1986–87 Calgary Flames season

1986–87 Calgary Flames
1986–87 Calgary Flames
Division	2nd Smythe
Conference	Campbell
1986–87 record	46–31–3
Home record	25–13–2
Road record	21–18–1
Goals for	318 (T-2nd)
Goals against	289 (11th)
Team information
General manager	Cliff Fletcher
Coach	Bob Johnson
Captain	Lanny McDonald, Jim Peplinski and Doug Risebrough
Alternate captains	Vacant
Arena	Olympic Saddledome
Average attendance	16,798
Team leaders
Goals	Joe Mullen (47)
Assists	Al MacInnis (56)
Points	Joe Mullen (87)
Penalty minutes	Tim Hunter (361)
Wins	Mike Vernon (30)
Goals against average	Rejean Lemelin (3.25)
	← 1985–86 1987–88 →

The 1986–87 Calgary Flames season was the seventh National Hockey League season in Calgary and 15th for the Flames franchise. The Flames posted their best record in franchise history to that time, as Calgary's 95 points was the third best total in the league. The Flames' defence of their 1986 Campbell Conference championship was quickly snuffed out by the Winnipeg Jets, as the Flames were upset in the first round of the playoffs in six games by their Manitoba rivals.

Joe Mullen captured his first Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for gentlemanly conduct, while Al MacInnis was named a Second Team All-star.^[1] The Flames had no player representatives at Rendez-vous '87, which replaced the All-Star Game for this season, though head coach Bob Johnson served as an assistant coach for the NHL all-stars.

Tragedy struck the Flames in the summer of 1986, as their first round draft pick, George Pelawa, died in an automobile crash over the Labour Day weekend.^[2] Pelawa's death is commonly rumoured to be an inspiration for the 1988 Tom Cochrane song "Big League", but has never been confirmed as true.

Following the season, the Flames released a music video to benefit charity. The "Red Hot" video featured many players, including Lanny McDonald, Gary Roberts, Mike Vernon, Al MacInnis and Joel Otto, among others, lipsynching and pretending to play instruments. It was released on VHS and on vinyl. It enjoyed popularity then but was forgotten until the video surfaced on the internet in 2005.

Regular season

Season standings

Smythe Division^[3]
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Edmonton Oilers	80	50	24	6	372	284	106
Calgary Flames	80	46	31	3	318	289	95
Winnipeg Jets	80	40	32	8	279	271	88
Los Angeles Kings	80	31	41	8	318	341	70
Vancouver Canucks	80	29	43	8	282	314	66

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Smythe Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Smythe Division

1986–87 NHL records^[4]
Team	CGY	EDM	LAK	VAN	WIN	Total
Calgary	—	6–1–1	5–3	4–4	2–6	17–14–1
Edmonton	1–6–1	—	4–2–2	7–0–1	5–3	17–11–4
Los Angeles	3–5	2–4–2	—	2–5–1	3–5	10–19–3
Vancouver	4–4	0–7–1	5–2–1	—	3–5	12–18–2
Winnipeg	6–2	3–5	5–3	5–3	—	19–13–0

Vs. Norris Division

1986–87 NHL records
Team	CHI	DET	MIN	STL	TOR	Total
Calgary	3–0	1–2	1–1–1	1–2	2–1	8–6–1
Edmonton	1–2	3–0	2–0–1	3–0	2–1	11–3–1
Los Angeles	1–1–1	3–0	0–2–1	1–1–1	1–1–1	6–5–4
Vancouver	1–1–1	1–2	0–3	2–0–1	2–1	6–7–2
Winnipeg	0–3	1–1–1	2–1	1–0–2	1–2	5–7–3

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1986–87 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	HFD	MTL	QUE	Total
Calgary	1–2	3–0	2–1	1–2	2–1	9–6–0
Edmonton	1–2	2–1	2–1	3–0	3–0	11–4–0
Los Angeles	1–2	1–2	2–1	0–3	0–3	4–11–0
Vancouver	1–2	3–0	0–2–1	2–1	1–2	7–7–1
Winnipeg	1–2	2–1	1–1–1	1–2	1–0–2	6–6–3

Vs. Patrick Division

1986–87 NHL records
Team	NJD	NYI	NYR	PHI	PIT	WSH	Total
Calgary	2–1	2–0–1	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–1	12–5–1
Edmonton	2–1	2–0–1	3–0	1–2	2–1	1–2	11–6–1
Los Angeles	2–1	2–1	0–2–1	2–1	2–1	3–0	11–6–1
Vancouver	0–2–1	2–1	1–2	1–2	0–1–2	0–3	4–11–3
Winnipeg	3–0	1–1–1	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–1–1	10–6–2

