The 1982 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1981–82 season, and the culmination of the 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was played between the Campbell Conference champion Vancouver Canucks in their first Finals appearance and the Wales Conference and defending Cup champion New York Islanders, in their third Finals appearance. The Islanders won the best-of-seven series, four games to none, to win their third consecutive and overall Stanley Cup championship. This was the first time that a U.S.-based team won three straight Stanley Cups. The Canucks are also currently the first Stanley Cup finalist team without any Hall of Famers on their roster.

This 1982 Finals took place under a revised NHL divisional alignment and playoff structure, which de facto revived the "East vs. West" format for the Finals that had been abandoned when the Western Hockey League folded in 1926. It was also the first time a team from Western Canada contested the Finals since the WHL stopped challenging for the Stanley Cup (the Victoria Cougars, who had also been the last team from British Columbia to win the Cup in 1925, played the 1926 Finals too). This would also be the first of nine consecutive Finals contested by a team from Western Canada, but it was the only one of them to feature the Vancouver Canucks; the other eight were contested by a team from Alberta (Edmonton Oilers appeared in six, Calgary Flames in two).

With the new "East vs. West" format in effect, the NHL opted to switch a 2-3-2 format for the Finals to reduce travel compared to the traditional 2–2–1–1–1 format, although that was of no effect for these Finals since the result was a four-game sweep. Also, starting this season home-ice advantage would alternate between conferences as opposed to going to the team with the better record. The latter change would also be of no effect for these Finals since for even years the Wales champion received that advantage and in 1982 their representative, the Islanders, had the better record.

Paths to the Finals

Vancouver, despite having a losing record in the regular season, defeated the Calgary Flames 3–0, the Los Angeles Kings 4–1 and the Chicago Blackhawks 4–1 to advance to the finals. This was their first Finals appearance.

New York defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2, the New York Rangers 4–2, and the Quebec Nordiques 4–0 to make it to the finals for the third year in a row.

With New York having 118 points and Vancouver having 77, the 41-point difference between the two teams in a final round is the largest in Stanley Cup Finals history.^[2][3]

Game summaries

The Canucks had their best chance to win a game in the first one, as a Jim Nill short-handed marker gave them a 5–4 lead with only seven minutes to play in regulation time. However, the Islanders tied it when Mike Bossy banged home a loose puck after goaltender Richard Brodeur had collided with his own defenceman, Harold Snepsts, while trying to smother it. In the dying seconds of the first overtime period, Snepsts attempted to clear the puck up the middle, but it was intercepted by Bossy, who completed his hat trick with two seconds left on the clock to win the game for the Islanders. In game two, the Canucks led 4–3 after two periods, but the Isles came back to win again.

The series then shifted to Vancouver, where the Canucks were boosted by a boisterous, towel-waving Vancouver crowd and had a great first period, but failed to score on Billy Smith, who was brilliant. The Islanders went on to win 3–0, and then completed the sweep with a 3–1 victory on May 16 to win their third straight Cup and first on the road.

Mike Bossy scored seven goals in the four games, tying Jean Béliveau's record from 1956, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy.

New York Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks

Mike Bossy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Broadcasting

The series aired on CBC in Canada and on the USA Network in the United States. However, USA's national coverage was blacked out in the New York area due to the local rights to Islanders games in that TV market, with SportsChannel New York airing games one and two, and WOR televising games three and four.

Technical Difficulties

During the first period of the fourth game, WOR's broadcast experienced technical difficulties due to videotaping and editing issues causing an estimated 4 minutes and 30 seconds delay on their broadcast with a WOR identification card with text reading "Please Stand By" on the center of the screen. After a minute of silence, music by Alan Hawkshaw began playing with an announcer saying "Please stand by, we're experiencing technical difficulties. As soon as they have been corrected, we shall return to our scheduled programs". This occurred before a commercial break.

