The 1985–86 NHL season was the 69th season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. This season saw the league's Board of Governors introduce the Presidents' Trophy, which would go to the team with the best overall record in the NHL regular season. The Edmonton Oilers would be the first winners of this award.

The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Calgary Flames four games to one in the final series to win the Stanley Cup.

Regular season

Final standings
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalty Minutes

Prince of Wales Conference

Clarence Campbell Conference

Scoring leaders

Leading Goaltenders

Stanley Cup playoffs
Note: all dates in 1986

Adams Division Semi-Finals
Hartford Whalers vs. Quebec Nordiques

Hartford wins best-of-five series 3–0

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

Montreal wins best-of-five series 3–0

Patrick Division Semi-Finals
New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers

New York Rangers wins best-of-five series 3–2

New York Islanders vs. Washington Capitals

Washington wins best-of-five series 3–0

Norris Division Semi-Finals
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Chicago Black Hawks

Toronto wins best-of-five series 3–0

St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota North Stars

St. Louis wins best-of-five series 3–2

Smythe Division Semi-Finals
Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton wins best-of-five series 3–0

Winnipeg Jets vs. Calgary Flames

Calgary wins best-of-five series 3–0

Divisional Finals
Hartford Whalers vs. Montreal Canadiens

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–3

New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals

New York Rangers wins best-of-seven series 4–2

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. St. Louis Blues

St. Louis wins best-of-seven series 4–3

Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers

Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4–3

Conference Finals
New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–1

St. Louis Blues vs. Calgary Flames

Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4–3

Finals
Montreal Canadiens vs. Calgary Flames

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–1

NHL awards

All-Star teams

First games
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1985–86 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
Bill Ranford, Boston Bruins
Daren Puppa, Buffalo Sabres
Brian Bradley, Calgary Flames
Gary Suter, Calgary Flames
Brett Hull*, Calgary Flames
Adam Oates, Detroit Red Wings
Petr Klima, Detroit Red Wings
Bob Probert, Detroit Red Wings
Shayne Corson, Montreal Canadiens
Kirk McLean, New Jersey Devils
Scott Mellanby, Philadelphia Flyers
Craig Simpson, Pittsburgh Penguins
Jeff Brown, Quebec Nordiques
Cliff Ronning*, St. Louis Blues
Wendel Clark, Toronto Maple Leafs
Dave Lowry, Vancouver Canucks
Jim Sandlak, Vancouver Canucks

Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1985–86 (listed with their last team):
Tom Lysiak, Chicago Black Hawks
Mike Rogers, Edmonton Oilers
Mario Tremblay, Montreal Canadiens
Bob Nystrom, New York Islanders
Pelle Lindbergh, Philadelphia Flyers
Denis Herron, Pittsburgh Penguins
Don Edwards, Toronto Maple Leafs
Marian Stastny, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jiri Bubla, Vancouver Canucks
Dan Bouchard, Winnipeg Jets

References

Hockey Database
NHL.com