Edmonton Oilers win Stanley Cup
The 1984 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the Edmonton Oilers and the then-defending champion New York Islanders.
Edmonton was making their second-ever Final appearance and for New York it was their fifth-straight Finals appearance, and had won the previous four. The Oilers would win the best-of-seven series four games to one, to win their first Stanley Cup, and first for a former WHA team. It was also the fifth straight Final of post-1967 expansion teams. It was a rematch of the 1983 final and is the most recent time that the two teams from the previous Stanley Cup final series would face off in the next final series, prior to the 2009 Final.
Edmonton defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3–0, the Calgary Flames 4–3 and the Minnesota North Stars 4–0 to advance to the finals. New York defeated the New York Rangers 3-2, the Washington Capitals 4–1, and the Montreal Canadiens 4–2 to make it to the finals.
Grant Fuhr, in his first Finals game, shut out the Islanders in game one on Long Island, but the Islanders came back with a big 6-1 victory in game two. The series then shifted west for three games.
Silencing their critics, the Edmonton Oilers revenged their previous year's defeat in the Cup finals to the New York Islanders and soundly beat the Isles in five games, ending New York's dynasty. It was a match-up of a young, emerging team versus a savvy, veteran team. The Oilers outscored the Isles 21-12 and became the first 1979-80 expansion team to claim the Cup. Mark Messier won the Conn Smythe Trophy scoring 26 points 19 games. One dynasty ended and another began!
The year is 1983. The most anticipated Stanley Cup final in years takes place, as the 3 time defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders face off against the highest scoring team in NHL history - the Edmonton Oilers.
The Islanders had worked hard to establish themselves as perhaps the greatest team in NHL history, but they had a serious dislike for the cocky Oilers. This as much as anything motivated the Islanders on to their 4th Stanley Cup title in as many years.
The Islanders didn't just win, they completely humbled the high scoring Edmontonians. The Oilers scored 424 goals in the regular season, but could only must 6 in the 4 game finals loss. Wayne Gretzky scored 71 goals in the regular season, and another 12 goals and 38 points in these playoffs. But the Islanders great checking and the belligerent goaltender Billy Smith kept #99 off of the score sheet.
