1985–86 NHL season

National Hockey League season August 2023 1985–86 NHL season National Hockey League Ice hockey October 10, 1985 – May 24, 1986 Draft 1985 NHL Draft List of first overall NHL draft picks Wendel Clark Toronto Maple Leafs Regular season Presidents' Trophy Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky (Oilers) Hart Memorial Trophy Wayne Gretzky (Oilers) Art Ross Trophy Playoffs 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup 1986 Stanley Cup Final Montreal Canadiens Calgary Flames Patrick Roy (Canadiens) Conn Smythe Trophy 1986–87 1984–85 NHL 80 21 CBC, CTV, TSN,TSN only televised the All-Star Game. SRC (Canada)ESPN (United States) The 1985–86 NHL season was the 69th season of the National Hockey League. 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. League business Entry draft The 1985 NHL entry draft was held on June 15, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario. This was the first draft held outside of Montreal, Quebec. Wendel Clark was selected first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Rule changes On June 13, 1985, the NHL board of governors voted 17–4 in favour of amending a penalty rule. Previously, coincidental minor penalties would result in 4-on-4 play. The amendment allowed teams to substitute another player to keep the play 5-on-5. It was seen by many as a shot at trying to slow down the high-flying Edmonton Oilers. Wayne Gretzky was quoted as saying, "I think the NHL is making a big mistake. I think the NHL should be more concerned with butt-ending, spearing, and three-hour hockey games than getting rid of 4-on-4 situations." It wasn't until 1992, with the Oiler dynasty (five cups in seven years) having ended, that the NHL reverted to the original 4-on-4 rules. Regular season The Edmonton Oilers once again regained control of top spot in the NHL and were awarded with the Presidents' Trophy—the first time the trophy had been awarded for the best record—while last year's best team, the Philadelphia Flyers slipped to second. The Flyers continued their dominance of the Wales Conference despite the death of their Vezina-winning goaltender, Pelle Lindbergh, in a car accident on November 11. Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky won his seventh straight Hart Memorial Trophy and his sixth straight Art Ross Trophy. This season saw Gretzky score 52 goals, and set records of 163 assists and 215 points. This was the fourth time in five years that Gretzky reached the 200 point plateau; no other player has reached 200 point mark, although Mario Lemieux would garner 199 points in 76 games in 1988–89. Edmonton's defenceman Paul Coffey broke Bobby Orr's record of 46 goals for most goals in a season by a defenceman by scoring 48 times. Final standings Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalty Minutes start Prince of Wales Conference break Clarence Campbell Conference end Playoffs 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs Bracket The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. 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 Final. In the division semifinals, teams competed in a best-of-five series. In the other three rounds, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series). Playoff bracket Awards 1986 NHL awards Presidents' Trophy:Team with most points, regular season Edmonton Oilers Prince of Wales Trophy:(Wales Conference playoff champion) Montreal Canadiens Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:(Campbell Conference playoff champion) Calgary Flames Art Ross Trophy:(Top scorer, regular season) Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:(Perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication) Charlie Simmer, Boston Bruins Calder Memorial Trophy:(Best first-year player) Gary Suter, Calgary Flames Conn Smythe Trophy:(Most valuable player, playoffs) Patrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens Frank J. Selke Trophy:(Best defensive forward) Troy Murray, Chicago Black Hawks Hart Memorial Trophy:(Most valuable player, regular season) Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers Jack Adams Award:(Best coach) Glen Sather, Edmonton Oilers James Norris Memorial Trophy:(Best defenceman) Paul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Mike Bossy, New York Islanders Lester B. Pearson Award:(Outstanding player, regular season) Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Plus/Minus Award:(Player with best plus/minus record) Mark Howe, Philadelphia Flyers William M. Jennings Trophy:(Goaltender(s) of team(s) with best goaltending record) Bob Froese/Darren Jensen, Philadelphia Flyers Vezina Trophy:(Best goaltender) John Vanbiesbrouck, New York Rangers All-Star teams First Team   Position   Second TeamJohn Vanbiesbrouck, New York Rangers GBob Froese, Philadelphia FlyersPaul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers DLarry Robinson, Montreal CanadiensMark Howe, Philadelphia Flyers DRay Bourque, Boston BruinsWayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers