The 1988–90 Hartford Whalers season was the Whalers'

eleventh In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a f ...

season in the National Hockey League.

Offseason

On May 12, 1989, the Whalers announced that general manager Emile Francis would be promoted to team president. Replacing Francis as general manager of the club was Eddie Johnston. Johnston had previously held the general manager position with the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1983 to 1988. During his tenure with the Penguins, the club drafted Mario Lemieux with the first overall selection in the

1984 NHL Entry Draft The 1984 NHL Entry Draft was the 22nd NHL Entry Draft. It took place on June 9, 1984, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. The 1984 Entry Draft is noted for the unusually high number of future Hall of Famers picked, particularly in lower ...

. Four days later, on May 16, Johnston fired head coach

Larry Pleau Lawrence Winslow Pleau (born January 29, 1947) is an American former ice hockey player who is currently the senior advisor to the general manager for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He formerly served as senior vice presid ...

. Pleau led the Whalers to a 81-117-26 record over parts of five seasons as head coach of the club from 1980 to 1988. Pleau also had previously been the general manager of the club from 1981 to 1983. Just over two weeks later, Hartford hired Rick Ley to take over as head coach of the team. Ley had played with the Whalers when they played in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1979, then in the National Hockey League from 1979 to 1981. Ley would have his number retired by the club on December 26, 1982. In 1981-82, Ley worked as an assistant coach with the Whalers. Midway in the 1982-83, Ley took over head coaching duties with the Binghamton Whalers, leading them to a 22-17-5 record in 44 games. From 1984 to 1988, Ley was the head coach of the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the IHL, leading the club to three 50+ win seasons in four years, while winning the Turner Cup during the 1985-86 season. In 1988-89, Ley coached the Milwaukee Admirals, leading the team to a 54-23-5 record in his only season with the club. At the

1989 NHL Entry Draft The 1989 NHL Entry Draft was the 27th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 17 at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Detroit Red Wings' 1989 draft has been noted as exceptionally successful, with 5,955 total NHL games played by the pla ...

, held at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota on June 17, the Whalers selected

Bobby Holik Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constab ...

from Dukla Jihlava of the

Czechoslovak Extraliga The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1936 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split. History ...

. In 36 games during the 1988-89 season, Holik scored 10 goals and 25 points in 35 games. Other notable selections that Hartford made include

Blair Atcheynum Blair Michael Atcheynum (born April 20, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. Atcheynum from Sweetgrass First Nation is of Cree descent. Playing career Atcheynum was selected in the third round, 52nd overall, by the ...

, Jim McKenzie, James Black, Scott Daniels and Michel Picard. At the draft, the Whalers made a trade with the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

. Hartford acquired

Pat Verbeek Patrick Martin Verbeek (born May 24, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current general manager of the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Verbeek played for five teams over a 20-year playing career, ear ...

from the Devils in exchange for Sylvain Turgeon. In 1988-89, Verbeek scored 26 goals and 47 points in 77 games. His best season with New Jersey was in 1987-88, as Verbeek scored 46 goals and 77 points in 73 games, helping the club reach the post-season for the first time since the team relocated to New Jersey. In 463 career games, Verbeek scored 170 goals and 320 points since joining the Devils in 1982. At the

1989 NHL Supplemental Draft The 1989 NHL Supplemental Draft was the fourth NHL Supplemental Draft. It was held on June 16, 1989. Selections by round Round one The first round was limited to teams that missed the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs. Round two See also *1989 NHL En ...

, the Whalers selected Chris Tancill. In 44 games during the 1988-89 season with the Wisconsin Badgers, Tancill scored 20 goals and 43 points. On July 1,

Brent Peterson Brent Ronald Peterson (born February 15, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with four clubs, primarily as a low-scoring checker with a reputation as a st ...

announced his retirement from hockey. Nineteen days later, the Whalers hired Peterson as an assistant coach. The Whalers acquired Mikael Andersson from the Minnesota North Stars at the Waiver Draft held on October 2. Andersson played in 14 games with the Buffalo Sabres during the 1988-89 season, earning an assist. In 56 games with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, Andersson scored 18 goals and 51 points.

Regular season

Final standings

Schedule and results

Playoffs

The Whalers lost to the Bruins 4 games to 3 in the Adams semi-finals.

Player statistics

Awards and records

Transactions

The Whalers were involved in the following transactions during the 1989–90 season.

Trades

Waivers

Free agents

Draft picks

Hartford's draft picks at the

held at the Met Center in

Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, on the north bank of the Minnesota River, above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 89,987, ma ...

Farm teams

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1989-90 Hartford Whalers season Hart Hart Hartford Whalers seasons 1989 in sports in Connecticut Hart