The1982–83 NHL season was the66thseason of theNational Hockey League. TheColorado Rockies relocated toEast Rutherford, New Jersey, becoming theNew Jersey Devils. TheNew York Islanders won their fourthStanley Cup in a row with their second consecutive finals sweep by beating theEdmonton Oilers four games to none. It remains to date the last time that any major professional North American sports team has won four consecutive playoff championships.

Prior the start of the season, theColorado Rockies moved toEast Rutherford, New Jersey where they were renamedNew Jersey Devils, leavingDenver without an NHL franchise until1995. They were also moved to thePatrick Division, forcing the reluctantWinnipeg Jets to leave theNorris Division and take Colorado's place in theSmythe Division. This would be the last relocation of an NHL team until1993, and the last time a team would be transferred to a new division until 1993. The period between this move and the adding of the expansionSan Jose Sharks in 1991 is the second-longest period of stability in league history, surpassed only by the Original Six era. After the season, theSt. Louis Blues were sold toHarry Ornest after the NHL preventedWild Bill Hunter from purchasing that team and moving it toSaskatoon.

The1982 NHL entry draft was held on June 9, at theMontreal Forum inMontreal,Quebec.Gord Kluzak was selected first overall by theBoston Bruins.

At the end of the season, thelong pants worn by thePhiladelphia Flyers andHartford Whalers were banned, due to player safety concerns.^[1]

• TheCalgary Flames played their final season at theStampede Corral before moving into theOlympic Saddledome.
• The name of theMinnesota North Stars' home arena was shortened from the Metropolitan Sports Center to theMet Center.
• The relocatedNew Jersey Devils moved fromMcNichols Sports Arena inDenver, Colorado toBrendan Byrne Arena inEast Rutherford, New Jersey.

The last remaining players from theOriginal Six era (prior to theExpansion Era)–Carol Vadnais,Serge Savard andWayne Cashman–all retired after this season. Cashman was the last to play, losing in theWales Conference Finals as a member of the Bruins.

TheBoston Bruins led the league in overall points with 110. The defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders fell from first overall and finished tied for 6th overall and the high-powered, high offence, Edmonton Oilers tied for second overall. The Oilers set a new record, which they had set the previous year, for most goals in a season with 424 and were led byWayne Gretzky's 196 points. The Oilers also tied theBoston Bruins' 1970–71 record for most 100-point players in one season as Wayne Gretzky,Glenn Anderson,Jari Kurri, andMark Messier all scored more than 100 points.

TheWashington Capitals qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

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The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. In the division semifinals, the fourthseeded team in each division played against the division winner from their division. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. 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 Finals.

In the division semifinals, teams competed in abest-of-five series. In the other three rounds, teams competed in abest-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).

Source: NHL.^[3]

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

Source: NHL.^[4]

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

• New Jersey Devils:Bill MacMillan
• New York Islanders:Al Arbour
• New York Rangers:Herb Brooks
• Philadelphia Flyers:Pat Quinn
• Pittsburgh Penguins:Eddie Johnston
• Washington Capitals:Bryan Murray

• Boston Bruins:Gerry Cheevers
• Buffalo Sabres:Scotty Bowman
• Hartford Whalers:Larry Kish,John Cunniff andLarry Pleau
• Montreal Canadiens:Bob Berry
• Quebec Nordiques:Michel Bergeron

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

• Calgary Flames:Bob Johnson
• Edmonton Oilers:Glen Sather
• Los Angeles Kings:Don Perry
• Vancouver Canucks:Roger Neilson
• Winnipeg Jets:Tom Watt

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1982–83 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Gord Kluzak, Boston Bruins
• Dave Andreychuk, Buffalo Sabres
• Phil Housley, Buffalo Sabres
• Jamie Macoun, Calgary Flames
• Murray Craven, Detroit Red Wings
• Brian Bellows, Minnesota North Stars
• Craig Ludwig, Montreal Canadiens
• Mats Naslund, Montreal Canadiens
• Pat Verbeek, New Jersey Devils
• Bob Froese, Philadelphia Flyers
• Dave Poulin, Philadelphia Flyers
• Ron Sutter, Philadelphia Flyers
• Rich Sutter, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Gary Leeman*, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Michel Petit, Vancouver Canucks
• Patrik Sundstrom, Vancouver Canucks
• Scott Stevens, Washington Capitals
• Brian Hayward, Winnipeg Jets
• Brian Mullen, Winnipeg Jets

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1982–83 (listed with their last team):

• Wayne Cashman, Boston Bruins (Last player from the Original Six Era)
• Gilles Gilbert, Detroit Red Wings
• Reggie Leach, Detroit Red Wings
• Garry Unger, Edmonton Oilers
• Mike Murphy, Los Angeles Kings
• Rejean Houle, Montreal Canadiens
• Carol Vadnais, New Jersey Devils
• John Davidson, New York Rangers
• Ulf Nilsson, New York Rangers
• Ian Turnbull, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Jacques Richard, Quebec Nordiques
• Marc Tardif, Quebec Nordiques
• Vaclav Nedomansky, St. Louis Blues
• Serge Savard, Winnipeg Jets

Hockey Night in Canada onCBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games.

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

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1982 NHL entry draft
• 1982–83 NHL transactions
• 35th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• Lester Patrick Trophy
• 1982 in sports
• 1983 in sports

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000).Total Hockey. Kingston, New York: Total Sports.ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011).The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto: Dan Diamond & Associates.ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000).Century of hockey. Toronto: 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.

Notes

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com
• hockey-reference

• 1982–83 NHL season
• 1982–83 in Canadian ice hockey by league
• 1982–83 in American ice hockey by league

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023
• Short description matches Wikidata