Sports dynasties usually slide quietly past each other. It's rare that one team starts its dynasty by ending another team's extended dominance. But two decades ago, the Edmonton Oilers had to do just that.

The New York Islanders had dominated the NHL through the 1980s, winning four consecutive Stanley Cups. The fourth one was especially painful for the Oilers, who were embarrassed by the Isles in a four-game sweep in the finals. The Oilers' offensive dominance meant nothing to the Islanders -- Edmonton entered the 1984 Finals having lost all 10 games to the Isles over a two-year period.

"I idolized them," says forward Dave Hunter, a member of both the 1983 and 1984 Edmonton teams. "The Islanders were so well-respected because they had such great teams. We were a little bit intimidated."

But the Oilers, with a core group still in its early 20s, had also learned from the previous year's defeat.

"They taught us so much," Wayne Gretzky said years later. "After the 1983 Finals, we had to walk by the Islanders' locker room, and we saw guys limping around and putting ice bags on themselves. We didn't have a scratch. We learned a lot about what it took to win."

The Oilers rolled back to the Finals in 1984 on the strength of an offense that averaged 5.3 goals per game, then breezed through sweeps of Winnipeg and Minnesota sandwiched around a seven-game struggle past their Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames.

But unlike 1982, when the first-place Oilers were upset in the opening round by Los Angeles, and 1983, when they were swept by the Isles, the 1984 team was confident, not cocky.

"We had to learn from things like the L.A. series and being swept by the Islanders that sometimes you get too cocky," Hunter says. "If you're not humble, you get slapped. You have to come into a series and know inside what it's going to take, and everybody has to have a job. That's what we learned from the Islanders. They had a lot of guys who paid the price and knew what it took to win."

Unlike the Oilers, the Isles were very experienced -- 16 members of the 1984 team had played on all four Cup winners and three more had been on the last three championship teams. But they paid a price for all that winning -- the Islanders had played more than a full season worth of playoff games in the previous four years, and the physical toll was starting to show.

"I think guys were starting to feel the effects," Hall of Fame defenseman Denis Potvin says of the extra games. "We were starting to wear down, and we were getting older -- a lot of our guys were in their 30s. Injuries took a toll on us, and the first three rounds were a grind."

The Isles also had a tougher road to the Finals. They had to rally to beat their archrivals, the New York Rangers, in the best-of-five opening round. That was followed by a hard-fought five-game win over Washington and a six-game semifinal victory over Montreal in which the Islanders had to rally after losing the first two games at the Forum.

The Oilers' offensive dominance meant nothing to the Islanders -- Edmonton entered the 1984 Finals having lost all 10 games to the Isles over a two-year period.

By then, the Islanders were licking their wounds, physical and mental -- no one more so than Potvin, their captain.

"It was a most difficult time for me because my dad passed away," he says. "I believe Dave Langevin's dad died at that time, too. It rips a chunk out of you. It was a shame it happened in April -- if it had happened in June or July, I know I wouldn't have felt the way I did during the playoffs."

Still, the Islanders had won all 19 playoff series they'd played in the 1980s, and saw no reason they couldn't make it 20.

"We felt we had another one in us," Potvin says of the quest for a fifth consecutive championship. "We had beaten the Oilers 10 straight games, which was one reason we felt we could win again."

The series opened on May 10, with the Islanders doing what they usually did --muzzling Gretzky and dominating play. But Grant Fuhr matched Billy Smith save for save until fourth-line center Kevin McClelland scored early in the third period to give Edmonton a 1-0 victory.

The Islanders dominated Game 2, rolling to a 6-1 victory as Gretzky was again held scoreless while Clark Gillies scored three times.

After losing to the Islanders in four straight games in the 1983 Stanley Cup Finals, Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers finally got it done in '84 when they dethroned New York in five games.

The two teams headed for Edmonton all even; however, they were there for a longer-than-usual stay. The NHL had mandated a switch to the 2-3-2 playoff format for the Finals that was employed by the NBA and Major League Baseball. The new format, which lasted only two seasons, didn't go over well with the Islanders.

"I don't understand why they switched the format," Potvin says. "I know it was hard on us because we had so many players who were injured -- you can't get the same kind of treatment on the road that you can at home."

Still, the Islanders took a quick lead in Game 3 on a goal by Gillies, and went ahead 2-1 early in the second period when he scored again -- the left winger's fifth goal in less than three games. But a goal by Mark Messier turned the game -- and the series -- in the Oilers' favor.

"We had the lead and Messier's goal turned the game around," Potvin says of the most spectacular tally of the series, in which Messier made a fake that sent defenseman Gord Dineen to the ice and beat Smith to tie the game at 2. "I think from that point, the Oilers began sensing for the first time that they could beat us. They got better and better."

The Oilers kept pressing and took the lead in the final minute of the second period on goals 17 seconds apart by Glenn Anderson and Paul Coffey, then blew the game open in the third period for a 7-2 victory and a 2-1 lead in the series.

Hunter wasn't surprised that Messier was the one whose goal turned the series around.

"Mark was like a pit bull—a great leader who led by example," Hunter says. "When someone makes a play like Mark did, it pumps up the whole bench."

The Oilers cruised to another 7-2 victory in Game 4 -- as Gretzky finally scored -- and because of the new format, had the chance to clinch the series at home. Gretzky scored twice more in the first period of Game 5 and goals by Ken Linseman and Jari Kurri made it 4-0 after two periods.

But the Islanders wouldn't quit. Rookie Pat LaFontaine scored twice in the first 35 seconds of the third period to give the Isles some life and quiet the raucous Northlands Coliseum crowd.

"It was almost like, 'holy smokes, here they come,'" Hunter says. "The Islanders knew what it took to win, and they weren't going to stop playing."

Potvin had a chance to cut the deficit to one goal midway through the third period, but Andy Moog, subbing for an injured Fuhr, stoned him. The volume in the Coliseum grew louder as the clock wound down, and Dave Lumley officially started the biggest party Edmonton had ever seen when he scored into an empty net with 13 seconds remaining.

Mark Messier (left) not only took the Cup home in 1984, he was also awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy after scoring 26 points in 19 games.

One dynasty was history. A new one was just beginning. And for the Oilers, the fact that they dethroned the Islanders made their championship just a little more special.

"You dream as a kid about going to the Finals and winning the Stanley Cup," Hunter says. "It's the most special thing you can have happen in your life. It's always nice to play against the No. 1 team -- we had such respect for the Islanders. A lot of people didn't realize that."

For the Islanders, the feeling of losing was a shock.

"We were stunned a little bit," Potvin says. "We weren't used to this. We never let ourselves get used to not winning, so it took a little while to sink in. We had expected to win and we were stunned rather than disappointed that we had lost."

Potvin, now a TV analyst for on Florida Panthers' telecasts, says the Oilers' rise was simply a matter of time.

"It was inevitable -- they were a good enough team to win the Stanley Cup," he says. "We were still a good enough team to win; we were trying to do it one more time. We had no excuses."

The Islanders haven't been back to the Finals since then, while the Oilers haven't been there since their 1990 championship. Potvin is quick to praise the Oilers' accomplishments -- four Stanley Cups in five years and five in seven -- as achievements that compare favorably with his own club's legacy of four Cups and those 19 consecutive playoff series victories.

"Those two years (1983 and 1984), there's no doubt that the two best teams were in the Finals," he says. "You have to respect what the Oilers did as much as what we did. They didn't win 19 series in a row or more than two Cups in a row, but does a dynasty mean winning a bunch of championships in a row or being the most dominant team in an era?"