1986–87 WHL season

{{Infobox sports season

| title = 1986–87 WHL season

| league = Western Hockey League

| sport = Ice hockey

| playoffs = Playoffs

| finals_champ = Medicine Hat Tigers (2)

| finals_runner-up = Portland Winter Hawks

| no_of_teams = 14

| season = Regular season

| season_champ_name = Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy

| season_champs = Kamloops Blazers (2)

| MVP_link = Four Broncos Memorial Trophy

| MVP = Rob Brown (Kamloops Blazers) / Joe Sakic (Swift Current Broncos)

| top_scorer_link = Bob Clarke Trophy

| top_scorer = Rob Brown (Kamloops Blazers)

| seasonslistnames = WHL

| prevseason_year = 1985–86

| nextseason_year = 1987–88

}}

{{Infobox sports season

| title = 1986–87 CHL season

| color = #4B489D

| color_text = #FFFFFF

| league = Canadian Hockey League

| sport = Ice hockey

| no_of_teams = 39

| season = OHL

| season2 = QMJHL

| season3 = WHL| playoffs = Memorial Cup

| finals_champ = Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)

| num_championships = 1

| finals_runner-up = Oshawa Generals (OHL)

}}

The 1986–87 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.{{Cite news |date=2016-12-30 |title=Memorial unveiled on 30th anniversary of crash that killed 4 Swift Current hockey players |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/30th-anniversary-crash-swift-current-broncos-dec30-1.3916452 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231174453/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/30th-anniversary-crash-swift-current-broncos-dec30-1.3916452 |archive-date=2016-12-31 |access-date=2024-05-12 |work=CBC News}}
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 award—previously the Frank Boucher Memorial Trophy—the Brad Hornung Trophy in his honor. The incident also led to a rule change, making body checking from behind illegal.{{Cite news |last=Coleman |first=Cory |date=2022-02-09 |title=Former Regina Pat Brad Hornung remembered for perseverance, positive attitude after death from cancer |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/brad-hornung-attitude-perserverance-1.6345336 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210010545/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/brad-hornung-attitude-perserverance-1.6345336 |archive-date=2022-02-10 |access-date=2024-06-08 |work=CBC News}}
Rob Brown established a league record with a 212-point season for the Kamloops Blazers.{{Cite news |date=2014-12-29 |title=Highest scoring seasons in major junior hockey history |url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/highest-point-scoring-seasons-in-major-junior-hockey-history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150730045027/https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/highest-point-scoring-seasons-in-major-junior-hockey-history/ |archive-date=2015-07-30 |access-date=2024-06-05 |work=Sportsnet}} 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

The Lethbridge Broncos relocate to Swift Current, Saskatchewan, becoming the Swift Current Broncos.

Regular season

=Final standings=

width="45%" \| East Division ! width="5%" \| GP ! width="5%" \| W ! width="5%" \| L ! width="5%" \| T ! width="7.5%" \| Pts ! width="7.5%" \| GF ! width="7.5%" \| GA
class="wikitable"
x Medicine Hat Tigers	72	48	19	5	101	383	264
x Saskatoon Blades	72	44	26	2	90	369	282
x Prince Albert Raiders	72	43	26	3	89	346	264
x Moose Jaw Warriors	72	38	31	3	79	366	321
x Regina Pats	72	31	37	4	66	332	356
x Swift Current Broncos	72	28	40	4	60	331	393
Calgary Wranglers	72	23	46	3	49	304	390
Brandon Wheat Kings	72	19	49	4	42	282	443

width="45%" \| West Division ! width="5%" \| GP ! width="5%" \| W ! width="5%" \| L ! width="5%" \| T ! width="7.5%" \| Pts ! width="7.5%" \| GF ! width="7.5%" \| GA
class="wikitable"
x Kamloops Blazers	72	55	14	3	113	496	292
x Portland Winter Hawks	72	47	23	2	96	439	355
x Spokane Chiefs	72	37	33	2	76	374	350
x Victoria Cougars	72	30	41	1	61	334	412
Seattle Thunderbirds	72	21	47	4	46	328	430
New Westminster Bruins	72	18	50	4	40	300	432

