1982 Stanley Cup Final

The 1982 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1981–82 season, and the culmination of the 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was played between the Campbell Conference champion Vancouver Canucks in their first Final appearance and the Wales Conference and defending Cup champion New York Islanders, in their third Final appearance. The Islanders swept the Canucks to win their third consecutive and overall Stanley Cup championship. The Islanders became the first (and still only) U.S.-based team to three-peat as Stanley Cup champions, and the third franchise overall to three-peat as Stanley Cup champions, joining the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. The 1981–82 Canucks are one of two Stanley Cup finalist teams without any Hall of Fame players on their roster, the other being the 1996 Florida Panthers. Additionally, this marks the first time since 1955 and in 17 Cup Final attempts that a U.S.-based team defeated a Canada-based team in the championship round (U.S. teams have gone 0–16 against Canadian teams).

This 1982 Final took place under a geographically revised NHL divisional alignment and playoff structure, which de facto revived the "East vs. West" format for the Final that had been abandoned when the Western Hockey League folded in 1926. It was also the first time a team from Western Canada contested the Final since the WHL stopped challenging for the Stanley Cup (the Victoria Cougars, who had also been the last team from British Columbia to win the Cup in 1925, played the 1926 Final too). This would also be the first of nine consecutive Final contested by a team from Western Canada, but it was the only one of them to feature the Vancouver Canucks; the other eight were contested by a team from Alberta (Edmonton Oilers appeared in six, Calgary Flames in two).

Starting this season home-ice advantage would alternate between conferences as opposed to going to the team with the better record. The latter change would also be of no effect for these Final since for even years the Wales champion received that advantage and in 1982 their representative, the Islanders, had the better record.

Paths to the Final

Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver, despite having a losing record in the regular season, reached their first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history. In the first round they swept the Calgary Flames. In the next round they defeated the Los Angeles Kings in five games; after the Kings had upset the Edmonton Oilers and 92-goal scorer Wayne Gretzky in five games which was dubbed the Miracle on Manchester. In the conference finals, the Canucks defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in five games.

New York Islanders

The Islanders' route to the Final was slightly harder than Vancouver's. In the first round, the Islanders edged out the Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2. In the second round, they defeated their cross-town rivals in the New York Rangers in six games. In the conference finals, the Islanders swept the Quebec Nordiques to make it to the Final for the third year in a row.

With New York having 118 points and Vancouver having 77, the 41-point difference between the two teams in a final round is the largest in Stanley Cup Final history.

Game summaries

The Canucks had their best chance to win a game in the first one, as a Jim Nill short-handed marker gave them a 5–4 lead with only seven minutes to play in regulation time. However, the Islanders tied it when Mike Bossy banged home a loose puck after goaltender Richard Brodeur had collided with his own defenceman, Harold Snepsts, while trying to smother it. In the dying seconds of the first overtime period, Snepsts attempted to clear the puck up the middle, but it was intercepted by Bossy, who completed his hat trick with two seconds left on the clock to win the game for the Islanders. In game two, the Canucks led 4–3 after two periods, but the Isles came back to win again.

The series then shifted to Vancouver, where the Canucks were boosted by a boisterous, towel-waving Vancouver crowd and had a great first period, but failed to score on Billy Smith, who was brilliant. The Islanders went on to win 3–0, and then completed the sweep with a 3–1 victory on May 16 to win their third straight Cup and first on the road.

Mike Bossy scored seven goals in the four games, tying Jean Béliveau's record from 1956, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Broadcasting

The series aired on CBC in Canada and on the USA Network in the United States. However, USA's national coverage was blacked out in the New York area due to the local rights to Islanders games in that TV market, with SportsChannel New York airing games one and two, and WOR televising games three and four.

Technical Difficulties

During the first period of the fourth game, WOR's broadcast experienced technical difficulties due to videotaping and editing issues causing an estimated 4 minutes and 30 seconds delay on their broadcast. The station placed a still of its station identification card with a text-insert reading "Please Stand By" on the center of the screen. After a minute of silence, music by Alan Hawkshaw began playing with a station announcer announcing "Please stand by, we're experiencing technical difficulties. As soon as they have been corrected, we shall return to our scheduled programs". This occurred before a commercial break.

Team rosters

New York Islanders

Vancouver Canucks

Note: Stan Smyl served as the Canucks acting team captain during the 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs. Kevin McCarthy was injured late in the season and did not play in the playoffs and is listed as the official team captain.

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1982 Stanley Cup was presented to Islanders captain Denis Potvin by NHL President John Ziegler following the Islanders 3–1 win over the Canucks in game four.

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

1981–82 New York Islanders

Players

Centres

• 14 Bob Bourne
• 19 Bryan Trottier
• 21 Brent Sutter
• 25 Billy Carroll*
• 91 Butch Goring

Wingers

• 9 Clark Gillies
• 11 Wayne Merrick
• 12 Duane Sutter
• 17 Greg Gilbert †
• 22 Mike Bossy
• 23 Bob Nystrom
• 27 John Tonelli
• 28 Anders Kallur
• 29 Hector Marini †

Defencemen

• 5 Denis Potvin (Captain)
• 2 Mike McEwen
• 3 Tomas Jonsson
• 6 Ken Morrow
• 7 Stefan Persson
• 24 Gord Lane
• 26 Dave Langevin

Goaltenders

• 1 Roland Melanson
• 31 Billy Smith

• * Played both centre and wing.
• † Did not play in the Final. Name engraved on Stanley Cup despite not officially qualifying.[A]

Coaching and administrative staff

• John Pickett (Chairman/Owner)
• Bill Torrey (President/General Manager)
• Jim Devellano (Asst. General Manager/Director of Scouting)
• Al Arbour (Head Coach), Lorne Henning (Asst. Coach)
• Gerry Ehman (Head Scout)
• Ron Waske (Trainer), Jim Pickard (Asst. Trainer)

Stanley Cup engraving

• ^[A] Two players who did not play in the Final did not officially qualify, but still had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. #17 Greg Gilbert (LW) – played 1 regular season and 4 playoff games #29 Hector Marini (RW) – played 30 regular season games and 0 playoff games
• Harry Boyd, Mario Saraceno (Scouts) were included on the Stanley Cup in 1980, 1981. They were still part of the 1982, 1983 New York Islanders, but names were not put on the cup those years.

Aftermath

The Islanders successfully returned to the Final the following year. This time, they played the Edmonton Oilers and swept them to capture their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship.

The Canucks, however, lost in the first round to the Calgary Flames, 3–1. The Canucks would not return to the Stanley Cup Final until 1994, when they were defeated by the Islanders’ crosstown rivals, the New York Rangers, in seven games. The Canucks would also return to the Cup Final in 2011, but they lost to the Boston Bruins, also in seven games after blowing a two games to none series lead. Both of these Cup Final losses would result in riots, with the most famous one being the latter.

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1981–82 NHL season

Notes

Further reading

• Diamond, Dan (2000). Total Stanley Cup. Dan Diamond & Associates, Inc.
• Diamond, Dan (2008). (PDF). Dan Diamond & Associates, Inc. Archived from (PDF) on March 26, 2009.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.