1981-82 NHL season

The 1981-82 NHL season was the 65th season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. The William M. Jennings Trophy made its debut this year as the trophy for the goaltenders from the team with the fewest goals against. The New York Islanders won their third straight Stanley Cup by sweeping the Vancouver Canucks in four games.

Prior to the start of the season, the conferences and divisions of the league were re-aligned to better reflect the geographical locations of the teams. The conferences were renamed Prince of Wales and Clarence Campbell. Geographically-based names would not re-appear until the 1993-94 season.

Regular Season

The New York Islanders lead the league with 118 points, seven more than second place Edmonton Oilers. Wayne Gretzky of the Oilers had a record setting year breaking several prestigious records, including the record of 50 goals in 50 games, set by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy, by scoring 50 goals in only 39 games. He also broke Phil Esposito's record of 76 goals in a season with 92, his own assists record of 109, set the year before, with 120, and his own point total of 164, set the year before, with 212. He was the first, and thus far only, player to ever score 200 points in a season, accomplishing the feat four times over a five year span. Gretzky's record setting year was reflected in the Oilers' final standings as the Oilers set a record for most goals in a season with 417. Gretzky was in on over half of the Oilers goals.

Final Standings

Prince of Wales Conference

Adams Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Montreal Canadiens	80	46	17	17	360	223	109
Boston Bruins	80	43	27	10	323	285	96
Buffalo Sabres	80	39	26	15	307	273	93
Quebec Nordiques	80	33	31	16	356	345	82
Hartford Whalers	80	21	41	18	264	351	60

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
New York Islanders	80	54	16	10	385	250	118
New York Rangers	80	39	27	14	316	306	92
Philadelphia Flyers	80	38	31	11	325	313	87
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	31	36	13	310	337	75
Washington Capitals	80	26	41	13	319	338	65

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Clarence Campbell Conference

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Minnesota North Stars	80	37	23	20	346	288	94
Winnipeg Jets	80	33	33	14	319	332	80
St. Louis Blues	80	32	40	8	315	349	72
Chicago Black Hawks	80	30	38	12	332	363	72
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	20	44	16	298	380	56
Detroit Red Wings	80	21	47	12	270	351	54

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Smythe Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Edmonton Oilers	80	48	17	15	417	295	111
Vancouver Canucks	80	30	33	17	290	288	77
Calgary Flames	80	29	34	17	334	345	75
Los Angeles Kings	80	24	41	15	314	369	63
Colorado Rockies	80	18	49	13	241	362	49

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Scoring Leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Wayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	80	92	120	212
Mike Bossy	New York Islanders	80	64	83	147
Peter Stastny	Quebec Nordiques	80	46	93	139
Dennis Maruk	Washington Capitals	80	60	76	136
Bryan Trottier	New York Islanders	80	50	79	129
Denis Savard	Chicago Black Hawks	80	32	87	119
Marcel Dionne	Los Angeles Kings	78	50	67	117
Bobby Smith	Minnesota North Stars	80	43	71	114
Dino Ciccarelli	Minnesota North Stars	76	55	51	106
Dave Taylor	Los Angeles Kings	78	39	67	106

Goaltending Leaders

Player	Team	GP	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
Denis Herron	Montreal	27	1547	68	3	2.64
Rick Wamsley	Montreal	38	2206	101	2	2.75
Billy Smith	New York Islanders	46	2685	133	0	2.97
Roland Melanson	New York Islanders	36	2115	114	0	3.23
Grant Fuhr	Edmonton	48	2847	157	0	3.31
Richard Brodeur	Vancouver	52	3010	168	2	3.35
Marco Baron	Boston	44	2515	144	1	3.44
Gilles Meloche	Minnesota	51	3026	175	1	3.47
Don Edwards	Buffalo	62	3500	205	0	3.51
Eddie Mio	New York Rangers	25	1500	89	0	3.56

Stanley Cup Playoffs

The 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs used a new format. Four teams from each division would qualify for the playoffs, and would play a best-of-five semifinal round followed by a best-of-seven series to determine the division playoff champions. The Adams Division and Patrick division winners would meet in the Wales Conference Final and the Norris Division and Smythe division winners would play in the Campbell Conference Final. The two Conference Champions would play for the Stanley Cup. With the exception of extending the first round to a best-of-seven in 1987, this format remained in place through the 1993 playoffs.

The first round of the 1982 playoffs saw three first-place teams (Edmonton, Minnesota, and Montreal) upset by fourth-place teams, a round which featured what is still the greatest comeback in NHL history: The Kings' 6-5 win over Edmonton in game 3. After trailing 5-0 after two periods, the Kings scored five third period goals -- three in the last 5:22, the final goal coming with only five seconds left in regulation. Los Angeles then scored on a face-off early in overtime, thus completing the "Miracle on Manchester."

