1983–84 NHL season

The 1983–84 NHL season was the 67th season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. The Edmonton Oilers de-throned the four-time defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders four games to one in the Cup finals.

Not since World War II travel restrictions caused the NHL to drop regular season overtime games in 1942–43 had the NHL used overtime to decide regular season games. Starting this season, the NHL introduced a five minute extra period of overtime following the third period in the event of a tied game. A team losing in overtime would get NO points. This rule remained in effect until the 1999–2000 season, where a team losing in overtime was awarded 1 point. If the game remained tied after the five minute extra period, it remained a tie, until the NHL shootout arrived in the 2005–06 season. Overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs remained unchanged.

Regular season

The Edmonton Oilers ran away with the best record in the league, and for the third straight year set a new record for most goals in a season, 446. The Oilers' new captain Wayne Gretzky was once again breaking records and re-writing the record book with his name. This season saw Gretzky score at least one point in the first 51 games of the season, a mark that is often compared to Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak in baseball. During those 51 games, Gretzky had 61 goals and 92 assists for 153 points, which is exactly three points a game. He also won his fifth straight Hart Trophy and his fourth straight Art Ross Trophy.

Edmonton Oilers defenceman Paul Coffey became the third defenceman to score 100 points in a season.

The Calgary Flames played their inaugural season at the Olympic Saddledome (later the Canadian Airlines Saddledome, now the Pengrowth Saddledome).

Prior to the season, the St. Louis Blues were purchased by Harry Ornest, keeping the team from moving to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and remaining in the Missouri city, where it remains to this date.

Final standings

"Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes"

Prince of Wales Conference

"Edmonton wins series 4–1 and Stanley Cup"

"Mark Messier (Edmonton) wins Conn Smythe Trophy"

NHL awards

All-Star teams

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1983–84 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
*Geoff Courtnall, Boston Bruins
*Tom Barrasso, Buffalo Sabres
*Hakan Loob, Calgary Flames
*Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings
*Sylvain Turgeon, Hartford Whalers
*Bob Rouse, Minnesota North Stars
*Brian Lawton, Minnesota North Stars
*Dirk Graham, Minnesota North Stars
*Chris Chelios, Montreal Canadiens
*Claude Lemieux, Montreal Canadiens
*John MacLean, New Jersey Devils
*Ken Daneyko, New Jersey Devils
*Patrick Flatley, New York Islanders
*Kelly Hrudey, New York Islanders
*Pat LaFontaine, New York Islanders
*Peter Sundstrom, New York Rangers
*James Patrick, New York Rangers
*Marty McSorley, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Doug Gilmour, St. Louis Blues
*Russ Courtnall, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Doug Lidster, Vancouver Canucks
*Cam Neely, Vancouver Canucks

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1983–84 (listed with their last team):
*Guy Lapointe, Boston Bruins
*Tony Esposito, Chicago Black Hawks
*Rick MacLeish, Detroit Red Wings
*Billy Harris, Los Angeles Kings
*Blaine Stoughton, New York Rangers
*Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers
*Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
*Guy Chouinard, St. Louis Blues
*Michel Larocque, St. Louis Blues
*Dale McCourt, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Darcy Rota, Vancouver Canucks

1984 Trading Deadline

* Trading Deadline: MARCH 6, 1984 [ [http://www.habsinsideout.com/main/3969 NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out ] ]
*March 5, 1984 – Winnipeg Jets obtain D Randy Carlyle from Pittsburgh for Winnipeg’s first-round choice in 1984 Entry Draft (DDoug Bodger) and future considerations (D Moe Mantha) – (trade completed one day before trading deadline).
*March 5, 1984: Dave Barr and future considerations traded from NY Rangers to St. Louis for Larry Patey and the rights to Bob Brooke.
*March 6, 1984: John Blum traded from Edmonton to Boston for Larry Melnyk.
*March 6, 1984: The rights to Risto Jalo traded from Washington to Edmonton for future considerations.

See also

* List of Stanley Cup champions
* 1983 NHL Entry Draft
* 36th National Hockey League All-Star Game
* National Hockey League All-Star Game
* NHL All-Rookie Team
* Ice hockey at the 1984 Winter Olympics
* 1983 in sports
* 1984 in sports

References

* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
* [http://nhl.com/ NHL.com]