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 96 323 285 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 13 65 319 338 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 72 332 363 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 15 111 417 295 1473
Vancouver Canucks 80 30 33 17 77 290 286 1840
Calgary Flames 80 29 34 17 75 334 345 1331
Los Angeles Kings 80 24 41 15 63 314 396 1730
Colorado Rockies 80 18 49 13 49 241 362 1138

Scoring leaders

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

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

Stanley Cup playoffs

Playoff bracket

Division Semifinals Division Finals Conference Finals Finals
            
A1 Montreal Canadiens 2
A4 Quebec Nordiques 3
A4 Quebec Nordiques 4
A2 Boston Bruins 3
A2 Boston Bruins 3
A3 Buffalo Sabres 1
A4 Quebec Nordiques 0
P1 New York Islanders 4
P1 New York Islanders 3
P4 Pittsburgh Penguins 2
P1 New York Islanders 4
P2 New York Rangers 2
P2 New York Rangers 3
P3 Philadelphia Flyers 1
P1 New York Islanders 4
S2 Vancouver Canucks 0
N1 Minnesota North Stars 1
N4 Chicago Black Hawks 3
N4 Chicago Black Hawks 4
N3 St. Louis Blues 2
N2 Winnipeg Jets 1
N3 St. Louis Blues 3
N4 Chicago Black Hawks 1
S2 Vancouver Canucks 4
S1 Edmonton Oilers 2
S4 Los Angeles Kings 3
S4 Los Angeles Kings 1
S2 Vancouver Canucks 4
S2 Vancouver Canucks 3
S3 Calgary Flames 0

Finals

New York Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks

Date Visitors Score Home Score Notes
May 8 Vancouver 5 New York 6 OT
May 11 Vancouver 4 New York 6
May 13 New York 3 Vancouver 0
May 16 New York 3 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 Team
Billy Smith, New York Islanders G Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers
Doug Wilson, Chicago Black Hawks D Paul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers
Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins D Brian Engblom, Montreal Canadiens
Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers C Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Mike Bossy, New York Islanders RW Rick Middleton, Boston Bruins
Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers LW John 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):

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):

References