1983–84 NHL season

The 1983–84 NHL season was the 67th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers de-throned the four-time defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders four games to one in the Cup finals.

League business

Not since World War II travel restrictions caused the NHL to drop regular season overtime games in 1942–43 had the NHL used overtime to decide regular season games. Starting this season, the NHL introduced a five-minute extra period of overtime following the third period in the event of a tied game. A team losing in overtime would get no points. This rule remained in effect until the 1999–2000 season, where a team losing in overtime was awarded 1 point. If the game remained tied after the five-minute extra period, it remained a tie with each team getting 1 point, until the NHL shootout arrived in the 2005–06 season. Overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs remained unchanged.

In the entry draft, Brian Lawton became the first American to be chosen first overall, by the Minnesota North Stars. Three Americans were chosen in the top five: Lawton, Pat Lafontaine (third) and Tom Barrasso (fifth). Sylvain Turgeon was chosen second and Steve Yzerman was chosen fourth overall. The St. Louis Blues did not participate in the draft, having been "orphaned" by Ralston Purina. The NHL took control of the franchise after the draft. On July 27, 1983, Harry Ornest purchased the Blues for US$3 million.

Arthur M. Wirtz, long-time chairman and part-owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, died at the age of 82 on July 21, 1983. His son, Bill, took over ownership of the team.

Teams

Regular season

The Edmonton Oilers ran away with the best record in the league, and for the third straight year set a new record for most goals in a season, 446. The Oilers' new captain, Wayne Gretzky, was once again breaking records and rewriting his name into the record book. This season saw Gretzky score at least one point in the first 51 games of the season. During those 51 games, Gretzky had 61 goals and 92 assists for 153 points, which is equivalent to exactly three points per game. He also won his fifth straight Hart Trophy and his fourth straight Art Ross Trophy. The season's second leading scorer was Gretzky's teammate Paul Coffey, who, with 126 points, became the third defenceman to score 100 points in a season.

The Calgary Flames played their inaugural season at the Olympic Saddledome.

Prior to the season, the St. Louis Blues were purchased by Harry Ornest, keeping the team from folding after a proposed move to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was rejected by the NHL Board of Governors. The Blues remain in Missouri as of 2024. In addition, the team's home venue, the Checkerdome, reverted to its original name, the Arena, after six seasons.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

Prince of Wales Conference

Clarence Campbell Conference

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

Stanley Cup Finals

It was a rematch of the 1983 final as the Islanders attempted to match the 1950s Montreal Canadiens and win five consecutive Stanley Cup championships, against the Edmonton Oilers attempting to win the franchise's first championship. The Islanders lost the first game at home 1–0, but came back to defeat the Oilers 6–1 in the second game. Edmonton took over the series from that point, winning the next three games, all played in Edmonton.

This season's finals adopted the 2–3–2 home ice format, rather than the usual 2–2–1–1–1 format.

Awards

All-Star teams

Source: NHL.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

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

Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage

Coaches

Patrick Division

• New Jersey Devils: Bill MacMillan and Tom McVie
• New York Islanders: Al Arbour
• New York Rangers: Herb Brooks
• Philadelphia Flyers: Bob McCammon and Mike Keenan
• Pittsburgh Penguins: Lou Angotti
• Washington Capitals: Bryan Murray

Adams Division

• Boston Bruins: Gerry Cheevers
• Buffalo Sabres: Scotty Bowman
• Hartford Whalers: Larry Pleau
• Montreal Canadiens: Bob Berry and Jacques Lemaire
• Quebec Nordiques: Michel Bergeron

Norris Division

• Chicago Black Hawks: Orval Tessier
• Detroit Red Wings: Nick Polano
• Minnesota North Stars: Glen Sonmor
• St. Louis Blues: Jacques Demers
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Mike Nykoluk

Smythe Division

• Calgary Flames: Bob Johnson
• Edmonton Oilers: Glen Sather
• Los Angeles Kings: Don Perry, Rogatien Vachon and Roger Neilson
• Vancouver Canucks: Roger Neilson and Harry Neale
• Winnipeg Jets: Tom Watt and Barry Long

Milestones

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1983–84 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Tom Barrasso, Buffalo Sabres
• Chris Chelios, Montreal Canadiens
• Geoff Courtnall, Boston Bruins
• Russ Courtnall, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Brian Curran, Boston Bruins
• Ken Daneyko, New Jersey Devils
• Bruce Driver, New Jersey Devils
• Patrick Flatley, New York Islanders
• Doug Gilmour, St. Louis Blues
• Dirk Graham, Minnesota North Stars
• Kelly Hrudey, New York Islanders
• Pat LaFontaine, New York Islanders
• Brian Lawton, Minnesota North Stars
• Claude Lemieux, Montreal Canadiens
• Doug Lidster, Vancouver Canucks
• Hakan Loob, Calgary Flames
• John MacLean, New Jersey Devils
• Marty McSorley, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Cam Neely, Vancouver Canucks
• James Patrick, New York Rangers
• Bob Rouse, Minnesota North Stars
• Peter Sundstrom, New York Rangers
• Sylvain Turgeon, Hartford Whalers
• Carey Wilson, Calgary Flames
• Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1983–84 (listed with their last team):

• Guy Lapointe, Boston Bruins
• Tony Esposito, Chicago Black Hawks
• Rick MacLeish, Detroit Red Wings
• Billy Harris, Los Angeles Kings
• Blaine Stoughton, New York Rangers
• Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers
• Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
• Guy Chouinard, St. Louis Blues
• Michel Larocque, St. Louis Blues
• Dale McCourt, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Mike Palmateer, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Darcy Rota, Vancouver Canucks

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games. This was the last season that the Molson-sponsored HNIC had sole Canadian national broadcast rights. During the next season, rival brewery Carling O'Keefe began airing games on CTV.

This was the second season of the league's U.S. national broadcast rights deal with USA, covering a slate of regular season games and selected playoff games.

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1983 NHL Entry Draft
• 1983–84 NHL transactions
• 36th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• Lester Patrick Trophy
• Ice hockey at the 1984 Winter Olympics
• 1983 in sports
• 1984 in sports

References

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2008). Total Stanley Cup 2008. NHL.
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
• McFarlane, Brian (1989). One hundred years of hockey. Toronto: Deneau Publishers. ISBN 0-88879-216-6.

Notes

External links

Media related to 1983–1984 National Hockey League season at Wikimedia Commons

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com
• hockey-reference