1983-84
OFF-SEASON
Jean Ratelle has decided not to pursue Bobby Hull's goal scoring record as Ratelle retires at the age of 42 after scoring 856 goals in 1613 career games. He also had 1690 career points, won 2 Conn Smythe Trophys and 5 Stanley Cups. Ratelle was also named to the first all-star team once in his career.
Also retiring is defenseman Bobby Orr at the age of 35. Orr broke in with Boston as an 18 year old in 1966-67 and won the Calder Trophy. He would win 2 Stanley Cups and be a first team all-star 8 times but never won the Norris Trophy. Orr finished his 1219 game career with stops in Buffalo and Vancouver, scoring 372 goals and 1469 points.
Two outstanding goaltenders have also decided to retire as Tony Esposito and Gerry Cheevers both announced the end of their careers. Cheevers saw limited action for the Toronto Maple Leafs but did not become an NHL regular until expansion when at the age of 27 he joined the Los Angeles Kings in 1967-68. He would remain with the Kings until this past season, playing in 892 games and compiling a lifetime record of 224-498-97.
Esposito also got a late start to his NHL career as because of Montreal's depth at the positon he did not make his debut until 1969-70 at the age of 26. He would go on to win 3 Vezina Trophy's, be a first-team all-star on 4 occassions and win 3 Stanley Cups. He played 876 NHL games, going 614-177-78.
Among the players joining this season are Steve Yzerman in Detroit, Cam Neely with Vancouver, Pat LaFontaine to the Islanders and Russian goaltender Vladislav Tretiak who signed with Montreal as a replacement for Esposito.
REGULAR SEASON
Wayne Gretzky established a single-season record for points with 179 and he also set a record for the largest margin between the points leader and number two on the list as Montreal's Guy Lafleur finished a distant second with 130 points, 39 less than the Great One. The record Gretzky broke had previously belong to Lafleur, who scored 171 points 2 years ago. Defenseman Paul Coffey had another career year at the age of 22, as he finished with 119 points including 35 goals. The Oilers also got a 118 point season out of Jari Kurri and with the best regular season record for the second year in a row appear ready to defend their Stanley Cup title.
Montreal, led by Lafleur and 24 year old Mats Naslund (50-48-98) finished first in the Adams Division, edging out the Boston Bruins. With Tony Esposito retired the Habs signed Russian netminder Vladislav Tretiak and the 31 year old had an impressive NHL debut, going 39-15-5 with a 3.35 GAA.
The Philadelphia Flyers, led by their big line of Ken Linseman (26-74-100) between Brian Propp (40-64-104) and Tim Kerr (60-58-118) dominated the Patrick Division. 34 year old Bobby Clarke (19-35-54) continues to slip into a supporting role with the club.
Detroit, after 2 years out of the playoffs, enjoyed a resurgence thanks to rookie pivot Steve Yzerman (32-66-98) and another strong year from John Ogrodnick (47-42-89) and finished with the best record in a tightly contested Norris Division.
The big trade during the season was Vancouver's decision to deal 18 year old rookie Cam Neely (30-23-53) to the New York Islanders in exchange for 32 year old Robbie Ftorek and 22 year old Mike Allison.
Veteran Rangers defenseman Brad Park reached the 1500 point mark by getting a pair of assists in New York's 5-2 win over Calgary on October 19th. Park became just the 7th player in league history and the first defenseman to log 1500 career points. Later in the season Montreal's Guy Lafleur would also pass the 1500 point plateau.
MILESTONES
Tom Lysiak of Calgary reached the 500 assist mark
Larry Robinson of Montreal reached the 500 assist mark
Darryl Sittler of Toronto scored his 300th career goal
1250 GAMES
Serge Savard Minnesota
Garry Unger NY Islanders
Jean Pronovost Boston
1000 GAMES
Gilbert Perreault Buffalo
Dan Maloney Washington
Bill Clement Pittsburgh
Ross Lonsberry Buffalo
In single game milestones Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Randy Carlyle enjoyed a 7 point night in the Leafs November 4th 10-3 pounding of Winnipeg. The 27 year old had 4 goals and 3 assists in the game. It is believed Carlyle is the first defenseman to get 7 points in an NHL contest. On the same night Washington Capitals defenseman Rick Green scored 5 goals in a 7-5 win over Vancouver. Green's 5 goals, in a season in which he scored 18, tied a single game goal record for a defenseman set by Detroit's Jack Stewart way back in 1948.
Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky had a career high 8 points in a 9-2 win over Winnipeg on December 18th. Included in his totals were 4 goals and 4 assists. It was the first of a home and home series and Gretzky picked up 6 points the next night.
Tim Kerr of the Flyers had a 7 goal, 9 point night in Philadelphia's 11-4 win over Boston on February 4th. His 7 goals are one shy of the record set by former Flyer Bill Barber in a 1975 game and his 9 points are two less than Barber and Bobby Clarke each recorded in the same game in 1975.
Ken Linseman of Philadelphia also had an 8 point night, with all 8 being assists in the11-4 win over Boston on February 4th. It surpasses Linseman's previous best 7 assists recorded in a 1980 game but is 2 shy of the NHL record set by Flyer teammate Bobby Clarke in a 1975 game.
21 year old Dale Hawerchuk of Winnipeg had a 4 goal, 7 point night in a win over the New York Islanders on December 30th.
Oilers rearguard Paul Coffey would set a record for defenseman with a 27 game point streak. It came to an end in early January but was 4 games longer than the previous defenseman record of 23 set by Doug Jarrett of Chicago in 1969-70. The overall record is 44 set by Rocket Richard in 1943-44.
Code:
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ADAMS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Montreal Canadiens 80 49 27 4 102
Boston Bruins 80 46 31 3 95
Buffalo Sabres 80 44 31 5 93
Quebec Nordiques 80 38 38 4 80
Hartford Whalers 80 35 40 5 75
PATRICK DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Philadelphia Flyers 80 50 29 1 101
New York Islanders 80 34 40 6 74
New York Rangers 80 30 42 8 68
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 31 46 3 65
New Jersey Devils 80 30 45 5 65
Washington Capitals 80 22 53 5 49
NORRIS DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Detroit Red Wings 80 42 34 4 88
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 40 37 3 83
Chicago Black Hawks 80 36 38 6 78
St Louis Blues 80 36 39 5 77
Minnesota North Stars 80 31 43 6 68
SMYTHE DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Edmonton Oilers 80 57 17 6 120
Los Angeles Kings 80 39 37 4 82
Vancouver Canucks 80 38 36 6 82
Calgary Flames 80 37 42 1 75
Winnipeg Jets 80 27 47 6 60
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Wayne Gretzky EDM 78 67 112 179
Guy Lafleur MON 80 57 73 130
Paul Coffey EDM 80 35 84 119
Tim Kerr PHI 75 60 58 118
Jari Kurri EDM 80 42 76 118
Anton Statsny QUE 80 40 75 115
Ron Francis HAR 80 38 76 114
Kent Nilsson CGY 80 46 66 112
Bryan Trottier NYI 79 37 75 112
Dino Ciccarelli MIN 80 55 50 105
Dale Hawerchuk WPG 70 48 56 104
Joey Mullen STL 80 46 68 104
Brian Propp PHI 69 40 64 104
Bernie Federko STL 72 18 85 103
Gilbert Perreault BUF 80 24 78 102
Ken Linseman PHI 73 26 74 100
Rick Vaive VAN 80 47 52 99
Denis Savard CHI 80 36 63 99
Mats Naslund MON 78 50 48 98
Mark Messier EDM 80 40 58 98
Steve Yzerman DET 80 32 66 98
Mike Bossy NYI 69 38 59 97
Reijo Ruotsalainen BUF 80 26 71 97
Bobby Smith MIN 80 26 71 97
Dave Andreychuk BUF 80 48 47 95
Willi Plett CGY 80 39 56 95
Peter Statsny QUE 68 37 58 95
PLAYOFFS
The Oilers coasted through the Smythe Division with another sweep in the Battle of Alberta in the preliminary round followed by a quarterfinal elimination of Vancouver in 5 games. In 8 playoff games through the first two rounds Wayne Gretzky had 24 points while Mark Messier had 11 goals and 17 points.
Toronto will face Edmonton in the semi-finals after the Leafs eliminated Detroit in 6 games. In the preliminary round Detroit beat St Louis 3 games to one and Toronto swept Chicago 3 straight. In game two of the Toronto-Chicago series Leafs winger Glenn Anderson had 5 goals and 7 points. His goal total for the game was one shy of the record 6 scored in a playoff contest by Carl Liscombe of Detroit in 1943. Afer 9 games Anderson had 11 goals and 17 points, two points less than team leader Rick Kehoe, who had 8 goals and 19 points.