Schedule and results

1986–87 Schedule

October: 3–7–0 (home: 1–3–0; road: 2–4–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Points
1	October 9	Calgary	5 – 3	Boston	1–0–0	2
2	October 11	Calgary	5 – 6	Hartford	1–1–0	2
3	October 12	Calgary	4 – 2	Buffalo	2–1–0	4
4	October 16	Quebec	4 – 2	Calgary	2–2–0	4
5	October 18	Detroit	5 – 3	Calgary	2–3–0	4
6	October 22	Edmonton	3 – 6	Calgary	3–3–0	6
7	October 24	Calgary	2 – 5	Winnipeg	3–4–0	6
8	October 26	Boston	6 – 0	Calgary	3–5–0	6
9	October 28	Calgary	4 – 7	Minnesota	3–6–0	6
10	October 29	Calgary	2 – 6	Winnipeg	3–7–0	6

November: 10–3–0 (home: 9–2–0; road: 1–1–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Points
11	November 1	Washington	1 – 4	Calgary	4–7–0	8
12	November 3	Los Angeles	2 – 4	Calgary	5–7–0	10
13	November 5	Calgary	3 – 1	Edmonton	6–7–0	12
14	November 7	Edmonton	4 – 6	Calgary	7–7–0	14
15	November 9	Montreal	0 – 3	Calgary	8–7–0	16
16	November 11	Vancouver	3 – 5	Calgary	9–7–0	18
17	November 13	Hartford	3 – 4	Calgary	10–7–0	20
18	November 15	Calgary	1 – 4	Los Angeles	10–8–0	20
19	November 18	Calgary	0 – 5	Vancouver	10–9–0	20
20	November 20	Pittsburgh	5 – 2	Calgary	10–10–0	20
21	November 22	NY Rangers	5 – 8	Calgary	11–10–0	22
22	November 24	Edmonton	5 – 6	Calgary	12–10–0	24
23	November 27	Winnipeg	4 – 3	Calgary	12–11–0	24
24	November 29	Chicago	4 – 5	Calgary	13–11–0	26

December: 9–4–1 (home: 3–1–1; road: 6–3–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Points
25	December 2	NY Islanders	3 – 3	Calgary	13–11–1	27
26	December 4	Chicago	1 – 4	Calgary	14–11–1	29
27	December 6	Calgary	3 – 2	Quebec	15–11–1	31
28	December 8	Calgary	3 – 5	Montreal	15–12–1	31
29	December 10	Calgary	6 – 4	Pittsburgh	16–12–1	33
30	December 11	Calgary	3 – 5	Philadelphia	16–13–1	33
31	December 13	Calgary	6 – 3	Los Angeles	17–13–1	35
32	December 16	Detroit	3 – 8	Calgary	18–13–1	37
33	December 18	Quebec	2 – 6	Calgary	19–13–1	39
34	December 20	Calgary	5 – 3	Vancouver	20–13–1	41
35	December 22	Los Angeles	5 – 3	Calgary	20–14–1	41
36	December 28	Calgary	4 – 1	Buffalo	21–14–1	43
37	December 30	Calgary	4 – 3	New Jersey	22–14–1	45
38	December 31	Calgary	4 – 6	Detroit	22–15–1	45

January:6–7–1 (home: 3–2–1; road: 3–5–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Points
39	January 3	Calgary	4 – 7	St. Louis		22–16–1	45
40	January 4	Calgary	4 – 1	Chicago		23–16–1	47
41	January 8	Los Angeles	4 – 5	Calgary		24–16–1	49
42	January 10	St. Louis	2 – 5	Calgary		25–16–1	51
43	January 11	Calgary	3 – 5	Edmonton		25–17–1	51
44	January 14	NY Rangers	8 – 5	Calgary		25–18–1	51
45	January 16	Calgary	5 – 9	Vancouver		25–19–1	51
46	January 17	Vancouver	4 – 3	Calgary		25–20–1	51
47	January 20	Calgary	3 – 1	NY Islanders		26–20–1	53
48	January 22	Calgary	5 – 7	New Jersey		26–21–1	53
49	January 24	Calgary	3 – 5	Boston		26–22–1	53
50	January 26	Calgary	6 – 5	Toronto	OT	27–22–1	55
51	January 29	Minnesota	3 – 3	Calgary	OT	27–22–2	56
52	January 31	New Jersey	3 – 5	Calgary		28–22–2	58

