While no one could be sure at the time, expectations ran rampant that the Oilers would match, or surpass, the Islanders' resounding achievements, and that what the sixteen-thousand fans in Edmonton's Northland Coliseum were witnessing was the orderly and anticipated succession from one powerful ruler to the next. As when the Islanders inherited the crown from the Montreal Canadiens four years earlier, the Oilers were a worthy replacement whose time had come, after a series of bitter disappointments. But in other ways, this changing of the guard was unlike any that had come before.

First, the Islanders had not defeated the Montreal dynasty in the 1980 final; the Canadiens had been eliminated in the quarter-finals, so they never actually got the opportunity to defend their championship head-to-head. In retrospect, the meeting between the Islanders and the Oilers was a monumental pivot-point in NHL history, with two great hockey clubs battling like a pair of champion thoroughbreds charging wire-to-wire.

In fact, you have to go back to the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens of the mid-1950s to find rival dynasty teams that faced each other one-on-one in the final round two years in a row. The Islanders swept the Oilers in four games in 1983, but Edmonton reversed the decision the following year in five games. From 1980 to 1990, the Islanders and the Oilers accounted for nine of the eleven Stanley Cups contested. Not since Montreal and the Toronto Maple Leafs captured thirteen Cup in fourteen years, from 1956 to 1969, had two great franchises been so dominant - and so distinctive.

But the clash between New York and Edmonton also came when the sport itself was in a period of transition. The older, conservative-minded, counter-punching team, whose goal-scoring was built on the foundation of sound forechecking. On the other hand, the brash Oilers - led by the incomparable Wayne Gretzky, represented the new move toward speedier and more unpredictable offensives, piling up goals not in bunches but in bushels. The Oilers' best defensive efforts were usually reserved for fending off attacks on their flamboyant lifestyles.

The franchises were build differently, came from different backgrounds, and employed vastly different strategies. The Islanders, although not NHL bluebloods, had nevertheless been born in a conventional fashion: Long Island was granted an expansion franchise, which began toiling in futility in 1972-73. Although the team went through two coaches in it's first season, winning a total of only 23 games, Al Arbour took over in the third season and quickly steered it to respectability. And, despite several years of falling short of the Stanley Cup with a star-laden line-up, general manager Bill Torrey continued to build patiently through the amateur draft.

Edmonton, however, was largely regarded as a team of bandits, as much for its outlaw past as for its newfangled, thunderbolt offense. The franchise had not started in the NHL. Indeed, it began operating in the old rival World Hockey Association. It became a part of the established league when the NHL expanded, adding four former WHA franchises in 1979-80, at a time when many of its players were unheralded or even unknown. There was even a suspicion that the great Gretzky would not be able to take the nightly pounding in his new league that he had been able to avoid in the more goal-oriented WHA.

But the Islanders and the Oilers did have something in common.

New York had made a shocking leap to contender in only it's third year of experience, twice rallying from 0-3 deficits in playoff series and coming within one game of reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1975. Edmonton was eliminated in the preliminary playoff round its first year in the NHL, but, after ranking only fourteenth in the 1980-81 regular season, it knocked off heavily favored and third-ranked Montreal before being ousted - by the champion Islanders - in the quarter-finals. Two years later, the Oilers would reach the finals. Three years later, they would win their first Cup.

So the rise of both teams was quick and surprising. And it was against this backdrop that New York met Edmonton in the 1983 finals, a meeting filled with soap-opera theatrics, gamesmanship, and outward animosity between the clubs. In many ways, this landmark series of the 1980s was a throwback to the time of goalies with no masks, players without helmets, and chicken-wire mesh around the rink instead of glass - not because of the style of play, but because of the intensity which characterized this heated, riveting, remarkable series.

