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.

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

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

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.

Finals
Edmonton Oilers Vs. Philadelphia Flyers


 * see 1987 Stanley Cup Finals

The Oilers and Flyers would meet 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.

Edmonton wins best-of-seven series 4-3

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):
 * 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