1988–89 Detroit Red Wings season
The 1988–89 Detroit Red Wings season saw the Red Wings finish in first place in the Norris Division with a record of 34 wins, 34 losses, and 12 ties for 80 points. They lost the Division Semi-finals four games to two to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Offseason
NHL Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | College/junior/club team |
| 1 | 17 | Kory Kocur | Saskatoon Blades | |
| 2 | 38 | Serge Anglehart | Drummondville Voltigeurs | |
| 3 | 47 | Guy Dupuis | Hull Olympiques | |
| 3 | 59 | Petr Hrbek | Sparta Prague | |
| 4 | 80 | Sheldon Kennedy | Swift Current Broncos | |
| 7 | 143 | Kelly Hurd | Michigan Technological University | |
| 8 | 164 | Brian McCormack | St. Paul's School | |
| 9 | 185 | Jody Praznik | Colorado College | |
| 10 | 206 | Glen Goodall | Seattle Thunderbirds | |
| 11 | 227 | Darren Colbourne | Cornwall Royals | |
| 12 | 248 | Don Stone | University of Michigan | |
| S | 22 | Gary Shuchuk | University of Wisconsin |
Regular season
- October 6, 1988: In a game against the Detroit Red Wings, Wayne Gretzky made his debut as a member of the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky scored on his first shot, and contributed 3 assists in an 8-2 victory.
Final standings
Schedule and results
Player statistics
Skaters
| Player | ||||||
| 80 | 65 | 90 | 155 | 17 | 61 | |
| 76 | 39 | 54 | 93 | 7 | 230 | |
| 69 | 16 | 62 | 78 | 14 | ||
| 76 | 36 | 35 | 71 | 7 | 118 | |
| 73 | 27 | 32 | 59 | 12 | 69 | |
| 65 | 12 | 35 | 47 | 149 | ||
| 79 | 19 | 27 | 46 | 5 | 78 | |
| 66 | 10 | 32 | 42 | 6 | 100 | |
| 51 | 25 | 16 | 41 | 5 | 44 | |
| 75 | 1 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 106 | |
| 60 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 213 | ||
| 66 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 41 | ||
| ‡ | 23 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 47 | |
| 71 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 83 | ||
| 42 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 62 | |
| 46 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 26 | |
| 57 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 17 | 67 | |
| 52 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 6 | ||
| 56 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 60 | ||
| ‡ | 39 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 130 | |
| 26 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 28 | ||
| 25 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 106 | ||
| 16 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 55 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 168 | ||
| † | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 63 |
| 42 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 51 | ||
| 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| ‡ | 18 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 36 | |
| 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | ||||||
| 6 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | ||
| 6 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 19 | |
| 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | |
| 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 16 | |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |
| 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 40 | ||
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | ||
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltending
| Player | |||||||||
| 5 | 294 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 3.67 | 151 | 0.881 | 0 | |
| 2 | 78 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5.38 | 47 | 0.851 | 0 |
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Red Wings. Stats reflect time with the Red Wings only.
‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record
Playoffs
The Red Wings won their second straight division championship and went against Chicago in the first round in a best of seven series and lost in 6 games, or 2-4.Awards and records
- Steve Yzerman, Club Record, Most Points in One Season
- Steve Yzerman, Lester B. Pearson Award
- Gerard Gallant, Left Wing, NHL Second All-Star Team