1987 Stanley Cup Final
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total Edmonton Oilers 4 3* 3 4 3 2 3 4 Philadelphia Flyers 2 2* 5 1 4 3 1 3
* overtime periods
Location(s)	Edmonton:Northlands Coliseum (1, 2, 5, 7) Philadelphia:Spectrum (3, 4, 6)
Coaches	Edmonton:Glen Sather Philadelphia:Mike Keenan
Captains	Edmonton:Wayne Gretzky Philadelphia:Dave Poulin
Referees	Dave Newell (1, 6) Andy Van Hellemond (2, 4, 7) Don Koharski (3, 5)
Dates	May 17–31, 1987
MVP	Ron Hextall (Flyers)
Series-winning goal	Jari Kurri(14:59, second,G7)
Hall of Famers	Oilers: Glenn Anderson (2008) Paul Coffey (2004) Grant Fuhr (2003) Wayne Gretzky (1999) Jari Kurri (2001) Kevin Lowe (2020) Mark Messier (2007) Flyers: Mark Howe (2011) Coaches: Glen Sather (1997) Officials: Andy Van Hellemond (1999)
Networks	Canada: (English):CBC (1–2, 6–7),Global/Canwest (3–5, 7) (French):SRC United States: (National):ESPN (Philadelphia area):WGBS (1–2, 5, 7),PRISM (3–4, 6)
Announcers	(CBC)Bob Cole andHarry Neale (Global/Canwest)Dan Kelly andJohn Davidson (SRC)Richard Garneau andGilles Tremblay (ESPN)Mike Emrick andBill Clement (WGBS/PRISM)Gene Hart andBobby Taylor
← 1986 Stanley Cup Final 1988 →

The1987 Stanley Cup Final was thechampionship series of theNational Hockey League's (NHL)1986–87 season, and the culmination of the1987Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between theEdmonton Oilers and thePhiladelphia Flyers in a rematch of the1985 Final. Despite blowing a 3-1 series lead, the Oilers defeated the Flyers in seven games – the first seven-game Final since1971 – for their thirdStanley Cup victory.

This was the sixth of nine consecutive Finals contested by a team fromWestern Canada, the fifth of eight consecutive Finals contested by a team fromAlberta (the Oilers appeared in six, theCalgary Flames in two, theVancouver Canucks inone), and the fourth of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice (the Oilers won four times, theMontreal Canadiens once). Game 7 of this series was played on May 31, which at the time was the latest finishing date for an NHL season. The record would be brokenfive years later when that series ended on June 1.

For the third straight year, theEdmonton Oilers andPhiladelphia Flyers finished the regular season with the two best records in the NHL. (In1984–85, the Flyers were first in NHL standings and the Oilers second; in both1985–86 and1986–87, the positions were reversed.) While the Oilers' success came from their vaunted offense, the Flyers relied on grit, defensive play, and solid goaltending fromVezina Trophy winnerRon Hextall.

The Oilers cruised into the Final with relative ease, losing only two games in the process. They beat theLos Angeles Kings in five games, swept theWinnipeg Jets, and then beat theDetroit Red Wings in five to win theClarence S. Campbell Bowl for the fourth time in five years. The Flyers, meanwhile, had a much harder road. It took them six games to knock off theNew York Rangers, went the full seven against theNew York Islanders, and then beat Montreal, thereigning champion, in six to claim their secondPrince of Wales Trophy in three years.

The Oilers and Flyers met in the Final for the second time in three years. This time, Edmonton was the regular-season champion with 50 wins and 106 points, and Philadelphia was second with 46 wins and 100 points.

This was a rematch of the1985 Stanley Cup Final, where the Oilers beat the Flyers in five games. Unlike the 1985 Final, this series went to seven games. Edmonton took the first two games at home, then split in Philadelphia. However, the Flyers won the next two games, one in Edmonton and one back in Philadelphia by one goal, to force a deciding seventh game. Edmonton won game seven to earn its third Stanley Cup in four seasons.

During the Stanley Cup presentation, Oilers captainWayne Gretzky would give the Cup toSteve Smith, who one year earlier scored on his own net a goal that led to their downfall against theCalgary Flames, theirin-province rivals, in theSmythe Division Final. Ron Hextall would receive the Conn Smythe Trophy for his efforts.

