1988–89 Hartford Whalers season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1988–89
Year:	1988
Team:	Hartford Whalers
Division:	Adams
Divisionrank:	4th
Conference:	Wales
Conferencerank:	8th
Record:	37–38–5
Homerecord:	21–17–2
Roadrecord:	16–21–3
Goalsfor:	299
Goalsagainst:	290
Generalmanager:	Emile Francis
Coach:	Larry Pleau
Captain:	Ron Francis
Altcaptain:	Kevin Dineen Dave Tippett Joel Quenneville
Arena:	Hartford Civic Center
Attendance:	13,821 (90.8%) ^[1]
Minorleague:	Binghamton Whalers (AHL) Indianapolis Ice (IHL)
Goalsleader:	Kevin Dineen (45)
Assistsleader:	Ron Francis (48)
Pointsleader:	Kevin Dineen (89)
Plusminusleader:	Ulf Samuelsson (+23)
Pimleader:	Ulf Samuelsson (181)
Winsleader:	Peter Sidorkiewicz (22)
Gaaleader:	Peter Sidorkiewicz (3.03)

The 1988 - 89 Hartford Whalers season saw the team finish in fourth place in the Adams Division with a record of 37 wins, 38 losses, and 5 ties for 79 points. They were swept by the Montreal Canadiens in four straight games in the Division Semi-finals.

Off-season

On June 11, 1988, the 1988 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal. With their first round draft pick, the Whalers selected left winger Chris Govedaris from the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey League. Govedaris scored 42 goals and 80 points in 69 games with the Marlboros during the 1987–88 season. With their second round selection, Hartford selected Barry Richter from the Culver Military Academy, where he scored 24 goals and 53 points in 35 games.

At the 1988 NHL Supplemental Draft, the Whalers selected Todd Krygier from the University of Connecticut. In 27 games with the Huskies, Krygier scored 32 goals and 71 points to lead the team in scoring. Following his season with Connecticut, Krygier signed with the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League, where he scored a goal and six points in 13 games during the 1987–88 season.

The Whalers signed Bob Bodak as a free agent on July 1. Bobak appeared in three games with the Calgary Flames during the 1987–88, earning no points and 22 penalty minutes. He played a majority of the season with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the IHL, where in 44 games, Bobak scored 12 goals and 22 points.

On July 6, the Whalers acquired Grant Jennings and Ed Kastelic from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Neil Sheehy and Mike Millar. Jennings appeared in one post-season game with the Capitals, earning no points. He spent the rest of the season with the Binghamton Whalers of the American Hockey League, where he scored two goals and 14 points in 56 games during the 1987–88. Kastelic scored one goal in 35 games with the Capitals during the 1987–88 season.

On August 3, Hartford signed free agent Al Tuer. Tuer appeared in six games with the Minnesota North Stars during the 1987–88 season, scoring one goal. In 68 games with the Kalamazoo Wings of the IHL, Tuer scored two goals and 17 points, while racking up 303 penalty minutes. The Whalers also signed Larry Trader, who scored two goals and six points in 30 games with the Montreal Canadiens during 1987–88.

At the waiver draft held on October 3, the Whalers lost Stew Gavin and Tom Martin to the Minnesota North Stars.

Draft picks

Hartford's selections at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft:

Pick #	Player	Position	Nationality	College/junior/club team
11		Left Wing		Toronto Marlboros (OHL)
32		Defense		Culver Military Academy (USHS-IN)
74		Center		Lake Superior State University (CCHA)
95		Left Wing		Northwood School (USHS-NY)
116		Left Wing		Northwood School (USHS-NY)
137	Kerry Russell	Center		Michigan State University (CCHA)
158	Jim Burke	Defense		University of Maine (Hockey East)
179	Mark Hirth	Center		Michigan State University (CCHA)
200	Wayde Bucsis	Left Wing		Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
221	Rob White	Defense		St. Lawrence University (ECAC Hockey)
242	Dan Slatalla	Center		Deerfield Academy (USHS-MA)
		Left Wing		University of Connecticut (ECAC East)

Regular season

The Whalers finished the regular season with the fewest short-handed goals scored (3) and the most short-handed goals allowed (18).^[2]

