The 1988 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1987–88 season, and the culmination of the 1988 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins. The Oilers would win the series in a four game sweep to win their fourth championship.^[a] This was the seventh of nine consecutive Finals contested by a team from Western Canada, sixth of eight by a team from Alberta (the Oilers appeared in six of them, the Calgary Flames in two, and the Vancouver Canucks in one), and the last of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice (the Oilers won four such Cups, the Montreal Canadiens the other). The series is remembered for the power failure that occurred during game four at Boston Garden, which caused that game to be suspended. The league decided to replay game four at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, at the site, date and time that was originally scheduled for game five. Game 5 is also the final time that Wayne Gretzky appeared in an Edmonton Oilers uniform as he was traded to Los Angeles just prior to the next season.

Paths to the Finals

The Oilers cruised into the Finals with relative ease, losing only two games in the process. They beat the Winnipeg Jets in five games, swept the Calgary Flames, and then beat the Detroit Red Wings in five to win the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for the fifth time in six years.

The Bruins, meanwhile, had a much harder road. It took them six games to knock off the Buffalo Sabres, then beat their longtime rivals the Montreal Canadiens in five games, and then needed the full seven games to beat the New Jersey Devils to claim the Prince of Wales Trophy.

Game summaries

The Finals pitted the Oilers' offensive juggernaut against the Bruins' more balanced team. The Oilers showed their defensive prowess, surrendering just nine goals in the four completed games. Ray Bourque was physical in defending against Gretzky, but that would not ground the "Great One" on his way to claiming his second Conn Smythe Trophy and setting playoff records with 31 assists in just 18 games, and 13 points in the Finals series.

Game one

Summary

Game two

Summary

Game three

Summary

Game four (suspended)

Glenn Anderson set a new record for quickest goal from the start of a Finals game when he scored ten seconds into the contest. That record was tied two years later in the third game of the 1990 Finals by John Byce who, in a twist, was playing for the Bruins against the Oilers.^[1] Fog interfered with the game, requiring stoppages during the second period so that all 40+ players could skate around the ice to clear it away. The Oilers scored with 3:23 left in the second period, tying the game at 3–3, then the arena suffered a power failure before the ensuing face-off. The teams were sent to their dressing room until – after a very long delay and no change in the situation – NHL President John Ziegler Jr. announced that the game was suspended.^[2] Despite the game being suspended and replayed, Anderson's record is official.

Game four was subsequently rescheduled and moved to Edmonton, which was originally set to be the site of a game five if necessary. The Oilers won that game, sweeping the series and winning their fourth Stanley Cup in five years. Had the Bruins extended the series to the full seven games, game five would have been played on the original date for game six in Boston, Edmonton would have hosted the rescheduled game six, and then game seven would have been played in Boston as the makeup game.^[3][4][5]

Game four

Summary

Series summary

Boston Bruins vs. Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4–0^[a]

Team rosters

Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.

Boston Bruins

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
33		John Blum	D	R	1983–84	Detroit, Michigan	first (did not play)
77		Ray Bourque – C	D	L	1979	Saint-Laurent, Quebec	first
12		Randy Burridge	LW	L	1985	Fort Erie, Ontario	first
34		Lyndon Byers	RW	R	1982	Nipawin, Saskatchewan	first
18		Keith Crowder – A	RW	R	1979	Windsor, Ontario	first
40		Greg Hawgood	D	L	1986	Edmonton, Alberta	first
23		Craig Janney	C	L	1986	Hartford, Connecticut	first
39		Greg Johnston	RW	R	1983	Barrie, Ontario	first
27		Bob Joyce	LW	L	1987–88	Saint John, New Brunswick	first
11		Steve Kasper	C	L	1980	Saint-Lambert, Quebec	first
6		Gord Kluzak	D	L	1982	Climax, Saskatchewan	first
28		Reed Larson	D	R	1985–86	Minneapolis, Minnesota	first
37		Moe Lemay	LW	L	1987–88	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	second (1987)
1		Rejean Lemelin	G	L	1987–88	Quebec City, Quebec	second (1986)
13		Ken Linseman	C	L	1984–85	Kingston, Ontario	fourth (1980, 1983, 1984)
17		Nevin Markwart	LW	L	1983	Toronto, Ontario	first
19		Tom McCarthy	LW	L	1986–87	Toronto, Ontario	second (1981)
16		Rick Middleton – C	C	L	1976–77	Toronto, Ontario	third (1977, 1978)
29		Jay Miller	LW	L	1985–86	Wellesley, Massachusetts	first
35		Andy Moog	G	L	1987–88	Penticton, British Columbia	fifth (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987)
8		Cam Neely	RW	R	1986–87	Comox, British Columbia	first
10		Billy O'Dwyer	C	L	1987–88	South Boston, Massachusetts	first
41		Allen Pedersen	D	L	1983	Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta	first
25		Willi Plett	RW	R	1987–88	Asunción, Paraguay	first
40		Bruce Shoebottom	D	L	1987–88	Windsor, Ontario	first (did not play)
42		Bob Sweeney	C	R	1982	Concord, Massachusetts	first
22		Michael Thelven	D	R	1980	Stockholm, Sweden	first
26		Glen Wesley	D	L	1987	Red Deer, Alberta	first

