The 1984 Stanley Cup Final was held between the Edmonton Oilers and the then-defending champion New York Islanders.
The Islanders had swept the Oilers in four straight games to win the 1983 Cup.
In 1984, the Islanders were seeking their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup championship, but the upstart Oilers would win the best-of-seven series four games to one to win their first Stanley Cup, becoming the third post-1967 expansion team and first former World Hockey Association team to win the Cup & also the first team based west of Chicago to win the Cup since the WCHL's Victoria Cougars became the last non-NHL team to win it in 1925.
It was also the fifth straight Finals of teams that joined the NHL in 1967 or later and a rematch of the 1983 Finals—a Stanley Cup Finals rematch would not happen again until the 2009 Finals.
As of 2017, the Islanders' four consecutive Cup wins (1980, 1981, 1982 & 1983) and their appearance in the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals is an NHL record of 19 consecutive playoff series wins that currently stands unbroken.
This would be the second of eight consecutive Finals contested by a team from Alberta (the Oilers appeared in six, the Calgary Flames in two), and the first of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice (the Oilers won four times, the Montreal Canadiens one).
The Oilers became the fastest-ever Canadian-based expansion team to win a major sports title by winning a title in only their fifth NHL season. The feat would be eclipsed in 2016 by the Ottawa Redblacks, who won the Grey Cup in their third CFL season.
Path to the Finals[]
The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3–0, the Calgary Flames 4–3 and the Minnesota North Stars 4–0 to reach the Finals.
The New York Islanders defeated the New York Rangers 3-2, the Washington Capitals 4–1, and the Montreal Canadiens 4–2 to reach the Finals.
The Series[]
The 1984 Stanley Cup Finals were played in a 2–3–2 format [which the NBA Finals (1985–2013) and World Series (always) use] instead of the usual 2–2–1–1–1; however, the NHL would only use the format again the following season before going back to the 2–2–1–1–1 format for the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals.
Grant Fuhr shut out the Islanders in the first game, on Long Island (his first Finals game) with Kevin McClelland scoring the game's only goal, but the Islanders won game two 6–1. The series then shifted to Edmonton for three games.
In game three, the Islanders had a 2–1 lead in the second period, but Mark Messier scored on an individual effort to tie the game.
That changed the momentum in favor of the Oilers and they proceeded to beat the Islanders 7–2, but the Oilers lost Fuhr for games four and five after the Islanders' Pat LaFontaine crashed into Fuhr on the forecheck during Game 3 & Fuhr was slow to get up. Andy Moog started Games 4 and 5.
The Oilers won game four by the same score with Wayne Gretzky scoring his first goal of the Finals (he scored the first and last goal of the game).
The Oilers then won game five by the score of 5–2 thanks to Gretzky's two first-period goals & two Duane Sutter penalties. They became the first former WHA team (and the first team from Edmonton) to win the Stanley Cup.
Game Summary[]
New York Islanders vs. Edmonton Oilers
| Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, May 10 | Edmonton | 1 | New York | 0 | Kevin McClelland scored GWG | |
| Sat, May 12 | Edmonton | 1 | New York | 6 | ||
| Tue, May 15 | New York | 2 | Edmonton | 7 | ||
| Thu, May 17 | New York | 2 | Edmonton | 7 | ||
| Sat, May 19 | New York | 2 | Edmonton | 5 |
- Edmonton wins the series 4–1.
- Mark Messier won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Stanley Cup Engraving[]
Centers
- 99 Wayne Gretzky (Captain)
- 24 Kevin McClelland
- 13 Ken Linseman
- 11 Mark Messier ((played left wing during the regular season))
Wingers
- 9 Glenn Anderson
- 10 Jaroslav Pouzar
- 12 Dave Hunter
- 16 Pat Hughes
- 17 Jari Kurri
- 19 Willy Lindstrom
- 20 Dave Lumley
- 27 Dave Semenko
- 15 Pat Conacher ((played Centre during the regular season))
Defence
- 2 Lee Fogolin Jr.
- 4 Kevin Lowe
- 7 Paul Coffey
- 21 Randy Gregg
- 22 Charlie Huddy
- 29 Don Jackson
Goaltenders
- 31 Grant Fuhr
- 35 Andy Moog
- 33 Mike Zanier ( (dressed for last 2 games of the Finals) )
Non-Players[]
- Peter Pocklington (Owner)
- Glen Sather (President/General Manager/Head Coach)
- Bruce MacGregor (Asst General Manager)
- John Muckler (Asst. Coach)
- Ted Green (Asst. Coach)
- Barry Fraser (Director of Player Personnel/Chief Scout)
- Peter Millar (Athletic Therapist), Barrie Stafford (Trainer)
- Lyle Kulchisky (Asst Trainer)
Engraving Notes[]
Each team was required to play 20 players out of a 24 man roster.
The Oilers engraved 21 players' names on the Cup, leaving off 4 players who were dressed in the playoffs.
- Mike Zanier was dressed for 2 games in the finals. He qualified to be engraved on the Stanley Cup. Edmonton did not include his name, because he had not played in the NHL. Only NHL season for Zanier was 5 games in 1985 with Oilers.
- #6 Rick Chartraw played 4 games for NY Rangers, 24 for Edmonton, and 1 playoff game, spending 1/2 season playing in the minors. (On The Stanley Cup with Montreal 1976-77-78-79.)
- #28 Larry Melnyk played 6 playoff games, and spent regular season playing in the minors.
- #25 Raimo Summanen played 2 games in regular season and 5 playoff games. He spent the rest of the season playing in Europe; (All four players left off the Stanley Cup were awarded a Stanley Cup ring, and included on the team picture.)
- Jari Kurri was the first Finnish born-trained player to win the Stanley Cup.
- Grant Fuhr was the first black player ever to win the Stanley Cup.
- Jaroslav Pouzar was the first Czechoslovakia born-trained player to win the Stanley Cup.
Additionally, the name "Basil Pocklington" was engraved on the Stanley Cup in 1984. Basil was the father of Oilers owner Peter Pocklington and was not directly associated with the team. The NHL subsequently marked out Basil's name on the trophy with X's. When a new ring for the Cup was created in 1993, with winners from 1979 to 1991, Basil Pocklington's name was not on it.
When the Cup returned to the Hockey Hall of Fame the abandoned ring had been damaged and could not be put back on the Stanley Cup. The Hockey Hall of Fame had Basil Pocklington's name put on the newly created Stanley Cup ring, then XXX'd out his name again. Basil's name was not added to the replica Stanley Cup also created in 1993.
On the new ring, EDMONTON was misspelled DDMONTON. An "E" was stamped twice over the first "D" to correct the mistake.