1988–89 Montreal Canadiens season

1988–89 Montreal Canadiens
1988–89 Montreal Canadiens
Wales Conference champions
Adams Division champions
Division	1st Adams
Conference	1st Wales
1988–89 record	53–18–9
Home record	30–6–4
Road record	23–12–5
Goals for	315
Goals against	218
Team information
General manager	Serge Savard
Coach	Pat Burns
Captain	Bob Gainey
Alternate captains	Mats Naslund; Larry Robinson
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Mats Naslund (33)
Assists	Chris Chelios (58)
Points	Mats Naslund (84)
Penalty minutes	Shayne Corson (193)
Plus/minus	Guy Carbonneau (+37)
Wins	Patrick Roy (33)
Goals against average	Patrick Roy (2.47)

The 1988–89 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 80th season of play. The Canadiens finished first in the Adams Division, as well as the Prince of Wales Conference, with a 53–18–9 record for 115 points. The team finished second overall in the league behind the Calgary Flames, who had 117 points. Montreal defeated the Hartford Whalers, Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers in the playoffs before meeting the Flames in the Stanley Cup Finals. Calgary took the series 4–2, clinching the Cup in Game 6 on the Canadiens' vaunted home ice, the Montreal Forum. This marked the only time that a visiting team defeated them to win the Stanley Cup on Forum ice.

The Canadiens were coached by Pat Burns and captained by Bob Gainey.

Offseason

Regular season

November 7, 1988 – The Canadiens traded RW John Kordic and a 6th-round choice (Michael Doers) to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for RW Russ Courtnall.

For the third straight season, the Canadiens allowed the fewest goals in the NHL (218), were the least penalized team (326 short-handed situations) and allowed the fewest power-play goals (58).^[1]

Final standings

Adams Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
	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

^[2]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

Vs. Adams Division

1988–89 NHL records^[3]
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
	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

Vs. Patrick Division

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
	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

Vs. Norris Division

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
	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

Vs. Smythe Division

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
	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^[4]

October

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 6, 1988	2–3	@ Buffalo Sabres	0–1–0
2	W	October 8, 1988	4–3	Minnesota North Stars	1–1–0
3	L	October 12, 1988	5–6	Quebec Nordiques	1–2–0
4	W	October 14, 1988	7–3	@ New Jersey Devils	2–2–0
5	L	October 15, 1988	1–2	@ New York Islanders	2–3–0
6	L	October 17, 1988	2–6	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–4–0
7	W	October 19, 1988	5–4	Hartford Whalers	3–4–0
8	L	October 21, 1988	3–5	@ Buffalo Sabres	3–5–0
9	W	October 22, 1988	4–3	Buffalo Sabres	4–5–0
10	T	October 25, 1988	1–1 OT	@ Boston Bruins	4–5–1
11	L	October 26, 1988	2–4	@ Detroit Red Wings	4–6–1
12	L	October 29, 1988	4–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	4–7–1

November

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
13	W	November 1, 1988	5–3	@ Hartford Whalers	5–7–1
14	W	November 2, 1988	5–3	Los Angeles Kings	6–7–1
15	W	November 5, 1988	7–2	Winnipeg Jets	7–7–1
16	T	November 7, 1988	3–3 OT	St. Louis Blues	7–7–2
17	T	November 9, 1988	6–6 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks	7–7–3
18	W	November 11, 1988	3–1	@ Vancouver Canucks	8–7–3
19	L	November 13, 1988	3–7	@ Winnipeg Jets	8–8–3
20	W	November 16, 1988	5–4 OT	New York Islanders	9–8–3
21	W	November 17, 1988	5–2	@ Boston Bruins	10–8–3
22	W	November 19, 1988	5–3	Chicago Blackhawks	11–8–3
23	W	November 21, 1988	4–2	@ New York Rangers	12–8–3
24	W	November 23, 1988	2–0	Boston Bruins	13–8–3
25	L	November 24, 1988	3–5	@ Quebec Nordiques	13–9–3
26	W	November 26, 1988	7–5	Edmonton Oilers	14–9–3
27	W	November 30, 1988	6–3	@ Hartford Whalers	15–9–3

December

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
28	T	December 1, 1988	2–2 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers	15–9–4
29	W	December 3, 1988	3–2 OT	Buffalo Sabres	16–9–4
30	W	December 5, 1988	7–2	Detroit Red Wings	17–9–4
31	T	December 7, 1988	2–2 OT	@ Minnesota North Stars	17–9–5
32	W	December 8, 1988	5–1	@ St. Louis Blues	18–9–5
33	T	December 10, 1988	0–0 OT	Washington Capitals	18–9–6
34	W	December 12, 1988	3–1	Boston Bruins	19–9–6
35	L	December 15, 1988	4–6	@ Quebec Nordiques	19–10–6
36	W	December 17, 1988	6–3	New York Rangers	20–10–6
37	W	December 19, 1988	2–1	Hartford Whalers	21–10–6
38	W	December 21, 1988	6–4	Quebec Nordiques	22–10–6
39	W	December 22, 1988	4–2	@ Boston Bruins	23–10–6
40	W	December 27, 1988	3–2	@ Los Angeles Kings	24–10–6
41	W	December 29, 1988	4–3	@ Calgary Flames	25–10–6
42	W	December 31, 1988	4–2	@ Edmonton Oilers	26–10–6

