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The 1986-87 NHL season was the 70th season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. The Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to three in the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals.

Regular Season[]

The Oilers won their second straight Presidents' Trophy as the top team and Wayne Gretzky won his eighth straight Hart Trophy and his seventh straight Art Ross Trophy.

Francis "King" Clancy, former defenceman with Ottawa and Toronto, had to undergo surgery to remove his gall bladder. Unfortunately, infection from the gall bladder seeped into his body during surgery, causing him to go into septic shock. He died November 10th, 1986.

Final Standings[]

Prince of Wales Conference[]

Adams Division
  GP W L T GF GA PTS
Hartford Whalers 80 43 30 7 287 270 93
Montreal Canadiens 80 41 29 10 277 241 92
Boston Bruins 80 39 34 7 301 276 85
Quebec Nordiques 80 31 39 10 267 276 72
Buffalo Sabres 80 28 44 8 280 308 64

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Patrick Division
  GP W L T GF GA PTS
Philadelphia Flyers 80 46 26 8 310 245 100
Washington Capitals 80 38 32 10 285 278 86
New York Islanders 80 35 33 12 279 281 82
New York Rangers 80 34 38 8 307 323 76
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 30 38 12 297 290 72
New Jersey Devils 80 29 45 6 293 368 64

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


Clarence Campbell Conference[]

Smythe Division
  GP W L T GF GA PTS
Edmonton Oilers 80 50 24 6 372 284 106
Calgary Flames 80 46 31 3 318 289 95
Winnipeg Jets 80 40 32 8 279 271 88
Los Angeles Kings 80 31 41 8 318 341 70
Vancouver Canucks 80 29 43 8 282 314 66

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Norris Division
  GP W L T GF GA PTS
St. Louis Blues 80 32 33 15 281 293 79
Detroit Red Wings 80 34 36 10 260 274 78
Chicago Blackhawks 80 29 37 14 290 310 72
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 32 42 6 286 319 70
Minnesota North Stars 80 30 40 10 296 314 70

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


Scoring Leaders[]

Note: GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers 79 62 121 183 28
Jari Kurri Edmonton Oilers 79 54 54 108 41
Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins 63 54 53 107 57
Mark Messier Edmonton Oilers 77 37 70 107 73
Doug Gilmour St. Louis Blues 80 42 63 105 58
Dino Ciccarelli Minnesota North Stars 80 52 51 103 92
Dale Hawerchuk Winnipeg Jets 80 47 53 100 54
Michel Goulet Quebec Nordiques 75 49 47 96 61
Tim Kerr Philadelphia Flyers 75 58 37 95 57
Raymond Bourque Boston Bruins 78 23 72 95 36

Stanley Cup Playoffs[]

Note: all dates in 1987 In attempts to reduce the number of first round upsets, the NHL expanded the best-of-five series in the first round to a best-of-seven series.

Playoff Bracket[]

  Division Semifinals Division Finals Conference Finals Finals
                                     
A1  Hartford Whalers 2  
A4  Quebec Nordiques 4  
  A2  Montreal Canadiens 4  
  A4  Quebec Nordiques 3  
A2  Montreal Canadiens 4
A3  Boston Bruins 0  
  A1  Montreal Canadiens 2  
  P1  Philadelphia Flyers 4  
P1  Philadelphia Flyers 4  
P4  New York Rangers 2  
  P1  Philadelphia Flyers 4
  P3  New York Islanders 3  
P2  Washington Capitals 3
P3  New York Islanders 4  
  P1  Philadelphia Flyers 3
  S1  Edmonton Oilers 4
N1  St. Louis Blues 2  
N4  Toronto Maple Leafs 4  
  N4  Toronto Maple Leafs 3
  N2  Detroit Red Wings 4  
N2  Detroit Red Wings 4
N3  Chicago Black Hawks 0  
  N2  Detroit Red Wings 1
  S1  Edmonton Oilers 4  
S1  Edmonton Oilers 4  
S4  Los Angeles Kings 1  
  S1  Edmonton Oilers 4
  S3  Winnipeg Jets 0  
S2  Calgary Flames 2
S3  Winnipeg Jets 4  

Finals[]

Edmonton Oilers Vs. Philadelphia Flyers

see 1987 Stanley Cup Finals

The Oilers and Flyers met again in the finals for the second time in three years. This time, Edmonton was the regular season champion with 50 wins and 106 points, and Philadelphia was second with 46 wins and 100 points.

Unlike the 1985 final, this series would go the distance. Edmonton took the first two games at home, then split in Philadelphia. However, the Flyers won the next two games, one in Edmonton and one back in Philadelphia by one goal, to force a deciding seventh game. Edmonton won Game 7 to earn its third Stanley Cup in four seasons.

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
May 17 Philadelphia 2 Edmonton 4
May 20 Philadelphia 2 Edmonton 3 (OT)
May 22 Edmonton 3 Philadelphia 5
May 24 Edmonton 4 Philadelphia 1
May 26 Philadelphia 4 Edmonton 3
May 28 Edmonton 2 Philadelphia 3
May 30 Philadelphia 1 Edmonton 3

Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4-3

Playoff Scoring Leaders[]

NHL Awards[]

Presidents' Trophy: Edmonton Oilers
Prince of Wales Trophy: Philadelphia Flyers
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: Edmonton Oilers
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Doug Jarvis, Hartford Whalers
Calder Memorial Trophy: Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings
Conn Smythe Trophy: Ron Hextall, Philadelphia Flyers
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Dave Poulin, Philadelphia Flyers
Hart Memorial Trophy: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Jack Adams Award: Jacques Demers, Detroit Red Wings
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Joe Mullen, Calgary Flames
Lester B. Pearson Award: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
NHL Plus/Minus Award: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
William M. Jennings Trophy: Patrick Roy/Brian Hayward, Montreal Canadiens
Vezina Trophy: Ron Hextall, Philadelphia Flyers
Lester Patrick Trophy: Hobey Baker, Frank Mathers

All-Star Teams[]

First Team   Position   Second Team
Ron Hextall, Philadelphia Flyers G Mike Liut, Hartford Whalers
Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins D Larry Murphy, Washington Capitals
Mark Howe, Philadelphia Flyers D Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames
Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers C Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
Jari Kurri, Edmonton Oilers RW Tim Kerr, Philadelphia Flyers
Michel Goulet, Quebec Nordiques LW Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings

Debuts[]

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1986-87 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last Games[]

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1986-87 (listed with their last team):

See Also[]

References[]


NHL Seasons

1982-83 | 1983-84 | 1984-85 | 1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88 | 1988-89 | 1989-90 | 1990-91

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