The 1983 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1982–83 season, and the culmination of the 1983 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Campbell Conference champion Edmonton Oilers in their first-ever Finals appearance and the defending Wales Conference and Cup champion New York Islanders, in their fourth consecutive and overall Finals appearance. The Islanders swept the Oilers to win their fourth consecutive and overall Stanley Cup championship. The Islanders became the second team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup four straight times, joining the Montreal Canadiens.

This was the fourth straight Finals of post-1967 expansion teams. The Oilers, a former World Hockey Association (WHA) franchise, stunned NHL loyalists by reaching the Finals just four years after the NHL-WHA merger. The Oilers even had the better record of the two teams, although under the format in place since the previous Final, Edmonton received home ice advantage on account of being the Campbell champion, which at the time received that advantage in odd numbered years.

This is also the most recent time that an NHL team has won the Cup four years in a row, and also the first (and, to date, only) time a North American professional sports team has won four consecutive titles in any league competition with more than twenty teams. Even if this standard is lowered to encompass league competitions of at least sixteen teams, the Islanders are still only the third and most recent franchise to accomplish such a dynasty after the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball (who have forged two such World Series dynasties - the first in the 1930s and the second in the 1950s) and the Montreal Canadiens (whose own such dynasty immediately preceded the Islanders' prior to the merger with the WHA).

Since 1983, no professional sports team on the continent has won four consecutive championships and no NHL team has won more than two consecutive championships (most recently the Florida Panthers in and ). This was the second of nine consecutive Finals contested by a team from Western Canada and was the first of eight consecutive Finals contested by a team from Alberta (of which the Oilers played in six and the Calgary Flames in two). Although it was not the first Stanley Cup Final to be contested by an Albertan team (the and Finals had been contested by teams from Edmonton and Calgary respectively), 1983 saw the first Finals games played in Alberta.

The Oilers would credit the Islanders' subdued post-series locker room celebration—focused more on putting ice packs on their various injuries—as teaching them the level of sacrifice and dedication needed to be champions. The Oilers would go on to win four Stanley Cups in the next five seasons—and five overall by 1990.

The 1983 Final was the only time between 1982 and that the Stanley Cup wasn't presented in Western Canada.

Paths to the Final

Edmonton defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3–0, the Calgary Flames 4–1, and the Chicago Black Hawks 4–0 to advance to the Final. In eliminating Winnipeg, Calgary, and Chicago, the Oilers had won 11 of 12 games and had outscored their opponents 74–33, averaging over six goals a game and setting 16 scoring records in these three rounds. The 1983 Final marked sixty years since an Edmonton team had last contested the Stanley Cup. The 1923 Edmonton Eskimos WCHL team played the NHL's Ottawa Senators in the 1923 Stanley Cup Final, held in Vancouver. Ottawa won the two-game, total-goals series.

New York defeated the Washington Capitals 3–1, the New York Rangers 4–2, and the Boston Bruins 4–2 to reach the Final.

Game summaries Billy Smith limited the Oilers to just six goals in the four games, and shut them out in seven out of twelve periods. Smith was also noted for his slashes and feigned injuries in that series, which made him unpopular with the Edmonton Journal, which named him "PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1", "Mr. Obnoxious", "Samaurai [sic] Billy", "Jack the Ripper" and "a creep". After a slash on Glenn Anderson's knee prevented him from practicing the next day, Oilers manager and coach Glen Sather unsuccessfully complained to the NHL that Smith deserved an attempt-to-injure match penalty, and then took his case to the press, suggesting that the Oilers could take out Smith. Smith responded, "Let's face it. If Semenko runs at me and hurts me, anything could happen, and the victim could be Gretzky. If they want blood...." Smith did, however, earn a five-minute penalty for slashing Wayne Gretzky.

In his first appearance in the Final, Gretzky assisted on four of the Oilers' six goals but failed to score himself. While no Islander was assigned to mark Gretzky, the Oilers superstar found himself checked as soon as he got the puck. The Islanders' tactics were described as a "rope-a-dope", using their experience and patience to hang on in the face of the Oilers' furious attack. The Islanders permitted Edmonton to take long shots from poor angles, but cleared the rebounds and kept the front of the net open so Smith could see. The Sutter brothers, Duane and Brent, led with seven and five points, respectively in the first three games. Duane played a particularly important role in the absence of Bossy in game one. Bossy netted his second Stanley Cup-winning goal.

After game four, the Oilers players walked past the Islanders' dressing room and noticed many of the Islanders players exhausted and covered in ice packs rather than wildly celebrating, with Wayne Gretzky suggesting that this gave the Oilers inspiration that they needed in order to win next year.

Game one

The Oilers heavily outshot the Islanders in game one, but could not get anything past Billy Smith, who made 35 saves for his third shutout of the postseason. The Islanders won the game 2–0, giving them a 1–0 lead in the series. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st NYI Duane Sutter (8) Bob Bourne (19) and Stefan Persson (4) 05:36 1–0 NYI 2nd None 3rd NYI Ken Morrow (3) – en Denis Potvin (10) 19:48 2–0 NYI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st NYI Ken Morrow Hooking 01:15 2:00 EDM Dave Hunter Elbowing 03:21 2:00 NYI Stefan Persson Tripping 09:44 2:00 NYI Billy Smith (served by Dave Langevin) Slashing 11:10 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson Interference 11:19 2:00 EDM Dave Hunter Elbowing 14:57 2:00 NYI Denis Potvin Hooking 15:07 2:00 EDM Ken Linseman Hooking 15:34 2:00 2nd NYI Tomas Jonsson Holding 00:39 2:00 NYI Bob Nystrom Charging 09:27 2:00 3rd NYI Tomas Jonsson Hooking 00:51 2:00 EDM Dave Lumley Slashing 03:18 2:00 NYI Clark Gillies Slashing 03:18 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson Elbowing 04:27 2:00 NYI Brent Sutter Hooking 04:27 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 13 5 6 24 14 12 9 35