For the first time in the Final, both starting goalies, Hextall andGrant Fuhr, wore the full fiberglass cage mask which is now required across almost all levels of competitive hockey. Fuhr wore the original face-hugging fiberglass mask in his three previous Final appearances before switching to the full cage in the 1985–86 season.Patrick Roy was the first goalie to wear the full cage in the Final when he backstopped theMontreal Canadiens to victory vs. theCalgary Flamesthe previous year.

Many people consider this to be one of the greatest Stanley Cup Final of all time.^[1][2]

With the game tied at 1–1 after 40 minutes of play, the Oilers won thanks to third-period goals byGlenn Anderson,Paul Coffey, andJari Kurri. Gretzky registered a goal and an assist in the onslaught as part of a 4–2 win. The Flyers outshot Edmonton 31–26.

This time, the Flyers led 2–1 after two periods. Despite matching the Oilers line for line and speed for speed, Edmonton burned Philly with a third-period goal, then on the game-winner by Kurri, who took advantage of some disorganized defensive play by the Flyers in overtime to score the game-winning goal with a wide-open chance in a 3–2overtime victory.

Looking to take a commanding 3–0 series lead, Edmonton came out firing, taking a 2–0 lead after one period on goals byMark Messier and Coffey, then stretching it to 3–0 on Anderson's fluke breakaway goal 1:49 into the second.

With their backs against the wall, the Flyers began a comeback on second-period goals byMurray Craven andPeter Zezel. Early in the third, tallies 17 seconds apart byScott Mellanby andBrad McCrimmon tied the game, then put the Flyers ahead 4–3. For the remainder of the period, the Flyers gamely kept the Oilers' potent offense at bay untilBrian Propp's empty-net goal sealed a 5–3 win.

Until this point, no team had ever rebounded from a 3–0 deficit to win a game in the Final, and the Flyers won their first-ever playoff game after yielding a game's first three goals.

The momentum from game three did not carry over for Philadelphia. Gretzky notched three assists as the Oilers won, 4–1, and took a three games to one series lead. In a relatively sedate affair, the most shocking event came when Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall viciously chopped his stick across the back of the legs of Edmonton'sKent Nilsson in the third period when trailing 4–1. Hextall was apparently incensed that Anderson and other Oilers had cruised through the goal crease untouched and unpenalized during the game, and took out his frustration on the last Oiler he happened to see skate by. Hextall's actions caused Nilsson no injury, but Hextall would be suspended for the first eight games of the1987–88 season.

Edmonton's newspapers had published plans for a future victory parade that day, and the Oilers tried to make those plans come to fruition when they beat Hextall for two quick first-period goals. Although the Flyers got one back and trailed 2–1 after one period, Hextall let Edmonton's third goal of the game, a tip-in byMarty McSorley with nearly two minutes gone in the second slip between his arm and body; time was growing short.

Facing the end of their season, the Flyers clawed back and tied the game 3–3 on goals byDoug Crossman andPelle Eklund. With almost six minutes played in the third, Propp fedRick Tocchet in the slot for the go-ahead score. Hextall and the Flyers' defence clamped down on the Oilers the rest of the way and the series came back to Philadelphia.

With a chance to close out the series without the pressure of home ice, Edmonton took a 2–0 lead against a hesitant Flyers club on a disputed goal byKevin Lowe and a stuffer by checking wingerKevin McClelland. The Oilers took control of the game in all aspects, outshooting Philly 15–5 in the opening 20 minutes. The Flyers had little chance untilLindsay Carson managed to thread a puck throughGrant Fuhr's pads a little more than seven minutes into the second period. The Oilers kept the pressure on, and carried play into the third period. However, Anderson's careless high-sticking penalty with eight minutes left in regulation led to Propp's electric game-tying goal, snapping a shot high into the left corner of the net.

Eighty-four seconds later, little-used Flyer defencemanJ. J. Daigneault stepped up to a dying puck inside the Oilers' blue line, and cranked the puck just inside the right post to give the Flyers a 3–2 advantage. Daigneault's goal stirred the Spectrum crowd to a frenzy providing what has been called the loudest moment in that arena's history, and the game is often nicknamed"The Night the Spectrum Shook".^[3][4] The only threat to that lead came with ten seconds left, when Mark Messier picked off Hextall's attempted clear, broke in, and took one shot into Hextall's pads and a second over the top of the net.Mark Howe knocked down a last-ditch Oiler effort at the buzzer, and the Final headed to a seventh game for the first time since1971.

