1997 Stanley Cup Final

1997 ice hockey championship series August 2023 1997 1997 Stanley Cup patch.png Detroit Red Wings 4 4 6 2 4 Philadelphia Flyers 2 2 1 1 0 May 31 – June 7, 1997 Detroit Philadelphia Detroit: Scotty BowmanPhiladelphia: Terry Murray Detroit: Steve YzermanPhiladelphia: Eric Lindros Mike Vernon (Red Wings) Detroit: Joe Louis Arena (3, 4) Philadelphia: CoreStates Center (1, 2) Bill McCreary (1, 4)Terry Gregson (2)Kerry Fraser (3) Karen Newman Lauren Hart Darren McCarty (13:02, second) Red Wings:Sergei Fedorov (2015)Viacheslav Fetisov (2001)Igor Larionov (2008)Nicklas Lidstrom (2015)Larry Murphy (2004)Brendan Shanahan (2013)Mike Vernon (2023)Steve Yzerman (2009)Flyers:Paul Coffey (2004)Dale Hawerchuk (2001)Eric Lindros (2016)Coaches:Scotty Bowman (1991)Officials:Bill McCreary (2014) Canada:(English): CBC(French): SRCUnited States:(English): Fox (1), ESPN (2–4) (CBC) Bob Cole and Harry Neale(SRC) Claude Quenneville and Gilles Tremblay(Fox) Mike Emrick and John Davidson(ESPN) Gary Thorne and Bill Clement The 1997 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1996–97 season, and the culmination of the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Red Wings made the Finals for the second time in three years, while the Flyers were making their first appearance in a decade. The Red Wings swept the Flyers to win the Stanley Cup for the eighth time in franchise history and for the first time since 1955, ending what was the longest Stanley Cup drought in the league at that time. The Red Wings were the last team to win the Cup without home ice advantage in the Finals and with fewer than 100 points earned during the regular season until 2009. Paths to the Final 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs 1996–97 Detroit Red Wings season 1996–97 Philadelphia Flyers season Philadelphia Flyers Philadelphia rose to the top on the back of a 17-game unbeaten streak in December and January, and, despite losing the Atlantic Division title to New Jersey, were successful with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres in the first two rounds. The Flyers arrived into the Stanley Cup Final having beaten their rivals, the New York Rangers, in a five-game Eastern Conference finals series. Eric Lindros and Wayne Gretzky each recorded a hat trick in the set, but the size, strength and discipline of Philadelphia (particularly the Legion of Doom line) trumped the veteran savvy of the Blueshirts. Detroit Red Wings For Detroit there was the departure of several players whom head coach Scotty Bowman blamed for their loss to Colorado a year prior, including trading away Paul Coffey to get star Brendan Shanahan.https://vault.si.com/vault/1997/06/16/crushed-the-red-wings-swept-to-their-first-stanley-cup-in-42-years-by-outskating-outhitting-and-outplaying-the-overmatched-flyers https://web.archive.org/web/20210116035324/https://vault.si.com/vault/1997/06/16/crushed-the-red-wings-swept-to-their-first-stanley-cup-in-42-years-by-outskating-outhitting-and-outplaying-the-overmatched-flyers dead January 16, 2021 Crushed the Red Wings Swept to Their First Stanley Cup in 42 Years by Outskating, Outhitting and Outplaying the Overmatched Flyers Detroit won 38 games in the regular season, in contrast to the record-setting 62 win season the previous year, making them the dark horse in the Western Conference as the third seed behind the Dallas Stars and the Presidents' Trophy winner Colorado Avalanche. In the playoffs, the Wings dispatched a fractured St. Louis Blues team in six games, and a surprising Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in a sweep to reach the Western Conference finals for the third straight season. In a rematch of last year's Western finals, the Red Wings upset the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche in six brutal games to earn their second trip to the Stanley Cup Final in three years. This is the first time that these two teams met in the postseason. Game summaries Game one Detroit Red Wings Philadelphia Flyers CoreStates Center Joe Louis Arena www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-phi/1997/05/31/1996030411 May 31 4–2 1 Game one in Philadelphia took place exactly ten years to the day after the Flyers' emotional seventh-game loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the 1987 Final. Detroit never trailed in the game: they led 2–1 after the first period, 3–2 after the second, and Steve Yzerman scored the fourth goal 56 seconds into the third period.Diamond 2008 149 Sergei Fedorov scored the winner and was named the game's first star. Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st DET Kirk Maltby (4) – sh Kris Draper (4) 06:38 1–0 DET PHI Rod Brind'Amour (11) – pp Eric Lindros (13) and Janne Niinimaa (10) 07:37 1–1 DET Joe Kocur (1) Unassisted 15:56 2–1 DET2nd DET Sergei Fedorov (6) Larry Murphy (7) and Darren McCarty (3) 11:41 3–1 DET PHI John LeClair (8) Mikael Renberg (6) and Eric Lindros (14) 17:11 3–2 DET3rd DET Steve Yzerman (5) Larry Murphy (8) 00:56 4–2 DETPenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTimePIM1st DET Tomas Sandstrom High-sticking 05:50 2:00 DET Viacheslav Fetisov Interference 11:26 2:00 PHI Trent Klatt Interference 17:09 2:00 DET Joe Kocur Interference 19:42 2:002nd PHI Daniel Lacroix Interference 05:48 2:00 DET Sergei Fedorov Tripping 07:08 2:00 DET Viacheslav Fetisov Interference 15:07 2:00 PHI Trent Klatt Charging 17:45 2:003rd PHI Petr Svoboda Cross-checking 06:27 2:00 PHI Eric Lindros Roughing 17:48 2:00 Shots by periodTeam123TotalDET 8 12 10 30PHI 10 9 9 28 Game two Detroit Red Wings Philadelphia Flyers CoreStates Center Joe Louis Arena www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-phi/1997/06/03/1996030412 June 3 4–2 1 Brendan Shanahan scored an unassisted goal 1:37 into the game and Steve Yzerman scored a power-play goal at 9:22 of the first period to give the Red Wings a 2–0 lead before Rod Brind'Amour scored a pair of power-play goals late in the first period to tie the score. In the second, Kirk Maltby scored the game-winning goal at 2:39 and Shanahan scored his second goal of the game at 9:56 of the third and the Red Wings won a second consecutive 4–2 victory and a 2–0 series lead heading back to Joe Louis Arena. Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st DET Brendan Shanahan (7) Unassisted 01:37 1–0 DET DET Steve Yzerman (6) – pp Larry Murphy (9) and Viacheslav Fetisov (3) 09:22 2–0 DET PHI Rod Brind'Amour (12) – pp Janne Niinimaa (11) 17:42 2–1 DET PHI Rod Brind'Amour (13) – pp Janne Niinimaa (12) and John LeClair (12) 18:51 2–22nd DET Kirk Maltby (5) Joe Kocur (3) 02:39 3–2 DET3rd DET Brendan Shanahan (8) Martin Lapointe (8) and Sergei Fedorov (10) 09:56 4–2 DETPenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTimePIM1st PHI Paul Coffey Holding 04:29 2:00 PHI Paul Coffey Hooking 07:24 2:00 DET Martin Lapointe Charging 10:21 2:00 DET Viacheslav Fetisov High-sticking 17:09 2:00 DET Igor Larionov Hooking 18:37 2:002nd DET Kirk Maltby Roughing 06:54 2:00 PHI Paul Coffey Roughing 06:54 2:00 DET Bench (Served by Doug Brown) Too many men on the ice 09:03 2:00 PHI John LeClair Elbowing 12:13 2:003rd DET Martin Lapointe Roughing 10:27 2:00 PHI Karl Dykhuis Roughing 10:27 2:00 Shots by periodTeam123TotalDET 14 9 5 28PHI 14 9 8 31 Game three Philadelphia Flyers Detroit Red Wings CoreStates Center Joe Louis Arena www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-phi/1997/06/05/1996030413 June 5 1–6 2 John LeClair scored at 7:03 of the first period to give the Flyers their first lead of the series. Two minutes later, Yzerman scored on the power-play to tie the score. Fedorov scored two minutes later to put Detroit ahead for good in the game. Martin Lapointe scored later in the first to give the Wings a 3–1 advantage. The Wings tacked on two more in the second and added one in the third for a decisive 6–1 win and a three-games-to-none series advantage. For his four-point night, Fedorov was named the game's first star. In his post-game comments, Flyers head coach Terry Murray was quoted as saying the team was "basically in a choking situation," which many observers interpreted as Murray having called out his own players as chokers. The manner in which they played compounded by the insurmountable series deficit along with the Wings' seeming dominance in stretches of the first two games as well as most of game three lent credence to the claim. Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st PHI John LeClair (9) – pp Eric Desjardins (7) and John LeClair (8) 07:03 1–0 PHI DET Steve Yzerman (7) – pp Vyacheslav Kozlov (4) 09:03 1–1 DET Sergei Fedorov (7) Unassisted 11:05 2–1 DET DET Martin Lapointe (3) Doug Brown (3) and Sergei Fedorov (11) 19:00 3–1 DET2nd DET Sergei Fedorov (8) – pp Vyacheslav Kozlov (5) and Brendan Shanahan (8) 03:12 4–1 DET DET Brendan Shanahan (9) Darren McCarty (4) and Viacheslav Fetisov (4) 19:17 5–1 DET3rd DET Martin Lapointe (4) – pp Sergei Fedorov (12) and Mike Vernon (1) 01:08 6–1 DETPenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTimePIM1st DET Darren McCarty Interference – Obstruction 06:10 2:00 PHI Eric Desjardins Holding – Obstruction 08:44 2:00 DET Viacheslav Fetisov Interference – Obstruction 12:14 2:00 DET Tomas Sandstrom Holding – Obstruction 12:54 2:00 DET Martin Lapointe Tripping 16:43 2:002nd PHI Trent Klatt Hooking – Obstruction 02:24 2:00 PHI Michel Petit Holding 10:14 2:003rd PHI Eric Lindros Cross-checking 00:46 2:00 PHI Eric Lindros Elbowing 08:12 2:00 DET Darren McCarty Interference – Obstruction 08:39 2:00 DET Viacheslav Fetisov Slashing 13:02 2:00 DET Doug Brown Slashing 19:41 2:00 Shots by periodTeam123TotalPHI 8 7 7 22DET 10 12 7 29 Game four Philadelphia Flyers Detroit Red Wings CoreStates Center Joe Louis Arena www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-phi/1997/06/07/1996030414 June 7 1–2 2 The Red Wings controlled the game from the get-go, forging ahead 1–0 after one period and employing the left-wing lock to keep the Flyers' mix of big and speedy forwards at bay. Darren McCarty's second-period tally effectively sealed the deal. The burly checker faked out Flyers rookie defenceman Janne Niinimaa inside the blue line, swooped around him, then did a quick cutback in front of Hextall in his crease to slip the puck into the net. Eric Lindros would score his lone goal of the series with 15 seconds to play. The 2–1 win brought Detroit its eighth Stanley Cup, and its first in 42 seasons, ending what was the longest Stanley Cup drought in the league at that time. Sergei Fedorov led the Wings in playoff scoring with 20 points. Detroit goaltender Mike Vernon, who had been in net for the whole of the Wings' failed 1995 playoff run, and relegated to the bench the year before, earned vindication and his first Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP by holding Philadelphia to six goals in four games. Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st DET Nicklas Lidstrom (2) Kirk Maltby (2) 19:27 1–0 DET2nd DET Darren McCarty (3) Tomas Sandstrom (4) and Steve Yzerman (6) 13:02 2–0 DET3rd PHI Eric Lindros (12) Eric Desjardins (8) 19:45 2–1 DETPenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTimePIM1st PHI John LeClair Holding – Obstruction 03:23 2:00 DET Igor Larionov Interference – Obstruction 04:31 2:00 PHI Eric Lindros Interference – Obstruction 09:22 2:00 PHI Pat Falloon Holding the stick 13:21 2:002nd DET Vladimir Konstantinov Interference – Obstruction 09:27 2:003rd PHI Kjell Samuelsson High-sticking 01:32 2:00 PHI Shjon Podein High-sticking 11:54 2:00 DET Kris Draper Slashing 14:39 2:00 Shots by periodTeam123TotalPHI 8 12 7 27DET 9 10 9 28 Team rosters Bolded years under Finals appearance indicates year won Stanley Cup. Detroit Red Wings thumb|Steve Yzerman captained the Red Wings to their second Final appearance in a span of three seasons, having previously done so in 1995. #NatPlayerPositionHandAcquiredPlace of birthFinals appearance 30 CANChris Osgood G L 1991Peace River, Alberta second (1995) (did not play) 29 CANMike Vernon Mike Vernon (ice hockey) G L 1994Calgary, Alberta fourth (1986, 1989, 1995) 31 CANKevin Hodson G L 1993Winnipeg, Manitoba first (did not play) 2 RUSViacheslav Fetisov D L 1994Moscow, Soviet Union second (1995) 3 CANBob Rouse D R 1994Surrey, British Columbia second (1995) 4 CANJamie Pushor D R 1991Lethbridge, Alberta first (did not play) 5 SWENicklas Lidstrom Nicklas Lidström D L 1989Krylbo, Sweden second (1995) 11 CANMathieu Dandenault D R 