1986–87 NHL season
The 1986–87 NHL season was the 70th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to three in the Cup finals.
League business
The Chicago-based club officially changed their name from the two-worded "Black Hawks" to the one-worded "Blackhawks" based on the spelling found in their original franchise documents.Regular season
The Oilers won their second straight Presidents' Trophy as the top team and Wayne Gretzky won his eighth straight Hart Memorial Trophy and his seventh straight Art Ross Trophy.On November 26, 1986, Toronto's Borje Salming was accidentally cut in the face by a skate, requiring more than 200 stitches. It was the third injury to his face and Salming returned to play wearing a visor.
On January 22, 1987, a massive blizzard resulted in only 334 spectators attending the game between the New Jersey Devils and the Calgary Flames at the Brendan Byrne Arena, leading to the Devils dubbing the spectators the "334 Club".
On April 4, 1987, the Islanders' Denis Potvin became the first NHL defenceman to reach 1000 points. A shot by the Islanders' Mikko Makela deflected in off Potvin's arm in a 6–6 shootout between the Islanders and Sabres.
Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutesPrince of Wales Conference
Clarence Campbell Conference
Playoffs
In an attempt 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
Stanley Cup Finals
The Oilers and Flyers would meet again in the final 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 full seven games. 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 seven to earn its third Stanley Cup in four seasons.Awards
All-Star teams
Source: NHLPlayer statistics
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes, PPG = Powerplay Goals, SHG = Shorthanded Goals, GWG = Game Winning GoalsPlayer | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | 79 | 62 | 121 | 183 | 28 | +70 | 13 | 7 | 4 |
Jari Kurri | Edmonton Oilers | 79 | 54 | 54 | 108 | 41 | +35 | 12 | 5 | 10 |
Mario Lemieux | Pittsburgh Penguins | 63 | 54 | 53 | 107 | 57 | +13 | 19 | 0 | 4 |
Mark Messier | Edmonton Oilers | 77 | 37 | 70 | 107 | 73 | +21 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
Doug Gilmour | St. Louis Blues | 80 | 42 | 63 | 105 | 58 | -2 | 17 | 1 | 2 |
Dino Ciccarelli | Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 52 | 51 | 103 | 88 | +10 | 22 | 0 | 5 |
Dale Hawerchuk | Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 47 | 53 | 100 | 52 | +3 | 10 | 0 | 4 |
Michel Goulet | Quebec Nordiques | 75 | 49 | 47 | 96 | 61 | -12 | 17 | 0 | 6 |
Tim Kerr | Philadelphia Flyers | 75 | 58 | 37 | 95 | 57 | +38 | 26 | 0 | 10 |
Ray Bourque | Boston Bruins | 78 | 23 | 72 | 95 | 36 | +44 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
Source: NHL.
Leading goaltenders
Minimum 2000 min. GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentageGoalie | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | SO | GAA | Sv% |
Brian Hayward | Montreal Canadiens | 37 | 2178 | 19 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 2.81 | .894 |
Patrick Roy | Montreal Canadiens | 46 | 2686 | 22 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 2.94 | .892 |
Ron Hextall | Philadelphia Flyers | 66 | 3799 | 37 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 3.00 | .902 |
Pete Peeters | Washington Capitals | 37 | 2002 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 3.21 | .885 |
Mike Liut | Hartford Whalers | 59 | 3476 | 31 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 3.23 | .885 |
Eldon Reddick | Winnipeg Jets | 48 | 2762 | 21 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 3.24 | .881 |
Bob Mason | Washington Capitals | 45 | 2536 | 20 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 3.24 | .890 |
Kelly Hrudey | New York Islanders | 46 | 2634 | 25 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 3.30 | .881 |
Bill Ranford | Boston Bruins | 41 | 2231 | 16 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 3.33 | .891 |
Clint Malarchuk | Quebec Nordiques | 54 | 3092 | 18 | 26 | 9 | 1 | 3.40 | .884 |
Coaches
Patrick Division
- New Jersey Devils: Doug Carpenter
- New York Islanders: Terry Simpson
- New York Rangers: Tom Webster
- Philadelphia Flyers: Mike Keenan
- Pittsburgh Penguins: Bob Berry
- Washington Capitals: Bryan Murray
Adams Division
- Boston Bruins: Terry O'Reilly
- Buffalo Sabres: Scotty Bowman and Craig Ramsay
- Hartford Whalers: Jack Evans
- Montreal Canadiens: Jean Perron
- Quebec Nordiques: Michel Bergeron
Norris Division
- Chicago Blackhawks: Bob Pulford
- Detroit Red Wings: Jacques Demers
- Minnesota North Stars: Lorne Henning and Glen Sonmor
- St. Louis Blues: Jacques Martin
- Toronto Maple Leafs: John Brophy
Smythe Division
- Calgary Flames: Bob Johnson
- Edmonton Oilers: Glen Sather
- Los Angeles Kings: Pat Quinn and Mike Murphy
- Vancouver Canucks: Tom Watt
- Winnipeg Jets: Dan Maloney
Debuts
- Gary Roberts, Calgary Flames
- Joe Nieuwendyk, Calgary Flames
- Dave Manson, Chicago Blackhawks
- Joe Murphy, Detroit Red Wings
- Steve Chiasson, Detroit Red Wings
- Kelly Buchberger*, Edmonton Oilers
- Jimmy Carson, Los Angeles Kings
- Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings
- Steve Duchesne, Los Angeles Kings
- Craig Berube, Philadelphia Flyers
- Ron Hextall, Philadelphia Flyers
- Vincent Damphousse, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Fredrik Olausson, Winnipeg Jets
Last games
- Thomas Gradin, Boston Bruins
- Mike Milbury, Boston Bruins
- Lee Fogolin, Buffalo Sabres
- Don Lever, Buffalo Sabres
- Gilbert Perreault, Buffalo Sabres
- Phil Russell, Buffalo Sabres
- Doug Risebrough, Calgary Flames
- Murray Bannerman, Chicago Blackhawks
- Darryl Sutter, Chicago Blackhawks
- Danny Gare, Edmonton Oilers
- Wayne Babych, Hartford Whalers
- Peter McNab, New Jersey Devils
- Mike Bossy, New York Islanders
- Chico Resch, Philadelphia Flyers
1987 Trading Deadline
- Trading Deadline: March 10, 1987
- March 10, 1987: Paul Boutilier traded from Boston to Minnesota for Minnesota's fourth round choice in 1988 Entry Draft.
- March 10, 1987: Raimo Helminen traded from NY Rangers to Minnesota for future considerations.
- March 10, 1987: Raimo Summanen traded from Edmonton to Vancouver for Moe Lemay.
- March 10, 1987: Stu Kulak traded from Edmonton to NY Rangers, completing an earlier trade for Reijo Ruotsalainen.
- March 10, 1987: Marcel Dionne, Jeff Crossman and Los Angeles' third round choice in 1989 Entry Draft traded from Los Angeles to NY Rangers for Bob Carpenter and Tom Laidlaw.