Any hockey team better than the 1987-88 Edmonton Oilers?

Question

They had a record of 16 wins and 2 losses in the playoffs--against tough, tough competition. Here's a breakdown of their amazing playoff stats...87 goals for...57 goals against...team scored on 17.0% of their shots, league average was 12.9% (by comparision the Ducks in 2007 playoffs scored on 9.1% of their shots against the league average of 8.1%) Again, advantage Oilers over all competition:-)...More amazing stats you probably don't know...Craig Simpson scored 13 goals on 33 shots in the 88 playoffs, for a shooting percentage of 39.4%. He played on the second line by the way:-) Talk about depth eh?...Line combinations were Tikkanen-Gretzky-Kurri (first line) and Anderson-Messier-Simpson (second line). These two fearsome line combined for 69 of the team's 87 goals...A perfect 11-0 home record in playoffs. Can anyone beat that? ;-)...The Oilers beat the best team (Flames) in 4 straight, Wings (in 5), Bruins for the Cup (in 4 straight) The only weak team they faced (Jets), beat em in 5.

Rich: as you should know, playoffs are what matters most NOT regular season glory. The players are after the Stanley Cup NOT the league title. Now with this in mind, theres probably no team better than my 88 Oilers. NO team can beat a 16-2 playoff record. Maybe some Canada Cup teams come close, who knows, but please anybody who mentions Canadiens of 1975-79 are very very wrong. Great team, yes. But they played in a terribly weak NHL. Lots of lousy teams in those days. Now, you might say well the Oilers played shabby defense, I'll give you that but its results that matter, and a 16-2 playoff record is better than amazing, its simply incredible. Tip your hat off to them, you won't see another team like that. Pocklington did a league a favor when he traded Gretzky during that 88 summer because we all know the Oilers would have won another 3 or 4 Stanley Cups with number 99 in Edmonton.

kisconappi: you mention the 1981-82 Islanders. Fine. Great team with only 16 regular season losses, but youre forgetting somewhen you mention their consecutive series won (it was 19 and not 16 like you mentionned LOL), the Islanders faced terribly shabby competition in the 1981 playoffs (Maple Leafs, Oilers, and Rangers) in first three rounds, cakewalk for any team esp the Islanders. Now I'm not saying the Islanders wouldn't have won the Cup that year of course they would have but they would NOT have garnered a 15-3 record.

Bob Loblaw: I was expecting someone of your expertise to answer my question LOL Anyone with a 20%+ BEST ANSWER rating is gonna give me a good challenge. Ok 80% of production doesnt bode well with any coach but does it really matter where you get your production from? I think the competition was much better than say the Islanders of 1981 or 1982 faced. Of the 4 teams the Isles met in 81, 3 of them were sub 500 and only the North Stars in the final were competition of any kind. In 1982, they faced Canucks with a 30-33-17 season record not exactly the competition Arbour and company wanted to showcase their talent. Granted, the Isles were a great team, but far, far from the best.

Answer 1

I'm going to say that the 1975-76 Montreal Canadiens and the 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens were both better. Aside from goals for, I can't find any category in which the Edmonton team was better.

1) Regular Season Record of Playoff Opponents
1975-76 Montreal Canadiens 125-64-51 (0.627) (best in NHL history)
1976-77 Montreal Canadiens 129-79-32 (0.604) (7th best in NHL history)
1987-88 Edmonton Oilers 166-117-37 (0.576) (55th best in NHL history)


2) Playoff Record
1975-76 Montreal Canadiens 13 games, 12 wins 0.923 (best overall since expansion)
1976-77 Montreal Canadiens 14 games, 12 wins 0.857
1987-88 Edmonton Oilers 19 games, 16 wins 0.842 (there was a suspended game, they didn't sweep Boston)

3) Playoff Scoring
1987-88 Edmonton Oilers 87 goals in 1135m 33s, 4.59 (9th highest in history (1981-82 Islanders hold this record))
1976-77 Montreal Canadiens 54 goals in 848m 30s, 3.82
1975-76 Montreal Canadiens 44 goals in 780m 00s, 3.38

4) Playoff Defence
1976-77 Montreal Canadiens 23 goals in 848m 30s, 1.63 (best since expansion)
1975-76 Montreal Canadiens 26 goals in 780m 00s, 2.00
1987-88 Edmonton Oilers 56 goals in 1135m 33s, 2.96

5) Goal Differential
1976-77 Montreal Canadiens 3.82-1.63 = 2.19 (3rd best in NHL history (1981-82 Islanders hold this record))
1987-88 Edmonton Oilers 4.59-2.96 = 1.63 (7th best in NHL history)
1975-76 Montreal Canadiens 3.38-2.00 = 1.38 (12th best in NHL history

6) Scoring Percentage
1976-77 Montreal Canadiens 54 goals on 287 shots, 18.82%
1975-76 Montreal Canadiens 44 goals on 251 shots, 17.53%
1987-88 Edmonton Oilers 87 goals on 514 shots, 16.93%

7) Power Play Percentage
1976-77 Montreal Canadiens 16 goals in 46 chances, 34.78% (regular season percenatge was 36% - highest in NHL history)
1975-76 Montreal Canadiens 13 goals in 41 chances, 31.70%
1987-88 Edmonton Oilers 32 goals in 117 chances, 27.35%

Note: 21 teams have won the Cup without losing a game at home, including 1975-76 Canadiens, 1976-77 Canadiens, 1978-79 Canadiens

The 1981-82 Islanders scored 97 goals in 18 games, only giving up 48

Answer 2

The Canadiens, 1976-77 only lost 8 games all year and won the Stanley Cup. The Candians of the late 60's and early 70's, although not breaking records, were extremely tough. The Red Wings in the early/mid 1950's won the regular season Championship 7 years in a row. You made a good case for a strong playoff year, but that doesn't make them the best team. Probably the best question would be not which is the best team, but what MAKES a team best!

Answer 3

overall for the period of historical past the oilers of direction arfe the extra suitable team, seem the cups and the corridor of famers. This 3 hundred and sixty 5 days it could bypass the two way, they do seem extra suitable on paper, yet that became the case final 3 hundred and sixty 5 days and that they have got been knocked out interior the 1st around. i think of the oilers are extra balanced team, who play with extra heart. the main uninteresting communities interior the leauge to observe or the wild and the flames, the two superb are the oilers and sabers.

Answer 4

I think the Habs had a few better teams throughout their history with better depth, the NYI dynasty was a good one too. Having two lines get 80% of your scoring isn't necessarily a great thing. Habs had teams 3-4 lines deep with much better goaltending. I also question the "tough, tough competition."

Answer 5

I think the 81-82 Islanders were the best team ever. They also had a better coach. That whole dynasty was amazing, 16 straight playoff round victories.

Answer 6

The 1987 & 1991 Canada World Cup team was pretty amazing as well.... Gretzky & Mario on the same team....

Answer 7

1955-1960 Montreal Canadiens. Five consecutive Stanley Cups, something that no pro sports team has outdone. Ever.

Answer 8

The Canadians dynasties were better but that's just because they got to draft the top 6 french canadian players. If it were like that today they'd have Crosby, lecavelier, broduer, and luongo. classic french never fighting fair.

Answer 9

Of all the teams that I have seen play, I think the Oilers were the best, begrudgingly.