1986–87 Philadelphia Flyers season

The 1986–87 Philadelphia Flyers season was the Philadelphia Flyers' 20th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Finals but lost to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.

Regular season

With the previous Spring's upset loss to the Rangers fresh on their minds, the Flyers got off to a 6–0–0 start to the season, and only lost road games to the Islanders and Penguins in an 8–2–0 October.

Goaltender Ron Hextall made his professional debut on opening night, October 9, and held Edmonton to one goal in a 2–1 victory, and only improved from there, being named NHL Rookie of the Month for October and November.

Things began to click for the club as a whole in November as Brad McCrimmon returned from his suspension over a contract dispute and the emergence of Hextall forced Bob Froese into a back-up role. In the first two months of the season, only the Penguins challenged the Flyers' grip on the top spot in the division, actually starting the year 7–0–0 and topping Philly on October 25 but fading by the end of November.

Brian Propp scored four goals in a 7–1 win over St. Louis on December 2, but three games later he was lost for two months after suffering a serious knee injury against the Oilers. Froese was dealt to the New York Rangers for Kjell Samuelsson on December 18 and later that same night routing the Islanders 9–4 which saw Poulin and Kerr record three-goal games. The record reached 25–7–2 on December 21 after a 7–6 comeback win over the Blues, but during the next game in Buffalo, Ilkka Sinisalo went down with a knee injury and the team lost four in a row on a holiday road trip (Sabres, Canucks, Oilers, Kings).

A seven-game unbeaten streak in January put the Flyers at 31–11–3, three points ahead of the Oilers for best record in the NHL, but injuries began to put a strain on the ranks. With Propp, Sinisalo, Mark Howe, and Ron Sutter all suffering through long-term problems, plus minor injuries cropping up, the team sputtered late, going 15–15–5 over the remainder of the schedule.

February 1 saw the Flyers routed 8–4 in Toronto, part of another four-game losing string before the break for Rendez-vous '87. Home defeats to the Rangers (6–1 on March 12), Kings (5–2 on March 19) and Detroit (5–1 on March 28) followed. An 9–5 home loss on the season's final day to the New York Islanders was no indication of the memorable playoff run to come.

Twice within a span of one week in late January, the Flyers engaged in bench-clearing brawls. The first came in a 3–1 loss to the Islanders at home on January 18 which cost head coach Keenan a one-game suspension. Oddly enough, the second occurred during the game Keenan was suspended for, a 4–3 setback to the Devils at the Meadowlands January 24. That fracas, which came after the final buzzer, saw Hextall pummel Devils goaltender Alain Chevrier among several other battles.

The Flyers captured a third-straight Patrick Division title and Hextall became the third Flyers goaltender to win the Vezina, joining Bernie Parent and Pelle Lindbergh.

Season standings

^[4]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.

Playoffs

The Flyers gained revenge on the New York Rangers by beating them in six games, as well as surviving a tough seven-game test from a gritty New York Islanders club. By the time the Flyers defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens in six to win the Wales Conference and return to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Flyers had again been decimated by injuries, including losing Tim Kerr for the remainder of the playoffs. As a result, the Flyers lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Edmonton Oilers in seven tough, hard-fought games. Hextall was voted playoff MVP, the second such time a Flyer won the Conn Smythe Trophy despite being on the losing team, the other being Reggie Leach in 1976.

Schedule and results

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Skaters

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
• = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
• = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.