The eventual champion New York Islanders nearly capitulated in the first round as well, losing the first two games of their series with Pittsburgh and needing overtime in the decisive fifth game. This served as a wake-up call for New York, who lost only two more games the rest of the way on their march to third straight Stanley Cup. Their Finals opponents, the Vancouver Canucks, finished the regular season with only 77 points, defeating three teams beneath them in the standings (Calgary 75, Los Angeles 64, and Chicago 72) in the much weaker Campbell Conference.

Playoff Bracket

Division Semifinals

Division Finals

Conference Finals

Finals

A1

Montreal Canadiens

2

A4

Quebec Nordiques

3

A4

Quebec Nordiques

4

A2

Boston Bruins

3

A2

Boston Bruins

3

A3

Buffalo Sabres

1

A4

Quebec Nordiques

0

P1

New York Islanders

4

P1

New York Islanders

3

P4

Pittsburgh Penguins

2

P1

New York Islanders

4

P2

New York Rangers

2

P2

New York Rangers

3

P3

Philadelphia Flyers

1

P1

New York Islanders

4

S2

Vancouver Canucks

0

N1

Minnesota North Stars

1

N4

Chicago Black Hawks

3

N4

Chicago Black Hawks

4

N3

St. Louis Blues

2

N2

Winnipeg Jets

1

N3

St. Louis Blues

3

N4

Chicago Black Hawks

1

S2

Vancouver Canucks

4

S1

Edmonton Oilers

2

S4

Los Angeles Kings

3

S4

Los Angeles Kings

1

S2

Vancouver Canucks

4

S2

Vancouver Canucks

3

S3

Calgary Flames

0

Finals

New York Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks

Date	Visitors	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 8	Vancouver	5	New York	6	OT
May 11	Vancouver	4	New York	6
May 13	New York	3	Vancouver	0
May 16	New York	3	Vancouver	1

New York wins the series 4–0.

NHL Awards

Prince of Wales Trophy:	New York Islanders
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:	Vancouver Canucks
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:	Glenn Resch, Colorado Rockies
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Dale Hawerchuk, Winnipeg Jets
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Mike Bossy, New York Islanders
Frank J. Selke Trophy:	Steve Kasper, Boston Bruins
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Jack Adams Award:	Tom Watt, Winnipeg Jets
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Doug Wilson, Chicago Black Hawks
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Rick Middleton, Boston Bruins
Lester B. Pearson Award:	Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
NHL Plus/Minus Award:	Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
William M. Jennings Trophy:	Rick Wamsley, Denis Herron, Montreal Canadiens
Vezina Trophy:	Billy Smith, New York Islanders
Lester Patrick Trophy:	Emile Francis

All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Billy Smith, New York Islanders	G	Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers
Doug Wilson, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Paul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers
Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins	D	Brian Engblom, Montreal Canadiens
Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers	C	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Mike Bossy, New York Islanders	RW	Rick Middleton, Boston Bruins
Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers	LW	John Tonelli, New York Islanders

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1981-82 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Jiri Bubla, Vancouver Canucks
• Garth Butcher*, Vancouver Canucks
• Bobby Carpenter, Washington Capitals
• Gaetan Duchesne, Washington Capitals
• Ron Francis, Hartford Whalers
• Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers
• Randy Gregg*, Edmonton Oilers
• Dale Hawerchuk, Winnipeg Jets
• Ivan Hlinka, Vancouver Canucks
• Tim Hunter, Calgary Flames
• Pelle Lindbergh, Philadelphia Flyers
• Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames
• Troy Murray, Chicago Black Hawks
• Bernie Nicholls, Los Angeles Kings
• Marian Stastny, Quebec Nordiques
• Thomas Steen, Winnipeg Jets
• Tony Tanti, Chicago Black Hawks
• John Vanbiesbrouck, New York Rangers

Last Games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1981-82 (listed with their last team):

• Don Marcotte, Boston Bruins
• Rogie Vachon, Boston Bruins
• Bill Clement, Calgary Flames
• Eric Vail, Detroit Red Wings
• Dave Keon, Hartford Whalers
• Paul Shmyr, Hartford Whalers
• Rick Martin, Los Angeles Kings
• Steve Vickers, New York Rangers
• Bob Dailey, Philadelphia Flyers
• Jimmy Watson, Philadelphia Flyers
• Don Luce, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Rene Robert, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Jean Pronovost, Washington Capitals

Gallery

Harold Snepsts and Stan Smyl with the Clarence Campbell Trophy, May 9, 1982.

See Also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1981 NHL Entry Draft
• 34th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• 1981 Canada Cup

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com