Menu

1986 Montreal Canadiens

The Amazing Year That Was 1986 Sports

, , , , , , , ,

This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of the most dramatic years in sports history, that of 1986. Consider the following…

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 


*It was the year of the legendary Penn State-Miami college football national championship game and the Bill Buckner error that haunted Red Sox Nation for 18 years. Either of these events is on the short list in the discussion for most dramatic sports moment of the modern era. To have both of them in the same year puts 1986 sports right at the forefront of greatness. But there was more…
*The baseball postseason was already shaping up as one of MLB’s best ever, even before the Buckner play. The ALCS matchup of the Red Sox and Angels, along with the NLCS battle between the Mets and Astros were each filled with drama and plot twists.
*John Elway delivered The Drive for which he is most remembered, the 98-yard march in the closing minutes of the AFC Championship Game at Cleveland to tie a game the Broncos eventually won in overtime. Think about this—this is a Hall of Fame quarterback authoring his signature moment and it was, at best, the third-most dramatic event in the year of 1986 sports.
*The college football season had plenty of action outside of Penn State and Miami. It was the time of Switzer and The Boz at Oklahoma, of Jim Harbaugh quarterbacking Michigan and guaranteeing a win at Ohio State.
*How about college basketball? The NCAA championship game was a nailbiter between Louisville and Duke. It’s noteworthy in that it was the first appearance on the national stage for Mike Krzyzewski and the last one for Denny Crum, who heretofore had been considered “Mr. March.” Monday night in Dallas represented two ships passing in the night.
*The NBA and NHL didn’t have incredible drama, but they did have two proud franchises winning championships. The Boston Celtics were perhaps the greatest champion of all time as they demolished the league. And the Montreal Canadiens briefly interrupted Wayne Gretzky’s domination of the NHL to capture a Stanley Cup.
TheSportsNotebook has preserved all the great memories of 1986 sports through the following content offerings…
*The season-long narrative of the 1986 college football season. This download starts from the beginning and the championship hopes of Penn State, Miami and Oklahoma and goes through the entire year. You’ll look back on not just the national championship push, but the key games in conference races week-in and week-out and every major bowl game. Download the story of the 1986 college football season today.
*A compilation of articles that tell the story of the 1986 MLB season from the eyes of its best teams. We look at the four division winners—Mets, Red Sox, Angels and Astros on their paths through the regular season. Then it’s time to go game-by-game into the postseason, all the historic moments and including the little ones that time forgot. Download the 1986 MLB season today.
*The 1986 NFL season is shared through a compilation of articles that tell the story of nine different playoff teams—from the Super Bowl champion New York Giants to Elway’s Broncos, to Marty Schottenheimer’s Browns to a lot more. We also look at the Dallas Cowboys in the year that the excellence of head coach Tom Landry finally ended after two decades of playoff teams. Download the 1986 NFL season today.
You can also read individual articles on…
*The Road To The 1986 Final Four—see how Louisville, Duke, Kansas and surprising LSU made their way to Dallas.
*The season-long narratives of the Celtics and the Canadiens, starting from the early days of October and November and going game-by-game through their postseason runs.
The year of 1986 sports was one that created moments that defined a generation. Read about all of them and a lot more at TheSportsNotebook.com

Patrick Roy Emerges With The 1986 Montreal Canadiens

, , , , , , ,

The 1986 Montreal Canadiens entered the season having failed to win a Stanley Cup the previous six years. That’s nothing for any other franchise but for the NHL’s proudest team, one who had won four straight Cups as recently as 1976-79, it was an interminable wait. 1986 saw a surprise return to the top led by a 20-year-goaltender named Patrick Roy.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Montreal had been through four coaches since the great Scotty Bowman left following the 1979 championship. Jean Perron became the fifth when he led the 1986 team. Most of the great players from that dynasty era were gone, but one big exception was 34-year-old defenseman Larry Robinson, who helped lead a defense that ranked fourth in the league in goals allowed.

