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 beating the Vancouver Canucks in four games.

Prior to the start of the season, the divisions of the league were re-aligned to better reflect the locations of the teams. The Patrick Division, which had been in the Clarence Campbell Conference, switched to the Prince of Wales Conference, while the Norris Division went the other way, going from the Wales Conference to the Campbell Conference. This divisional alignment existed until the 1993-94 season, at which point both the divisions and the conferences of the league were renamed to reflect geography.

Regular season
Final standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
Prince of Wales Conference
 Adams Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM Montreal Canadiens  80  46  17  17 109  360  223  1463 Boston Bruins  80  43 27 10 96 323285 1266 Buffalo Sabres  80  39 26 15 93 307 273 1425 Quebec Nordiques  80  33 31 16 82 356 345 1757 Hartford Whalers  80  21 41 18 60 264 351 1493

 Patrick Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM New York Islanders  80  54 16 10 118 385 250 1328 New York Rangers  80 39 27  14 92 316 306 1402 Philadelphia Flyers  80  38 31 11 87 325 313 2493 Pittsburgh Penguins  80  31 36 13 75 310 337 2212 Washington Capitals  80 26  41 1365319  338 1932

Clarence Campbell Conference
 Norris Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM Minnesota North Stars  80  37 23 20 94 346 288 1358 Winnipeg Jets  80  33 33 14 80 319 332 1314 St. Louis Blues  80  32 40 8 72 315 349 1579 Chicago Black Hawks  80 30  38 12 72332 363  1775 Toronto Maple Leafs  80 20  44 16 56 298 380 1888 Detroit Red Wings  80  21 47 12 54 270 351 1250

 Smythe Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM Edmonton Oilers  80 48  17 15 111 417 2951473 Vancouver Canucks  80  30 33 17 77 290 286 1840 Calgary Flames  80  29 34 17 75 334 3451331 Los Angeles Kings  80  24 41 15 63 314396  1730 Colorado Rockies  80  1849  13 49 241 362 1138

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

Stanley Cup playoffs
Playoff bracket

Finals
New York Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks

 Date Visitors Score Home Score NotesMay 8  Vancouver 5New York 6  OTMay 11  Vancouver 4 New York 6 May 13  New York3 Vancouver 0 May 16  New York3 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 TeamBilly Smith, New York Islanders GGrant Fuhr, Edmonton OilersDoug Wilson, Chicago Black Hawks DPaul Coffey, Edmonton OilersRay Bourque, Boston Bruins DBrian Engblom, Montreal CanadiensWayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers CBryan Trottier, New York IslandersMike Bossy, New York Islanders RWRick Middleton, Boston BruinsMark Messier, Edmonton Oilers LWJohn Tonelli, New York Islanders

First games
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1981–82 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
 Jiri Bubla, Vancouver Canucks
 Garth Butcher*, Vancouver Canucks
 Bob 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

References

 Hockey Database
 NHL.com

Category:1981 in the United States
Category:1982 in the United States
Category:National Hockey League seasons