Edmonton Oilers

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
12		Keith Acton	C	L	1987–88	Stouffville, Ontario	first
9		Glenn Anderson	RW	L	1979	Vancouver, British Columbia	fifth (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987)
6		Jeff Beukeboom	D	R	1983	Ajax, Ontario	second (1987)
15		Geoff Courtnall	LW	L	1987–88	Victoria, British Columbia	first
31		Grant Fuhr	G	R	1981	Spruce Grove, Alberta	fifth (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987)
21		Randy Gregg	D	L	1981–82	Edmonton, Alberta	fifth (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987)
99		Wayne Gretzky – C	C	L	1979–80	Brantford, Ontario	fifth (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987)
12		Dave Hannan	C	L	1987–88	Onaping Falls, Ontario	first
22		Charlie Huddy	D	L	1980–81	Oshawa, Ontario	fifth (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987)
26		Mike Krushelnyski	C	L	1984–85	Montreal, Quebec	third (1985, 1987)
17		Jari Kurri	RW	R	1980	Helsinki, Finland	fifth (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987)
19		Normand Lacombe	RW	R	1987–88	Montreal, Quebec	first
4		Kevin Lowe – A	D	L	1979	Lachute, Quebec	fifth (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987)
14		Craig MacTavish	C	L	1985–86	London, Ontario	second (1987)
24		Kevin McClelland	RW	R	1983–84	Oshawa, Ontario	fourth (1984, 1985, 1987)
33		Marty McSorley	D	R	1985–86	Hamilton, Ontario	second (1987)
11		Mark Messier – A	LW	L	1979	Edmonton, Alberta	fifth (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987)
28		Craig Muni	D	L	1986–87	Toronto, Ontario	second (1987)
30		Bill Ranford	G	L	1987–88	Brandon, Manitoba	first
18		Craig Simpson	LW	R	1987–88	London, Ontario	first
5		Steve Smith	D	L	1981	Glasgow, Scotland	second (1987)
10		Esa Tikkanen	LW	L	1983	Helsinki, Finland	third (1985, 1987)

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1988 Stanley Cup was presented to Oilers captain Wayne Gretzky by NHL President John Ziegler following the Oilers 6–3 win over the Bruins in game four.

The following Oilers players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1987–88 Edmonton Oilers

Players

Stanley Cup engraving

• #29 Daryl Reaugh (backup goalie) joined the team after Andy Moog left in September to play for Team Canada, and at the 1988 Olympics. Reaugh would play 6 games (dressed for 60). After the Olympics, Moog was traded to Boston Bruins for minor leaguer goalie Bill Ranford. Reaugh was sent to the minors, being recalled during the conference finals. His name was left off, because he was playing in the minors after the trade deadline. Reaugh was included on the team picture.
• #20 Steve Dykstra played 42 NHL games in 1987–88 season. Dykstra joined Edmonton in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres, playing in 15 of the Oilers last 21 games, but not in the playoffs. He was left off, because he did not play all 42 games with Edmonton.
• #32 Jim Wiemer played 12 regular season games and two games in Conference Finals. He was left off the Stanley Cup because he did not play in the finals
• This would mark the final time Wayne Gretzky would win the Stanley Cup.

Team picture on the ice, after winning a championship

• After the Oilers won the 1988 Stanley Cup, Wayne Gretzky (in what ended up being his last game with the Oilers) requested a picture on the ice with all the players, and all non-playing members including management, coaches, trainers, scouts, locker room assistants. The team honoured his request, and it has remained a tradition followed by each Stanley Cup-winning team. The team picture tradition after winning a championship then became a tradition followed by most hockey championship teams at all levels around the world.

Gretzky wanted every member of the Oilers to be included on the team picture. However, when the cup was engraved all five scouts were left off: Garnet Bailey, Ed Chadwick, Lorne Davis, Matti Vaisanen (on the Cup in 1985, 1987, 1990), Bob Freeman (part time, not on the Cup). The Oilers also left three players off the Stanley Cup: Daryl Reaugh, Steve Dykstra, Jim Weimer. Bill Tuele (Public Relations Director) had his name added to the cup for the first time. He has rings with the Oilers in 1984, 1985, 1987, but his name was not put on the Stanley Cup those seasons.

Broadcasting

In the United States, this was the final year under ESPN's national three-year deal. Under the U.S. TV contracts that would take effect beginning next season, SportsChannel America would take over as the NHL's American television partner.

ESPN's coverage of the 1988 Cup Finals was blacked out locally in the Boston area due to WSBK and NESN's local rights to Bruins games.

In Canada, this was the second and final year that the English-language rights to the Cup Finals was split between the Global-Canwest consortium and the CBC. Global aired games one and two. The CBC aired game three, then both the original and replayed game fours. CBC had the rights to game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and Canwest/Global also had the rights to games 6 & 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins (both CBC and Canwest/Global had the rights of Game 7, using separate production facilities and separate on-air talent), which were not necessary.^[3][4][5]