The 1985–86 Winnipeg Jets season was the 14th season of the Winnipeg Jets, their seventh season in the National Hockey League. General Manager John Ferguson replaced coach Barry Long late in the season and guided the club on an interim basis to a 7–6–1 record. The Jets placed third in the Smythe, and despite their dismal 26–47–7 record, qualified for the playoffs only to lose to the Calgary Flames in the first round.
Offseason
After a record breaking 1984–85 season, in which the Jets posted 43–27–10 record, earning 96 points, the team had a very quiet off-season. Winnipeg participated in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft on June 15, 1985, and with their first round pick, 18th overall, the Jets selected Ryan Stewart from the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL. Stewart had 33 goals and 70 points in 54 games with the Blazers during the 1984–85 season. Some other notable selections by the Jets were goaltender Daniel Berthiaume in the third round, defenseman Fredrik Olausson in the fourth round and forward Danton Cole in the sixth round.
On June 25, 1985, the Jets signed team captain Dale Hawerchuk to an eight-year, $3.2 million contract. Hawerchuk, who was the first overall draft pick by Winnipeg in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft was coming off a 53-goal and 130 point season with the club in the 1984–85 season. The club signed undrafted free agent goaltender Pokey Reddick on September 25, 1985. Reddick spent the 1984–85 season with the Brandon Wheat Kings, going 14-30-1 with a 5.64 GAA in 47 games.
Regular season
The only thing to keep fan interest near the end of the season was the three-way turtle derby between the Jets, Vancouver Canucks, and Los Angeles Kings for the final two playoff spots in the Smythe Division, since the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames were well ahead of them and had already locked up the top two spots in the division. After a dreadful February in which they went 3-8-1 to drop to 19th overall in the NHL (ahead of only Vancouver and a woeful Detroit squad), the Jets went 5-4-1 in their last ten to finish tied with Vancouver for third place in the Smythe with 59 points, while Los Angeles was out with 54. But since the Jets had more wins than the Canucks (26 to 23), Winnipeg won the tiebreaker and claimed third place in the Smythe, drawing the Calgary Flames in the first-round thus avoiding a matchup with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion and Presidents Trophy winning Edmonton Oilers.
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.