1982-83 O-Pee-Chee NHL Hockey Cards

The 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee NHL hockey card set consists of 396 cards featuring players from all 21 teams in the league at the time. This was the first collection to include players from the New Jersey Devils after the team transferred from Denver where they were known as the Colorado Rockies.

The set features the rookie cards of Grant Fuhr, Ron Francis, Neal Broten, Brent Sutter, Bobby Carpenter and Dale Hawerchuk, along with others. Of course, the Wayne Gretzky cards play a prominent role in the collection.

1982-83 O-Pee-Chee NHL Hockey Card Checklist

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1982-83 NHL Season

1982-83 in the National Hockey League was the end of one dynasty and the start of another. The New York Islanders won their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship, sweeping the Edmonton Oilers in the final. The following year, the Oilers would start a run of five championships in seven seasons.

It was the Boston Bruins finishing first overall during the regular season with 110 points, a four point advantage over both the Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. However, the Bruins would fall to the Islanders in six games in the semi-final.

It was the only time that seven Canada based teams made the post season (there were seven teams at the time). By the second round, just Edmonton and the Calgary Flames remained. The two had to face each other with the Oilers obviously advancing. That series would mark the first ever “Battle of Alberta”.

Wayne Gretzky continued to set records with 125 assists, breaking the previous mark of 120, set by The Great One in the previous campaign. His point total actually dropped from 212 to 196 and he was 21 goals off his record setting 92 in 1981-82. Still, he earned the Art Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy, Lester B. Pearson Award (Now Ted Lindsay Award) and was named a First Team All-Star.

Steve Larmer of the Chicago Blackhawks was the clear winner of the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year with Phil Housley, Scott Stevens and Brian Bellows also getting some consideration. In the voting for the Norris Trophy for top defenseman, it was a close battle between Rod Langway (Capitals), Mark Howe (Whalers) and Ray Bourque (Bruins) with Langway taking the nod.

The trio of Dave Andreychuk (Sabres), Scott Stevens (Capitals) and Phil Housley (Sabres) made their NHL debuts in 1982-83. All three would go on to have Hockey Hall of Fame careers. HHOF members Vaclav Nedomansky and Serge Savard played their final games in 1982-83.

1982-83 NHL Standings

1982-83 NHL Scoring Leaders