February: 9–3–0 (home: 5–3–0; road: 4–0–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Points
53	February 3	Vancouver	4 – 2	Calgary	28–23–2	58
54	February 5	St. Louis	2 – 1	Calgary	28–24–2	58
55	February 7	NY Islanders	1 – 4	Calgary	29–24–2	60
56	February 8	Calgary	3 – 2	Vancouver	30–24–2	62
57	February 14	Calgary	3 – 2	Minnesota	31–24–2	64
58	February 16	Calgary	5 – 0	Philadelphia	32–24–2	66
59	February 17	Calgary	3 – 1	Pittsburgh	33–24–2	68
60	February 20	Toronto	2 – 7	Calgary	34–24–2	70
61	February 22	Washington	5 – 2	Calgary	34–25–2	70
62	February 24	Vancouver	0 – 2	Calgary	35–25–2	72
63	February 26	Philadelphia	3 – 4	Calgary	36–25–2	74
64	February 28	Winnipeg	3 – 5	Calgary	37–25–2	76

March: 9–5–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 5–4–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Points
65	March 1	Calgary	3 – 6	Winnipeg	37–26–2	76
66	March 3	Montreal	4 – 2	Calgary	37–27–2	76
67	March 5	Los Angeles	2 – 7	Calgary	38–27–2	78
68	March 8	Calgary	7 – 4	NY Rangers	39–27–2	80
69	March 10	Calgary	6 – 3	Washington	40–27–2	82
70	March 11	Calgary	6 – 1	Hartford	41–27–2	84
71	March 14	Calgary	4 – 6	Toronto	41–28–2	84
72	March 17	Buffalo	2 – 6	Calgary	42–28–2	86
73	March 19	Edmonton	4 – 5	Calgary	43–28–2	88
74	March 20	Calgary	6 – 3	Edmonton	44–28–2	90
75	March 25	Calgary	1 – 10	Winnipeg	44–29–2	90
76	March 26	Winnipeg	1 – 3	Calgary	45–29–2	92
77	March 28	Calgary	4 – 3	Los Angeles	46–29–2	94
78	March 30	Calgary	4 – 5	Los Angeles	46–30–2	94

April: 0–1–1 (home: 0–1–0; road: 0–0–1)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Points
79	April 2	Calgary	4 – 4	Edmonton	OT	46–30–3	95
80	April 5	Winnipeg	3 – 1	Calgary		46–31–3	95

Playoffs

1987 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Smythe Division Semi-final vs. Winnipeg – Jets win 4–2

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	April 8	Winnipeg	4 – 2	Calgary		Winnipeg leads 1–0
2	April 9	Winnipeg	3 – 2	Calgary		Winnipeg leads 2–0
3	April 11	Calgary	3 – 2	Winnipeg	OT	Winnipeg leads 2–1
4	April 12	Calgary	3 – 4	Winnipeg		Winnipeg leads 3–1
5	April 14	Winnipeg	3 – 4	Calgary		Winnipeg leads 3–2
6	April 16	Calgary	1 – 6	Winnipeg		Winnipeg wins 4–2

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

		Regular season					Playoffs
Player	#	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Joe Mullen	7	79	47	40	87	14	6	2	1	3	0
Al MacInnis	2	79	20	56	76	97	4	1	0	1	0
Paul Reinhart	26	76	15	53	68	22	4	0	1	1	6
Carey Wilson	33	80	20	36	56	42	6	1	1	2	6
Mike Bullard^†	25	57	28	26	54	34	6	4	3	7	2
John Tonelli	27	78	20	31	51	72	3	0	0	0	2
Joel Otto	29	68	19	31	50	185	2	0	2	2	6
Jim Peplinski	24	80	18	32	50	181	6	1	0	1	24
Gary Suter	20	68	9	40	49	70	6	0	3	3	10
Håkan Loob	12	68	18	26	44	26	5	1	2	3	0
Jamie Macoun	6	79	7	33	40	111	3	0	1	1	8
Steve Bozek	26	71	17	18	35	22	4	1	0	1	2
Brian Bradley	14	40	10	18	28	16	–	–	–	–	–
Lanny McDonald	9	58	14	12	26	54	5	0	0	0	2
Colin Patterson	11	68	13	13	26	54	6	0	2	2	2
Tim Hunter	19	73	6	15	21	361	–	–	–	–	–
Gary Roberts	32/10	32	5	10	15	85	2	0	0	0	4
Dale DeGray	28	27	6	7	13	29	–	–	–	–	–
Neil Sheehy	5	54	4	6	10	151	6	0	0	0	21
Dan Quinn^‡	10	16	3	6	9	14	–	–	–	–	–
Perry Berezan	21	24	5	3	8	24	2	0	2	2	7
Nick Fotiu	22	42	5	3	8	145	–	–	–	–	–
Kari Eloranta	32	13	1	6	7	9	6	0	2	2	0
Joe Nieuwendyk	18	9	5	1	6	0	6	0	2	2	0
Doug Risebrough	8	22	2	3	5	66	4	0	1	1	23
Kevan Guy	3	24	0	4	4	19	4	0	1	1	23
Brian Engblom	6	32	0	4	4	28	–	–	–	–	–
Paul Baxter	4	18	0	2	2	66	2	0	0	0	10
Mike Vernon	30	54	0	2	2	14	5	0	0	0	0
Brett Hull	16	5	1	0	1	0	4	2	1	3	0
Doug Dadswell	36	2	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	–
Rejean Lemelin	1	34	0	0	0	20	2	0	1	1	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Calgary. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
^‡Traded mid-season.