January

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
43	W	January 1, 1989	4–0	@ Vancouver Canucks	27–10–6
44	W	January 7, 1989	3–1	Boston Bruins	28–10–6
45	L	January 9, 1989	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings	28–11–6
46	W	January 11, 1989	1–0	New Jersey Devils	29–11–6
47	W	January 12, 1989	5–3	@ Boston Bruins	30–11–6
48	W	January 14, 1989	5–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	31–11–6
49	W	January 18, 1989	3–1	Hartford Whalers	32–11–6
50	L	January 19, 1989	4–6	@ Hartford Whalers	32–12–6
51	W	January 21, 1989	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs	33–12–6
52	L	January 23, 1989	1–3	Calgary Flames	33–13–6
53	L	January 27, 1989	2–4	@ Buffalo Sabres	33–14–6
54	W	January 28, 1989	2–1	Buffalo Sabres	34–14–6
55	W	January 31, 1989	5–1	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	35–14–6

February

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
56	W	February 2, 1989	6–1	@ Quebec Nordiques	36–14–6
57	W	February 4, 1989	7–5	New York Rangers	37–14–6
58	W	February 11, 1989	5–4	New Jersey Devils	38–14–6
59	L	February 13, 1989	2–3	Quebec Nordiques	38–15–6
60	W	February 16, 1989	7–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers	39–15–6
61	W	February 18, 1989	4–2	@ St. Louis Blues	40–15–6
62	T	February 19, 1989	4–4 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks	40–15–7
63	W	February 22, 1989	6–3	Winnipeg Jets	41–15–7
64	W	February 25, 1989	6–1	Buffalo Sabres	42–15–7
65	W	February 26, 1989	5–2	Vancouver Canucks	43–15–7

March

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
66	L	March 1, 1989	0–3	@ Edmonton Oilers	43–16–7
67	W	March 2, 1989	3–2	@ Calgary Flames	44–16–7
68	W	March 4, 1989	6–1	@ Hartford Whalers	45–16–7
69	W	March 8, 1989	3–2	Washington Capitals	46–16–7
70	W	March 9, 1989	5–2	@ Quebec Nordiques	47–16–7
71	W	March 11, 1989	5–3	Hartford Whalers	48–16–7
72	L	March 13, 1989	3–5	New York Islanders	48–17–7
73	W	March 15, 1989	5–2	Los Angeles Kings	49–17–7
74	L	March 17, 1989	1–4	@ Washington Capitals	49–18–7
75	W	March 18, 1989	7–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	50–18–7
76	W	March 22, 1989	8–0	Quebec Nordiques	51–18–7
77	T	March 25, 1989	1–1 OT	Minnesota North Stars	51–18–8
78	W	March 27, 1989	5–2	Boston Bruins	52–18–8
79	W	March 30, 1989	4–2	@ Buffalo Sabres	53–18–8

April

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
80	T	April 1, 1989	2–2 OT	Philadelphia Flyers	53–18–9

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Forwards

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Mats Naslund	77	33	51	84	14
Bobby Smith	80	32	51	83	69
Stephane Richer	68	25	35	60	61
Guy Carbonneau	79	26	30	56	44
Claude Lemieux	69	29	22	51	136
Shayne Corson	80	26	24	50	193
Brian Skrudland	71	12	29	41	84
Mike McPhee	73	19	22	41	74
Russ Courtnall	64	22	17	39	15
Mike Keane	69	16	19	35	69
Ryan Walter	78	14	17	31	48
Brent Gilchrist	49	8	16	24	16
Bob Gainey	49	10	7	17	34
Gilles Thibaudeau	32	6	6	12	6
Jose Charbonneau	9	1	3	4	6
Benoit Brunet	2	0	1	1	0
Stephan Lebeau	1	0	1	1	2
Jocelyn Lemieux	1	0	1	1	0
Steve Martinson	25	1	0	1	87
John Kordic	6	0	0	0	13

Defencemen

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Chris Chelios	80	15	58	73	185
Petr Svoboda	71	8	37	45	147
Larry Robinson	74	4	26	30	22
Craig Ludwig	74	3	13	16	73
Rick Green	72	1	14	15	25
Eric Desjardins	36	2	12	14	26
Mike Lalor	12	1	4	5	15
Jyrki Lumme	21	1	3	4	10
Donald Dufresne	13	0	1	1	43

Goaltending

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

Player	GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA
Patrick Roy	48	33	5	6	4	2.47
Brian Hayward	36	20	13	3	1	2.90
Randy Exelby	1	0	0	0	0	0.00

Playoffs

Adams Division semi-finals

Hartford Whalers vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 5	Hartford Whalers	2	Montreal Canadiens	6
April 6	Hartford Whalers	2	Montreal Canadiens	3
April 8	Montreal Canadiens	5	Hartford Whalers	4	(OT)
April 9	Montreal Canadiens	4	Hartford Whalers	3

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0.

