1988–89 Pittsburgh Penguins season

1988–89 Pittsburgh Penguins
1988–89 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	2nd Patrick
Conference	4th Wales
1988–89 record	40–33–7
Home record	24–13–3
Road record	16–20–4
Goals for	347
Goals against	349
Team information
General manager	Tony Esposito
Coach	Gene Ubriaco
Captain	Mario Lemieux
Alternate captains	Paul Coffey ; Randy Cunneyworth
Arena	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Mario Lemieux (85)
Assists	Mario Lemieux (114)
Points	Mario Lemieux (199)
Penalty minutes	Jay Caufield (285)
Wins	Tom Barrasso (18)
Goals against average	Tom Barrasso and; Frank Pietrangelo (4.04)
	← 1987–88 1989–90 →

The 1988–89 Pittsburgh Penguins season saw the Penguins finish in second place in the Patrick Division with a record of 40 wins, 33 losses, and 7 ties for 87 points. They swept the New York Rangers in the Division Semi-finals before losing the Division Finals in seven games to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Offseason

Regular season

This was Mario Lemieux's best season offensively. He led the league in goals (85), assists (114, tied with Wayne Gretzky), points (199), power-play goals (31) and shorthanded goals (13).

The Penguins finished the regular season with the most power-play opportunities against, with 482, the most power-play opportunities, with 491, and the most power-play goals scored, with 119.^[1]

Highlights

December 31, 1988 – Mario Lemieux scores five goals in an 8–6 win over the New Jersey Devils. Lemieux scores the five goals in five different ways: even strength, shorthanded, power play, penalty shot, and empty net.

Season standings

Patrick Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Washington Capitals	80	41	29	10	305	259	92
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	40	33	7	347	349	87
New York Rangers	80	37	35	8	310	307	82
Philadelphia Flyers	80	36	36	8	307	285	80
New Jersey Devils	80	27	41	12	281	325	66
New York Islanders	80	28	47	5	265	325	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.

Schedule and results

On January 4, 1989 the Penguins defeated the Red Army team 4-2 at the Civic Arena in an exhibition. [1]

1988–89 Schedule

October: 7–4–0 (Home: 5–0–0 ; Road: 2–4–0), 14 Points

November: 7–6–0 (Home: 5–2–0 ; Road: 2–4–0), 14 Points

December: 9–2–3 (Home: 6–1–1 ; Road: 3–1–2), 21 Points

January: 5–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 2–4–0), 11 Points

February: 4–7–3 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–3–2), 11 Points

March: 6–9–0 (Home: 2–5–0 ; Road: 4–4–0), 12 Points

April: 2–0–0 (Home: 1–0–0 ; Road: 1–0–0), 4 Points

Legend: = Win = Loss = Tie

Playoffs

After six frustrating and disappointing seasons, the Penguins finally managed to get into the playoffs for the first time since the 1981-82 season. They swept New York Rangers in the Semifinals, but lost to their rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games.

Playoff log

1989 Stanley Cup playoffs

Patrick Division semi-finals vs No. 3 New York Rangers: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0)

Patrick Division finals vs No. 4 Philadelphia Flyers: 3–4 (Home: 2–2; Road: 1–2)

Legend: = Win = Loss = Playoff series win

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season^[3]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Mario Lemieux	76	85	114	199	41	100
Robert Brown	68	49	66	115	27	118
Paul Coffey	75	30	83	113	–10	195
Dan Quinn	79	34	60	94	–37	102
Bob Errey	76	26	32	58	40	124
John Cullen	79	12	37	49	–25	112
Zarley Zalapski	58	12	33	45	9	57
Randy Cunneyworth	70	25	19	44	–22	156
Phil Bourque	80	17	26	43	–22	97
David Hannan	72	10	20	30	–12	157
Randy Hillier	68	1	23	24	–4	141
James Johnson	76	2	14	16	7	163
Troy Loney	69	10	6	16	–5	165
Kevin Stevens	24	12	3	15	–8	19
Jock Callander	30	6	5	11	–3	20
Steve Dykstra	65	1	6	7	–12	126
William Frawley	46	3	4	7	–1	66
Rod Buskas	52	1	5	6	–2	105
Christopher Dahlquist	43	1	5	6	–8	42
Jay Caufield	58	1	4	5	–4	285
Doug Bodger‡	10	1	4	5	6	7
Gordon Dineen†	38	1	2	3	–5	44
Barry Bjugstad	24	3	0	3	–12	4
Dave McLlwain	24	1	2	3	–11	4
Mark Recchi	15	1	1	2	–2	0
Mark Kachowski	12	1	1	2	1	43
Ville Siren‡	12	1	0	1	0	14
Richard Zemlak†	31	0	0	0	–4	135
Perry Ganchar	3	0	0	0	–3	0

