| 1982–83 NHL season | |
| League: | National Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | October 5, 1982 – May 17, 1983 |
| Draft: | Draft |
| Draft Link: | 1982 NHL Draft |
| Top Pick Link: | List of first overall NHL draft picks |
| Picked By: | Boston Bruins |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champs: | Boston Bruins |
| Mvp: | Wayne Gretzky (Oilers) |
| Mvp Link: | Hart Memorial Trophy |
| Top Scorer: | Wayne Gretzky (Oilers) |
| Top Scorer Link: | Art Ross Trophy |
| Playoffs: | Playoffs |
| Playoffs Link: | 1983 Stanley Cup playoffs |
| Finals: | Stanley Cup |
| Finals Link: | 1983 Stanley Cup Finals |
| Finals Champ: | New York Islanders |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Edmonton Oilers |
| Playoffs Mvp: | Billy Smith (Islanders) |
| Playoffs Mvp Link: | Conn Smythe Trophy |
| No Of Games: | 80 |
| No Of Teams: | 21 |
| Tv: | CBC, SRC (Canada) USA (United States) |
The 1982–83 NHL season was the 66th season of the National Hockey League. The Colorado Rockies relocated to East Rutherford, New Jersey, becoming the New Jersey Devils. 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. It remains to date the last time that any major professional North American sports team has won four consecutive playoff championships.
Prior the start of the season, the Colorado Rockies moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey where they were renamed New Jersey Devils, leaving Denver 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 until 1995, and the last time a team would be transferred to a new division until 1993. The period between this move and the adding of the expansion San Jose Sharks in 1991 is the second-longest period of stability in league history, surpassed only by the Original Six era. After the season, the St. Louis Blues were sold to Harry Ornest after the NHL prevented Wild Bill Hunter from purchasing that team and moving it to Saskatoon.
At the end of the season, the long pants worn by the Philadelphia Flyers and Hartford Whalers were banned, due to player safety concerns.[1]
The last remaining players from the Original Six era (prior to the Expansion 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 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 and 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, and Mark Messier all scored more than 100 points.
The Washington Capitals qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
See main article: article and 1983 Stanley Cup playoffs. The 1983 Playoffs marked the first time that seven NHL teams based in Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Quebec, Winnipeg, and Calgary) had qualified. Since the 1967–68 expansion, all the Canadian teams qualified for the playoffs on five other occasions – 1969 (Montreal and Toronto), 1975, 1976 and 1979 (Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver), and 1986 (the same seven as in 1983), the last time to date that all active Canadian teams qualified.
See main article: article and 1983 Stanley Cup Finals.
| 1983 NHL awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prince of Wales Trophy
| New York Islanders | |
| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl
| Edmonton Oilers | |
| Art Ross Trophy
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | |
| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
| Lanny McDonald, Calgary Flames | |
| Calder Memorial Trophy
| Steve Larmer, Chicago Black Hawks | |
| Conn Smythe Trophy
| Billy Smith, New York Islanders | |
| Frank J. Selke Trophy
| Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers | |
| Hart Memorial Trophy
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | |
| Jack Adams Award
| Orval Tessier, Chicago Black Hawks | |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy
| Rod Langway, Washington Capitals | |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
| Mike Bossy, New York Islanders | |
| Lester B. Pearson Award
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | |
| NHL Plus/minus Award
| Charlie Huddy, Edmonton Oilers | |
| William M. Jennings Trophy
| Roland Melanson/Billy Smith, New York Islanders | |
| Vezina Trophy
| Pete Peeters, Boston Bruins | |
| First Team | Position | Second Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete Peeters, Boston Bruins | align=center | G | Roland Melanson, New York Islanders | |
| Mark Howe, Philadelphia Flyers | align=center | D | Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins | |
| Rod Langway, Washington Capitals | align=center | D | Paul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers | |
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | align=center | C | Denis Savard, Chicago Black Hawks | |
| Mike Bossy, New York Islanders | align=center | RW | Lanny McDonald, Calgary Flames | |
| Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers | align=center | LW | Michel Goulet, Quebec Nordiques |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 71 | 125 | 196 | 59 | ||
| Quebec Nordiques | 75 | 47 | 77 | 124 | 78 | ||
| Chicago Black Hawks | 78 | 35 | 86 | 121 | 99 | ||
| New York Islanders | 79 | 60 | 58 | 118 | 20 | ||
| Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 56 | 51 | 107 | 22 | ||
| Boston Bruins | 77 | 46 | 61 | 107 | 47 | ||
| Edmonton Oilers | 77 | 48 | 58 | 106 | 72 | ||
| Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 57 | 48 | 105 | 51 | ||
| Edmonton Oilers | 72 | 48 | 56 | 104 | 70 | ||
| Calgary Flames | 80 | 46 | 58 | 104 | 10 | ||
| Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 45 | 59 | 104 | 22 |
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | MIN | GA | GAA | W | L | T | SO | SV% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | 62 | 3611 | 142 | 2.36 | 40 | 11 | 9 | 8 | .904 | ||
| Philadelphia Flyers | 25 | 1407 | 59 | 2.52 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 4 | .896 | ||
| N.Y. Islanders | 44 | 2460 | 109 | 2.66 | 24 | 12 | 5 | 1 | .910 | ||
| N.Y. Islanders | 41 | 2340 | 112 | 2.87 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 1 | .906 | ||
| Philadelphia Flyers | 40 | 2333 | 116 | 2.98 | 23 | 13 | 3 | 3 | .891 | ||
| Chicago Black Hawks | 41 | 2460 | 127 | 3.10 | 24 | 12 | 5 | 4 | .901 | ||
| Montreal Canadiens | 38 | 2130 | 122 | 3.44 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 1 | .883 | ||
| Buffalo Sabres | 52 | 3110 | 179 | 3.45 | 25 | 20 | 7 | 1 | .872 | ||
| N.Y. Rangers | 41 | 2365 | 136 | 3.45 | 16 | 18 | 6 | 2 | .883 | ||
| Chicago Black Hawks | 39 | 2340 | 135 | 3.46 | 23 | 11 | 5 | 1 | .888 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1982–83 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
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):
Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games.
This was the first season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deal with USA, covering a slate of regular season games and selected playoff games.