				Regular season						Playoffs
No.	Player	Age	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
12	Kerr, TimTim Kerr	27	RW	75	58	37	95	38	57	12	8	5	13	3	2
25	Zezel, PeterPeter Zezel	21	C	71	33	39	72	21	71	25	3	10	13	6	10
20	Poulin, DaveDave Poulin	28	C	75	25	45	70	47	53	15	3	3	6	1	14
26	Propp, BrianBrian Propp	27	LW	53	31	36	67	39	45	26	12	16	28	11	10
2	Howe, MarkMark Howe	31	D	69	15	43	58	57	37	26	2	10	12	14	4
9	Eklund, PellePelle Eklund	23	C	72	14	41	55	−2	2	26	7	20	27	11	2
22	Tocchet, RickRick Tocchet	22	RW	69	21	28	49	16	288	26	11	10	21	7	72
32	Craven, MurrayMurray Craven	22	LW	77	19	30	49	1	38	12	3	1	4	−4	9
3	Crossman, DougDoug Crossman	26	D	78	9	31	40	18	29	26	4	14	18	0	31
10	McCrimmon, BradBrad McCrimmon	27	D	71	10	29	39	45	52	26	3	5	8	9	30
24	Smith, DerrickDerrick Smith	22	LW	71	11	21	32	−4	34	26	6	4	10	3	26
19	Mellanby, ScottScott Mellanby	20	RW	71	11	21	32	8	94	24	5	5	10	7	46
23	Sinisalo, IlkkaIlkka Sinisalo	28	LW	42	10	21	31	14	8	18	5	1	6	−6	4
14	Sutter, RonRon Sutter	23	C	39	10	17	27	10	69	16	1	7	8	−3	12
18	Carson, LindsayLindsay Carson	26	LW	71	11	15	26	−2	141	24	3	5	8	3	22
15	Daigneault, J. J.J. J. Daigneault	21	D	77	6	16	22	12	56	9	1	0	1	−1	0
8	Marsh, BradBrad Marsh	28	D	77	2	9	11	9	124	26	3	4	7	2	16
21	Brown, DaveDave Brown	24	RW	62	7	3	10	−7	274	26	1	2	3	1	59
28	Samuelsson, KjellKjell Samuelsson	28	D	46	1	6	7	−9	86	26	0	4	4	4	25
27	Hextall, RonRon Hextall	22	G	66	0	6	6	-98 !N/A	104	26	0	1	1	-98 !N/A	43
11	Seabrooke, GlenGlen Seabrooke	19	C	10	1	4	5	2	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
17	Hospodar, EdEd Hospodar	27	D	45	2	2	4	−8	136	5	0	0	0	0	2
7	Dobbin, BrianBrian Dobbin	20	RW	12	2	1	3	2	14	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
29	Stanley, DarylDaryl Stanley	24	D	33	1	2	3	6	76	13	0	0	0	−3	9
42	Nachbaur, DonDon Nachbaur	28	C	23	0	2	2	1	87	7	1	1	2	2	15
28 !28, 36	Hill, AlAl Hill	31	LW	7	0	2	2	1	4	9	2	1	3	2	0
41	Stevens, JohnJohn Stevens	20	D	6	0	2	2	0	14	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
37	Freer, MarkMark Freer	18	C	1	0	1	1	1	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
33	Resch, GlennGlenn Resch	38	G	17	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	2	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0
5	Huffman, KerryKerry Huffman	19	D	9	0	0	0	5	2	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
34	Berube, CraigCraig Berube	21	LW	7	0	0	0	2	57	5	0	0	0	0	17
35	Froese, BobBob Froese	28	G	3	0	0	0	-98 !N/A	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
37	Tookey, TimTim Tookey	26	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	10	1	3	4	1	2
36	McCarthy, KevinKevin McCarthy	29	D	2	0	0	0	−1	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
5	Smith, SteveSteve Smith	23	D	2	0	0	0	−2	6	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
44	Stothers, MikeMike Stothers	24	D	2	0	0	0	0	4	2	0	0	0	1	7
36	Allison, RayRay Allison	27	RW	2	0	0	0	−2	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
6	Chychrun, JeffJeff Chychrun	20	D	1	0	0	0	0	4	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—
40	Smyth, GregGreg Smyth	20	D	1	0	0	0	−2	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
34	Gillis, JereJere Gillis	30	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-99 !—	-1 !—

Goaltenders

• = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
• = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.

