On this day in NHL history: Islanders win fourth straight Stanley Cup

On this day in 1983, the New York Islanders won their fourth straight Stanley Cup, their last in nearly 40 years of hockey history.

In a NHL galaxy that seems far away, the early 1980’s, the New York Islanders were one of the best teams in the NHL. Led by the prolific scoring of Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier on the front line, and the steadiness of Denis Potvin on the blue line, the Islanders won four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-1983.

On May 17, 1983, the Islanders completed a four-game sweep of the Edmonton Oilers to extend their dynasty and win their fourth straight Cup. Goaltender Billy Smith, with a .913 save percentage and two shutouts during that playoff run, won that year’s Conn Smythe Trophy.

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The Islanders and Oilers would have a rematch in the 1984 Stanley Cup Final, won by Edmonton four games to one. The Oilers, of course led by Wayne Gretzky and company, would win three more Cups in the next four years to make it a run of four in five years. In 1990, without Gretzky after he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, the Oilers made it five Stanley Cups in seven years.

Bossy had 573 goals and was an eight-time All-Star in 10 NHL seasons (all with the Islanders). He also still sits third all-time in hat tricks with 39. But he is also someone who’s easy to forget about in the realm of the best scorers in NHL history, due to the Oilers/Gretzy run that followed the Islanders’ run.

That run by Edmonton, and the breadth of star power those teams had, more broadly makes it easy to forget about the Islanders’ preceding run of four straight Stanley Cups. But on this day in 1983, Long Island’s NHL team completed their winning run. In the approaching 40 years since, no team has won more than back-to-back Stanley Cups.

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