Team rosters

New York Islanders

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
1		Roland Melanson	G	L	21	1979	Moncton, New Brunswick
2		Mike McEwen	D	L	25	1981	Hornepayne, Ontario
5		Denis Potvin (C)	D	L	28	1973	Vanier, Ontario
6		Ken Morrow	D	R	25	1976	Davison, Michigan
7		Stefan Persson	D	L	27	1974	Bjurholm, Sweden
9		Clark Gillies	LW	L	28	1974	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
11		Wayne Merrick	C	L	30	1977	Sarnia, Ontario
12		Duane Sutter	RW	R	22	1979	Viking, Alberta
14		Bob Bourne	LW	L	27	1974	Kindersley, Saskatchewan
17		Greg Gilbert	LW	L	20	1980	Mississauga, Ontario
19		Bryan Trottier	C	L	25	1974	Val Marie, Saskatchewan
21		Brent Sutter	C	R	19	1980	Viking, Alberta
22		Mike Bossy	RW	R	25	1977	Montreal, Quebec
23		Bob Nystrom	RW	R	29	1972	Stockholm, Sweden
24		Gord Lane	D	L	29	1979	Brandon, Manitoba
25		Billy Carroll	C	L	23	1979	Toronto, Ontario
26		Dave Langevin	D	L	27	1974	Saint Paul, Minnesota
27		John Tonelli	LW	L	25	1977	Hamilton, Ontario
28		Anders Kallur	RW	L	29	1979	Ludvika, Sweden
29		Hector Marini	RW	R	25	1977	Timmins, Ontario
31		Billy Smith	G	L	31	1972	Perth, Ontario
91		Butch Goring	C	L	32	1980	St. Boniface, Manitoba

Vancouver Canucks

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
2		Doug Halward	D	L	26	1981	Toronto, Ontario
3		Garth Butcher	D	R	19	1981	Regina, Saskatchewan
5		Colin Campbell	D	L	29	1980	London, Ontario
6		Andy Schliebener	D	L	19	1980	Ottawa, Ontario
7		Gary Lupul	C	L	23	1979	Powell River, British Columbia
8		Jim Nill	RW	R	24	1982	Hanna, Alberta
9		Ivan Boldirev	C	L	32	1980	Zrenjanin, Yugoslavia
10		Anders Eldebrink	D	R	21	1981	Morjärv, Sweden
12		Stan Smyl	RW	R	24	1978	Glendon, Alberta
13		Lars Lindgren	D	L	29	1978	Piteå, Sweden
14		Blair MacDonald	RW	R	28	1981	Cornwall, Ontario
15		Neil Belland	D	L	21	1981	Parry Sound, Ontario
16		Per-Olov Brasar	LW	L	31	1979	Falun, Sweden
17		Tony Currie	RW	R	24	1982	Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia
18		Darcy Rota	LW	L	29	1980	Vancouver, British Columbia
19		Ron Delorme	RW	R	26	1981	North Battleford, Saskatchewan
20		Gerry Minor	C	L	23	1978	Regina, Saskatchewan
21		Ivan Hlinka	C	L	32	1981	Most, Czechoslovakia
22		Tiger Williams	LW	L	28	1980	Weyburn, Saskatchewan
23		Thomas Gradin	C	L	26	1980	Sollefteå, Sweden
24		Curt Fraser	LW	L	24	1978	Cincinnati, Ohio
25		Kevin McCarthy (C)	D	R	24	1979	Winnipeg, Manitoba
26		Lars Molin	LW	L	26	1981	Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
27		Harold Snepsts	D	L	27	1974	Edmonton, Alberta
28		Marc Crawford	LW	L	21	1980	Belleville, Ontario
31		Rick Heinz	G	L	26	1982	Essex, Ontario
35		Richard Brodeur	G	L	29	1980	Longueuil, Quebec

Note: Stan Smyl served as the Canucks acting team captain during the 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs. Kevin McCarthy was injured late in the season and did not play in the playoffs and is listed as the official team captain.

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1982 Stanley Cup was presented to Islanders captain Denis Potvin by NHL President John Ziegler following the Islanders 3–1 win over the Canucks in game four

The following Islanders players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1981–82 New York Islanders

Players

Stanley Cup engraving

• Harry Boyd, Mario Saraceno (Scouts) were included on the Stanley Cup in 1980, 1981. They were still part of the 1982, 1983 New York Islanders, but names were not put on the cup those years.
• †Greg Gilbert played 1 regular season, and 4 playoff games (did not play in the finals). †Hector Marini played 30 regular season games, but was not dressed in the playoffs. Both names were included on the Stanley Cup, even though they did not officially qualify.

††- Also played Centre

Aftermath

The Islanders successfully returned to the Finals the following year. This time, they played the Edmonton Oilers and swept them 4–0 to capture their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship.

The Canucks, however, lost in the first round to the Calgary Flames, 3–1. The Canucks would not return to the Stanley Cup Finals until 1994, when they were defeated by the Islanders crosstown rivals, the New York Rangers, in seven games.