Mats Naslund was a second-team All-Star, scoring 43 goals and handing out 67 assists. Other 30-goal scorers were Bobby Smith and Kjell Dahlin. The offense ranked sixth in the league in goals scored.

But the ultimate story of the season was Roy, and it’s appropriate that he was microcosm for the team. He was pretty good in the regular season, an 87.5% save rate that was much better by the context of 1986 than it would be today. And in the playoffs he lifted his game to a new level.

Montreal was consistent in the regular season, for better and for worse. They were .500 at Thanksgiving and nudged up to 19-12-4 by the New Year. They had a five-game win streak in January that was wiped out by a six-game losing streak in February. The Canadiens ended the regular season at 40-33-7.

It was good for second in the Adams Division—basically the Northeast, with Boston and division champ Quebec included. The record was fifth-best in the Wales Conference (the East) and seventh overall. There was no reason to expect something special from this Canadien team in the playoffs—the bracket seemed set up to produce an Edmonton-Philadelphia rematch in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Montreal met their longtime rival in Boston in the first round. The Bruins were led by the great defenseman Ray Borque and had 30-goal scorers in Keith Crowder and Charlie Simmer. They had the sixth-best defense in the NHL, but they didn’t have anyone that would match Roy in goal.

The young goalie got his postseason underway with a sweep of what was then a best-of-five series in the first round. Boston managed just six goals and Montreal was able to grind out wins of 3-1, 3-2 and 4-3. They got good news elsewhere—in the other Adams Division semifinal, Quebec had been upset by the Hartford Whalers. The Canadiens would have home ice for another round.

Hartford might have been last of the four Adams Division playoff teams, but they were pretty good in a balanced division that saw all five teams (Buffalo was the one to not make the playoffs) end up between 80-92 points. The Whalers had the fifth-best offense in the NHL, led by 45-goal scorer Sylvanian Turgeon and they got to Roy in Game 1, taking a 4-1 win.

Roy immediately got his game turned around, and Montreal won Game 2 by a 3-1 count and then reclaimed home ice in Game 3 with a 4-1 win. Roy continued to be great in Game 4, but the Canadiens lost a 2-1 overtime game that tied the series. The offense did its job in Game 5 with a 5-3 victory. Roy was back in form for Game 6, but got no support in a 1-0 loss. With the season on the line, Game 7 went to overtime and Montreal pulled out a 2-1 win.

It was a hair-raising survival, but more bracket breaks were coming Montreal’s way. The New York Rangers had upset Philadelphia and the conference finals would be Canadiens-Rangers. And for as well as Roy was now playing, the best goalie in hockey in 1986 was 22-year-old Vezina Trophy winner John Vanbiesbrouck. The Wales Conference would be decided by two rising stars in net.

What New York did not have was the ability to generate any offense, ranking 20th in the league in goals scorer. It enabled Roy to win a 2-1 due in the opener, and Montreal’s own attack was able to put pressure on Vanbiesbrouck in wins of 6-2 and 4-3 in overtime to put the Canadiens on the brink. The Ranger goalie went down fighting, producing a 2-0 shutout win, but Roy got the best of him in Game 5 with a 2-1 win. Montreal was returning to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since the dynasty ended in 1979.

And it was time for one more break in the bracket. Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers had been to three straight Finals, won two straight Cups and were the best team in hockey in 1986. The Calgary Flames ousted Gretzky in the division finals and then survived a seven-game battle with the St. Louis Blues. It would be an all-Canada battle in the Stanley Cup Finals, the first since 1967.

Calgary’s 89 points in the regular season were slightly ahead of Montreal’s 87, so even this bracket break didn’t bring home ice advantage. The Flames had a deep and balanced offense that ranked second in scoring without one particular dominant player. And they had their own young goalie with a bright future ahead of him in 22-year-old Mike Vernon.

That deep offense hit Roy right away and Montreal lost the opener 5-2. The Canadiens fought Game 2 to a 2-2 tie through regulation and overtime began. It lasted all of nine seconds as Brian Skrudland scored immediately off the faceoff and Montreal had tied the series.