Playoffs^[4]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Mario Lemieux	11	12	7	19	–1	16
Paul Coffey	11	2	13	15	–7	31
Kevin Stevens	11	3	7	10	–1	16
Dan Quinn	11	6	3	9	–6	10
John Cullen	11	3	6	9	4	28
Zarley Zalapski	11	1	8	9	–2	13
Robert Brown	11	5	3	8	–2	22
Randy Cunneyworth	11	3	5	8	–1	26
Jock Callander	10	2	5	7	6	10
Phil Bourque	11	4	1	5	2	66
James Johnson	11	0	5	5	7	44
Troy Loney	11	1	3	4	3	24
Bob Errey	11	1	2	3	1	12
Gordon Dineen	11	0	2	2	8	8
Randy Hillier	9	0	1	1	–1	49
David Hannan	8	0	1	1	0	4
Dave McLlwain	3	0	1	1	0	0
Rod Buskas	10	0	0	0	–1	23
Jay Caufield	9	0	0	0	–2	28
Christopher Dahlquist	2	0	0	0	0	0
Steve Dykstra	1	0	0	0	0	2
Richard Zemlak	1	0	0	0	0	10

Goaltenders

Regular Season^[5]
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	A	PIM
Tom Barrasso†	44	2406:21	18	15	7	162	4.04	1441	0.888	5	49
Wendell Young	22	1150:18	12	9	0	92	4.80	673	0.863	2	4
Frank Pietrangelo	15	669:20	5	3	0	45	4.03	408	0.890	0	2
Steve Guenette	11	573:53	5	6	0	41	4.29	308	0.867	1	0
Richard Tabaracci	1	33:05	0	0	0	4	7.25	21	0.810	0	2

Playoffs^[6]
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Tom Barrasso	11	631:10	7	4	0	40	3.80	388	0.897	0	0	1	8
Wendell Young	1	38:38	0	0	0	1	1.55	11	0.909	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Penguins. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.

Awards and records

Paul Coffey, Defence, NHL First All-Star Team
Mario Lemieux, Center, NHL First All-Star Team
Mario Lemieux, Art Ross Trophy
Mario Lemieux, Center, NHL First All-Star Team
Mario Lemieux, Club Record, Most Assists in One Season (114)
Mario Lemieux, Club Record, Most Points in One Season (199)
Mario Lemieux, NHL Record, Most Shorthanded Goals, One Season (13) ^[7]

Transactions

Trades

September 1, 1988	To Philadelphia Flyers 1990 3rd round pick	To Pittsburgh Penguins Wendell Young 1990 7th round pick
October 3, 1988	To Buffalo Sabres Wayne Van Dorp	To Pittsburgh Penguins 1990 7th round pick
November 1, 1988	To Minnesota North Stars rights to Rob Gaudreau	To Pittsburgh Penguins Richard Zemlak
November 12, 1988	To Buffalo Sabres Doug Bodger Darrin Shannon	To Pittsburgh Penguins Tom Barrasso 1990 3rd round pick
December 17, 1988	To Minnesota North Stars Steve Gotaas Ville Siren	To Pittsburgh Penguins Scott Bjugstad Gord Dineen
January 9, 1989	To Calgary Flames Steve Guenette	To Pittsburgh Penguins 1989 6th round pick
March 6, 1989	To Los Angeles Kings Pat Mayer	To Pittsburgh Penguins Tim Tookey

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team
October 4, 1988	Carl Mokosak	Boston Bruins

Waiver Draft

Date	Player	Former team
October 3, 1988	Jay Caufield	Minnesota North Stars
October 3, 1988	Steve Dykstra Dave Hannan	Edmonton Oilers

Player signings

Player	Date	Contract terms
John Cullen	June 21, 1988	Unknown
Mark Recchi	August 17, 1988	Multi-year contract
Steve Guenette	August 29, 1988	Multi-year contract
Darrin Shannon	September 7, 1988	Multi-year contract
Bruce Racine	September 21, 1988	Multi-year contract
Mario Lemieux	November 1, 1988	1 year/$1.6 million
Dan Quinn	November 5, 1988	Multi-year contract
Jamie Leach	March 22, 1989	Multi-year contract
Dave Michayluk	May 24, 1989	Unknown

Other

Player	Date	Details
Pierre Creamer	June 14, 1988	Replaced as head coach
Gene Ubriaco	June 28, 1988	Hired as head coach
Dave Hunter	October 3, 1988	Sent to Oilers as compensation for claiming Dave Hannan in waiver draft

