| 1982 Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||||||
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| * overtime periods | |||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Uniondale: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (1, 2) Vancouver: Pacific Coliseum (3, 4) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | New York: Al Arbour Vancouver: Roger Neilson | ||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | New York: Denis Potvin Vancouver: Kevin McCarthy[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | May 8–16, 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Mike Bossy (Islanders) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Mike Bossy (5:00, second, G4) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Islanders: Mike Bossy (1991) Clark Gillies (2002) Denis Potvin (1991) Billy Smith (1993) Bryan Trottier (1997) Coaches: Al Arbour (1996) Roger Neilson (2002) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Networks | Canada: (English): CBC (French): SRC United States: (National): USA Network (New York City area): SportsChannel New York (1–2), WOR (3–4) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | (CBC) Bob Cole, Mickey Redmond, and Dick Irvin Jr. (1–2); and Jim Robson, Howie Meeker, and Gary Dornhoefer (3–4) (SRC) Rene Lecavalier and Gilles Tremblay (USA Network) Dan Kelly and Gary Green (SCNY/WOR) Jiggs McDonald and Ed Westfall | ||||||||||||||||||
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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 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).
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.