1986 Stanley Cup Finals

The 1986 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1985–86 season, and the culmination of the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Campbell Conference champion Calgary Flames and the Wales Conference champion Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens won the best-of-seven series in five games to win their 23rd Stanley Cup, and their 17th in their last 18 Finals appearances dating back to.

It was the first all-Canadian Finals since Montreal lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in, the last year of the Original Six era. This was the fifth of nine consecutive Finals contested by a team from Western Canada, the fourth of eight contested by a team from Alberta (the Edmonton Oilers appeared in six, the Flames in two, the Vancouver Canucks in one), and the third of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice (the Oilers won four, the Canadiens one). This was the only time between and  that neither the Oilers (four wins) nor the New York Islanders (four wins) won the Stanley Cup.

Although this was the first ever postseason meeting between the two teams, it was not the first Montreal-Calgary Finals. The first Finals between teams from Montreal and Calgary took place in when the Canadiens defeated the Western Canada Hockey League champion Calgary Tigers. The Canadiens and Flames met again in a rematch in, with Calgary winning in six games.

The Finals reverted back to the 2-2-1-1-1 format after implementing the 2-3-2 format in.

Paths to the Finals
Calgary defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3–0, the defending champion and in-province rival Edmonton Oilers 4–3, and the St. Louis Blues 4–3 to advance to the final.

Montreal defeated rival Boston Bruins 3–0, the Hartford Whalers 4–3, and the New York Rangers 4–1 to make it to the final.

Game summaries
Brian Skrudland's game-winning goal in game two ended the shortest overtime in NHL playoff history, at a mere nine seconds. Montreal rookie goaltender Patrick Roy was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

Team rosters
Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.

Stanley Cup engraving
The 1986 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Bob Gainey by NHL President John Ziegler following the Canadiens 4–3 win over the Flames in game five.

The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1985–86 Montreal Canadiens

Riot
Some 5,000 jubilant Montreal fans celebrating the Canadiens' Stanley Cup win over the Calgary Flames rampaged through the city's downtown, causing over CA$1 million worth of damage.

Broadcasting
In Canada, this was the second and final year that the English-language rights of the Cup Finals were shared between CBC and CTV. For games one and two, CBC only had the rights to air them locally in Montreal and Calgary, while CTV broadcast them to the rest of the country. CBC then had the exclusive rights to televise games three, four, and five nationally. Had the series gone to a seventh game, then both CBC and CTV would have simultaneously televised it while using their separate production facilities and crews. After the season, CTV pulled the plug on their two-year-long venture with the NHL, and their rights package was eventually given to the Global-Canwest consortium.

This was the first of three consecutive seasons that ESPN televised the Stanley Cup Finals in the United States.