Two unusual occurrences marked the opening of the game, which marked the first game 7 since 1971: the Flyers were awarded a two-man advantage one minute into the contest, and scored the first goal of the game for the first time in the Final. Craven banked a shot off Fuhr's skate only 1:41 into the game for a 1–0 Philadelphia lead. The Oilers came back six minutes later when Messier finished off a 3-on-1 with a backhander to tie the game. Kurri delivered a huge blow to Flyers victory hopes when he beat Hextall with quick wrist shot off a Gretzky pass at 14:59 into the second period, giving the Oilers a one-goal cushion. Edmonton dominated the second and third periods of the game, controlling the flow with their speed, maintaining puck possession such that they allowed the Flyers only 6 shots on goal in the middle 20 minutes and a mere 2 shots in the third, while scoring one goal each in the second (on 13 shots) and third (on 12 shots) periods, including an insurance goal on Anderson's 30-footer up the middle with 2:24 left in the game.^[5]

Philadelphia's Hextall, who had 40 saves in game seven, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs MVP despite Edmonton's victory. His feat was the fourth time a Conn Smythe winner came from a losing team. He was preceded byRoger Crozier, goaltender with the Detroit Red Wings in1966,St. Louis Blues goalieGlenn Hall in1968, and Flyers right wingReggie Leach in1976.Jean-Sebastien Giguere, also a goalie, would later become the2003 playoff MVP with the Final-losingMighty Ducks of Anaheim.

This is the most recent game seven in the Final to have a lead change, and the most recent to have a game-tying goal until2024. All nine games seven played since then (1994,2001,2003,2004,2006,2009,2011,2019, and2024) had neither, aside from the aforementioned 2024 Final which had a game-tying goal. This was also the last time that the champs would skate off with the Cup after winning the trophy. When the Oilers repeated the next year, they started the tradition in which everyone gathered around with the Cup in a team photo.

In the United States, the series aired nationally onESPN. However, ESPN's national coverage was blacked out in the Philadelphia area due to the local rights to Flyers games in that TV market.WGBS aired four games at theNorthlands Coliseum whilePRISM televised three games at theSpectrum.

In Canada, this was the first of two consecutive years that the English-language rights to the Cup Final was split between theGlobal-Canwest consortium and theCBC. The CBC exclusively aired games one, two and six, while Global exclusively televised games three, four, and five. Game seven was then broadcast simultaneously by both networks, with each broadcaster using its own separate production facilities and on-air talent.

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Age	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
9		Glenn Anderson	RW	L	26	1979	Vancouver, British Columbia	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
6		Jeff Beukeboom	D	R	22	1983	Ajax, Ontario	first(did not play)
16		Kelly Buchberger	RW	L	20	1985	Langenburg, Saskatchewan	first
7		Paul Coffey	D	L	25	1980	Weston, Ontario	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
31		Grant Fuhr	G	R	24	1981	Spruce Grove, Alberta	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
21		Randy Gregg	D	L	31	1981–82	Edmonton, Alberta	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
99		Wayne Gretzky –C	C	L	26	1979–80	Brantford, Ontario	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
22		Charlie Huddy	D	L	27	1980–81	Oshawa, Ontario	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
12		Dave Hunter	LW	L	29	1979–80	Petrolia, Ontario	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
26		Mike Krushelnyski	C	L	27	1984–85	Montreal, Quebec	second(1985)
17		Jari Kurri	RW	R	27	1980	Helsinki, Finland	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
18		Moe Lemay	LW	L	25	1986–87	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	first
4		Kevin Lowe –A	D	L	28	1979	Lachute, Quebec	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
14		Craig MacTavish	C	L	28	1985–86	London, Ontario	first
24		Kevin McClelland	RW	R	24	1983–84	Oshawa, Ontario	third(1984,1985)
33		Marty McSorley	RW	R	24	1985–86	Hamilton, Ontario	first
11		Mark Messier –A	LW	L	26	1979	Edmonton, Alberta	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
35		Andy Moog	G	L	27	1980	Penticton, British Columbia	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
28		Craig Muni	D	L	24	1986–87	Toronto, Ontario	first
15		Kent Nilsson	C	L	30	1986–87	Nynashamn, Sweden	first
20		Jaroslav Pouzar	LW	L	35	1986–87	Cakov, Czechoslovakia	fourth(1983,1984,1985)
29		Reijo Ruotsalainen	D	R	27	1986–87	Oulu, Finland	first
5		Steve Smith	D	L	24	1981	Glasgow, Scotland	first
10		Esa Tikkanen	LW	L	22	1983	Helsinki, Finland	second(1985)