=Scoring leaders=

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

width="30%" \| Player ! width="30%" \| Team ! width="7.5%" \| GP ! width="7.5%" \| G ! width="7.5%" \| A ! width="7.5%" \| Pts ! width="7.5%" \| PIM
class="wikitable"
Rob Brown	Kamloops Blazers	63	76	136	212	101
Craig Endean	Regina Pats	72	69	77	146	34
Len Nielsen	Regina Pats	72	36	100	136	32
Joe Sakic	Swift Current Broncos	72	60	73	133	31
Theoren Fleury	Moose Jaw Warriors	66	61	68	129	110
Adam Morrison	Victoria Cougars	65	55	70	125	57
Greg Hawgood	Kamloops Blazers	61	30	93	123	139
Ron Shudra	Kamloops Blazers	71	49	70	119	68
Robin Bawa	Kamloops Blazers	62	57	62	113	91
Pat Elynuik	Prince Albert Raiders	64	51	62	113	40

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 4–3 at Regina, Saskatchewan with a crowd of 3,652.

WHL awards

Note: For the 1986–87 season, the WHL handed out separate awards for the East and West Divisions.

cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"

|Most Valuable Player - Four Broncos Memorial Trophy: East: Joe Sakic, Swift Current Broncos; West: Rob Brown, Kamloops Blazers

Scholastic Player of the Year - Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy: Casey McMilan, Swift Current Broncos

Top Scorer - Bob Clarke Trophy: East: Craig Endean, Regina Pats; West: Rob Brown, Kamloops Blazers

WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player: East: Len Nielson, Regina Pats; West: Dave Archibald, Portland Winter Hawks

Top Defenseman - Bill Hunter Trophy: East: Wayne McBean, Medicine Hat Tigers; West: Glen Wesley, Portland Winter Hawks

Rookie of the Year - Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy: East: Joe Sakic, Swift Current Broncos; West: Dennis Holland, Portland Winter Hawks

Top Goaltender - Del Wilson Trophy: East: Kenton Rein, Prince Albert Raiders; West: Dean Cook, Kamloops Blazers

Coach of the Year - Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy: East: Graham James, Swift Current Broncos; West: Ken Hitchcock, Kamloops Blazers

Regular season champions - Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy: Kamloops Blazers

WHL Plus-Minus Award: Rob Brown, Kamloops Blazers

All-Star Teams

colspan="5"\|East Division
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" width="70%"
	colspan="2"\|First Team	colspan="2"\|Second Team
Goal	Kenton Rein	Prince Albert Raiders	colspan="2" rowspan="6" \|unknown
rowspan="2"\|Defense	Wayne McBean	Medicine Hat Tigers
Mark Tinordi	Calgary Wranglers
Center	Theoren Fleury	Moose Jaw Warriors
Left Wing	Mark Pederson	Medicine Hat Tigers
Right Wing	Pat Elynuik	Prince Albert Raiders
colspan="5"\|West Division
	colspan="2"\|First Team	colspan="2"\|Second Team
Goal	Drago Adam	New Westminster Bruins	Peter Fry	Victoria Cougars
rowspan="2"\|Defense	Greg Hawgood	Kamloops Blazers	Mike Berger	Spokane Chiefs
Glen Wesley	Portland Winter Hawks	Chris Joseph	Seattle Thunderbirds
Center	Rob Brown	Kamloops Blazers	Glen Goodall	Seattle Thunderbirds
Left Wing	Brent Hughes	Victoria Cougars	Ken Priestlay	Victoria Cougars
Right Wing	Robin Bawa	Kamloops Blazers	Ron Shudra	Kamloops Blazers