1986–87 Winnipeg Jets season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1986–87
Year:	1986
Team:	Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996)Winnipeg Jets
Record:	40–32–8
Divisionrank:	3rd
Goalsfor:	279
Goalsagainst:	271
Next Season:	1987–88

The 1986–87 Winnipeg Jets season was the 15th season of the Winnipeg Jets, their eighth in the National Hockey League. The Jets placed third in the Smythe Division to qualify for the playoffs. The Jets defeated the Calgary Flames in the first round but lost the Division Final to the Edmonton Oilers. This was the last playoff series win for the original Jets before they moved to Phoenix, Arizona.

Offseason

After a poor 1985–86 season, in which the Jets fired head coach Barry Long and replaced him on an interim basis with general manager John Ferguson, the team hired Dan Maloney to become the new head coach on June 20, 1986. Maloney had previously been the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1984 to 1986, posting a 45–100–15 record with the Leafs during that span.

On June 21, 1986, the Jets selected forward Pat Elynuik with their first round, eighth overall draft pick at the 1986 NHL Entry Draft. Elynuik spent the 1985–86 season with the Prince Albert Raiders, scoring 53 goals and 106 points in 68 games. In the second round, Winnipeg selected defenseman Teppo Numminen from Tappara Tampere of the SM-liiga.

On August 15, 1986, the Jets made a trade with the Montreal Canadiens, acquiring goaltender Steve Penney and Jan Ingman for goaltender Brian Hayward. Penney had a 6–8–2 record with a 4.36 GAA with Montreal during the 1985–86 season as the back-up to Patrick Roy.