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 6, 1988	2–5	Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	0–1–0
2	L	October 8, 1988	2–6	Boston Bruins (1988–89)	0–2–0
3	L	October 9, 1988	1–3	@ Boston Bruins (1988–89)	0–3–0
4	W	October 12, 1988	4–3	@ New York Rangers (1988–89)	1–3–0
5	W	October 15, 1988	7–5	Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89)	2–3–0
6	L	October 19, 1988	4–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	2–4–0
7	W	October 22, 1988	8–6	Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)	3–4–0
8	W	October 26, 1988	7–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	4–4–0
9	L	October 28, 1988	3–5	@ New Jersey Devils (1988–89)	4–5–0
10	W	October 29, 1988	3–0	New Jersey Devils (1988–89)	5–5–0
11	L	November 1, 1988	3–5	Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	5–6–0
12	W	November 3, 1988	5–3	@ Boston Bruins (1988–89)	6–6–0
13	L	November 5, 1988	2–3 OT	Vancouver Canucks (1988–89)	6–7–0
14	L	November 7, 1988	3–6	@ Calgary Flames (1988–89)	6–8–0
15	T	November 9, 1988	1–1 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1988–89)	6–8–1
16	L	November 10, 1988	2–7	@ Los Angeles Kings (1988–89)	6–9–1
17	W	November 12, 1988	3–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1988–89)	7–9–1
18	L	November 16, 1988	3–4	Detroit Red Wings (1988–89)	7–10–1
19	L	November 18, 1988	2–3	@ Washington Capitals (1988–89)	7–11–1
20	L	November 19, 1988	2–5	Calgary Flames (1988–89)	7–12–1
21	W	November 23, 1988	4–3	Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	8–12–1
22	W	November 26, 1988	4–2	@ Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	9–12–1
23	L	November 30, 1988	3–6	Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	9–13–1
24	W	December 2, 1988	6–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	10–13–1
25	L	December 3, 1988	2–4	Minnesota North Stars (1988–89)	10–14–1
26	W	December 6, 1988	9–0	Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	11–14–1
27	W	December 8, 1988	5–4	New York Rangers (1988–89)	12–14–1
28	W	December 10, 1988	4–1	Calgary Flames (1988–89)	13–14–1
29	L	December 14, 1988	3–4	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89)	13–15–1
30	T	December 15, 1988	3–3 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1988–89)	13–15–2
31	L	December 17, 1988	2–4	Edmonton Oilers (1988–89)	13–16–2
32	L	December 19, 1988	1–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	13–17–2
33	L	December 21, 1988	3–4	Boston Bruins (1988–89)	13–18–2
34	L	December 23, 1988	4–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)	13–19–2
35	L	December 26, 1988	3–4 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)	13–20–2
36	T	December 28, 1988	4–4 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	13–20–3
37	W	December 30, 1988	4–3	Detroit Red Wings (1988–89)	14–20–3
38	W	December 31, 1988	3–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1988–89)	15–20–3
39	L	January 2, 1989	4–5	@ New York Rangers (1988–89)	15–21–3
40	W	January 4, 1989	5–4 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	16–21–3
41	W	January 10, 1989	2–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1988–89)	17–21–3
42	L	January 14, 1989	6–9	@ Los Angeles Kings (1988–89)	17–22–3
43	L	January 16, 1989	3–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89)	17–23–3
44	L	January 18, 1989	1–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	17–24–3
45	W	January 19, 1989	6–4	Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	18–24–3
46	W	January 21, 1989	5–4	Los Angeles Kings (1988–89)	19–24–3
47	W	January 23, 1989	5–0	@ Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	20–24–3
48	T	January 25, 1989	3–3 OT	St. Louis Blues (1988–89)	20–24–4
49	W	January 27, 1989	8–6	@ New Jersey Devils (1988–89)	21–24–4
50	L	January 28, 1989	2–3 OT	Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	21–25–4
51	L	January 31, 1989	3–5	Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	21–26–4
52	L	February 3, 1989	0–1	@ Washington Capitals (1988–89)	21–27–4
53	L	February 4, 1989	3–5	@ New York Islanders (1988–89)	21–28–4
54	W	February 9, 1989	5–2	Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	22–28–4
55	W	February 11, 1989	7–3	Winnipeg Jets (1988–89)	23–28–4
56	W	February 15, 1989	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89)	24–28–4
57	W	February 18, 1989	4–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1988–89)	25–28–4
58	L	February 19, 1989	6–7 OT	@ Winnipeg Jets (1988–89)	25–29–4
59	L	February 21, 1989	4–7	@ Edmonton Oilers (1988–89)	25–30–4
60	W	February 23, 1989	4–2	Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	26–30–4
61	L	February 25, 1989	1–9	Boston Bruins (1988–89)	26–31–4
62	W	February 26, 1989	8–6	Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)	27–31–4
63	W	February 28, 1989	3–1	@ New York Islanders (1988–89)	28–31–4
64	W	March 2, 1989	2–1	Vancouver Canucks (1988–89)	29–31–4
65	L	March 4, 1989	1–6	Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	29–32–4
66	W	March 5, 1989	3–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89)	30–32–4
67	W	March 8, 1989	7–3	Edmonton Oilers (1988–89)	31–32–4
68	L	March 11, 1989	3–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	31–33–4
69	T	March 12, 1989	3–3 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)	31–33–5
70	W	March 14, 1989	8–2	New York Islanders (1988–89)	32–33–5
71	L	March 16, 1989	1–6	Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	32–34–5
72	L	March 18, 1989	2–8	Washington Capitals (1988–89)	32–35–5
73	W	March 19, 1989	3–2	@ Boston Bruins (1988–89)	33–35–5
74	W	March 22, 1989	4–2	Boston Bruins (1988–89)	34–35–5
75	L	March 23, 1989	3–6	@ Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	34–36–5
76	W	March 25, 1989	4–0	St. Louis Blues (1988–89)	35–36–5
77	L	March 28, 1989	2–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	35–37–5
78	W	March 30, 1989	9–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)	36–37–5
79	W	April 1, 1989	6–1	Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89)	37–37–5
80	L	April 2, 1989	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1988–89)	37–38–5

