Bringing On the Heartbreak—The ’83 Cup Final

After the Los Angeles Kings had upset the Oilers in the ’82 playoff, Edmonton fans felt the team had took all the lumps needed to build the character of a champion.

They were wrong. One more heartbreaking loss was to come, but would cement the conviction of a young hockey club.

The Oilers had displayed drive from day one of the 1982-83 season, and finished with 106 points, best in the Campbell Conference. Wayne Gretzky notched 196 points, and three other Oilers—Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson and Jari Kurri—finished in the top-10 of the scoring race.

When the playoffs began, the Oilers showed determination, vowing not to be upset again— the team lost just once in eliminating the Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks.  In games between the Flames they showed brilliance in 10-2 and 9-1 victories, and in the Blackhawks four-game sweep they outscored their opponent 25-11.

The Oilers went into the Stanley Cup finals against the three-time defending Cup champion New York Islanders with confidence. In hindsight, the way the Oilers went into the finals may have been detrimental, as the team was never asked to do a gut check throughout the playoffs, and was ill-prepared to meet a club that still ranks as one of the greatest dynasties of all time. The Islanders boasted a potent line-up. Billy Smith, considered one of the greatest clutch goalies, started in net. Many hailed Denis Potvin as the top defender in the League. Sniper Mike Bossy was consistent in scoring 50 goals each season, and Bryan Trottier was the brain of the team, a great set-up man with just enough of a mean streak to make him a formidable opponent.

The Oilers, however, were the media darlings, and more than a few pundits picked Edmonton to end the Isles’ string of Cups.

The series was never close. The Isles’ defensive guile was too much for Edmonton, as the Oilers scored just six times in four games. Smith shut out Edmonton in seven of the 12 period played. The Islanders shut out the Oilers in Game 1 of the series at Northlands Coliseum, ruining the city’s first-ever Cup-final-game party.

The Islanders schooled their younger counterparts, and although soundly beaten in four games, the Oilers picked up as much as they could from the Isles. They saw the blood, sweat and tears needed to go from being a great team to a Cup-winning team. They knew they would be back, a fact they illustrated to the Islanders when they sang as a unit on the bench as the clock ticked down on Game 4, and Long Island prepared to celebrate four in a row.

The series was a sweep and a sound beating. It was also the last playoff series the Oilers would lose until 1986.

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