2002 Stanley Cup Final


The 2002 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's 2001–02 season, and the culmination of the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings and the Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes. It was Detroit's twenty-second appearance in the Finals, their previous appearance being a win in. It was Carolina's first appearance in the Finals in franchise history. The Red Wings defeated the Hurricanes in five games to win their tenth Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. The Red Wings became the third team in NHL history to win 10 or more Stanley Cup titles, joining the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.
The Red Wings became the first team in NHL history to win the Cup after starting the playoffs with two losses at home. After losing the first two games in the Conference Quarterfinals to the Vancouver Canucks, the Red Wings won 16 of their next 21 games en route to win their third Cup since for coach Scotty Bowman. Bowman won his ninth Cup as a head coach, surpassing the mark he held jointly with Montreal coach Toe Blake. It was the last Detroit championship to feature members of the Russian Five, as Sergei Fedorov and Igor Larionov were still with the team.

Paths to the Finals

Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes finished the regular season with 91 points, clinching the Southeast Division and the third seed in the Eastern Conference. In the first round, the Hurricanes defeated the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils in six games. In the second round, the Hurricanes dispatched the eighth seeded Montreal Canadiens in six games to reach their first Eastern Conference Final since moving from Hartford. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hurricanes defeated the fourth seeded Toronto Maple Leafs in six games apiece to advance to the Finals for the first time in franchise history, becoming the first team from North Carolina to ever play for a major professional sports championship.

Detroit Red Wings

After a surprise upset at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the playoffs the previous season, the Red Wings bolstered their roster in the offseason by signing forwards Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull, goaltender Dominik Hasek, and Russian prospect Pavel Datsyuk.
Strengthened by their new signings, the Red Wings finished with the league’s best record at 116 points, clinching the Presidents' Trophy and the overall #1 seed in the playoffs.
In the first round, the Red Wings survived an early scare against the eighth-seeded Vancouver Canucks as they lost the first two games at home, but recovered to win four straight games and advance to the next round, where they defeated the fourth seed St. Louis Blues in five quick games. In the Western Conference Finals, the Red Wings faced the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. After dropping Game 5 at home in overtime, it was felt that the Red Wings would be eliminated headed to Denver for Game 6. However, Hasek posted two shutouts in Games 6 and 7, including a 7-0 blowout win in Game 7 at home, to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the fourth time in eight years.

Game summaries

This was the first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final for the Hurricanes, who made an unlikely run to the Cup. While they were seeded third as a division winner, they actually had the second-lowest point total for a playoff team not only in the Eastern Conference, but also the whole NHL. In their whole NHL history, they had only won one playoff series prior to this season and had streaks of five and six seasons in which they did not make the playoffs. As the Red Wings won the Presidents' Trophy with 116 points, the 25-point differential was the largest between two teams in a Stanley Cup Final since when there were 27 points between the New York Rangers and the Canucks.
The Hurricanes stunned the Red Wings in the first game on the strength of Ron Francis's overtime goal. That would be Carolina's only win in the series as the Red Wings won four straight, including a triple overtime win in game three. The Cup win was the first for many veterans on the team, including goaltender Dominik Hasek, forward Luc Robitaille, and defencemen Steve Duchesne and Fredrik Olausson. It was the second Cup win for Chris Chelios, sixteen years after he first won the Cup as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in.

Game one

;Game one summary
  • First period:
  • *Scoring:
  • ** 1. DETROIT FEDOROV 15:21
  • *Penalties:
  • ** Hedican 8:03, Robitaille 10:28, Hill 11:15, Wesley 15:03.
  • Second period:
  • *Scoring:
  • ** 2. CAROLINA HILL 3:30
  • **3. DETROIT MALTBY 10:39
  • **4. CAROLINA O'NEILL 19:10
  • *Penalties:
  • **Carolina bench 0:34, Larionov 2:07, Draper 2:44, Svoboda 4:28, Wallin 7:41, Dandenault 12:12.
  • Third period:
  • * Scoring: No goals.
  • *Penalties:
  • **Devereaux 5:49, Larionov 12:17, Cole 18:19.
  • First overtime:
  • *Scoring:
  • **5. CAROLINA FRANCIS 0:58
  • *Penalties:
  • **None
  • Goalie statistics:
  • *Carolina: Arturs Irbe — 23 saves / 25 shots
  • *Detroit: Dominik Hasek — 23 saves / 26 shots
  • '''Shots by period:'''

    Game two

;Game two summary
  • First period:
  • *Scoring:
  • **1. DETROIT MALTBY 6:33
  • **2. CAROLINA BRIND'AMOUR 14:47
  • *Penalties:
  • ** Draper 1:25, Duchesne 5:21, Hill 6:33, Svoboda 14:03, Hill 16:23.
  • Second period:
  • *Scoring: No goals.
  • *Penalties:
  • **Battaglia 1:05, Duchesne 3:55, Detroit bench 7:23, Gelinas 10:10, Ward 18:03.
  • Third period:
  • * Scoring:
  • **3. DETROIT LIDSTROM 14:52
  • **4. DETROIT DRAPER 15:05
  • *Penalties:
  • **Fischer 9:38, Gelinas 14:00, Fischer 17:15, Battaglia 17:45, Brind'Amour, Cole, McCarty, Maltby, Chelios 19:33, Hull 19:41.
  • Goalie statistics:
  • *Carolina: Arturs Irbe — 27 saves / 30 shots
  • *Detroit: Dominik Hasek — 16 saves / 17 shots
  • '''Shots by period:'''

