DYNASTY MEETS DESTINY: Denis Potvin and Wayne Gretzky Share Iconic Moment After Islanders Clinch Fourth Straight Stanley Cup in 1983

The date was May 17, 1983. The setting was Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. The New York Islanders had just defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4–2 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final to complete a historic sweep and capture their fourth consecutive NHL championship. As the crowd thundered in celebration, two legends met at center ice—Denis Potvin, captain of the Islanders dynasty, and Wayne Gretzky, the transcendent face of the league’s future. The handshake they shared was more than a formality—it was a passing of the torch, an iconic moment symbolizing the end of one era and the impending rise of another.

The 1983 Stanley Cup Final wasn’t just about who would hoist the most coveted trophy in hockey. It was a collision of philosophies, systems, legacies, and potential. The Islanders, battle-hardened and unrelenting, represented everything it took to build and sustain greatness. The Oilers, dazzling and youthful, were skating into the history books themselves—just not yet. On that night, the dynasty reminded the upstarts that championships are earned through more than talent. They are won with scars, sweat, and sacrifice.

Denis Potvin had already cemented his place as one of the most dominant defensemen in NHL history. His poise, vision, and two-way prowess defined the Islanders’ back end. But beyond stats and accolades, Potvin was the heartbeat of a team that knew how to win in every way imaginable. That 1983 playoff run, where the Islanders went 15–3, was a masterclass in resilience. They shut down offensive juggernauts, outlasted physical battles, and closed games with a cold, almost cruel efficiency.

Across the ice, Wayne Gretzky—just 22 years old—was finishing a campaign in which he scored 196 points. He was already a two-time MVP, the brightest star in a league rapidly changing in his image. His Oilers had blitzed the Western Conference, outscoring opponents with reckless abandon. They entered the Final averaging more than five goals per game. But against New York, they ran headfirst into a championship machine. The Islanders suffocated Edmonton’s flow. They neutralized Gretzky’s line. They played chess while the Oilers played pinball.

In the end, it wasn’t even close. The final scores—2–0, 6–3, 5–1, 4–2—told a story of complete control. And yet, that final handshake told a deeper story. For all of Edmonton’s disappointment, there was admiration in Gretzky’s eyes. Potvin, sweat-soaked and composed, offered respect in return. One dynasty was concluding its reign. Another, perhaps, was learning what it would take to begin theirs.

What many don’t realize is just how symbolic that moment was. In the bowels of Nassau Coliseum after the game, as the Oilers trudged to their locker room in silence, Gretzky caught sight of the Islanders. There was no wild celebration. No champagne or music. Just players slumped in exhaustion, nursing bruises, icing wounds, and quietly reflecting. “That’s when we understood,” Gretzky would later say. “That’s what it takes. That’s what winning looks like.”

It would be the last time the Islanders ever hoisted the Stanley Cup. But what a way to go out. Four straight championships. Nineteen consecutive playoff series wins—an NHL record that still stands. The final act in their run of dominance came not with flair but with finality. They had stared down the next generation’s greatest and refused to yield.

For Potvin, that handshake remains one of the defining moments of his career. “Wayne was a class act,” he said years later. “He was on his way to becoming the greatest player of all time, and we all knew it. But for that night, it was still our time.” Potvin would play four more seasons, but the 1983 Cup was the last time he lifted the chalice above his head.

The significance of that night also extends beyond those two legends. The 1983 Oilers roster read like a who’s who of hockey immortality in the making—Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr. Each would go on to win multiple championships. But they needed that loss. They needed to feel that sting. And in the crucible of defeat, a dynasty was born.

The following year, the Oilers would exact revenge, defeating the Islanders in the 1984 Stanley Cup Final in five games. It was poetic—just as the Islanders had once dethroned the Canadiens to start their own run, the Oilers did the same to New York. Gretzky raised the Cup at age 23, and the Oilers would go on to win five titles in seven years. But even in their dominance, they often spoke of 1983. Of the team that taught them how to win.

Historians and fans alike often overlook the emotional depth of postgame handshakes. But in that simple gesture between Potvin and Gretzky, something deeply human was exchanged. It was humility, mutual respect, and an acknowledgment that history had just taken a turn.

The 1983 Islanders are rarely talked about with the same glamor as the Oilers or Canadiens. Their style wasn’t flashy. Their players weren’t always headline-makers. But they were as complete a team as the NHL has ever seen. From Billy Smith in goal to Mike Bossy’s lethal scoring touch, from Butch Goring’s grinder brilliance to Bryan Trottier’s unmatched hockey IQ, the Isles had no weak links. They played for each other. They bled for each other. And they won for each other.

That ethos was personified in Potvin, who always put team above self. His handshake with Gretzky wasn’t just a captain’s duty. It was a warrior’s salute. One generation acknowledging the next. One era gently closing its curtain.

Today, more than four decades later, that moment is still revered. The image of Potvin and Gretzky, framed by the flashing cameras and chaos of a dynasty’s coronation, has become a symbol of continuity in the sport. Of how greatness recognizes greatness. Of how every empire eventually falls—but not without first shaping what comes next.

In many ways, the 1983 Stanley Cup Final marked the last gasp of old-school hockey supremacy before the NHL was forever changed by speed, finesse, and firepower. But it also proved that systems, discipline, and experience still matter. That no matter how dazzling the highlight reel, championships are won in the trenches.

And so, as Potvin and Gretzky shook hands that night, fans didn’t just witness the end of a series or even a dynasty. They witnessed a rite of passage. One that would redefine the sport for decades.

Hockey has always been about moments—iconic goals, bone-crushing hits, buzzer-beating saves. But sometimes, it’s the quiet ones that last the longest. A handshake. A look of respect. A subtle nod between legends at the height of their powers.

May 17, 1983. Nassau Coliseum. Dynasty met destiny. And the game was never the same again.