Bracket
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Calder Cup Final | |||||||||||
| 1 | Adirondack | 4 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Fredericton | 2 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Adirondack | 4 | |||||||||||
| Northern Division | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Moncton | 1 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Maine | 1 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Moncton | 4 | |||||||||||
| N1 | Adirondack | 4 | |||||||||||
| S1 | Hershey | 2 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Hershey | 4 | |||||||||||
| 4 | New Haven | 1 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Hershey | 4 | |||||||||||
| Southern Division | |||||||||||||
| 3 | St. Catharines | 3 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Binghamton | 2 | |||||||||||
| 3 | St. Catharines | 4 | |||||||||||
In each round, the team that earned more points during the regular season receives home ice advantage, meaning they receive the "extra" game on home-ice if the series reaches the maximum number of games. There is no set series format due to arena scheduling conflicts and travel considerations.
Read more about this topic: 1986 Calder Cup Playoffs