The Islanders were virtually unchanged from the club that had swept Quebec and then Vancouver in the last two playoff rounds the year before. But, thinned by injuries and fighting complacency, the team dropped to second place in the Patrick Division (behind Philadelphia) with a 42-26-12 record, only good enough for sixth overall in the league. Until 1986 when the seventh-place Canadiens win, this was the lowest finish ever recorded by a team that would go on to capture the Cup.

Durable center Bryan Trottier suffered through ten games without a goal during one stretch in the regular season. Sixty-goal scorer Mike Bossy went seven games without scoring. Bill Smith, the fearless goalie, played from November 30 to January 18 without recording a victory. Rookie Defenseman Paul Boutilier, bewildered by the turmoil disrupting the three-time champions he had just joined, asked: "Is this what it's like every year?"

Nevertheless, the Islanders eliminated the pesky Washington Capitals in four games in the first round of the playoffs, before battling the Rangers, their resilient and dangerous rivals from Manhattan, in the next round. They won this series in six games, then ousted the Boston Bruins in a six-game Wales Conference final. Even then the Islanders were thought to be vulnerable, especially against the young, fresh Oilers and their powerhouse offense.

"It's them, the big city guys, against us, the small-town guys," Oilers coach Glen Sather warned, forgetting that his opponents were located in the leafy Long Island suburbs, twenty-five miles from the city skyline. "We're the new kids on the block, and we're ready to take their marbles."

Edmonton was led by Gretzky, whose 71 goals and 125 assists both topped the league. Three other players - Mark Messier, Jan Kurri, and Glenn Anderson -scored at least 45 goals. The offense set a league record with 424 goals, and the team's 47-21-12 record for 106 points was the NHL's second best, bettering the Islanders' finish by ten points. Although the Islanders convincingly won all four regular-season meetings between the clubs, the Oilers had charged into the playoffs, anxious to rebound from their stunning first-round loss to Los Angeles the year before.

Edmonton, in fact, compiled an 11-1 record over the first three rounds, needing just three games to sideline the Winnipeg Jets in the best-of-five preliminary round, eliminating the Calgary Flames in five games, and sweeping Chicago in four games in the Campbell Conference finals - outscoring the over-matched Blackhawks 23-11. Edmonton's whopping ten shorthanded goals had already set a Stanley Cup record. The Oilers' speed and daring seemed to be matched only by their abundant confidence - many would say cockiness - a characteristic that infuriated the defending champions. "We want to beat them more than anything," Islander left wing Clark Gillies said. "You know why? Because they think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread." Said teammate Bob Bourne: "They think they're so hot. They're damn cocky. The thing that really bugs me is, they don't respect us. They're not the Stanley Cup champions. We are."

As if the series didn't already have enough ingredients, game one in Edmonton featured two events that fueled the drama. First, Bossy was a surprise scratch because of a sudden, mysterious illness, later described as tonsillitis. Then, after some verbal sparring, Glenn Anderson and Bill Smith exchanged slashes, with Smith's clubbing of the Oiler forward inciting the hometown fans, not to mention Glen Sather. But Smith kept his composure and protected the tender 1-0 lead Duane Sutter had provided with a first-period goal. Ken Morrow's empty-net goal in the final seconds cemented the shutout of the astonished Oilers.

But game two was no less shocking, with the Oilers' top guns again held in check and the Islanders scoring three times in the first period, en route to a 6-3 victory. The game marked the return of Bossy, whose goal gave the Islanders a 3-1 lead, but the biggest news continued to be the Islanders' handling of Gretzky. He again failed to score and was credited with only two assists in the game, far from the explosion that the Oilers and their followers anticipated.

"You don't expect to win the first two games of the finals when you're on the road," said Islander Brent Sutter, Duane's younger brother. "But then a lot of things have happened that we didn't expect."

With the series moving to Nassau Coliseum on Long Island for the next two games, the Oilers vowed they would turn the series around with the display of firepower for which they had become famous. But with only nineteen seconds left in the first period, Islander Anders Kallur scored for a 1-0 lead. Kurri evened the score in the second period, but third-period goals by Bourne, Morrow, and both of the Sutter brothers propelled the Islanders to a 5-1 victory and the threshold of a fourth straight title.

