The 1981–82 NHL season was the 65th season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. The William M. Jennings Trophy made its debut this year as the trophy for the goaltenders from the team with the fewest goals against. The New York Islanders won their third straight Stanley Cup by beating the Vancouver Canucks in four games.
Prior to the start of the season, the divisions of the league were re-aligned to better reflect the locations of the teams. The Patrick Division, which had been in the Clarence Campbell Conference, switched to the Prince of Wales Conference, while the Norris Division went the other way, going from the Wales Conference to the Campbell Conference. This divisional alignment existed until the 1993-94 season, at which point both the divisions and the conferences of the league were renamed to reflect geography.
Final standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
Prince of Wales Conference
| Adams Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 80 | 46 | 17 | 17 | 109 | 360 | 223 | 1463 |
| Boston Bruins | 80 | 43 | 27 | 10 | 96 | 323 | 285 | 1266 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 39 | 26 | 15 | 93 | 307 | 273 | 1425 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 33 | 31 | 16 | 82 | 356 | 345 | 1757 |
| Hartford Whalers | 80 | 21 | 41 | 18 | 60 | 264 | 351 | 1493 |
| Patrick Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Islanders | 80 | 54 | 16 | 10 | 118 | 385 | 250 | 1328 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 39 | 27 | 14 | 92 | 316 | 306 | 1402 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 38 | 31 | 11 | 87 | 325 | 313 | 2493 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 31 | 36 | 13 | 75 | 310 | 337 | 2212 |
| Washington Capitals | 80 | 26 | 41 | 13 | 65 | 319 | 338 | 1932 |
Clarence Campbell Conference
| Norris Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 37 | 23 | 20 | 94 | 346 | 288 | 1358 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 80 | 33 | 33 | 14 | 80 | 319 | 332 | 1314 |
| St. Louis Blues | 80 | 32 | 40 | 8 | 72 | 315 | 349 | 1579 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 80 | 30 | 38 | 12 | 72 | 332 | 363 | 1775 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 80 | 20 | 44 | 16 | 56 | 298 | 380 | 1888 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 21 | 47 | 12 | 54 | 270 | 351 | 1250 |
| Smythe Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 48 | 17 | 15 | 111 | 417 | 295 | 1473 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 80 | 30 | 33 | 17 | 77 | 290 | 286 | 1840 |
| Calgary Flames | 80 | 29 | 34 | 17 | 75 | 334 | 345 | 1331 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 24 | 41 | 15 | 63 | 314 | 396 | 1730 |
| Colorado Rockies | 80 | 18 | 49 | 13 | 49 | 241 | 362 | 1138 |
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 92 | 120 | 212 |
| Mike Bossy | New York Islanders | 80 | 64 | 83 | 147 |
| Peter Stastny | Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 46 | 93 | 139 |
| Dennis Maruk | Washington Capitals | 80 | 60 | 76 | 136 |
| Bryan Trottier | New York Islanders | 80 | 50 | 79 | 129 |
| Denis Savard | Chicago Black Hawks | 80 | 32 | 87 | 119 |
| Marcel Dionne | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 50 | 67 | 117 |
| Bobby Smith | Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 43 | 71 | 114 |
| Dino Ciccarelli | Minnesota North Stars | 76 | 55 | 51 | 106 |
| Dave Taylor | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 39 | 67 | 106 |
Playoff bracket
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Conference Finals | Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| A4 | Quebec Nordiques | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| A4 | Quebec Nordiques | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| A2 | Boston Bruins | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| A2 | Boston Bruins | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| A3 | Buffalo Sabres | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| A4 | Quebec Nordiques | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| P1 | New York Islanders | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| P1 | New York Islanders | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| P4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| P1 | New York Islanders | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| P2 | New York Rangers | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| P2 | New York Rangers | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| P3 | Philadelphia Flyers | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| P1 | New York Islanders | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Vancouver Canucks | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Minnesota North Stars | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| N3 | St. Louis Blues | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Winnipeg Jets | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| N3 | St. Louis Blues | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Vancouver Canucks | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Edmonton Oilers | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Los Angeles Kings | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Los Angeles Kings | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Vancouver Canucks | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Vancouver Canucks | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Calgary Flames | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Finals
New York Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks
New York wins the series 4–0.
| Prince of Wales Trophy: | New York Islanders |
| Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: | Vancouver Canucks |
| Art Ross Memorial Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers |
| Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: | Glenn Resch, Colorado Rockies |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: | Dale Hawerchuk, Winnipeg Jets |
| Conn Smythe Trophy: | Mike Bossy, New York Islanders |
| Frank J. Selke Trophy: | Steve Kasper, Boston Bruins |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: | Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers |
| Jack Adams Award: | Tom Watt, Winnipeg Jets |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: | Doug Wilson, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: | Rick Middleton, Boston Bruins |
| Lester B. Pearson Award: | Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers |
| NHL Plus/Minus Award: | Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers |
| William M. Jennings Trophy: | Rick Wamsley, Denis Herron, Montreal Canadiens |
| Vezina Trophy: | Billy Smith, New York Islanders |
| Lester Patrick Trophy: | Emile Francis |
All-Star teams
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
|---|---|---|
| Billy Smith, New York Islanders | G | Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers |
| Doug Wilson, Chicago Black Hawks | D | Paul Coffey, Edmonton Oilers |
| Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins | D | Brian Engblom, Montreal Canadiens |
| Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers | C | Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders |
| Mike Bossy, New York Islanders | RW | Rick Middleton, Boston Bruins |
| Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers | LW | John Tonelli, New York Islanders |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1981–82 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
- Jiri Bubla, Vancouver Canucks
- Garth Butcher*, Vancouver Canucks
- Bob Carpenter, Washington Capitals
- Gaetan Duchesne, Washington Capitals
- Ron Francis, Hartford Whalers
- Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers
- Randy Gregg*, Edmonton Oilers
- Dale Hawerchuk, Winnipeg Jets
- Ivan Hlinka, Vancouver Canucks
- Tim Hunter, Calgary Flames
- Pelle Lindbergh, Philadelphia Flyers
- Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames
- Troy Murray, Chicago Black Hawks
- Bernie Nicholls, Los Angeles Kings
- Marian Stastny, Quebec Nordiques
- Thomas Steen, Winnipeg Jets
- Tony Tanti, Chicago Black Hawks
- John Vanbiesbrouck, New York Rangers
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1981–82 (listed with their last team):
- Don Marcotte, Boston Bruins
- Rogie Vachon, Boston Bruins
- Bill Clement, Calgary Flames
- Eric Vail, Detroit Red Wings
- Dave Keon, Hartford Whalers
- Paul Shmyr, Hartford Whalers
- Rick Martin, Los Angeles Kings
- Steve Vickers, New York Rangers
- Bob Dailey, Philadelphia Flyers
- Jimmy Watson, Philadelphia Flyers
- Don Luce, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Rene Robert, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Jean Pronovost, Washington Capitals
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