# 1981–82 NASL indoor season

The 1981–82 season was the North American Soccer League's third indoor soccer season.

## Overview

Thirteen of a possible 14 NASL teams participated. Fort Lauderdale was the only non-participant in the 18-game regular season. The Los Angeles Aztecs and the Minnesota Kicks had been scheduled to participate but were unable to do so, due to mounting financial issues. By early December both teams had folded. Other changes in the indoor structure included the separating of the teams into two conferences, each with two divisions. The Atlantic Conference contained the East and Central Divisions, while the Pacific Conference held the West and Northwest Divisions. During the regular season teams played eighteen matches within their conference only. Four teams from each conference advanced to the playoffs, which included the two division winners, along with the two non-division winners with the best won-loss record. The championship series was broadcast live on ESPN. The San Diego Sockers won the championship with a two-game finals sweep of the Tampa Bay Rowdies. This was the Sockers' first ever NASL title. Juli Veee of San Diego won both the regular season and playoff MVP awards.

## Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games behind 1st place, % = Winning percentage, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

### Atlantic Conference

| East Division | W | L | GB | % | GF | GA |
| Montreal Manic | 9 | 9 | – | .500 | 93 | 97 |
| Toronto Blizzard | 8 | 10 | 1 | .444 | 86 | 96 |
| Jacksonville Tea Men | 7 | 11 | 2 | .389 | 86 | 106 |
| New York Cosmos | 6 | 12 | 3 | .333 | 102 | 123 |
| Central Division | W | L | GB | % | GF | GA |
| Chicago Sting | 12 | 6 | – | .667 | 139 | 117 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 11 | 7 | 1 | .611 | 121 | 113 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | 10 | 8 | 2 | .556 | 128 | 103 |

### Pacific Conference

| West Division | W | L | GB | % | GF | GA |
| San Diego Sockers | 10 | 8 | – | .556 | 147 | 110 |
| Portland Timbers | 7 | 11 | 3 | .389 | 86 | 103 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 5 | 13 | 5 | .278 | 83 | 141 |
| Northwest Division | W | L | GB | % | GF | GA |
| Edmonton Drillers | 13 | 5 | – | .722 | 133 | 92 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 10 | 8 | 3 | .556 | 93 | 94 |
| Seattle Sounders | 9 | 9 | 4 | .500 | 95 | 97 |

## NASL All-Stars
### First team

| Pacific Conference | Position | Atlantic Conference |
| Volkmar Gross, San Diego | G | Jürgen Stars, Tampa Bay |
| Alan Hudson, Seattle | D | Barry Wallace, Tulsa |
| Martin Donnelly, San Diego | D | Mike Connell, Tampa Bay |
| Jan Goossens, Edmonton | F | Tatu, Tampa Bay |
| Kai Haaskivi, Edmonton | F | Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago |
| Juli Veee, San Diego | F | Gordon Hill, Montreal |

### Second team

| Pacific Conference | Position | Atlantic Conference |
| John Baretta, Edmonton | G | Blagoje Tamindžić, Toronto |
| Bernie James, Edmonton | D | Derek Spalding, Chicago |
| Gert Wieczorkowski, San Diego | D | John Gorman, Tampa Bay |
| Dale Mitchell, Portland | F | Pato Margetic, Chicago |
| Carl Valentine, Vancouver | F | Laurie Abrahams, Tulsa |
| Jean Willrich, San Diego | F | Ingo Peter, Chicago |

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| First round Best-of-3 | First round Best-of-3 | First round Best-of-3 | First round Best-of-3 | First round Best-of-3 | Conference finals Best-of-3 | Conference finals Best-of-3 | Conference finals Best-of-3 | Conference finals Best-of-3 | Conference finals Best-of-3 | Championship series Best-of-3 | Championship series Best-of-3 | Championship series Best-of-3 | Championship series Best-of-3 | Championship series Best-of-3 |
| P1 | Edmonton Drillers | 8 | 12 | – | | | | | | | | | | |
| P4 | Seattle Sounders | 6 | 4 | – | | | | | | | | | | |
| P4 | Seattle Sounders | 6 | 4 | – | P1 | Edmonton Drillers | 2 | 3 | – | | | | | |
| | | | | | P2 | San Diego Sockers | 8 | 12 | – | | | | | |
| P2 | San Diego Sockers | 4 | 8 | – | P2 | San Diego Sockers | 8 | 12 | – | | | | | |
| P3 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 3 | 4 | – | | | | | | | | | | |
| P3 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 3 | 4 | – | | | | | | P2 | San Diego Sockers | 9 | 10 | – |
| | | | | | | | | | | A3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 7 | 5 | – |
| A1 | Chicago Sting | 4 | 7(OT) | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | A3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 7 | 5 | – |
| A4 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 5 | 6 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 5 | 6 | 3 | A4 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 4 | 4 | 0 | | | | | |
| | | | | | A3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 5 | 3 | 1 | | | | | |
| A2 | Montreal Manic | 7 | 3 | 1 | A3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 5 | 3 | 1 | | | | | |
| A3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 8(OT) | 2 | 2(3OT) | | | | | | | | | | |

### 1st round

If a playoff series is tied after two games, a 15 minute, tie breaker mini-game is played.
| Higher seed | | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Mini-game | Attendance |
| Edmonton Drillers | - | Seattle Sounders | 8–6 | 12–4 | x | February 17 • Kingdome • 4,112 February 20 • Northlands Coliseum • 6,027 |
| San Diego Sockers | - | Vancouver Whitecaps | 4–3 | 8–4 | x | February 19 • Pacific Coliseum • 5,128 February 21 • San Diego Sports Arena • 9,728 |
| Montreal Manic | - | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 7–8 (OT) | 3–2 | 1–2 (3OT) | February 18 • Bayfront Center • 5,043 February 21 • Montreal Forum • 15,855 |
| Chicago Sting | - | Tulsa Roughnecks | 4–5 | 7–6 (OT) | 1–3 | February 16 • Expo Square Pavilion • 5,482 February 18 • Chicago Stadium • 16,077 |

### Semi-finals

| Higher seed | | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Mini-game | Attendance |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | - | Tulsa Roughnecks | 5–4 | 3–4 | 1–0 | February 25 • Expo Square Pavilion • 7,021 March 1 • Bayfront Center • 5,545 |
| Edmonton Drillers | - | San Diego Sockers | #2–8 | 3–12 | x | February 25 • San Diego Sports Arena • 8,435 March 1 • San Diego Sports Arena • 12,840 |
#Although Edmonton was the higher seed, a scheduling conflict forced both games to be played in San Diego.

### Championship finals

| *Higher seed | | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Mini-game | Attendance |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | - | San Diego Sockers | 7–9 | 5–10 | x | March 3 • San Diego Sports Arena • 12,840 March 8 • Bayfront Center • 6,325 |
*Championship finals re-seeded based on regular-season won-loss record.

#### Championship match reports

1981–82 NASL Indoor Champions: San Diego Sockers

## Postseason awards

* Most Valuable Player: Juli Veee, San Diego
* Playoff MVP: Juli Veee, San Diego