The 1986 Stanley Cup Finals was contested by the Calgary Flames in their first Final appearance and the Montreal Canadiens in their 32nd Final appearance.
The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series four games to one to win their 23rd Stanley Cup and their 17th in their last eighteen Finals appearances dating back to 1956.
It was the first all-Canadian finals since Montreal lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1967 (the last year of the Original Six era).
This would be the fourth of eight consecutive Finals contested by a team from Alberta (the Edmonton Oilers appeared in six, the Flames in two) & the third of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice (the Oilers won four, the Canadiens one).
This was the only time between 1980 and 1988 that neither the Oilers nor the New York Islanders won the Stanley Cup.
Although this was the first ever postseason meeting between the two teams, it was not the first Montreal-Calgary Final. The first Final between teams from Montreal and Calgary took place in 1924 when the Canadiens defeated the Western Canada Hockey League champion Calgary Tigers.
The Canadiens and Flames would get a rematch in 1989 with Calgary winning in six games.
Path to the Final
The Calgary Flames defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3–0, the defending champion and in-province rival Edmonton Oilers 4–3 & the St. Louis Blues 4–3 to advance to the final.
The Montreal Canadiens defeated rival Boston Bruins 3–0, the Hartford Whalers 4–3, and the New York Rangers 4–1 to make it to the final.
The Series
Brian Skrudland's game-winning goal in game two ended the shortest overtime in NHL playoff history at a mere 9 seconds.
Montreal rookie goaltender Patrick Roy was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.
Game Summary
| Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, May 16 | Montreal | 2 | Calgary | 5 | |
| Sun, May 18 | Montreal | 3 | Calgary | 2 | OT |
| Tue, May 20 | Calgary | 3 | Montreal | 5 | |
| Thu, May 22 | Calgary | 0 | Montreal | 1 | |
| Sat, May 24 | Montreal | 4 | Calgary | 3 |
- Montreal wins the series 4–1.
Broadcasting
CBC only televised Games 1 & 2. CBC would go on to televise Games 3, 4 & 5 nationally.
When CTV televised Games 1 and 2, both games were blacked out in Montreal and Calgary. Had the series gone to a seventh game, then both CBC and CTV would have televised it while using their own production facilities and crews.
Like in the previous year, Dan Kelly and Ron Reusch called the games for CTV.
Stanley Cup Engraving
Centers
- 15 Bobby Smith
- 21 Guy Carbonneau
- 27 Lucien DeBlois
- 35 Mike McPhee
- 38 Mike Lalor*
- 39 Brian Skrudland*
Wingers
- 23 Bob Gainey (Captain)
- 8 David Maley
- 11 Ryan Walter
- 12 Serge Boisvert
- 14 Mario Tremblay (A)
- 20 Kjell Dahlin
- 26 Mats Naslund (A)
- 28 Steve Rooney
- 30 Chris Nilan
- 32 Claude Lemieux
- 44 Stephane Richer*
Defence
- 5 Rick Green
- 18 Tom Kurvers
- 19 Larry Robinson (A)
- 24 Chris Chelios
- 17 Craig Ludwig
- 25 Petr Svoboda
- 29 Gaston Gingras*
- 31 John Kordic*
Goaltenders
- 1 Doug Soetaert
- 33 Patrick Roy*
(Note: *-won the Calder Cup as American Hockey League (AHL) Championship in 1985 with Sherbrooke Canadiens)
Non-Players
- Ronald Corey (President)
Serge Savard(Vice President/General Manager)
- Jean Perron (Head Coach)
- Jacques Laperriere (Ass't Coach)
- Jean Beliveau (Sr. Vice President-Director of Cooperate Affairs)
- François-Xavier Seingeur (Vice President-Marketing)
- Fred Steer (Vice President-Finance-Administration)
- Jacques Lemaire (Ass't General Manager/director of player personnel)
- André Boudrias (Ass't General Manager/Director of Scouting)
- Claude Ruel (Director of Player Development)
- Yvon Bélanger (Athletic Therapist)
- Gaetan Lefebvre (Ass't Athletic Therapist)
- Eddy Palchak (Trainer)
- Sylvain Toupin (Ass't Trainer)
- Morgan McCammon (chairman)
Engraving Notes
- Tom Kurvers missed end of the regular season, and all of the playoffs injured. His was included on the Stanley Cup, because he played 62 regular-seasons game for Montreal.
- Mario Tremblay played only 56 regular season games. He missed the rest of the season and all the playoffs due to injury. Tremblay still played enough games to qualify for his name to be on the Stanley Cup.
- Four names were not engraved on the Stanley Cup, but included on the team picture. #37 Steve Penney was dressed for 30 games, played 18. #36 Sergio Momesso played 24 regular season games. Both players missed the rest of season injured. They were not given injury exemption and included on the Stanley Cup. Also won Calder Cup in 1985.
- #22 Randy Bucyk* played 17 regular-season games and two playoff games, and did not play in the finals. He did not qualify to appear on the Stanley Cup.
- Morgan McCammon was included on the cup with Montreal in 1979 as a Director. It is tradition that Chairman of the Board name is engraved on the Stanley Cup, but Montreal did not submit McCammon's for engravement on the Stanley Cup, he was given a 2nd Stanley Cup ring.
- Sr. Vice President of Operations Gerry Gundman was also left off the Stanley Cup.
- Starting in 1985–86 season, each NHL team was required to list two alternate captains (along with the team captain) for each game. Some teams may have more than two alternates, but only two can be marked with an 'A' per game.
- The Montreal Canadiens played 11 rookies on their squad: Mike McPhee, Stéphane Richer, Brian Skrudland, Mike Lalor, Patrick Roy, Steve Rooney, John Kordic, Claude Lemieux, David Maley, Sergio Momesso, and Randy Bucyk. In addition, the Canadiens in 1986 were the last team to win the Stanley Cup without making at least one trade during the regular season. The only changes in the team's lineup were through their minor league team AHL Sherbrooke Canadiens.
- Jean Perron was the 12th NHL rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup. Perron was also the last rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup, who coached the winning team for the whole season.
Riot
Some 5,000 jubilant Montreal fans celebrating the Canadiens' Stanley Cup win over the Calgary Flames rampaged through the city's downtown, causing over one million dollars worth of damage.