    Game three

;Game three summary
  • First period:
  • *Scoring:
  • **1. CAROLINA VASICEK 14:49
  • *Penalties:
  • ** Brind'Amour 1:45, Hedican 3:32, O'Neill 11:34, Lidstrom 12:30, Devereaux 19:15.
  • Second period:
  • *Scoring:
  • **2. DETROIT LARIONOV 5:33
  • *Penalties:
  • **Maltby, Ward 5:13, Chelios 8:12, Fedorov, Hill 19:44, Hill 13:24.
  • Third period:
  • * Scoring:
  • **3. CAROLINA O'NEILL 7:34
  • **4. DETROIT HULL 18:46
  • *Penalties:
  • **Shanahan, Vasicek 5:25, Duchesne 9:58, Shanahan, Hill 19:01.
  • First overtime:
  • * Scoring: No goals.
  • *Penalties:
  • **Duchesne, Svoboda 18:23.
  • Second overtime:
  • * Scoring: No goals.
  • *Penalties:
  • **Cole 8:35, Olausson 13:25.
  • Third overtime:
  • * Scoring:
  • **5. DETROIT LARIONOV 14:47
  • *Penalties:
  • ** None.
  • Goalie statistics:
  • *Detroit: Dominik Hasek — 41 saves / 43 shots
  • *Carolina: Arturs Irbe — 50 saves / 53 shots
  • '''Shots by period:'''

    Game four

;Game four summary
  • First period:
  • *Scoring: No goals.
  • *Penalties:
  • ** Wesley 2:05, Fedorov , Cole 16:54.
  • Second period:
  • *Scoring:
  • **1. DETROIT HULL 6:32
  • *Penalties:
  • **Robitaille 9:06, Duchesne 14:34.
  • Third period:
  • * Scoring:
  • **2. DETROIT LARIONOV 3:43
  • **3. DETROIT SHANAHAN 14:43
  • *Penalties:
  • **Hill 8:34.
  • Goalie statistics:
  • *Detroit: Dominik Hasek — 17 saves / 17 shots
  • *Carolina: Arturs Irbe — 24 saves / 27 shots
  • '''Shots by period:'''

    Game five

;Game five summary
  • First period:
  • *Scoring: No goals.
  • *Penalties:
  • ** Carolina bench 12:09.
  • Second period:
  • *Scoring:
  • **1. DETROIT HOLMSTROM 4:07
  • **2. DETROIT SHANAHAN 14:04
  • **3. CAROLINA O'NEILL 18:50
  • *Penalties:
  • **Slegr 6:00, Svoboda 13:34, Cole 16:15, Shanahan 16:53.
  • Third period:
  • * Scoring:
  • ** 4. DETROIT SHANAHAN 19:15
  • *Penalties:
  • **Fedorov 5:23, Vasicek 8:12.
  • Goalie statistics:
  • *Carolina: Arturs Irbe — 24 saves / 26 shots
  • *Detroit: Dominik Hasek — 16 saves / 17 shots
  • '''Shots by period:'''

    Team rosters

Carolina Hurricanes

Detroit Red Wings

Stanley Cup engraving

The 2002 Stanley Cup was presented to Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Red Wings 3–1 win over the Hurricanes in game five.
The following Red Wings players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
'''2001–02 Detroit Red Wings'''

Engraving notes

  • Manny Legace's name was misspelled MANNY LEGECE with an "E" instead of an "A". An "A" was stamped over the second "E" twice to correct this mistake.
  • Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan became the second and third players to win the Olympic Gold Medal in hockey and the Stanley Cup in the same year
  • Chris Chelios and Brett Hull became the first players to win an Olympic Silver medal and the Stanley Cup in the same year.
  • 10 Players won their third Stanley Cup with Detroit.

    Left off the Stanley Cup, but included in team picture

  • The players listed below were on the roster during the Finals, but left off the Stanley Cup engraving due to not qualifying.
  • * #32 Maxim Kuznetsov played in 39 games, but was not dressed in the playoffs. He spent whole season with Detroit.
  • * #4 Uwe Krupp – missed 60 games injured, played 8 regular season games, and 2 playoff games
  • * #42 Sean Avery – 36 games in minors, 36 games for Detroit
  • * #3 Jesse Wallin – 5 games in minors, 15 games for Detroit, missed most of the season injured
  • * #15 Ladislav Kohn – 4 games played, 40 games played in Europe
  • * #37 Jason Elliott – was called up from the minors to serve as a practice goalie for Detroit, during the playoffs. Jason Elliot never played a game in the NHL. He retired after 2006-07 season while playing in Germany.
  • Detroit wanted to include 30 non players, while still leaving many more non players off. Each NHL team is to dress 20 out a 23 team roster for each games. In 2002 only 22 players' names were added to the Stanley Cup.
  • Tim Abbott, Sergei Tchekmarev, Rick Szuber John Remejes
  • All 10 players and non-playing personnel in the team picture were awarded the Stanley Cup Rings.