $18.5 million Canadian,” said Pocklington. “I said, ‘Let me think about it,’ and called him a week later and said, ‘I could live with that.’”
Most Oiler fans, it goes without saying, had more difficulty living with the Gretzky sale. Reaction was over the top. Pocklington received death threats. There was even discussions by members in the House of Commons about proposing legislation that would block the trade. Everything took a back seat to the events of August – the Cup win, the trade earlier in the season of Paul Coffey, Gretzky’s marriage to Janet Jones in Edmonton.
RETHINKING THE SEASON
GM Glen Sather began the season by dipping into what many assumed or hoped was an untouchable core group of players when he traded Coffey (along with Dave Hunter and Wayne Van Dorp) to Pittsburgh for Craig Simpson, Dave Hannan, Chris Joseph and Moe Mantha. Later, he sent Andy Moog to Boston for Geoff Courtnall and Bill Ranford.
The Oilers, clearly, were a team in transition with Coffey and Moog dealt away. Keeping The Boys on the Bus, winners of three Cups and on the way to a fourth, together was becoming a pricey proposition. Then McNall came calling with his sales pitch and $15 million to back it up.
Just 27 when he was traded, Gretzky’s time in Edmonton would see his name engraved on the Stanley Cup four times. He’d win the Hart Trophy as MVP eight times. He won seven scoring titles. He’d tally 1,669 points in just 696 regular season games and re-write the NHL record book along the way. Then, he was gone. Sold.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260.
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