Game two

Both Sutter brothers dominated in game two, Duane recording 4 points, and Brent recording 2 goals and an assist. The Islanders would win the game 6–3, going up 2–0 in the series. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st EDM Dave Semenko (1) Tom Roulston (2) and Charlie Huddy (6) 08:39 1–0 EDM NYI Tomas Jonsson (2) Duane Sutter (8) and Brent Sutter (10) 14:21 1–1 NYI Bob Nystrom (2) Bryan Trottier (10) 14:21 2–1 NYI NYI Mike Bossy (16) Denis Potvin (11) 19:17 3–1 NYI 2nd EDM Jari Kurri (6) Glenn Anderson (10) and Wayne Gretzky (23) 05:07 3–2 NYI NYI Bob Bourne (7) Duane Sutter (9) 08:03 4–2 NYI NYI Brent Sutter (8) Ken Morrow (6) and Duane Sutter (10) 08:41 5–2 NYI 3rd EDM Glenn Anderson (10) Lee Fogolin (4) and Wayne Gretzky (24) 04:48 5–3 NYI NYI Brent Sutter (9) Duane Sutter (11) and Tomas Jonsson (10) 14:11 6–3 NYI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st NYI Brent Sutter Tripping 02:36 2:00 EDM Ken Linseman Interference 04:44 2:00 EDM Pat Hughes Cross-checking 05:17 2:00 NYI Anders Kallur Holding 05:51 2:00 2nd NYI Tomas Jonsson Interference 14:50 2:00 3rd NYI Stefan Persson Holding 11:22 2:00 EDM Jari Kurri Slashing 13:14 2:00 EDM Bryan Trottier Hooking 13:27 2:00 NYI Billy Smith (served by Bob Nystrom) Slashing – major 17:56 5:00 EDM Dave Lumley Spearing – major 19:24 5:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 9 11 5 25 10 9 14 33

Game three

After the teams were tied 1–1 at the end of the second, the Islanders scored four goals in the third, and Billy Smith made 33 saves in net for New York, and the Islanders won the game 5–1 and take a commanding 3–0 lead in the series. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st NYI Anders Kallur (3) Mike Bossy (8) and Ken Morrow (7) 19:41 1–0 NYI 2nd EDM Jari Kurri (7) – pp Wayne Gretzky (25) 01:05 1–1 3rd NYI Bob Bourne (8) Stefan Persson (5) and Dave Langevin (2) 05:11 2–1 NYI NYI Ken Morrow (4) Bryan Trottier (11) and Anders Kallur (12) 06:21 3–1 NYI NYI Duane Sutter (9) Brent Sutter (11) and Bob Bourne (20) 16:43 4–1 NYI NYI Brent Sutter (10) – pp Denis Potvin (12) and Duane Sutter (12) 19:02 5–1 NYI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st EDM Mark Messier Elbowing 04:01 2:00 NYI Brent Sutter High-sticking 04:01 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson Holding 05:10 2:00 2nd NYI Bob Bourne Hooking 00:54 2:00 EDM Denis Potvin Holding 03:42 2:00 NYI Gord Lane Elbowing 07:31 2:00 NYI Dave Hunter Elbowing 10:32 2:00 3rd NYI Bob Bourne Tripping 08:39 2:00 EDM Dave Hunter Holding 18:33 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 11 16 7 34 11 5 12 28

Game four

The Islanders defeated the Oilers in game four by a score of 4–2, completing the sweep and winning their third consecutive Stanley Cup. Goaltender Billy Smith was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP. During the third period, Edmonton forward Glenn Anderson collided with Smith and Smith dove upon the ice, resulting in referee Andy Van Hellemond handing a major penalty to Anderson. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st NYI Bryan Trottier (8) – pp Clark Gillies (2) and Mike Bossy (9) 11:02 1–0 NYI NYI John Tonelli (7) Bob Nystrom (6) 11:45 2–0 NYI NYI Mike Bossy (17) Bryan Trottier (12) 12:39 3–0 NYI 2nd EDM Jari Kurri (8) Wayne Gretzky (26) 00:35 3–1 NYI EDM Mark Messier (15) Lee Fogolin (5) and Paul Coffey (7) 19:39 3–2 NYI 3rd NYI Ken Morrow (5) – en Unassisted 18:51 4–2 NYI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st EDM Paul Coffey Roughing – double minor 02:16 4:00 NYI Brent Sutter Roughing – double minor 02:16 4:00 NYI Clark Gillies Tripping 07:40 2:00 EDM Dave Lumley Interference 09:54 2:00 2nd NYI Bob Bourne Interference 02:44 2:00 EDM Kevin Lowe Interference 11:34 2:00 EDM Don Jackson High-sticking 11:41 2:00 NYI Clark Gillies High-sticking 11:41 2:00 NYI Anders Kallur High-sticking 12:19 2:00 3rd EDM Don Jackson Roughing 05:10 2:00 NYI Tomas Jonsson Holding 08:16 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson Slashing – major 08:26 5:00 NYI Bryan Trottier Interference 10:18 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 5 14 7 26 8 12 6 26

Broadcasting The series aired on CBC in Canada and on the USA Network in the United States. USA's national coverage was blacked out in the New York area due to the local rights to Islanders games in that TV market, with WOR televising games one and two, and SportsChannel New York airing games three and four.

Team rosters

Edmonton Oilers