CMario Lemieux, Pittsburgh PenguinsMike Bossy, New York Islanders RWJari Kurri, Edmonton OilersMichel Goulet, Quebec Nordiques LWMats Naslund, Montreal Canadiens Player statistics Scoring leaders Player Team GP G A Pts Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers 80 52 163 215 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins 79 48 93 141 Paul Coffey Edmonton Oilers 79 48 90 138 Jari Kurri Edmonton Oilers 78 68 63 131 Mike Bossy New York Islanders 80 61 62 123 Peter Stastny Quebec Nordiques 76 41 81 122 Denis Savard Chicago Black Hawks 80 47 69 116 Mats Naslund Montreal Canadiens 80 43 67 110 Dale Hawerchuk Winnipeg Jets 80 46 59 105 Neal Broten Minnesota North Stars 80 29 76 105 Source: NHLDinger 2011 Leading goaltenders Player Team GP MIN GA SO GAA SV% Bob Froese Philadelphia Flyers 51 2728 116 5 2.55 .909 Al Jensen Washington Capitals 44 2437 129 2 3.18 .890 Clint Malarchuk Quebec Nordiques 46 2657 142 4 3.21 .895 Kelly Hrudey New York Islanders 45 2563 137 1 3.21 .906 John Vanbiesbrouck New York Rangers 61 3326 184 3 3.32 .887 Patrick Roy Montreal Canadiens 47 2651 148 1 3.35 .875 Pat Riggin Washington Capitals / Boston Bruins 46 2641 150 1 3.41 .827 Rick Wamsley St. Louis Blues 42 2517 144 1 3.43 .894 Pete Peeters Boston Bruins / Washington Capitals 42 2506 144 1 3.45 .875 Don Beaupre Minnesota North Stars 52 3073 182 1 3.55 .892 Source: NHLDinger 2011 Coaches Patrick Division New Jersey Devils: Doug Carpenter New York Islanders: Al Arbour New York Rangers: Ted Sator Philadelphia Flyers: Mike Keenan Pittsburgh Penguins: Bob Berry Washington Capitals: Bryan Murray Adams Division Boston Bruins: Butch Goring Buffalo Sabres: Jim Schoenfeld and Scotty Bowman Hartford Whalers: Jack Evans Montreal Canadiens: Jean Perron Quebec Nordiques: Michel Bergeron Norris Division Chicago Black Hawks: Bob Pulford Detroit Red Wings: Harry Neale and Brad Park Minnesota North Stars: Lorne Henning St. Louis Blues: Jacques Demers Toronto Maple Leafs: Dan Maloney Smythe Division Calgary Flames: Bob Johnson Edmonton Oilers: Glen Sather Los Angeles Kings: Pat Quinn Vancouver Canucks: Tom Watt Winnipeg Jets: Barry Long and John Ferguson Sr. Milestones Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1985–86 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut 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 Craig Wolanin, 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 Broadcasting This was the second and final season that the Canadian national broadcast rights were split between the Molson-sponsored Hockey Night in Canada on CBC, and the Carling O'Keefe-sponsored telecasts on CTV. HNIC aired on Saturday nights, while CTV primarily televised Friday night games. CTV was also supposed to televise the All-Star Game, but due to a prior programming commitment, the game aired instead on the cable network TSN for the first time.Bid to televise all-star game in Canada fails January 21, 1986 Toronto Star C4All-star game an American production February 1, 1986 Ken McKee Toronto Star C7 CBC and CTV also split the Stanley Cup playoffs.Great hockey/beer war takes to the ice in Chicago September 25, 1984 Kelly Warren Chicago Tribune B1 After the season, CTV decided to pull the plug on the venture,Marketing mystery: Argos off TV 38 days September 12, 1986 Ken McKee Toronto Star F8CTV won't renew NHL contract April 19, 1986 Ken McKee Toronto Star D8 citing its limited access to Canadian-based teams, which translated into poor ratings.CTV's hockey games on thin ice Network reportedly unhappy with NHL's Friday night schedule April 16, 1986 Ken McKee Toronto Star E5 Carling O'Keefe retained the rights for the next two seasons, and syndicated its playoff telecasts to a chain of local stations that would one day become the Global Television Network. This was the first 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.Strachan Al ESPN acquires NHL games Backroom bickering in TV deal The Globe and Mail July 30, 1985Mulligan Kevin NHL Finds a Home at ESPN Philadelphia Daily News July 26, 1985 See also List of Stanley Cup champions 1985 NHL entry draft 1985–86 NHL transactions 38th National Hockey League All-Star Game National Hockey League All-Star Game NHL All-Rookie Team 1985 in sports 1986 in sports Notes References Total Hockey Diamond, Dan Total Sports 2000 Kingston, New York 1-892129-85-X Dinger Ralph 2011 The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012 Dan Diamond & Associates 978-1-894801-22-5 Toronto registration https://archive.org/details/nationalhockeyle0000unse_u6g5 Dryden Steve Century of hockey McClelland & Stewart Ltd. Toronto, ON 2000 0-7710-4179-9 Fischler Stan Fischler Shirley Hughes Morgan Romain Joseph Duplacey James 2003 The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League Publications International Inc. 0-7853-9624-1 Lincolnwood, Illinois Fischler 2003 Notes External links Hockey Database NHL.com hockey-reference 1985 Category:1985–86 in Canadian ice hockey by league Category:1985–86 in American ice hockey by league