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Age	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
34		Craig Berube	LW	L	21	1985–86	Calahoo, Alberta	first(did not play)
21		Dave Brown	RW	R	24	1982	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	second(1985)
18		Lindsay Carson	LW	L	26	1979	Oxbow, Saskatchewan	second(1985)
32		Murray Craven	LW	L	22	1984–85	Medicine Hat, Alberta	second(1985)
3		Doug Crossman	D	L	26	1983–84	Peterborough, Ontario	second(1985)
15		J. J. Daigneault	D	L	21	1986–87	Montreal, Quebec	first
9		Pelle Eklund	LW	L	24	1983	Solna, Sweden	first
27		Ron Hextall	G	L	23	1982	Brandon, Manitoba	first
36		Al Hill	C	L	32	1984–85	Nanaimo, British Columbia	second(1980, did not play)
17		Ed Hospodar	D	L	28	1984–85	Bowling Green, Ohio	second(1985, did not play: suspended)
2		Mark Howe –A	D	L	32	1982–83	Detroit, Michigan	second(1985)
12		Tim Kerr	RW	R	27	1980–81	Windsor, Ontario	second(1985, did not play: injured)
8		Brad Marsh –A	D	L	29	1981–82	London, Ontario	second(1985)
10		Brad McCrimmon	D	L	28	1982–83	Dodsland, Saskatchewan	second(1985)
19		Scott Mellanby	RW	R	20	1984	Montreal, Quebec	first
42		Don Nachbaur	C	L	28	1984–85	Kitimat, British Columbia	second(1983)
20		Dave Poulin –C	C	L	28	1982–83	Timmins, Ontario	second(1985)
26		Brian Propp	LW	L	28	1979	Lanigan, Saskatchewan	third(1980,1985)
33		Chico Resch	G	L	38	1985–86	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan	second(1980)
28		Kjell Samuelsson	D	R	28	1986–87	Tingsryd, Sweden	first
23		Ilkka Sinisalo	RW	L	28	1981–82	Valkeakoski, Finland	second(1985)
24		Derrick Smith	LW	L	22	1983	Scarborough, Ontario	second(1985)
29		Daryl Stanley	D	L	24	1981–82	Winnipeg, Manitoba	first
14		Ron Sutter	C	R	23	1982	Viking, Alberta	second(1985)
22		Rick Tocchet	RW	R	23	1983	Scarborough, Ontario	second(1985)
37		Tim Tookey	C	L	26	1985–86	Edmonton, Alberta	first
25		Peter Zezel	C	L	22	1983	Scarborough, Ontario	second(1985)

The 1987 Stanley Cup was presented to Oilers captain Wayne Gretzky byNHL PresidentJohn Ziegler following the Oilers 3–1 win over the Flyers in game seven.

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

1986–87 Edmonton Oilers

• *Played both centre and wing.
  
• † Did not play in the Final.

• #8Wayne Van Dorp (LW) – played three regular season games, and three games in the Conference Finals This was not enough to qualify for his name being engraved on the Stanley Cup.

• 1986–87 NHL season
• List of Stanley Cup champions

• Diamond, Dan (2000).Total Stanley Cup. Toronto: Total Sports Canada.ISBN 978-1-892129-07-9.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004).Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp. 12, 50.ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.

• 1987 Stanley Cup
• 1986–87 NHL season
• Stanley Cup Finals
• Edmonton Oilers games
• Philadelphia Flyers games
• May 1987 sports events in Canada
• Ice hockey competitions in Edmonton
• Ice hockey competitions in Philadelphia
• 1987 in sports in Pennsylvania
• 1987 in Philadelphia
• 1980s in Edmonton
• 1987 in sports in Alberta

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