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1986–87 NHL season

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1986–87 NHL season
LeagueNational Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationOctober 9, 1986 – May 31, 1987
Number of games80
Number of teams21
TV partner(s)CBC, Canwest/Global, SRC (Canada)
ESPN (United States)
Draft
Top draft pickJoe Murphy
Picked byDetroit Red Wings
Regular season
Presidents' TrophyEdmonton Oilers
Season MVPWayne Gretzky (Oilers)
Top scorerWayne Gretzky (Oilers)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVPRon Hextall (Flyers)
Stanley Cup
ChampionsEdmonton Oilers
  Runners-upPhiladelphia Flyers
NHL seasons

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

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Chicago renaming

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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.[1]

Entry draft

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The 1986 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 21, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. Joe Murphy was selected first overall by the Detroit Red Wings.

Regular season

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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.[2]

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.[3]

A bombshell was exploded when it was announced that Pat Quinn had been expelled from the NHL pending an investigation of conflict of interest. It was reported that while serving as coach of the Los Angeles Kings, Quinn signed a contract to become president and general manager of the Vancouver Canucks. In due course, NHL president John Ziegler barred Quinn from coaching in the NHL until 1990–91

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".[4][5]

There was trouble brewing for Bryan Trottier when he authored an article in the publication The Hockey News criticizing officials for failing to call penalties. This was brought to the attention of NHL president John Ziegler who fined Trottier $1,000.

On April 4, 1987, the Islanders' captain Denis Potvin became the first NHL defenceman to reach 1000 points. A shot by the Islanders' Mikko Mäkelä deflected in off Potvin's arm in a 6–6 shootout between the Islanders and Sabres.[6]

Final standings

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Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Prince of Wales Conference

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Adams Division[7]
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
Patrick Division[7]
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

Clarence Campbell Conference

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Norris Division[7]
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
Smythe Division[7]
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


Playoffs

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Main article: 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs
The Stanley Cup

Bracket

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The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. This was the first year that all rounds were competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series) after the division semifinals were expanded from a best-of-five format to reduce the number of upsets. In the division semifinals, the fourth seeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. The two winning teams from each division's semifinals then met in the division finals. The two division winners of each conference then played in the conference finals. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Division semifinals Division finals Conference finals Stanley Cup Finals
            
A1 Hartford 2
A4 Quebec 4
A4 Quebec 3
A2 Montreal 4
A2 Montreal 4
A3 Boston 0
A2 Montreal 2
Prince of Wales Conference
P1 Philadelphia 4
P1 Philadelphia 4
P4 NY Rangers 2
P1 Philadelphia 4
P3 NY Islanders 3
P2 Washington 3
P3 NY Islanders 4
P1 Philadelphia 3
S1 Edmonton 4
N1 St. Louis 2
N4 Toronto 4
N4 Toronto 3
N2 Detroit 4
N2 Detroit 4
N3 Chicago 0
N2 Detroit 1
Clarence Campbell Conference
S1 Edmonton 4
S1 Edmonton 4
S4 Los Angeles 1
S1 Edmonton 4
S3 Winnipeg 0
S2 Calgary 2
S3 Winnipeg 4

Awards

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1987 NHL awards
Presidents' Trophy:
Team with most points, regular season		 Edmonton Oilers
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(Wales Conference playoff champion)		 Philadelphia Flyers
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:
(Campbell Conference playoff champion)		 Edmonton Oilers
Art Ross Trophy:
(Top scorer, regular season)		 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:
(Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication)		 Doug Jarvis, Hartford Whalers
Calder Memorial Trophy:
(Best first-year player)		 Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings
Conn Smythe Trophy:
(Most valuable player, playoffs)		 Ron Hextall, Philadelphia Flyers
Frank J. Selke Trophy:
(Best defensive forward)		 Dave Poulin, Philadelphia Flyers
Hart Memorial Trophy:
(Most valuable player, regular season)		 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Jack Adams Award:
(Best coach)		 Jacques Demers, Detroit Red Wings
James Norris Memorial Trophy:
(Best defenceman)		 Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:
(Excellence and sportsmanship)		 Joe Mullen, Calgary Flames
Lester B. Pearson Award:
(Outstanding player, regular season)		 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
NHL Plus/Minus Award:
(Player with best plus/minus record)		 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
William M. Jennings Trophy:
(Goaltender(s) of team(s) with best goaltending record)		 Patrick Roy/Brian Hayward, Montreal Canadiens
Vezina Trophy:
(Best goaltender)		 Ron Hextall, Philadelphia Flyers

All-Star teams

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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

Source: NHL[8]

Player statistics

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Scoring leaders

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Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes, PPG = Powerplay Goals, SHG = Shorthanded Goals, GWG = Game Winning Goals

Player 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.[9]

Leading goaltenders

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Minimum 2000 min. GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage[10]

Goalie 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

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Patrick Division

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Adams Division

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Norris Division

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Smythe Division

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Debuts

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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

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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):

Broadcasting

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In Canada, the Molson-sponsored Hockey Night in Canada on CBC continued to air Saturday night regular season games, but sponsor Carling-O'Keefe's rights fell into limbo after CTV pulled out of its sub-license prior to the season.[11] Things became problematic when the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs opened with Carling O'Keefe still without a network. The problems peaked when the Montreal–Quebec second-round playoff series opened without Molson being allowed to broadcast from Quebec City, leaving Games 3 and 4 off of English-language television altogether. This led to a hastily arranged syndicated package on a chain of channels[12] that would one day form the basis of the Global Television Network. The deal between Carling O'Keefe and the Canwest/Global consortium (with a few CBC and CTV affiliates sprinkled in for good measure) came just in time for Game 6 of the Montreal-Quebec series on April 30. These Carling O'Keefe/Canwest/Global broadcasts were aired under the name Stanley Cup '87.

This was the second season of the league's three-year U.S. national broadcast rights deal with ESPN. The contract called for the network to air up to 33 regular season games each season as well as the All-Star Game and the playoffs.[13][14]

See also

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References

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Notes
  1. ^ Diamond, Dan (1991). The Official National Hockey League 75th anniversary commemorative book. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. pp. 291. ISBN 0-7710-6727-5
  2. ^ Fischler et al. 2003, p. 483.
  3. ^ Fischler et al. 2003, p. 485.
  4. ^ Boylen, Rory. "When 334 fans showed up for Devils-Flames game". www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  5. ^ Politi, Steve. "Remembering the night 334 fans watched the Devils play in a blizzard 30 years ago". www.nj.com. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  6. ^ Fischler et al. 2003, p. 482.
  7. ^ a b c d Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  8. ^ Dinger 2011, p. 229.
  9. ^ Dinger 2011, p. 153.
  10. ^ NHL Leading Goaltenders During 1986-87 Season | QuantHockey.com
  11. ^ Matsumoto, Rick (August 5, 1987). "Brian Propp determined to make Team Canada". Toronto Star. p. F1.
  12. ^ McKee, Ken (May 6, 1987). "No game for fans in north". Toronto Star. p. C4.
  13. ^ Strachan, Al (July 30, 1985). "ESPN acquires NHL games Backroom bickering in TV deal". The Globe and Mail.
  14. ^ Mulligan, Kevin (July 26, 1985). "NHL Finds a Home at ESPN". Philadelphia Daily News.
Bibliography
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