1982-83 NHL season

**The 1982–83 NHL season** was the 66th season of the NHL which lasted from October 5, 1982 to May 17, 1983.

The New York Islanders won their fourth Stanley Cup in a row with their second consecutive finals sweep by beating the Edmonton Oilers four games to none.

No team in any major professional North American sport has won four consecutive playoff championships since.

## League business

Prior the start of the season, the Colorado Rockies moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey where they were renamed New Jersey Devils, leaving Denver, Colorado without an NHL franchise until 1995.

They were also moved to the Patrick Division, forcing the reluctant Winnipeg Jets to leave the Norris Division and take Colorado's place in the Smythe Division; this would be the last relocation of an NHL team and the last time a team would be transferred to a new division, until 1993.

After the season, a last-minute sale of the St. Louis Blues to Harry Ornest prevented Wild Bill Hunter from purchasing that team and moving it to Saskatoon.

The Calgary Flames played their final season at the 7,000-plus seat Stampede Corral before moving into the Olympic Saddledome, which had a capacity of 16,605.

At the end of the season, the long pants worn by the Philadelphia Flyers and Hartford Whalers were banned due to player safety concerns.

## Regular season

The last remaining players from the Original Six era (prior to the Expansion Era): Carol Vadnais, Serge Savard and Wayne Cashman, who all retired after the season.

Cashman was the last to play, losing in the Wales Conference Finals as a member of the Bruins.

The Boston Bruins led the league in overall points with 110.

The defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders fell from first overall and finished tied for 6th overall while the high-powered, high offence, Edmonton Oilers tied for second overall.

The Oilers set a new record, which they had set the previous year, for most goals in a season with 424 and were led by Wayne Gretzky's 196 points.

The Oilers also tied the Boston Bruins' 1970–71 record for most 100-point players in one season as Wayne Gretzky, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri & Mark Messier all scored more than 100 points.

The Washington Capitals qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

## Accolades

### All-Star teams

 Mark Howe, Philadelphia Flyers
 Rod Langway, Washington Capitals
 Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
 Mike Bossy, New York Islanders
 Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers

## Player Statistics

### Scoring leaders

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

### Leading goaltenders

*Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts*

## Coaches

**Patrick Division**

* New Jersey Devils: Bill MacMillan
* New York Islanders: Al Arbour
* New York Rangers: Herb Brooks
* Philadelphia Flyers: Pat Quinn
* Pittsburgh Penguins: Eddie Johnston
* Washington Capitals: Bryan Murray

**Adams Division**

* Boston Bruins: Gerry Cheevers
* Buffalo Sabres: Scotty Bowman
* Hartford Whalers: Larry Kish, John Cunniff and Larry Pleau
* Montreal Canadiens: Bob Berry
* Quebec Nordiques: Michel Bergeron

**Norris Division**

* Chicago Black Hawks: Orval Tessier
* Detroit Red Wings: Nick Polano
* Minnesota North Stars: Glen Sonmor
* St. Louis Blues: Barclay Plager
* Toronto Maple Leafs: Mike Nykoluk

**Smythe Division**

* Calgary Flames: Bob Johnson
* Edmonton Oilers: Glen Sather
* Los Angeles Kings: Don Perry
* Vancouver Canucks: Tom Watt
* Winnipeg Jets:

## Milestones

### Debuts

* Gord Kluzak, Boston Bruins
* Dave Andreychuk, Buffalo Sabres
* Phil Housley, Buffalo Sabres
* Jamie Macoun, 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
* Scott Stevens, Washington Capitals
* Brian Hayward, Winnipeg Jets
* Brian Mullen, Winnipeg Jets

### Last games

* Wayne Cashman, Boston Bruins (last player from the Original Six Era)
* 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
* Serge Savard, Winnipeg Jets