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 9, 1986	3–2	Buffalo Sabres (1986–87)	1–0–0
2	W	October 12, 1986	5–3	Edmonton Oilers (1986–87)	2–0–0
3	L	October 14, 1986	1–2	Boston Bruins (1986–87)	2–1–0
4	T	October 16, 1986	4–4 OT	@ Hartford Whalers (1986–87)	2–1–1
5	L	October 18, 1986	3–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1986–87)	2–2–1
6	L	October 19, 1986	1–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87)	2–3–1
7	W	October 24, 1986	5–2	Calgary Flames (1986–87)	3–3–1
8	L	October 26, 1986	4–8	Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87)	3–4–1
9	W	October 29, 1986	6–2	Calgary Flames (1986–87)	4–4–1
10	L	November 1, 1986	4–7	@ New York Islanders (1986–87)	4–5–1
11	W	November 2, 1986	5–4 OT	@ New York Rangers (1986–87)	5–5–1
12	W	November 4, 1986	6–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1986–87)	6–5–1
13	W	November 7, 1986	2–0	St. Louis Blues (1986–87)	7–5–1
14	W	November 9, 1986	8–1	New Jersey Devils (1986–87)	8–5–1
15	L	November 11, 1986	3–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1986–87)	8–6–1
16	W	November 13, 1986	6–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1986–87)	9–6–1
17	W	November 14, 1986	3–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1986–87)	10–6–1
18	W	November 16, 1986	3–1	New York Islanders (1986–87)	11–6–1
19	W	November 18, 1986	3–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87)	12–6–1
20	L	November 21, 1986	1–4	Los Angeles Kings (1986–87)	12–7–1
21	W	November 23, 1986	3–2	Los Angeles Kings (1986–87)	13–7–1
22	L	November 26, 1986	3–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1986–87)	13–8–1
23	W	November 27, 1986	4–3	@ Calgary Flames (1986–87)	14–8–1
24	W	November 29, 1986	6–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1986–87)	15–8–1
25	T	December 3, 1986	3–3 OT	Washington Capitals (1986–87)	15–8–2
26	L	December 5, 1986	3–6	New York Rangers (1986–87)	15–9–2
27	L	December 7, 1986	1–3	Vancouver Canucks (1986–87)	15–10–2
28	L	December 10, 1986	4–7	Edmonton Oilers (1986–87)	15–11–2
29	L	December 12, 1986	1–6	@ Edmonton Oilers (1986–87)	15–12–2
30	L	December 14, 1986	1–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87)	15–13–2
31	L	December 17, 1986	1–5	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87)	15–14–2
32	T	December 18, 1986	3–3 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1986–87)	15–14–3
33	T	December 21, 1986	4–4 OT	Quebec Nordiques (1986–87)	15–14–4
34	W	December 23, 1986	2–1	@ Edmonton Oilers (1986–87)	16–14–4
35	L	December 26, 1986	2–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1986–87)	16–15–4
36	W	December 28, 1986	5–4	Minnesota North Stars (1986–87)	17–15–4
37	L	December 31, 1986	1–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87)	17–16–4
38	W	January 2, 1987	6–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1986–87)	18–16–4
39	W	January 4, 1987	4–2	Vancouver Canucks (1986–87)	19–16–4
40	L	January 7, 1987	2–4	Buffalo Sabres (1986–87)	19–17–4
41	W	January 9, 1987	3–0	Hartford Whalers (1986–87)	20–17–4
42	W	January 10, 1987	5–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1986–87)	21–17–4
43	W	January 13, 1987	3–2	@ Washington Capitals (1986–87)	22–17–4
44	W	January 14, 1987	4–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87)	23–17–4
45	W	January 16, 1987	5–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1986–87)	24–17–4
46	W	January 18, 1987	5–3	Minnesota North Stars (1986–87)	25–17–4
47	W	January 19, 1987	5–4	Vancouver Canucks (1986–87)	26–17–4
48	L	January 21, 1987	3–5	Edmonton Oilers (1986–87)	26–18–4
49	W	January 23, 1987	7–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87)	27–18–4
50	T	January 27, 1987	2–2 OT	@ New York Islanders (1986–87)	27–18–5
51	W	January 28, 1987	2–1	@ New York Rangers (1986–87)	28–18–5
52	L	January 31, 1987	3–6	@ Boston Bruins (1986–87)	28–19–5
53	L	February 1, 1987	4–6	@ Washington Capitals (1986–87)	28–20–5
54	W	February 4, 1987	5–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87)	29–20–5
55	W	February 6, 1987	6–1	Los Angeles Kings (1986–87)	30–20–5
56	W	February 8, 1987	3–1	Los Angeles Kings (1986–87)	31–20–5
57	L	February 14, 1987	2–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1986–87)	31–21–5
58	T	February 17, 1987	3–3 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1986–87)	31–21–6
59	L	February 18, 1987	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1986–87)	31–22–6
60	W	February 20, 1987	6–2	Boston Bruins (1986–87)	32–22–6
61	W	February 22, 1987	5–2	Edmonton Oilers (1986–87)	33–22–6
62	L	February 24, 1987	3–8	@ Los Angeles Kings (1986–87)	33–23–6
63	W	February 26, 1987	4–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1986–87)	34–23–6
64	L	February 28, 1987	3–5	@ Calgary Flames (1986–87)	34–24–6
65	W	March 1, 1987	6–3	Calgary Flames (1986–87)	35–24–6
66	L	March 4, 1987	2–3	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87)	35–25–6
67	T	March 5, 1987	1–1 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1986–87)	35–25–7
68	L	March 8, 1987	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87)	35–26–7
69	W	March 11, 1987	2–1	Montreal Canadiens (1986–87)	36–26–7
70	L	March 13, 1987	0–3	Hartford Whalers (1986–87)	36–27–7
71	T	March 15, 1987	1–1 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1986–87)	36–27–8
72	W	March 18, 1987	4–3 OT	New Jersey Devils (1986–87)	37–27–8
73	L	March 20, 1987	5–6 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1986–87)	37–28–8
74	W	March 22, 1987	3–2	Vancouver Canucks (1986–87)	38–28–8
75	W	March 25, 1987	10–1	Calgary Flames (1986–87)	39–28–8
76	L	March 26, 1987	1–3	@ Calgary Flames (1986–87)	39–29–8
77	L	March 29, 1987	2–6	Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87)	39–30–8
78	L	March 31, 1987	4–5 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1986–87)	39–31–8
79	L	April 3, 1987	4–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1986–87)	39–32–8
80	W	April 5, 1987	3–1	@ Calgary Flames (1986–87)	40–32–8