The team's careful, defensive style and opportune goal-scoring confounded the Oilers early in game four, too. The Islanders scored three times in the first period, the Oilers replied with two goals in the second, and Smith acrobatically preserved the lead, until Morrow added another empty-net goal for a 4-2 victory. Gretzky was held without a goal - and to just four assists - in the series, and Smith Was voted the Conn Smythe Trophy-winner.

The Islanders allowed the mighty Oilers just six goals in the four games. They trailed for only six minutes during the whole series. They extended their streak in the Stanley Cup finals to nine straight victories and their record in the finals to a remarkable 16-3. They became only the second franchise in history to win as many as four straight Cups, joining the Montreal teams that won four, from 1976 to 1979, and five, from 1956 to 1960. "They dominated us completely," Edmonton Defenseman Kevin Lowe said. "They were always ahead, and it's virtually impossible to try to play catch-up with them."

"The Oilers are a great hockey team," said Bourne, conciliatory after helping his team clinch the victory. "They're going to win the Stanley Cup some day, but right now, we're still the best team. Why? Because we re scared of losing. We know the feeling. We remember it, and that's what keeps us going. We like being champions too much. Tell 'em, we'll see 'em again next year.

Bourne's words turned out to be prophetic. The Islanders rose back into first place in the Patrick Division in 1983-84 with an impressive 50-26-4 record, their 104 points lagging only behind the Oilers' resounding 57-18-5 mark for 119 points. Edmonton also set another record with 446 goals, Gretzky pacing the club with 87 goals and 118 assists for 205 points. But while Edmonton faced only one big obstacle in its march back to the finals - winning the seventh game of the division final against Calgary - the Islanders struggled much of the way.

They needed overtime to eliminate the Rangers in the conclusive fifth game of the division semi-finals lost the first game against Washington before rallying to win four straight games in the next round, and lost the first two games against the inspired Canadiens. who were hoping to keep the Islanders from matching their record of five straight Cups, before winning the last four games of the conference finals.

That victory extended the Islanders' playoff winning streak to an eye-popping record of nineteen straight series wins. But their offense was slumping, their team was among the oldest in the league, and several of their key players were injured, including Pat LaFontaine the speedy center who had joined the Islanders after the 1984 Winter Olympics and given them a much-needed jolt. And they no longer had much of an edge in experience over the Oilers, who no longer seemed awed by the opportunity to compete for the Cup.

The Oilers proved they were ready with a 1-0 victory in the opener on Long Island, turning the tables on the Islanders' strategy with a sound defensive performance of their own. That ended Edmonton's ten-game losing streak to the Islanders, which extended back to 1981, and, more importantly, it shattered the Islanders' aura of invincibility. The Islanders once again smothered Gretzky, and tangled the Oilers in checks, but still the Oilers showed their patience and maturity in finding a way to win.

The turning point came after two scoreless periods, thanks not to one of the stars in the Edmonton galaxy, but to Kevin McClelland and Pat Hughes. The journeymen forwards teamed up on the play that deposited the puck past Smith, Hughes passing from the corner and McClelland directing the puck inside the far post 1:55 into the third period. At the other end of the ice; Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr held on to the lead, despite a flurry of Islander shots in the final seconds.

"Aah," Fuhr said, "it was a piece of cake."

Behind a hat trick by Gillies, the Islanders rebounded to win game two by a score of 6-1, a victory that appeared to get the four-time champions back on track. They had, after all, played two games, permitted only two goals, and had blanked Gretzky on the score-sheet - only the seventh time all season that the Oilers' famed number 99 had not recorded a point. But now the series was moving to Edmonton, not for two games, as had long been the practice in the playoffs - but for three.

