1986–87 NHL season

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 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.

### Final standings

**_Note:** W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes_

#### Prince of Wales Conference

|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="40%"|Adams Division|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|GP|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|W|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|L|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|T|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|Pts|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|GF|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|GA|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|PIM|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**Hartford Whalers**|80|43|30|7|93|287|270|1496||||||||||
|**Montreal Canadiens**|80|41|29|10|92|277|241|1802||||||||||
|**Boston Bruins**|80|39|34|7|85|301|276|1870||||||||||
|**Quebec Nordiques**|80|31|39|10|72|267|276|1741||||||||||
|Buffalo Sabres|80|28|44|8|64|280|308|1810||||||||||

|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="40%"|Patrick Division|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|GP|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|W|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|L|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|T|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|Pts|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|GF|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|GA|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|PIM|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**Philadelphia Flyers**|80|46|26|8|100|310|245|2082||||||||||
|**Washington Capitals**|80|38|32|10|86|285|278|1720||||||||||
|**New York Islanders**|80|35|33|12|82|279|281|1857||||||||||
|**New York Rangers**|80|34|38|8|76|307|323|1718||||||||||
|Pittsburgh Penguins|80|30|38|12|72|297|290|1693||||||||||
|New Jersey Devils|80|29|45|6|64|293|368|1735||||||||||

#### Clarence Campbell Conference

|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="40%"|Norris Division|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|GP|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|W|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|L|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|T|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|Pts|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|GF|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|GA|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|PIM|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**St. Louis Blues**|80|32|33|15|79|281|293|1572||||||||||
|**Detroit Red Wings**|80|34|36|10|78|260|274|2209||||||||||
|**Chicago Blackhawks**|80|29|37|14|72|290|310|1692||||||||||
|**Toronto Maple Leafs**|80|32|42|6|70|286|319|1827||||||||||
|Minnesota North Stars|80|30|40|10|70|296|314|1936||||||||||

|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="40%"|Smythe Division|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|GP|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|W|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|L|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%"|T|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|Pts|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|GF|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|GA|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|PIM|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**Edmonton Oilers**|80|50|24|6|106|372|284|1721||||||||||
|**Calgary Flames**|80|46|31|3|95|318|289|2036||||||||||
|**Winnipeg Jets**|80|40|32|8|88|279|271|1537||||||||||
|**Los Angeles Kings**|80|31|41|8|70|318|341|2038||||||||||
|Vancouver Canucks|80|29|43|8|66|282|314|1917||||||||||

### Scoring leaders

_Note: GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points_
|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30%"|Player|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30%"|Team|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|GP|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|G|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|A|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|Pts|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7.5%"|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_

### Finals

**Edmonton Oilers Vs. Philadelphia Flyers**

|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="60"|Date|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="150"|Away|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5"|Score|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="150"|Home|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5"|Score|bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="60"|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_

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

## First games

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1986–87 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
- 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

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):
- Thomas Gradin, Boston Bruins
- Mike Milbury, Boston Bruins
- Lee Fogolin, Buffalo Sabres
- Don Lever, Buffalo Sabres
- Gilbert Perreault, Buffalo Sabres
- Phil Russell, Buffalo Sabres
- 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

## References

- Hockey Database
- NHL.com

## Infobox (sports season)

- **league**: National Hockey League
- **sport**: Ice hockey