The 1986–87 NHL season was the 70th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to three in the Cup finals.

The Chicago-based club officially changed their name from the two-worded "Black Hawks" to the one-worded "Blackhawks" based on the spelling found in their original franchise documents.

The Oilers won their second straight Presidents' Trophy as the top team and Wayne Gretzky won his eighth straight Hart Trophy and his seventh straight Art Ross Trophy.

On November 26, 1986, Toronto's Borje Salming was accidentally cut in the face by a skate, requiring more than 200 stitches. It was the third injury to his face and Salming returned to play wearing a visor.

On April 4, 1987, the Islanders' Denis Potvin became the first NHL defenceman to reach 1000 points. A shot by the Islanders' Mikko Makela deflected in off Potvin's arm in a 6–6 shootout between the Islanders and Sabres.

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Michael Dennis Liut (born January 7, 1956) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender.

Liut played for the Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1977 to 1979 and for the St. Louis Blues, Hartford Whalers, and Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to 1992. He won the 1981 Lester B. Pearson Award for being the most valuable player according to the his fellow players, and posted the league's best goals against average in 1989–90.

Liut played college hockey at Bowling Green State University. After being named twice to the CCHA First All-Star team, the St. Louis Blues selected him 56th overall in 1976. However, he opted instead to play for the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA for two seasons. When the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979, the Blues reclaimed Liut's rights.

Liut was outstanding in his debut with St. Louis. His first two seasons saw him pile up 71 victories. In 1980–81, he was voted a runner-up to Wayne Gretzky for the Hart Trophy; he was selected as a First Team All-Star and won the Lester B. Pearson Trophy as the league's MVP as determined by his peers. That fall, he was Canada's starting goaltender at the 1981 Canada Cup, which ended with a disappointing 8–1 loss to the Soviet Union in the final.

David G. Tippett (born August 25, 1961) is a National Hockey League head coach, currently of the Phoenix Coyotes. He is the 6th person to be the head coach of the Coyotes, and the 21st coach in the Phoenix Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets franchise. He is the former head coach of the Dallas Stars. He was the fourth head coach of the Stars (19th in the history of the franchise), since accepting the job on May 21, 2002 and being released on June 10, 2009. He is also a former left winger who played in the NHL for the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, and Washington Capitals. As head coach of the Coyotes, Tippett won the Jack Adams Award in 2010.

Tippett began playing with the Prince Albert Raiders of the SJHL in 1979–80. In his first year with the team, Tippett scored 53 goals and 125 points in 60 games. In the playoffs, Tippett continued with the very strong offensive numbers, scoring 19 goals and 40 points in 25 games.

He returned to the Raiders for the 1980–81 season, and once again had an excellent season, scoring 42 goals and 110 points in 60 games. In 24 playoff games, Tippett had 20 goals and 45 points.

Vladimir Nikolaevich Konstantinov (Russian: Владимир Константинов; born March 19, 1967) is a Russian-American retired professional ice hockey player who played his entire National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Detroit Red Wings. Previously, he had played for Soviet club CSKA Moscow. His career was ended in a tragic limousine accident just six days after the Red Wings 1997 Stanley Cup victory.

Vladimir Konstantinov, known also as "Vladdie" and "Vlad The Impaler" (for his vicious hits), was drafted 221st overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, after impressing a Red Wings scout at the 1987 World Junior Championships, where a brawl broke out in the Russia/Canada game. Scout Neil Smith remembers, "He was the only one of the Russians who fought back." Probably the most notable aspect of his hockey career was his aggressive style, specializing in getting opponents off their game. "For my game," he explained, "I don’t need to score the goal. I need someone to start thinking about me and forgetting about scoring goals." Konstantinov's aggressive style of play also earned him the nickname "Vladinator".

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. His biography on the National Basketball Association (NBA) website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

After a three-season career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982, Jordan joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls in 1984. He quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat". Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball at the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships (1996, 1997, and 1998) as well as an NBA-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second time in 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.