It was the only time in history that the playoffs were scheduled this way, in an effort to reduce travel costs, and it worked to the Oilers' advantage. Fuhr responded with an outstanding effort in the pivotal third game, stopping Bossy and Kallur on breakaways in the first period to keep his team in the contest. Edmonton's dangerous Mark Messier scored a picturesque goal to tie the score, 2-2, in the second period, feinting past Defenseman Gord Dineen and slapping a shot past Smith. Then Edmonton got goals from Anderson and Coffey, only seventeen seconds apart, within the final minute of the period. That outburst sparked the Oilers to a rousing 7-2 victory and injected them with another dose of confidence.

They had dealt the Islanders one of the worst playoff losses in their history, and they knew it. "They had done it to us before," Gretzky said. "I always wondered what it would be like to do it to them."

"This is not the same team we beat last year," Islander Defenseman Stefan Persson moaned. "They are better - much better."

During the Stanley Cup luncheon the next afternoon, the teams traded barbs, and a controversy arose over the early nine a.m. practice time the Oilers had assigned to the Islanders that morning. Sather, the fast talking Edmonton coach, revealed that he had "discovered" that Smith was vulnerable on low shots. Smith, noting Sather's journeyman career as a player, replied:

"I never knew Glen Sather to be much of a goal scorer." But the Oilers' vast improvement became even more evident in game four. Led by Messier, they checked the Islanders hard without sacrificing any of their offense. And, although a soft backhand shot by Gretzky, just 1:53 into the game, barely slid across the goal line, it had the effect of a lightning bolt. Even with Fuhr sidelined with a bruised shoulder, back-up goalie Andy Moog needed little help in keeping Edmonton in front. Just eighty-nine seconds after the opening goal, Glenn Anderson curled around the Islander net, lost control of the puck, and then brushed Smith as the Islander goalie reached to cover it.

But Oiler Willy Lindstrom beat Smith to the puck and poked a shot into the net for a 2-0 lead. Lindstrom's second goal of the game in the second period pushed the Edmonton lead to 4-1 and, behind another solid performance by Moog, the Oilers moved to within one game of their first Cup with another 7-2 victory. Said Messier: "I can't sleep just thinking about it."

When the teams appeared for game five, Northlands Coliseum was a cauldron of emotion. There were cheers and jeers and wild ovations, as the crowd sensed that the Oilers' time finally had arrived. If there was any doubt, it disintegrated, along with the Islanders' famous poise, when Edmonton soared to a 4-0 lead after two periods. Two breakaway goals by Gretzky started Edmonton rolling, and Smith was yanked in the second period and replaced by Rollie Melanson in the Islander net. Gretzky assisted on Ken Linsemen's goal, just thirty-eight seconds into the second period, and Kurri added another, carrying the Oilers to a 5-2 victory and their first Stanley Cup championship.

"We got the Islanders in the position of having to come from behind," Edmonton Defenseman Kevin Lowe said. "We never allowed them to get ahead. We forced them to play a wide-open game with us."

That was the undoing of the Islanders' dynasty, and the beginning of the one assembled by the Oilers. Edmonton enjoyed unprecedented success with their dizzying "free-flow" offense. Wings were no longer tethered to the flanks of the ice, but were encouraged to weave and wander. Defensemen, such as the dangerous Paul Coffey, became part of the offense. Indeed, Coffey would rank amount the NHL's top scorers for years. Messier, who was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy, was the prototype of the next generation of forwards - not only fast, but strong and powerful, a forceful and intimidating leader.

Unlike previous champions, who stuck to a plan of trying to win a game by a score of 3-1, the Oilers were happy to win 7-5. They were exciting, flashy, and entertaining, and their victory over the Islanders in 1984 was a promise of things to come. And while the Oilers expressed their utmost admiration for the Islanders and for New York's record nineteen series wings, they had admiration for themselves, too. "There have been a lot of great teams," Messier said, "but I don't think there's ever been a team quite like us."