Adams Division finals

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 17	Boston Bruins	2	Montreal Canadiens	3
April 19	Boston Bruins	2	Montreal Canadiens	3	(OT)
April 21	Montreal Canadiens	5	Boston Bruins	4
April 23	Montreal Canadiens	2	Boston Bruins	3
April 25	Boston Bruins	2	Montreal Canadiens	3

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1.

Conference finals

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 1	Philadelphia Flyers	3	Montreal Canadiens	1
May 3	Philadelphia Flyers	0	Montreal Canadiens	3
May 5	Montreal Canadiens	5	Philadelphia Flyers	1
May 7	Montreal Canadiens	3	Philadelphia Flyers	0
May 9	Philadelphia Flyers	2	Montreal Canadiens	1	(OT)
May 11	Montreal Canadiens	4	Philadelphia Flyers	2

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2.

Stanley Cup finals

Montreal Canadiens vs. Calgary Flames

The Stanley Cup Finals was decided between the top two teams during the 1988–89 NHL regular season. Co-captain Lanny McDonald scored the second Flames goal in Game 6. This turned out to be the last goal in his Hockey Hall of Fame career because he retired during the following off-season. Doug Gilmour scored two goals in the third period, including the eventual game and Cup winner to cement the victory for the Flames.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 14	Montreal	2	Calgary	3
May 17	Montreal	4	Calgary	2
May 19	Calgary	3	Montreal	4	(2nd OT)
May 21	Calgary	4	Montreal	2
May 23	Montreal	2	Calgary	3
May 25	Calgary	4	Montreal	2

Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2.

Awards and records

Prince of Wales Trophy
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Guy Carbonneau
Jack Adams Award: Pat Burns
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Chris Chelios
William M. Jennings Trophy: Patrick Roy/Brian Hayward
Vezina Trophy: Patrick Roy
Patrick Roy, goalie, NHL First All-Star Team
Chris Chelios, defence, NHL First All-Star Team

Transactions

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	20	Eric Charron (D)	Canada	Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
2	34	Martin St. Amour (LW)	Canada	Verdun Junior Canadiens (QMJHL)
3	46	Neil Carnes (C)	Canada	Verdun Junior Canadiens (QMJHL)
4	83	Patric Kjellberg (LW)	Sweden	Falu IF (Sweden)
5	93	Peter Popovic (D)	Sweden	Västerås HK (Sweden)
5	104	Jean-Claude Bergeron (G)	Canada	Verdun Junior Canadiens (QMJHL)
6	125	Patrik Carnback (RW)	Sweden	Västra Frölunda HC (Sweden)
7	146	Tim Chase (D)	United States	Tabor Academy (USHS-MA)
8	167	Sean Hill (D)	United States	East High School (USHS-MN)
9	188	Harijs Vitolinsh (C)	Soviet Union	Dinamo Riga (USSR)
10	209	Yuri Krivokhizha (D)	Soviet Union	Dinamo Minsk (USSR)
11	230	Kevin Dahl (D)	Canada	Bowling Green State University (CCHA)
12	251	Dave Kunda (D)	Canada	University of Guelph (CIAU)
S	25	Peter Fish (G)	United States	Boston University (Hockey East)

References

^ "1988-89 NHL Summary".
^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ "1988-89 Montreal Canadiens Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 6, 2025.

[1] "1988-89 NHL Summary".

[nhl-gd-standings-2] Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.

[3] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[Gamelog-4] "1988-89 Montreal Canadiens Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 6, 2025.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Montreal Canadiens seasons
1900s	1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

Montreal Canadiens
Founded in 1909 Based in Montreal, Quebec
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History Original Six Centennial Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Molson family (Geoff Molson, chairman) General manager Kent Hughes Head coach Martin St. Louis Team captain Nick Suzuki Current roster
Arenas	Jubilee Arena Montreal Arena Mount Royal Arena Montreal Forum Bell Centre
Rivalries	Boston Bruins Quebec Nordiques Toronto Maple Leafs
Affiliates	AHL Laval Rocket ECHL Trois-Rivières Lions
Media	TV TSN2 (English) RDS (French) Radio TSN Radio 690 (English) 98,5 FM (French)
Culture and lore	Youppi! The Hockey Sweater Pour toujours, les Canadiens! Ginette Reno Tour des Canadiens The Punch Line Richard Riot 1938 European tour "Fix You" Good Friday Massacre 2003 Heritage Classic 2011 Heritage Classic 2016 Winter Classic 100 Classic Bell Sports Complex
Category Commons

1988–89 NHL season
Patrick	New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Hartford Quebec
Norris	Chicago Detroit Minnesota St. Louis Toronto
Smythe	Calgary Edmonton Los Angeles Vancouver Winnipeg
See also	Entry draft Supplemental draft Waiver draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals