2002 Stanley Cup Finals

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.

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 (the defending Vezina Trophy winner), 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 Finals for the fourth time in eight years.

This was the first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals for the Hurricanes (formerly the Hartford Whalers), 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 (91) for a playoff team not only in the Eastern Conference, but also the whole NHL (ahead of only Montreal). In their whole NHL history, they had only won one playoff series prior to this season (as the Whalers in 1986) 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 Finals since 1994 when there were 27 points between the New York Rangers (112) and the Canucks (85).^[1]

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 (who retired after this season) 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 1986.

Game one summary

• First period:
  • Scoring:
    • 1. DETROIT FEDOROV (YZERMAN) 15:21 (PPG)
  • Penalties:
    • Hedican (Car) (high-sticking) 8:03, Robitaille (Det) (tripping) 10:28, Hill (Car) (tripping) 11:15, Wesley (Car) (interference) 15:03.
• Second period:
  • Scoring:
    • 2. CAROLINA HILL (KAPANEN, FRANCIS) 3:30 (PPG)
    • 3. DETROIT MALTBY (McCARTY) 10:39
    • 4. CAROLINA O'NEILL (WARD) 19:10
  • Penalties:
    • Carolina bench (too many men) 0:34, Larionov (Det) (high-sticking) 2:07, Draper (Det) (hooking) 2:44, Svoboda (Car) (high-sticking) 4:28, Wallin (Car) (roughing) 7:41, Dandenault (Det) (tripping) 12:12.
• Third period:
  • Scoring: No goals.
  • Penalties:
    • Devereaux (Det) (holding the stick) 5:49, Larionov (Det) (high-sticking) 12:17, Cole (Car) (hooking) 18:19.
• First overtime:
  • Scoring:
    • 5. CAROLINA FRANCIS (O'NEILL, KAPANEN) 0:58 (GWG)
  • Penalties:
    • None
• Goalie statistics:
  • Carolina: Arturs Irbe — 23 saves / 25 shots
  • Detroit: Dominik Hasek — 23 saves / 26 shots
• Shots by period:

Team	1	2	3	1OT	T
Carolina	7	13	5	1	26
Detroit	8	12	5	0	25

Game two summary

• First period:
  • Scoring:
    • 1. DETROIT MALTBY (DRAPER, CHELIOS) 6:33 (SHG)
    • 2. CAROLINA BRIND'AMOUR (unassisted) 14:47 (SHG)
  • Penalties:
    • Draper (Det) (boarding) 1:25, Duchesne (Det) (holding) 5:21, Hill (Car) (slashing) 6:33, Svoboda (Car) (roughing) 14:03, Hill (Car) (holding) 16:23.
• Second period:
  • Scoring: No goals.
  • Penalties:
    • Battaglia (Car) (holding) 1:05, Duchesne (Det) (tripping) 3:55, Detroit bench (too many men) 7:23, Gelinas (Car) (interference) 10:10, Ward (Car) (holding) 18:03.
• Third period:
  • Scoring:
    • 3. DETROIT LIDSTROM (FEDOROV, YZERMAN) 14:52 (PPG, GWG)
    • 4. DETROIT DRAPER (LIDSTROM, OLAUSSON) 15:05
  • Penalties:
    • Fischer (Det) (high-sticking) 9:38, Gelinas (Car) (slashing) 14:00, Fischer (Det) (slashing) 17:15, Battaglia (Car) (charging) 17:45, Brind'Amour (Car), Cole (Car), McCarty (Det), Maltby (Det), Chelios (Det) (roughing) 19:33, Hull (Det) (tripping) 19:41.
• Goalie statistics:
  • Carolina: Arturs Irbe — 27 saves / 30 shots
  • Detroit: Dominik Hasek — 16 saves / 17 shots
• Shots by period:

Team	1	2	3	T
Carolina	7	4	6	17
Detroit	9	8	13	30

Game three summary

• First period:
  • Scoring:
    • 1. CAROLINA VASICEK (GELINAS, WESLEY) 14:49
  • Penalties:
    • Brind'Amour (Car) (holding the stick) 1:45, Hedican (Car) (boarding) 3:32, O'Neill (Car) (boarding) 11:34, Lidstrom (Det) (tripping) 12:30, Devereaux (Det) (slashing) 19:15.
• Second period:
  • Scoring:
    • 2. DETROIT LARIONOV (HULL) 5:33
  • Penalties:
    • Maltby (Det), Ward (Car) (unsportsmanlike conduct) 5:13, Chelios (Det) (interference) 8:12, Fedorov (Det), Hill (Car) (holding) 19:44, Hill (Car) (tripping) 13:24.
• Third period:
  • Scoring:
    • 3. CAROLINA O'NEILL (FRANCIS) 7:34
    • 4. DETROIT HULL (LIDSTROM, FEDOROV) 18:46
  • Penalties:
    • Shanahan (Det), Vasicek (Car) (roughing) 5:25, Duchesne (Det) (holding) 9:58, Shanahan (Det), Hill (Car) (roughing) 19:01.
• First overtime:
  • Scoring: No goals.
  • Penalties:
    • Duchesne (Det), Svoboda (Car) (roughing) 18:23.
• Second overtime:
  • Scoring: No goals.
  • Penalties:
    • Cole (Car) (holding the stick) 8:35, Olausson (Det) (holding) 13:25.
• Third overtime:
  • Scoring:
    • 5. DETROIT LARIONOV (HOLMSTROM, DUCHESNE) 14:47 (GWG)
  • Penalties:
    • None.
• Goalie statistics:
  • Detroit: Dominik Hasek — 41 saves / 43 shots
  • Carolina: Arturs Irbe — 50 saves / 53 shots
• Shots by period:

Team	1	2	3	1OT	2OT	3OT	T
Detroit	6	7	16	11	6	7	53
Carolina	8	6	7	5	8	9	43

Game four summary

• First period:
  • Scoring: No goals.
  • Penalties:
    • Wesley (Car) (hooking) 2:05, Fedorov (Det) (high-sticking), Cole (Car) (goaltender interference) 16:54.
• Second period:
  • Scoring:
    • 1. DETROIT HULL (DEVEREAUX, OLAUSSON) 6:32 (GWG)
  • Penalties:
    • Robitaille (Det) (high-sticking) 9:06, Duchesne (Det) (holding the stick) 14:34.
• Third period:
  • Scoring:
    • 2. DETROIT LARIONOV (FISCHER, ROBITAILLE) 3:43
    • 3. DETROIT SHANAHAN (FEDOROV, CHELIOS) 14:43
  • Penalties:
    • Hill (Car) (boarding) 8:34.
• Goalie statistics:
  • Detroit: Dominik Hasek — 17 saves / 17 shots
  • Carolina: Arturs Irbe — 24 saves / 27 shots
• Shots by period:

Team	1	2	3	T
Detroit	10	6	11	27
Carolina	6	7	4	17

Game five summary

• First period:
  • Scoring: No goals.
  • Penalties:
    • Carolina bench (too many men) 12:09.
• Second period:
  • Scoring:
    • 1. DETROIT HOLMSTROM (LARIONOV, CHELIOS) 4:07
    • 2. DETROIT SHANAHAN (FEDOROV, YZERMAN) 14:04 (PPG, GWG)
    • 3. CAROLINA O'NEILL (HILL, WESLEY) 18:50 (PPG)
  • Penalties:
    • Slegr (Det) (holding) 6:00, Svoboda (Car) (roughing) 13:34, Cole (Car) (roughing) 16:15, Shanahan (Det) (hooking) 16:53.
• Third period:
  • Scoring:
    • 4. DETROIT SHANAHAN (YZERMAN) 19:15 (EN)
  • Penalties:
    • Fedorov (Det) (cross-checking) 5:23, Vasicek (Car) (interference) 8:12.
• Goalie statistics:
  • Carolina: Arturs Irbe — 24 saves / 26 shots
  • Detroit: Dominik Hasek — 16 saves / 17 shots
• Shots by period:

Team	1	2	3	T
Carolina	5	7	5	17
Detroit	12	8	7	27

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

• 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 (with team Canada) and the Stanley Cup (with Detroit) in the same year (See 1980 Ken Morrow)
• Chris Chelios and Brett Hull became the first players to win an Olympic Silver medal (with team United States) and the Stanley Cup (with Detroit) in the same year.
• 10 Players (Steve Yzerman, Igor Larionov, Sergei Fedorov, Brendan Shanahan, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Darren McCarty, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom, & Mathieu Dandenault) won their third Stanley Cup with Detroit.

In Canada, the series was televised in English on CBC. This would end up being the last finals broadcast by SRC, as RDS would pick up the French-language broadcast for the next season.

In the United States, ESPN aired the first two games while ABC broadcast the rest of the series.

The following year, the Red Wings got swept in the first round by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. They would eventually return to the Finals six years later, where they defeated the Sidney Crosby-led Pittsburgh Penguins for their eleventh overall Stanley Cup championship.

As for the Hurricanes, they missed the playoffs the following season. The Hurricanes would not return to the Finals until four years later when they captured their first Stanley Cup championship over the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.

• Diamond, Dan (2008). Total Stanley Cup (PDF). Dan Diamond & Associates, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.