Upsets were the name of the game in the Adams Division as Quebec surprised Montreal in 5 games while Buffalo eliminated Boston 3 games to one in their preliminary series. The Sabres would go on to defeat the Nordiques in 6 games in their quarterfinal series led by Dave Andreychuk, who scored 11 times in 10 games through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The Sabres will meet another cinderella team in the semi-finals as fourth place Pittsburgh emerged from the Patrick Division. The Penguins knocked off Philadelphia in 4 games and then beat the Islanders in a quarterfinal that went the full 7 games. The Isles actually won the first 3 games of the series before the Pens roared back with 4 straight victories.
SEMI-FINALS
Edmonton took the opener 3-0 over Toronto as Gretzky got 3 assists and Grant Fuhr made 25 saves for the shutout. The next 3 games were all decided by just one goal but in each case the Oilers prevailed to complete the sweep and advance to the finals where they will face the Buffalo Sabres, who eliminated Pittsburgh in 5 games.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
The Oilers return to the finals for the second straight season after winning the Cup in their first trip to the championship round last season. Buffalo reached the finals once before but the Sabres lost to the New York Islanders in 1979.
The Sabres will rely on Gil Perrreault (5-18-23), Dave Andreychuk (13-10-23) and Dirk Graham (11-14-25) to carry their offense but the biggest pressure will be on netminder Glenn Resch (9-2, 2.67) as he faces the potent Edmonton offense. In 12 playoff games Wayne Gretzky has 33 points and Mark Messier has 15 goals.
In Game One Gretzky had a goal and an assist as the Oilers doubled the Sabres 6-3. Edmonton also got goals from Jari Kurri, Dave Lewis, Borje Salming, Mike Rogers and Gord Sherven while Perreault, Graham and Don Lever replied for Buffalo.
Charlie Huddy scored twice in Game Two to help Edmonton to a 4-1 victory. Gretzky and Rogers were the other Oilers marksmen, while Hannu Virta scored the Buffalo goal. The Sabres replaced Resch with former Edmonton farmhand Andy Moog for this game but the result was the same - an Oiler win.
Mark Messier put on a show, scoring 4 goals as Edmonton won Game Three 5-1. Charlie Huddy had the other Oilers goal with Gretzky getting 2 assists in the game. Perreault had the Buffalo goal. Going back to last season the Oilers have now won 7 straight Stanley Cup finals games.
Edmonton's winning streak comes to an end as Dave Andreychuk scores twice to help the Sabres double Edmonton 4-2 in Game Four and stay alive in the series. Hannu Virta and Tony McKegney also scored for Buffalo, while the Oilers goals came from Gretzky and Thomas Eriksson.
The series came to an end two nights later as the Oilers get goals from 5 different players and claim the Cup with a 5-4 victory. The game winner would come from Esa Tikkanen, a 19 year old rookie who scored just 7 times during the regular season. Doug Risebrough, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier and Mike Rogers would also score for Edmonton while Wayne Gretzky had two assists.
The 2 points gave Gretzky 42 for the playoffs, a new record, eclipsing by 1 the old mark established by Jean Ratelle of the Rangers in 1982. Gretzky played just 17 playoff games while Ratelle had played 21 in his record season. Mark Messier also broke a Ratelle playoff record, by scoring 20 goals in this year's playoffs - also 1 more than Ratelle's old record.
The 42 points earned Gretzky the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for the first time in his career. Gretzky would also win his 4th straight Hart Trophy as regular season MVP and 4th scoring title in the past 5 years.
Other award winners are:
HART TROPHY: Wayne Gretzky Edmonton (78GP 67-112-179)
VEZINA TROPHY: Grant Fuhr Edmonton (43-12-3, 2.67)
NORRIS TROPHY: Paul Coffey Edmonton (80GP 35-84-119)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Wayne Gretzky Edmonton (78GP 67-112-179)
CALDER TROPHY: Steve Yzerman Detroit (80GP 32-66-98)
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Grant Fuhr Edmonton Pete Peeters Philadelphia
D Paul Coffey Edmonton Randy Carlyle Toronto
D Denis Potvin NY Islanders R Ruoutsalainen Buffalo
C Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Ron Francis Hartford
LW Anton Statsny Quebec Mats Naslund Montreal
RW Guy Lafleur Montreal Tim Kerr Philadelphia