The 1982 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1981–82 season, and the culmination of the 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was played between the Campbell Conference champion Vancouver Canucks in their first Finals appearance and the Wales Conference and defending Cup champion New York Islanders, in their third Finals appearance. The Islanders won the best-of-seven series, four games to none, to win their third consecutive and overall Stanley Cup championship. This was the first time that a U.S.-based team won three straight Stanley Cups. This 1982 Finals took place under a revised NHL divisional alignment and playoff structure, which de facto revived the "East vs. West" format for the Finals that had been abandoned when the Western Hockey League folded in . It was also the first time a team from Western Canada contested the Finals since the WHL stopped challenging for the Stanley Cup (the Victoria Cougars, who had also been the last team from British Columbia to win the Cup in , played the 1926 Finals too). This would also be the first of nine consecutive Finals contested by a team from Western Canada, but it was the only one of them to feature the Vancouver Canucks; the other eight were contested by a team from Alberta (Edmonton Oilers appeared in six, Calgary Flames in two). With the new "East vs. West" format in effect, the NHL opted to switch a 2-3-2 format for the Finals to reduce travel compared to the traditional 2–2–1–1–1 format, although that was of no effect for these Finals since the result was a four game sweep. Also, starting this season home-ice advantage would alternate between conferences as opposed to going to the team with the better record. The latter change would also be of no effect for these Finals since for even years the Wales champion received that advantage and in 1982 their representative, the Islanders, had the better record. Paths to the Finals Vancouver, despite having a losing record in the regular season, defeated the Calgary Flames 3–0, the Los Angeles Kings 4–1 and the Chicago Blackhawks 4–1 to advance to the finals. This was their first Finals appearance. New York defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2, the New York Rangers 4–2, and the Quebec Nordiques 4–0 to make it to the finals for the third year in a row. With New York having 118