The 1986âÂÂ87 WHL season was the 21st season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). While the Kamloops Blazers won their second Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as regular season champions, the Medicine Hat Tigers won the President's Cup as playoff champions before going on to win the 1987 Memorial Cup tournament.
The season saw the return of the Swift Current Broncos, with the Lethbridge Broncos relocating prior to the start of the season.
League notes
- On December 30, 1986, the Swift Current Broncos bus crash caused the deaths of four members of the Broncos: Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka, and Brent Ruff. Despite the tragedy, the Broncos opted to continue playing for the remainder of the season. The WHL would later rename its Most Valuable Player award the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy in honour of the four players who were killed in the crash.
- On March 1, 1987, Regina Pats player Brad Hornung was paralyzed during a game by a body check. In 1988, the WHL renamed its Most Sportsmanlike Player awardâÂÂpreviously the Frank Boucher Memorial TrophyâÂÂthe Brad Hornung Trophy in his honor. The incident also led to a rule change, making body checking from behind illegal.
- Rob Brown established a league record with a 212-point season for the Kamloops Blazers. In a season where the league awarded Most Valuable Player honours to a player from each of the East and West Divisions, Brown shared the MVP title with the Broncos' Joe Sakic.
Team changes
Regular season
Final standings
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
1987 WHL Playoffs
First round
- Medicine Hat earned a bye
- Saskatoon earned a bye
- Prince Albert defeated Swift Current 3 games to 1
- Moose Jaw defeated Regina 3 games to 0
Division semi-finals
- Medicine Hat defeated Moose Jaw 4 games to 2
- Saskatoon defeated Prince Albert 4 games to 0
- Kamloops defeated Victoria 5 games to 0
- Portland defeated Spokane 5 games to 0
Division finals
- Medicine Hat defeated Saskatoon 4 games to 3
- Portland defeated Kamloops 5 games to 3
WHL Championship
- Medicine Hat defeated Portland 4 games to 3
All-Star game
On January 20, the East Division defeated the West Division 4âÂÂ3 at Regina, Saskatchewan with a crowd of 3,652.
WHL awards
- Note: For the 1986âÂÂ87 season, the WHL handed out separate awards for the East and West Divisions.
All-Star teams
See also
References