The 1986 post-season will go down as another unforgettable
run in Calgary Flames history.
For starters, it was a whirlwind of a regular season for the
Flames, who went 23-12-6 after overcoming a then-franchise record eleven-game
losing streak from Dec. 14, 1985 to Jan. 7 1986.
Their efforts resulted in a second-place finish in the
Smythe Division, second only to provincial rivals, the titanic Oilers, led by Wayne
Gretzky who scored 215 points that season (remember this).
Gary Suter won the Calder Memorial Trophy as best rookie of
the season.
The Flames swept the Winnipeg in the first round and then
beat the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Edmonton with the Hart Memorial Trophy
winner Gretzky (yes, that 200+ point scoring guy) in seven games.
Rookie of the year Suter had a team-high five assists. His seven
points were the second-highest in the series alongside teammates Hakan Loob,
Joe Mullen and Oilers’ Glenn Anderson, trailing only The Great One’s 13 points.
This was a big moment in league history as this team, that came
second to Edmonton in the Smythe Division by a mammoth 30 points, took down the
big and mighty Oilers, and stopped them from potentially pulling off a historical Stanley
Cup five-peat for the greatest player in hockey. Edmonton had won the Stanley Cup the two years before (1984, 1985), and would go on to win in the two years after (1987, 1988).
Sadly, this is the only flex
Flames fans can have over Oilers fans as Calgary has never beaten Edmonton in any
playoff series since.
The Flames then beat St. Louis in seven games to win the
franchise’s first Clarence S. Campbell Bowl as Conference champions and advance
to the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals. Al MacInnis and Paul Reinhart led the series
with 10 and eight points respectively.
The Flames became the first team from Calgary to reach the Finals since the Calgary Tigers of the WCHL in 1924.
Unfortunately, after winning their first game, Calgary got
topped by the Prince of Wales Conference champions Montreal Canadiens in four consecutive
games to lose the series 4-1.
While the Flames did not claim Lord Stanley’s Cup that
season, they produced a memorable season that resonates with Flames fans, and
be remembered for years as the squad that denied immortality status for Gretzky.
The only team in NHL history that has won the Stanley Cup five years in a row are the 1956-60 Montreal Canadiens.
Fortunately, Calgary would have to wait only three more
years to finally reach the mountain top in 1989.
Nine of the Flames’ players from the 1986 Finals would go on to lift the cup.
These finals were also against the Canadiens that consisted
a lot of the 1986 Finals’ roster, so a bit of payback was rightfully due.
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