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

		Regular season								Playoffs
Player	#	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Rejean Lemelin	31	34	1735	16	9	1	94	1	3.15	2	101	0	1	6	0	3.56
Mike Vernon	30	54	2957	30	21	1	178	1	3.61	5	263	2	3	16	0	3.65
Doug Dadswell	36	2	125	0	1	1	10	0	4.80

Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 1986–87 season.

Trades

October 3, 1986	To Calgary Flames Jim Korn	To Toronto Maple Leafs Terry Johnson
October 3, 1986	To Calgary Flames Brian Engblom	To Buffalo Sabres Jim Korn
October 7, 1986	To Calgary Flames Mark Paterson	To Hartford Whalers Yves Courteau
November 12, 1986	To Calgary Flames Mike Bullard	To Pittsburgh Penguins Dan Quinn

Free agents

Player	Former team
G Doug Dadswell	Cornell University (NCAA)
C Marc Bureau	Longueuil Chevaliers (QMJHL)

Player	New team
D Robin Bartell	Vancouver Canucks
C Mark Lamb	Detroit Red Wings

Draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, held in Montreal.^[5]

Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	NHL statistics
Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	16	George Pelawa	United States	F	Bemidji (USHS)
2	37	Brian Glynn	Canada	D	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)	431	25	79	104	410
4	79	Tom Quinlan	United States	RW	N/A
5	100	Scott Bloom	United States	LW	N/A
6	121	John Parker	United States	C	N/A
7	142	Rick Lessard	Canada	D	Ottawa 67's (OHL)	15	0	4	4	18
8	163	Mark Olsen	United States	D	N/A
9	184	Scott Sharples	Canada	G	Penticton Knights (BCJHL)	1	0–0–1, 3.69GAA
10	205	Doug Pickel	Canada	LW	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
11	226	Anders Lindstrom	Sweden	C	N/A
12	247	Antonin Stavjana	Czechoslovakia	D	N/A
S2	19	Steve MacSwain	United States	RW	N/A

References

Player stats: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg 125
Game log: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, pg 141
Team standings: 1986–87 NHL standings @hockeydb.com
Trades: Individual player pages at hockeydb.com

^ Award Winners, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, p. 23.
^ Ulmer, Mike, Heat is on, canoe.ca, October 8, 2003.
^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ Calgary Flames draft history, hockeydb.com, accessed October 10, 2007.

[1] Award Winners, 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide, p. 23.

[2] Ulmer, Mike, Heat is on, canoe.ca, October 8, 2003.

[nhl-gd-standings-3] Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.

[4] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[5] Calgary Flames draft history, hockeydb.com, accessed October 10, 2007.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Calgary Flames seasons
Pre-1980	Atlanta Flames
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e Calgary Flames
Formerly the Atlanta Flames Founded in 1972 Based in Calgary, Alberta
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Expansion draft Seasons Current season
History	Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Calgary Sports and Entertainment General manager Craig Conroy Head coach Ryan Huska Team captain Mikael Backlund Current roster
Arenas	Stampede Corral Scotiabank Saddledome Scotia Place
Rivalries	Edmonton Oilers Vancouver Canucks
Affiliates	AHL Calgary Wranglers ECHL Rapid City Rush
Media	TV City Sportsnet West Radio Sportsnet 960
Culture and lore	Atlanta Flames George Canyon Harvey the Hound Red Mile The Monday Night Miracle Calgary Hitmen Ice hockey in Calgary 2011 Heritage Classic 2019 Heritage Classic 2023 Heritage Classic
Category Commons

v t e 1986–87 NHL season
Patrick	New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Quebec
Norris	Chicago Detroit Minnesota St. Louis Toronto
Smythe	Calgary Edmonton Los Angeles Vancouver Winnipeg
See also	Entry Draft Supplemental draft Waiver draft Rendez-vous '87 Easter Epic Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals