1988–89 St. Louis Blues season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1988–89
Year:	1988
Team:	St. Louis Blues
Conferencerank:	5th
Divisionrank:	2nd
Record:	33–35–12
Homerecord:	22–11–7
Roadrecord:	11–24–5
Goalsfor:	275
Goalsagainst:	285
Altcaptain:	Rick Meagher Unknown

The 1988–89 St. Louis Blues season was the St. Louis Blues' 22nd season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Offseason

Team captain Brian Sutter retires to become the new head coach. Forward Bernie Federko is named team captain.

NHL Draft

See main article: 1988 NHL Draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	9	Rod Brind'Amour	Center	Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)
2	30	Adrien Plavsic	Defense	University of New Hampshire (Hockey East)
3	51	Rob Fournier	Goaltender	North Bay Centennials (OHL)
4	72	Jaan Luik	Defense	Miami University (CCHA)
5	105	Dave LaCouture	Right wing	Natick High School (USHS-MA)
6	114	Dan Fowler	Defense	University of Maine (Hockey East)
7	135	Matt Hayes	Defense	New Hampton School (USHS-NH)
8	156	John McCoy	Left wing	Edina High School (USHS-MN)
9	177	Tony Twist	Left wing	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
10	198	Bret Hedican	Defense	North High School (USHS-MN)
11	219	Heath DeBoer	Defense	Spring Lake Park High School (USHS-MN)
12	240	Mike Francis	Goaltender	Harvard University (ECAC)
S	14	Mike McNeill	Left wing	University of Notre Dame (CCHA)

Regular season

The Blues tied the Washington Capitals for most shutouts in the league, with 6.^[1]

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

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

Player statistics

Forwards

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

Player	GP	G	AST	PTS	PIM
	78	41	43	84	33
	66	22	45	67	54
	64	24	31	55	18
	52	17	36	53	27
	75	26	26	52	18
	70	17	28	45	8
	74	20	23	43	79
	71	25	17	42	58
	78	15	14	29	53
	53	9	17	26	139
	53	13	12	25	6
	53	7	12	19	81
	50	7	10	17	144
	20	4	12	16	46
	34	4	5	9	171
	41	0	7	7	127
	21	3	3	6	11
	5	1	1	2	7

Defencemen

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

Player	GP	G	AST	PTS	PIM
	66	8	26	34	102
	77	2	24	26	90
	65	4	20	24	128
	70	1	22	23	47
	36	1	14	15	54
	52	3	10	13	6
	66	1	5	6	99
	18	0	2	2	22
	9	0	1	1	11
	22	0	0	0	14
	1	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

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

Player	GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA
	52	22	20	7	6	3.38
	32	11	15	5	0	3.52

Awards and honors

• Dan Kelly (sportscaster), Lester Patrick Trophy (posthumous selection)^[2]

Playoffs

The Blues defeated the Minnesota North Stars in the Norris Division semifinals, in five games. They lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Norris Division finals, in five games.

References

• Blues on Hockey Database
• Blues on Hockey Reference

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1988-89 NHL Schedule and Results.
2. Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009-10, p.425, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada,