1982 Stanley Cup Finals

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 swept the Canucks to win their third consecutive and overall Stanley Cup championship. The Islanders became the first (and still only) U.S.-based team to three-peat as Stanley Cup champions, and the third franchise overall to three-peat as Stanley Cup champions, joining the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. The 1982 Canucks are one of two Stanley Cup finalist teams without any Hall of Famers on their roster (The other being the 1996 Florida Panthers).

This 1982 Finals took place under a geographically 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. 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, 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).

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.

Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver, despite having a losing record in the regular season, reached their first Stanley Cup Finals in franchise history. In the first round they swept the Calgary Flames. In the next round they defeated the Los Angeles Kings in five games. In the conference finals, the Canucks defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in five games.

New York Islanders
The Islanders' route to the Finals was slightly harder than Vancouver's. In the first round, the Islanders edged out the Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2. In the second round, they defeated their cross-town rivals in the New York Rangers in six games. In the conference finals, the Islanders swept the Quebec Nordiques 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.

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, 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.

New York Islanders

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Vancouver Canucks

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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

Aftermath
The Islanders successfully returned to the Finals the following year. This time, they played the Edmonton Oilers and swept them 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. The Canucks would also return to the Cup Finals in 2011, but they lost to the Boston Bruins, also in seven games after blowing a two games to none series lead.