1985–86 NHL season

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.

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.

The Stanley Cup

The playoffs of 1986 saw three first place teams eliminated in the opening round and the fourth, Edmonton, bowed out in the second.

The Montreal Canadiens decided to go with a rookie goaltender by the name of Patrick Roy. This decision proved to be a good one just like when the Canadiens rode rookie goalie Ken Dryden to a Stanley Cup championship in 1971. In the Final, the Canadiens beat the Calgary Flames, who were also riding a rookie netminder, Mike Vernon. Patrick Roy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP and had a sparkling 1.92 goals against average along with 15 wins.

The 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs are the last time to date (as of 2019) that all active Canadian teams have qualified in the same season. It is also the second time that all seven active teams at the time qualified, the first occurring three years earlier. Also, the Hartford Whalers won their only playoff series during their tenure in Hartford against the Quebec Nordiques.

• Trade deadline: March 11, 1986.[3]
• March 8, 1986: John Anderson traded from Quebec to Hartford for Risto Siltanen.
• March 10, 1986: Peter Andersson traded from Washington to Quebec for Quebec's third round choice in 1986 Entry Draft.
• March 10, 1986: Reed Larson traded from Detroit to Boston for Mike O'Connell.
• March 10, 1986: Darren Veitch traded from Washington to Detroit for John Barrett and Greg Smith.
• March 11, 1986: Bob Crawford traded from Hartford to NY Rangers for Mike McEwen.
• March 11, 1986: Ron Duguay traded from Detroit to Pittsburgh for Doug Shedden.
• March 11, 1986: Dwight Foster traded from Detroit to Boston for Dave Donnelly.
• March 11, 1986: Nick Fotiu traded from NY Rangers to Calgary for future considerations.
• March 11, 1986: Glenn Resch traded from New Jersey to Philadelphia for Philadelphia's third round choice in 1986 Entry Draft.
• March 11, 1986: Phil Russell traded from New Jersey to Buffalo for Buffalo's 12th round choice in 1986 Entry Draft.
• March 11, 1986: John Tonelli traded from NY Islanders to Calgary for Steve Konroyd and Richard Kromm.
• March 11, 1986: Rik Wilson traded from Calgary to Chicago for Tom McMurchy.

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1985 NHL Entry Draft
• 38th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• 1985 in sports
• 1986 in sports

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, New York: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 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. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.

Notes

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com
• hockey-reference