Montreal got to Vernon for five goals in Game 3, taking a 5-3 win and then Roy put his teammates on his back in a 1-0 Game 4 win that put the Canadiens on the verge of a title. They went to Calgary and finished the job, winning 4-3.

Roy’s numbers in the postseason were nothing short of spectacular. His save rate was 92.3% and he allowed just 1.92 goals per game. He was an easy choice for the Conn Smythe Award as MVP of the entire postseason.

The Montreal Canadiens were back on top of the hockey world and had briefly interrupted the Gretzky Dynasty in Edmonton. And Patrick Roy was just getting started on a career that would take him to the Hall of Fame.

The Edmonton Oilers Dynasty Flames Out In The 1986 NHL Playoffs

, , , , , , , , ,

By the time the 1986 NHL playoffs rolled around, hockey fans were used to watching dynasties. The Montreal Canadiens won four straight from 1976-79. The New York Islanders did the same from 1980-83. So when the Edmonton Oilers broke through in 1984 and followed it up with a repeat Stanley Cup in 1985, one could be forgiven for the assumption that the Oilers would be next in line to win up to four in a row. Only it didn’t work out that way.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

It’s not that Edmonton wasn’t a dynasty—they would eventually get four Stanley Cups, though it took to 1990. And it’s not that the 1986 edition wasn’t good enough. Wayne Gretzky won his seventh MVP award in as many seasons. Jari Kurri led the league in goals. The Oilers rolled to a league-best 56-17-7 record in the regular season.

The Calgary Flames were in the same division—the old Smythe, which was more or less the Pacific Division. The defense wasn’t great, and there was no clear offensive star—Dan Quinn’s 30 goals/42 assists were the best the Flames had, but would have made him a third or fourth option in Edmonton. But Calgary had enough team-wide balance to still be the second-most prolific offense in the NHL.

Calgary and Edmonton met in the second round, and the Flames grabbed the first game of the series and then didn’t let go, taking Games 3 & 5. Edmonton forced a Game 7 back on their home ice, but Calgary’s 3-2 upset win sent shock waves through the NHL. A dynasty had died—or at least been interrupted—prematurely. The 1986 NHL playoffs were now wide open.

The Flames beat the St. Louis Blues in the conference finals, again going seven games and this time getting a 3-2 win. Calgary wasn’t known for their defense, but they won two close, low-scoring Game 7s in the playoffs to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

On the opposite side of the bracket, a 20-year-old goalie was starting on a great NHL career. Patrick Roy would gain his greatest fame for what he did with the Colorado Avalanche in the latter part of the 1990s, but he would start his career by leading the Montreal Canadiens to a brief restoration of their glory.

Montreal had a nice regular season, but at 40-33-7, there were four teams in the Wales Conference (later re-named the Eastern Conference) better. Similarly, Roy was a promising young goalie, but with a 3.35 Goals Against Average, he wasn’t setting the world on fire.

All that changed in the postseason. Roy lifted his game to a new level, posting a 1.92 GAA throughout the four playoff rounds. Montreal got their share of breaks—all four teams ahead of them in the Wales were upset, and the Canadiens managed to get through three playoff rounds by playing inferior teams. They took advantage of the opportunity, with Roy delivering a big 2-1 overtime win in a Game 7 against the Hartford Whalers in the second round, and Montreal reached the Finals.

In a world of pure justice, Calgary would have been able to win the Stanley Cup, as the team that dethroned the dynasty. And Calgary took Game 1 of the Finals. But it proved better to have a young Patrick Roy on your side than some abstract concept of justice. After giving up five goals in Game 1, Roy took over and allowed just two goals per game the rest of the way. Montreal took each of the next four games and Roy won the Conn Smythe Award as MVP of the entire postseason.

The 1986 NHL playoffs started with expectation of an Edmonton dynasty. It ended with a temporary restoration of the Montreal lineage.