1982–83 NHL season

The 1982-83 NHL season was the 66th season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. Before the start of the season, the Colorado Rockies moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey where they were renamed New Jersey Devils. They were also moved to the Patrick Division, making the unwilling Winnipeg Jets to leave the Norris Division and take Colorado's place in the Smythe Division. This would be the last time an NHL team moved until 1993.
The last remaining players from the Original Six era, (Carol Vadnais, Serge Savard, and Wayne Cashman) all retired after this season. Cashman was the last to play, losing in the Wales Conference Finals as a player for the Bruins.
The New York Islanders won their fourth Stanley Cup in a row by beating the Edmonton Oilers four games to none. No team in any major professional North American sport has won four championships in a row since the Islanders.
Regular season
The Boston Bruins led the league in total points with 110. The defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders went from first overall and finished tied for 6th overall. The high-scoring Edmonton Oilers tied for second overall. The Oilers set a new record, which they had just set the previous year, for most goals in a season with 424. They were led by Wayne Gretzky, who had 196 points. The Oilers also tied the Boston Bruins' 1971 record for most 100-point players in one season as Wayne Gretzky, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, and Mark Messier all had more than 100 points.
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
Clarence Campbell Conference
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Stanley Cup playoffs
Playoff bracket
Finals
New York Islanders vs. Edmonton Oilers
New York wins the series 4-0.
NHL awards
All-Star teams
First games
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1982-83 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
Gord Kluzak, Boston Bruins
Dave Andreychuk, Buffalo Sabres
Phil Housley, Buffalo Sabres
Jamie Macoun, Calgary Flames
Mike Vernon, Calgary Flames
Murray Craven, Detroit Red Wings
Brian Bellows, Minnesota North Stars
Craig Ludwig, Montreal Canadiens
Mats Naslund, Montreal Canadiens
Pat Verbeek, New Jersey Devils
Bob Froese, Philadelphia Flyers
Dave Poulin, Philadelphia Flyers
Ron Sutter, Philadelphia Flyers
Rich Sutter, Pittsburgh Penguins
Gary Leeman*, Toronto Maple Leafs
Michel Petit, Vancouver Canucks
Patrik Sundstrom, Vancouver Canucks
Milan Novy, Washington Capitals
Scott Stevens, Washington Capitals
Brian Hayward, Winnipeg Jets
Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1982-83 (listed with their last team):
Wayne Cashman, Boston Bruins
Gilles Gilbert, Detroit Red Wings
Reggie Leach, Detroit Red Wings
Garry Unger, Edmonton Oilers
Mike Murphy, Los Angeles Kings
Rejean Houle, Montreal Canadiens
Carol Vadnais, New Jersey Devils
John Davidson, New York Rangers
Ulf Nilsson, New York Rangers
Ian Turnbull, Pittsburgh Penguins
Jacques Richard, Quebec Nordiques
Marc Tardif, Quebec Nordiques
Vaclav Nedomansky, St. Louis Blues
Ivan Hlinka, Vancouver Canucks
Milan Novy, Washington Capitals
Serge Savard, Winnipeg Jets
Other websites
Hockey Database
NHL.com
1982 in the United States
1983 in the United States