			Regular season									Playoffs
No.	Player	Age	GP	W	L	T	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN	GP	W	L	SO	GA	SV%	GAA	MIN
27	Hextall, RonRon Hextall	22	66	37	21	6	1	190	.902	3.00	3799	26	15	11	2	71	.908	2.77	1540
33	Resch, GlennGlenn Resch	38	17	6	5	2	0	42	.904	2.91	867	2	0	0	0	1	.917	1.67	36
35	Froese, BobBob Froese	28	3	3	0	0	0	8	.909	2.67	180	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—	-1 !—

Awards and records

Awards

Records

•   *  NHL record
•  **  Tied for NHL record

Transactions

The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from May 25, 1986, the day after the deciding game of the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals, through May 31, 1987, the day of the deciding game of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals.^[17]

Trades

Signings

Free agency

The following players were signed by the Flyers via free agency.

Re-signed

The following players were re-signed by the Flyers.

Draft picks

The Flyers signed the following of their draft picks.

NHL Waiver Draft

The 1986 NHL Waiver Draft was held on October 6, 1986.^[33] Each NHL team placed 17 skaters and 2 goaltenders on a protected list from which the other teams could not select.^[33] First-year professional players were exempt.^[33] The Flyers were not involved in any selections during the draft.^[33]

Departures

The following players left the team via free agency, release, or retirement. Players who were under contract and left the team during the season are marked with an asterisk (*).

Draft picks

Philadelphia's picks at the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec on June 21, 1986.^[36]

Players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1986 and their NHL career regular season statistics

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	W	L	T	GAA	Notes
1	20	Huffman, KerryKerry Huffman	Defense	Canada	Guelph Platers (OHL)	401	37	108	145	361	& —	& —	& —	& —
2	23	Seppo, JukkaJukka Seppo	Center	Finland	Vasa Sport (Mestis)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	[a]
2	28	Hawley, KentKent Hawley	Center	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	[b]
4	83	Bar, MarkMark Bar	Defense	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	[c]
6	125	Scheifele, SteveSteve Scheifele	Right Wing	United States	Stratford Cullitons (OPJHL)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
7	146	Wahlsten, SamiSami Wahlsten	Forward	Finland	TPS Turku (SM-liiga)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
8	167	Baron, MurrayMurray Baron	Defense	Canada	Vernon Lakers (BCJHL)	988	35	94	129	1309	& —	& —	& —	& —
9	184	Rude, BlaineBlaine Rude	Forward	United States	Fergus Falls High School (N. Dakota)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
10	209	Sabol, ShaunShaun Sabol	Defense	United States	St. Paul Vulcans (USHL)	2	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	0.1 !0	& —	& —	& —	& —
11	230	Lawrence, BrettBrett Lawrence	Right Wing	United States	Rochester Junior Americans	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —
12	251	Stephano, DanDan Stephano	Goaltender	United States	Northwood School (N.Y.)	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —	& —

Draft notes^[37]

• ^a The Flyers traded Paul Guay and their fourth-round pick, 83rd overall, to the Los Angeles Kings for Steve Seguin and the Kings' second-round pick, 23rd overall, on October 11, 1985.
• ^b The Flyers traded Rich Sutter, Dave Richter, and Vancouver's third-round pick, 49th overall, to the Vancouver Canucks for J. J. Daigneault, the Canucks' second-round pick, 28th overall, and the Canucks' 1987 fifth-round pick on June 6, 1986.
• The Flyers traded their second-round pick, 41st overall, to the Quebec Nordiques for the Nordiques' 1987 second-round pick on June 21, 1986.
• The Flyers traded their third-round pick, 62nd overall, to the New Jersey Devils for Chico Resch on March 11, 1986.
• ^c The Flyers reacquired their fourth-round pick, 83rd overall, from the Los Angeles Kings for Joe Paterson on December 18, 1985.
• The Flyers traded their fifth-round pick, 104th overall, to the New York Islanders for Mike Murray on June 21, 1986.

Farm teams

The Flyers were affiliated with the Hershey Bears of the AHL^[2][38] and the Kalamazoo Wings of the IHL.^[3]

References

General

• hockeyDB.com: Roster and player statistics · Results and Schedule
• hockey-reference.com: Roster and Statistics · Schedule and Results
• Flyers History: Season Overview · Game Scores & Results · Playoff Results

Specific