The 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 7, after the conclusion of the 1981–82 NHL season. The playoffs concluded on May 16 with the champion New York Islanders defeating the Vancouver Canucks 3–1 to win the final series four games to none and win the Stanley Cup. A new divisional-based playoff structure was adopted, replacing the previous format that seeded teams regardless of division or conference.
The first round of the 1982 playoffs saw three first-place teams (Edmonton, Minnesota, and Montreal) upset by fourth-place teams, a round which featured what is still the greatest comeback in NHL history: The Kings' 6–5 win over Edmonton in game three. After trailing 5–0 after two periods, the Kings scored five third period goals—three in the last 5:22, the final goal coming with only five seconds left in regulation. Los Angeles then scored on a face-off early in overtime, thus completing the "Miracle on Manchester".
Playoff seeds The NHL adopted a new playoff format in which the four teams with the best regular-season records from each of the four divisions secured playoff berths.
The following teams qualified for the playoffs:
Prince of Wales Conference
Adams Division Montreal Canadiens, Adams Division champions – 109 points Boston Bruins – 96 points Buffalo Sabres – 93 points Quebec Nordiques – 82 points
Patrick Division New York Islanders, Patrick Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 118 points New York Rangers – 92 points Philadelphia Flyers – 87 points Pittsburgh Penguins – 75 points
Clarence Campbell Conference
Norris Division Minnesota North Stars, Norris Division champions – 94 points Winnipeg Jets – 80 points St. Louis Blues – 72 points (32 wins) Chicago Black Hawks – 72 points (30 wins)
Smythe Division Edmonton Oilers, Smythe Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 111 points Vancouver Canucks – 77 points Calgary Flames – 75 points Los Angeles Kings – 63 points
Playoff bracket Under the new playoff format, the division semifinals saw the first-place club against the fourth-place team, while the other two teams played each other. The two winning teams from each division's semifinals then met in the division finals. The two division winners of each conference then played in the conference finals. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. With the exception of the first round extending to a best-of-seven in 1987, this format remained in place until 1993.
Home-ice advantage during the first two rounds was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record. For the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final, it was decided that home-ice advantage would rotate between the divisions and conferences, respectively. Coin flips were conducted prior to the start of the regular season, awarding home-ice advantage in the conference finals to champions of the Patrick and Norris divisions, with the Adams and Smythe division champions receiving that advantage for the following season. Similarly, a puck flip determined that home-ice advantage for the Stanley Cup Final were granted to the Wales Conference champion this year, with the Campbell Conference champion receiving the advantage next season.
Each division semifinals series was competed in a best-of-five playoff following a 2–2–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series), with the team with home ice advantage playing at home for games one and two (and game five, if necessary), and the other team playing at home for game three (and game four, if necessary). In the other three rounds, each series was competed in a best-of-seven playoff following a 2–2–1–1–1 format, with the team with home ice advantage playing at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team playing at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary).
Division semifinals
Prince of Wales Conference
(A1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (A4) Quebec Nordiques This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
Dale Hunter scored the game-winning overtime goal in the decisive game five twenty-two seconds into the first OT to help the Nordiques eliminate the Canadiens.
(A2) Boston Bruins vs. (A3) Buffalo Sabres
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
(P1) New York Islanders vs. (P4) Pittsburgh Penguins
This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. New York won the only previous meeting in seven games in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals after falling behind 3–0 in the series.
John Tonelli scored the game-tying goal late in the third period and game-winning overtime goal in the decisive game five to lift the Islanders over the Penguins.
(P2) New York Rangers vs. (P3) Philadelphia Flyers
This was the fourth playoff series meeting between the two teams. Philadelphia won two of the previous three meetings, including their most recent meeting in the 1980 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals in five games.
Game two saw New York's Mikko Leinonen set an NHL playoff record with six assists, a feat only matched by Wayne Gretzky.
Clarence Campbell Conference
(N1) Minnesota North Stars vs. (N4) Chicago Black Hawks
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
(N2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (N3) St. Louis Blues
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
(S1) Edmonton Oilers vs. (S4) Los Angeles Kings
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams. Game three is known as "The Miracle on Manchester" as the Kings scored five goals to come back from 5–0 down to force overtime and ultimately winning the game in OT.
(S2) Vancouver Canucks vs. (S3) Calgary Flames
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
Division finals
Prince of Wales Conference
(A2) Boston Bruins vs. (A4) Quebec Nordiques
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
Dave Pichette scored the game-winning goal on the power play with just over 10 minutes left in game seven to send the Nordiques to the conference final for the first time in franchise history.
(P1) New York Islanders vs. (P2) New York Rangers
This was fourth playoff series meeting between these two teams. The Islanders won two of the previous three meetings. This was a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Semifinals, in which the Islanders won in a four-game sweep.
Clarence Campbell Conference
(N3) St. Louis Blues vs. (N4) Chicago Black Hawks
This was the third playoff series meeting between these two teams. Chicago won both previous meetings, including their most recent meeting in a three-game sweep in the 1980 Preliminary Round.
(S2) Vancouver Canucks vs. (S4) Los Angeles Kings
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
Conference finals
Prince of Wales Conference final
(P1) New York Islanders vs. (A4) Quebec Nordiques
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
Clarence Campbell Conference final
(N4) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (S2) Vancouver Canucks
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.
Canucks coach Roger Neilson was tossed out of game two for holding up a white towel on a hockey stick as a form of protest. He was ejected from the game along with two players but the protest began the Canucks Towel Power tradition that still exists to this day and has since been copied by other teams.
Stanley Cup Final
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. New York won the only previous meeting in a two-game sweep in the 1976 Preliminary Round.
In the Stanley Cup Final, the Cinderella run of the Vancouver Canucks came to an end with a four-game sweep by the Islanders, winning their third consecutive Stanley Cup.
Player statistics
Skaters These are the top ten skaters based on points.NHL.com - Skater Stats Player Team Bryan Trottier New York Islanders 19 6 23 29 +9 40Mike Bossy New York Islanders 19 17 10 27 +7 0Denis Potvin New York Islanders 19 5 16 21 +9 30Thomas Gradin Vancouver Canucks 17 9 10 19 +8 10Denis Savard Chicago Black Hawks 15 11 7 18 -2 52Stan Smyl Vancouver Canucks 17 9 9 18 +4 25Peter Stastny Quebec Nordiques 12 7 11 18 +1 10Barry Pederson Boston Bruins 11 7 11 18 +5 22Joe Mullen St. Louis Blues 10 7 11 18 +7 4Bernie Federko St. Louis Blues 10 3 15 18 +8 10
Goaltenders This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 420 minutes played. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.NHL.com - Goalie Stats
Player Team New York Islanders 18 15 3 498 47 2.51 .906 1 1125:15 Vancouver Canucks 17 11 6 594 49 2.71 .917 0 1086:28 St. Louis Blues 10 5 3 251 27 3.29 .892 0 492:58 Quebec Nordiques 11 4 7 359 38 3.37 .894 0 676:16 Boston Bruins 11 6 5 290 38 3.45 .869 0 661:46
See also 1981–82 NHL season List of NHL seasons List of Stanley Cup champions
References