Division semi-finals

Canadiens 4, Whalers 0

Adams Division Semi-finals

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) Hartford Whalers

Player statistics

Forwards

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player	GP	G	AST	PTS	PIM
	79	45	44	89	167
	69	29	48	77	36
	80	41	35	76	86
	76	19	40	59	27
	74	17	27	44	141
	80	17	24	41	45
	62	16	24	40	28
	60	16	18	34	10
	42	16	14	30	40
	67	11	17	28	60
	35	10	16	26	28
	34	11	11	22	14
	66	4	13	17	61
	21	3	11	14	23
	38	7	6	13	113
	27	2	4	6	84
	10	0	2	2	15
	7	0	2	2	6
	4	1	1	2	0
	2	0	0	0	0
	5	0	0	0	14

Defensemen

Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points

Player	GP	G	AST	PTS	PIM
	70	6	41	47	54
	71	9	26	35	181
	37	1	22	23	24
	78	8	9	17	49
	55	3	10	13	159
	69	4	7	11	32
	75	2	5	7	95
	3	1	0	1	0
	24	0	1	1	36
	4	0	0	0	23
	5	0	0	0	6
	5	0	0	0	5

Goaltending

Note: GP= Games played; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against

Player	GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA
	44	22	18	4	4	3.03
	35	13	19	1	1	4.25
	3	2	1	0	0	3.33

^[3]

Awards and records

• Peter Sidorkiewicz, Goaltender, NHL First All-Rookie Team

Transactions

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

Trades

July 6, 1988	To Washington Capitals Neil Sheehy Mike Millar	To Hartford Whalers Grant Jennings Ed Kastelic
October 6, 1988	To Chicago Blackhawks Future Considerations	To Hartford Whalers Mark LaVarre
December 26, 1988	To New York Rangers Carey Wilson 5th round pick in 1990 – Lubos Rob	To Hartford Whalers Brian Lawton Don Maloney Norm Maciver
March 6, 1989	To Washington Capitals Scot Kleinendorst	To Hartford Whalers Jim Thomson
March 7, 1989	To Detroit Red Wings Torrie Robertson	To Hartford Whalers Jim Pavese

Waivers

October 3, 1988	To Minnesota North Stars Stew Gavin
October 3, 1988	To Minnesota North Stars Tom Martin
December 1, 1988	From Minnesota North Stars Tom Martin

Free agents

Player Former Team University of Western Ontario (OUAA) University of Saskatchewan (CWUAA) Calgary Flames Minnesota North Stars Montreal Canadiens University of Minnesota-Duluth (NCAA)

Player New Team Sportbund DJK Rosenheim (Germany) EHC Olten (Switzerland) Washington Capitals

References

1. Web site: Hartford Whalers Yearly Attendance Graph . hockeydb.com.
2. Web site: 1988-89 NHL Summary.
3. https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/HAR/1989.html 1988-89 Hartford Whalers at Hockey Reference