From The Archives: The 1984 Islanders Playoff Run

We should all be well-rounded Hockey fans and because of that this little posting is being created. From The Archives won’t be about the Sharks…you will have plenty of Sharks history coming your way from another writer very soon. For your Sunday reading enjoyment I will be compiling little snippets of history about other teams for you! For the first installation of this weekly post I bring you a brief snapshot of the 1984 Islanders and their quest for their 5th consecutive Stanley Cup.

According to islanders.nhl.com it went a little something like this:

"May 5th 1984- The Islanders complete their 19th consecutive playoff series triumph with a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, winning the Wales Conference Final four games to two.MAy 19th 1984- The dynasty ends. Edmonton defeats the Islanders in the Stanley Cup Final, four games to one. George Vecsey of the New York Times calls the Islanders “the best sports team of this generation.”"

For those of you not yet born in 1984…which includes me…there may be a few things of interest here for you to learn from. The Islanders, who many tend to discount now as a system plagued by annual sub-par performance  were once one of the greatest teams in the NHL; winning the Stanley cup in 1980, 1981, 1982, and 1983 before losing in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1984. They have yet to make it all the way to the final round since then and have not qualified for the playoffs since the 2006-2007 season.

I also want to take note that the Wales Conference is mentioned here. Some may read that and go ‘I thought the Islanders were in the Eastern Conference…what the heck is the Wales conference…’ Well, you would be right if we were talking about today as far as the Eastern Conference thought, but from 1974 to 1993 what is now known as the Eastern Conference was the Wales Conference. During a division and conference realignment in 1981 the Eastern side of the house retained the name Wales Conference and wasn’t changed until everyone’s favorite commisioner, Gary Bettman, changed the conference names to reflect geographical location and help non-hockey people understand the game better. Did it work? I have no idea, I was more concerned with the fact that in 1993 the first ever pro NHL team I was familiar with went to Dallas and killed my NHL watching days for seven years…RIP Minnesota North Stars. When the Wild arrived in St. Paul in 2000 I really could’ve cared less which conference they were in, at least we finally had an NHL team back in the State of Hockey.

So there you have it, a little bit of history with a little bit of fun hockey knowledge! Hope you enjoyed this first installment of From The Archives! If you want to learn more about the Islanders or follow their progress, check in with our friends over at http://eyesonisles.com/!!!

~ALH

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