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 sweeping the Vancouver Canucks in four games.
Prior to the start of the season, the conferences and divisions of the league were re-aligned to better reflect the geographical locations of the teams. Geographically-based names would not re-appear until 1993, however.

Contents

Regular season

Final standings

Prince of Wales Conference

Clarence Campbell Conference

Scoring leaders

Stanley Cup playoffs

Playoff bracket

NHL awards

All-Star teams

Debuts

Last games

See also

References

Regular season

The New York Islanders lead the league with 118 points, seven more than second place Edmonton Oilers. Wayne Gretzky of the Oilers had a record setting year breaking several prestigious records, including the record of 50 goals in 50 games, set by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy, by scoring 50 goals in only 39 games. He also broke Phil Esposito's record of 76 goals in a season with 92, his own assists record of 109, set the year before, with 120, and his own point total of 164, set the year before, with 212. He was the first, and thus far only, player to ever score 200 points in a season, accomplishing the feat four times over a five year span. Gretzky's record setting year was reflected in the Oilers' final standings as the Oilers set a record for most goals in a season with 417. Gretzky was in on over half of the Oilers goals.

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

The 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs used a new format. Four teams from each division would qualify for the playoffs, and would play a best-of-five semifinal round followed by a best-of-seven series to determine the division playoff champions. The Adams and Patrick division winners would meet in the Wales Conference Final and the Norris and Smythe division winners would play in the Campbell Conference Final. The two Conference Champions would play for the Stanley Cup. This format remained in place through the 1993 playoffs.

Playoff bracket

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 Blackhawks	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

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1981-82 (listed with their first team, asterisk(
★ ) marks debut in playoffs):

★ Garth Butcher, Vancouver Canucks

★ Bob Carpenter, Washington Capitals

★ Gaetan Duchesne, Washington Capitals

★ Ron Francis, Hartford Whalers

★ Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers

★ Dale Hawerchuk, Winnipeg Jets

★ Tim Hunter, Calgary Flames

★ Pelle Lindbergh, Philadelphia Flyers

★ Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames

★ Troy Murray, Chicago Blackhawks

★ Bernie Nicholls, Los Angeles Kings

★ Thomas Steen, Winnipeg Jets

★ John Vanbiesbrouck, New York Rangers

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):

★ Rogie Vachon, Boston Bruins

★ Bill Clement, Calgary Flames

★ Eric Vail, Detroit Red Wings

★ Dave Keon, Hartford Whalers

★ Rick Martin, Los Angeles Kings

★ Steve Vickers, New York Rangers

★ Bob Dailey, Philadelphia Flyers

★ Jimmy Watson, Philadelphia Flyers

★ Don Luce, Toronto Maple Leafs

★ Rene Robert, Toronto Maple Leafs

★ Jean Pronovost, Washington Capitals

See also

★ List of Stanley Cup champions

★ 1981 NHL Entry Draft

★ 34th National Hockey League All-Star Game

★ National Hockey League All-Star Game

★ 1981 Canada Cup

★ 1981 in sports

★ 1982 in sports

References

★ Hockey Database

★ NHL.com