Playoffs

The Jets won the Division semi-finals (4–2) versus Calgary Flames to advance to the Division Finals, which they lost 4–0 to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	C	80	47	53	100	52	3	10	0	4
	RW	72	32	42	74	75	12	10	0	6
	RW	69	19	32	51	20	-2	7	0	4
	C	75	17	33	50	59	7	3	3	1
	LW	79	27	21	48	24	3	1	1	4
	D	78	13	31	44	53	19	5	0	2
	D	79	4	40	44	106	-1	1	0	0
	LW	78	25	18	43	36	18	0	2	4
	D	71	16	26	42	93	-6	5	0	4
	C	80	17	24	41	152	-17	1	1	2
	RW	80	18	18	36	105	-13	5	0	2
	D	72	7	29	36	24	-3	1	0	2
	RW	71	11	21	32	106	6	1	1	0
	D	63	3	13	16	119	5	0	0	0
	C	80	3	13	16	13	10	0	0	0
	D	72	5	5	10	162	4	0	0	1
	D	52	2	8	10	60	6	0	0	0
	C	30	3	6	9	12	-3	1	0	1
	RW	20	1	8	9	8	-4	0	0	0
	RW	36	3	4	7	52	1	1	0	2
	C	26	1	5	6	44	-2	0	0	0
	LW	30	2	3	5	57	-4	0	0	1
	LW	6	1	2	3	0	1	0	0	0
	LW	4	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0
	LW	11	1	0	1	49	1	0	0	0
	LW	11	0	1	1	15	-3	0	0	0
	LW	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
	G	31	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
	RW	6	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
	C	2	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
	G	7	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	0
	G	48	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	0
	D	3	0	0	0	12	-4	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
	2762	48	21	21	4	149	3.24	0	1256	1107	.881
	1758	31	18	7	3	93	3.17	1	810	717	.885
	327	7	1	4	1	25	4.59	0	134	109	.813
Team:	4847	80	40	32	8	267	3.31	1	2200	1933	.879

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
	C	10	5	8	13	4	3	0	0
	D	10	0	8	8	2	0	0	0
	RW	10	5	2	7	16	2	0	0
	C	10	3	4	7	8	0	1	1
	RW	9	4	2	6	0	2	0	0
	D	10	1	5	6	18	0	0	0
	C	10	2	3	5	32	1	0	0
	D	10	2	3	5	4	1	0	0
	LW	10	4	0	4	10	0	1	0
	D	10	1	3	4	23	0	0	1
	D	10	0	4	4	36	0	0	0
	C	10	1	2	3	0	0	0	0
	LW	8	2	0	2	2	0	0	2
	RW	8	1	1	2	30	0	0	0
	LW	7	0	2	2	6	0	0	0
	RW	9	0	2	2	10	0	0	0
	D	7	0	1	1	14	0	0	0
	G	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	RW	3	0	0	0	7	0	0	0
	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	LW	8	0	0	0	34	0	0	0
	C	1	0	0	0	10	0	0	0
	D	10	0	0	0	21	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
	439	8	4	4	21	2.87	0	210	189	.900
	166	3	0	2	10	3.61	0	74	64	.865
Team:	605	10	4	6	31	3.07	0	284	253	.891

^[1]

Transactions

Trades

June 21, 1986	To Buffalo Sabres Scott Arniel	To Winnipeg Jets Gilles Hamel
July 3, 1986	To Edmonton Oilers Murray Eaves	To Winnipeg Jets Future Considerations
August 15, 1986	To Montreal Canadiens Brian Hayward	To Winnipeg Jets Steve Penney Jan Ingman
January 5, 1987	To Quebec Nordiques Bill Derlago	To Winnipeg Jets 4th round pick in 1989 – Mark Brownschidle
January 8, 1987	To Montreal Canadiens 3rd round pick in 1987 – François Gravel	To Winnipeg Jets Steve Rooney
June 5, 1987	To St. Louis Blues Perry Turnbull	To Winnipeg Jets 5th round pick in 1987 – Ken Gernander
June 8, 1987	To New York Rangers Brian Mullen 10th round pick in 1987 – Brett Barnett	To Winnipeg Jets 5th round pick in 1988 – Ben Lebeau 3rd round pick in 1989 – Denny Felsner

Draft picks

The Jets selected the following players at the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, which was held at the Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto on June 15, 1985.^[2]

NHL Entry Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team
1	8	Pat Elynuik (RW)		Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
2	29	Teppo Numminen (D)		Tappara Tampere (SM-liiga)
3	50	Esa Palosaari (G)		Oulun Kärpät (FinD1)
4	71	Hannu Jarvenpaa (RW)		Oulun Kärpät (FinD1)
5	92	Craig Endean (LW)		Seattle Breakers (WHL)
6	113	Rob Bateman (D)		St. Laurent High School (Que.)
8	155	Frank Furlan (G)		Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)
9	176	Mark Green (LW)		New Hampton Prep (NH)
10	97	John Blue (G)		University of Minnesota (NCAA)
11	218	Matt Cote (D)		Lake Superior State University (NCAA)
12	239	Arto Blomsten (D)		Djurgårdens IF (SEL)
S2	11	Chris Levasseur		University of Alaska Anchorage (WCHA)

See also

• 1986–87 NHL season

Notes and References

1. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-04 . 1986-87 Winnipeg Jets Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.
2. News: 1985 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com . hockeyDB.com . December 8, 2016.