Roster

#	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	NHL Draft	Birthplace
35	Tom Barrasso	G	R	24	1983	Boston, Massachusetts
27	Barry Bjugstad	LW	L	27	1981	St. Paul, Minnesota
29	Phil Bourque	LW	L	26	Undrafted	Chelmsford, Massachusetts
44	Robert Brown	RW	L	21	1986	Kingston, Ontario
7	Rod Buskas	D	R	28	1981	Wetaskiwin, Alberta
14	Jock Callander	RW	R	28	Undrafted	Regina, Saskatchewan
16	Jay Caufield	RW	R	28	Undrafted	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
77	Paul Coffey	D	L	27	1980	Weston, Ontario
11	John Cullen	C	R	24	1986	Puslinch, Ontario
15	Randy Cunneyworth	LW	L	28	1980	Etobicoke, Ontario
4	Christopher Dahlquist	D	L	26	Undrafted	Fridley, Minnesota
5	Gordon Dineen	D	R	26	1981	Quebec City, Quebec
22	Steve Dykstra	LW	R	26	Undrafted	Edmonton, Alberta
12	Bob Errey	LW	L	24	1983	Montreal, Quebec
28	William Frawley	RW	R	26	1980	Sturgeon Falls, Ontario
20	Perry Ganchar	RW	R	25	1982	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
30	Steve Guenette	G	L	23	Undrafted	Gloucester, Ontario
32	David Hannan	C	L	27	1981	Sudbury, Ontario
23	Randy Hillier	D	L	29	1980	Toronto, Ontario
6	James Johnson	D	L	26	Undrafted	New Hope, Minnesota
26	Mark Kachowski	LW	L	24	Undrafted	Edmonton, Alberta
66	Mario Lemieux	C	R	23	1984	Montreal, Quebec
24	Troy Loney	LW	L	25	1982	Bow Island, Alberta
19	Dave McLlwain	C	L	21	1986	Seaforth, Ontario
40	Frank Pietrangelo	G	L	24	1983	Niagara Falls, Ontario
10	Dan Quinn	C	L	23	1983	Ottawa, Ontario
8	Mark Recchi	RW	L	21	1988	Kamloops, British Columbia
25	Kevin Stevens	LW	L	24	1983	Brockton, Massachusetts
31	Richard Tabaracci	G	L	20	1987	Toronto, Ontario
1	Wendell Young	G	L	25	1981	Halifax, Nova Scotia
33	Zarley Zalapski	D	L	21	1986	Edmonton, Alberta
18	Richard Zemlak	C	R	26	1981	Wynyard, Saskatchewan

Draft picks

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft.^[8]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	4	Darrin Shannon	L	Canada	Windsor Compuware Spitfires (OHL)
2	25	Mark Major	L	Canada	North Bay Centennials (OHL)
3	62^[a]	Daniel Gauthier	L	Canada	Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
4	67	Mark Recchi	R	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
5	88	Greg Andrusak	D	Canada	U. of Minnesota-Duluth (NCAA)
7	130	Troy Mick	L	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
8	151	Jeffrey Blaeser	L	United States	St. John's Prep (Mass H.S.)
9	172	Robert Gaudreau	C	United States	Bishop Hendricken H.S. (RI)
10	193	Donald Pancoe	L	Canada	Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)
11	214	Cory Laylin	L	United States	St. Cloud Apollo H.S. (Minn.)
12	235	Darren Stolk	D	Canada	Lethbridge Broncos (WHL)

Draft notes^[9]

The Pittsburgh Penguins' third-round pick went to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a December 17, 1987 trade that sent Perry Ganchar and future considerations (1988 third-round pick (#62-Daniel Gauthier)) to the Penguins in exchange for a future considerations (this pick).
^a The Montreal Canadiens' third-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a result of a December 17, 1987 trade that sent future considerations (1988 third-round pick (#46-Neil Carnes)) to the Candiens in exchange for Perry Ganchar and future considerations (this pick).
The Pittsburgh Penguins' sixth-round pick went to the Los Angeles Kings as the result of a February 4, 1988 trade that sent Bryan Erickson to the Penguins in exchange for Chris Kontos and future considerations (this pick).

References

Penguins on Hockey Database

^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1989.html
^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "1988–1989 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "1988–1989 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "1988–1989 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "1988–1989 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.181, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
^ "NHL Entry Draft Year by Year Results". NHL.com.
^ "1988 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[1] ttp://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1989.html

[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] "1988–1989 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[4] "1988–1989 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – All Skaters – Summary – Points – NHL.com – Stats". NHL. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[5] "1988–1989 – Regular Season – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[6] "1988–1989 – Playoffs – Pittsburgh Penguins – Goalie – Summary – Wins – NHL.com – Stats". NHL. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[7] National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.181, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5

[8] "NHL Entry Draft Year by Year Results". NHL.com.

[9] "1988 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

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v t e Pittsburgh Penguins
Founded in 1967 Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Expansion draft Seasons Current season
History	1967 expansion Owners Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Fenway Sports Group (majority) Ronald Burkle Mario Lemieux General manager Kyle Dubas Head coach Mike Sullivan Team captain Sidney Crosby Current roster
Arenas	Civic Arena PPG Paints Arena
Rivalries	Philadelphia Flyers Washington Capitals
Affiliates	AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ECHL Wheeling Nailers
Media	TV AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh Radio Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network WXDX WBGG
Culture and lore	Penguins lore Bob Gessner Vince Lascheid Jeff Jimerson Penguin Pete Iceburgh Russian Penguins YinzCam Foundation Sudden Death She's Out of My League "Black and Yellow" Penguins–Islanders brawl 2008 NHL Winter Classic 2011 NHL Winter Classic 2014 NHL Stadium Series 2017 NHL Stadium Series 2019 NHL Stadium Series Mullet (haircut) 2023 NHL Winter Classic 2024 Big City Greens Classic
Category Commons

v t e Pittsburgh Penguins seasons
1960s	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 1988–89 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
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e 1988–89 NHL season
Patrick	New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal 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