1994Sherbrooke, Quebec first (did not play) 16 RUSVladimir Konstantinov D R 1989Murmansk, Soviet Union second (1995) 27 CANAaron Ward Aaron Ward (ice hockey) D R 1993Windsor, Ontario first 55 CANLarry Murphy Larry Murphy (ice hockey) D R 1996Scarborough, Ontario third (1991, 1992) 8 RUSIgor Larionov C L 1995Voskresensk, Soviet Union first 13 RUSVyacheslav Kozlov LW L 1990Voskresensk, Soviet Union second (1995) 14 CANBrendan Shanahan – A LW R 1996Etobicoke, Ontario first 15 SWETomas Holmstrom Tomas Holmström LW L 1994Piteå, Sweden first (did not play) 17 USADoug Brown Doug Brown (ice hockey) RW R 1994Southborough, Massachusetts second (1995) 18 CANKirk Maltby RW R 1995Guelph, Ontario first 19 CANSteve Yzerman – C C R 1983Burnaby, British Columbia second (1995) 20 CANMartin Lapointe RW R 1991Ville St. Pierre, Quebec second (1995) 25 CANDarren McCarty RW R 1992Burnaby, British Columbia second (1995) 26 CANJoe Kocur RW R 1996Kelvington, Saskatchewan second (1994) 28 SWETomas Sandstrom Tomas Sandström LW L 1996Jakobstad, Finland second (1993) 33 CANKris Draper C L 1993Toronto, Ontario second (1995) 37 CANTim Taylor Tim Taylor (ice hockey, born 1969) C L 1993Stratford, Ontario second (1995) (did not play) 91 RUSSergei Fedorov – A C L 1989Pskov, Soviet Union second (1995) Philadelphia Flyers #NatPlayerPositionHandAcquiredPlace of birthFinals appearance 27 CANRon Hextall G L 1994Brandon, Manitoba second (1987) 30 USAGarth Snow G L 1995Wrentham, Massachusetts first 6 CANChris Therien D L 1990Ottawa, Ontario first 8 CANMichel Petit D R 1996Saint-Malo, Quebec first 23 CZEPetr Svoboda D L 1994Most, Czechoslovakia third (1986, 1989) 24 CANKarl Dykhuis D L 1994Sept-Îles, Quebec first 28 SWEKjell Samuelsson D R 1995Tingsryd, Sweden third (1987, 1992) 37 CANEric Desjardins Éric Desjardins – A D R 1994Rouyn, Quebec third (1989, 1993) 44 FINJanne Niinimaa D L 1993Raahe, Finland first 77 CANPaul Coffey D L 1996Weston, Ontario seventh (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1995) 9 LITDainius Zubrus LW L 1996Elektrėnai, Soviet Union first 10 USAJohn LeClair LW L 1994St. Albans, Vermont second (1993) 15 CANPat Falloon RW R 1995Foxwarren, Manitoba first 17 CANRod Brind'Amour – A C L 1991Ottawa, Ontario first 18 CANDale Hawerchuk C L 1995Toronto, Ontario first 19 SWEMikael Renberg RW L 1990Piteå, Sweden first 20 USATrent Klatt RW R 1995Robbinsdale, Minnesota first 21 CANDan Kordic LW L 1990Edmonton, Alberta first 25 USAShjon Podein LW L 1994Rochester, Minnesota first 26 CANJohn Druce RW R 1995Peterborough, Ontario first 29 USAJoel Otto C R 1995Elk River, Minnesota third (1986, 1989) 32 CANDaniel Lacroix LW L 1996Montreal, Quebec first 45 CZEVaclav Prospal Václav Prospal C L 1993České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia first (did not play) 48 CANColin Forbes Colin Forbes (ice hockey) C L 1994New Westminster, British Columbia first 88 CANEric Lindros – C C R 1992Toronto, Ontario first Stanley Cup engraving The 1997 Stanley Cup was presented to Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Red Wings 2–1 win over the Flyers in game four The following Red Wings players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup 1996–97 Detroit Red Wings *19 Steve Yzerman (Captain) 8 Igor Larionov 33 Kris Draper 37 Tim Taylor* 91 Sergei Fedorov (A) *13 Vyacheslav Kozlov 14 Brendan Shanahan (A) 15 Tomas Holmstrom* 17 Doug Brown 18 Kirk Maltby 20 Martin Lapointe 25 Darren McCarty 26 Joey Kocur 28 Tomas Sandstrom *2 Viacheslav Fetisov 3 Bob Rouse 4 Jamie Pushor* 5 Nicklas Lidstrom 11 Mathieu Dandenault* 16 Vladimir Konstantinov 27 Aaron Ward 55 Larry Murphy 29 Mike Vernon 30 Chris Osgood 31 Kevin Hodson † * Did not play or dress in the Final. † Exemption granted to engrave the name of a player who did not automatically qualify.qualify Automatic qualification for a player's name to be engraved on the Stanley Cup: Playing in (for a goaltender, dressing for) at least one Stanley Cup Final game or at least half of regular season games for the Stanley Cup winning team. Mike Ilitch Sr. (Owner/President/Governor), Marian Ilitch (Owner/Secretary-Treasurer), Atanas Ilitch (Vice President/Minority Owner) Christopher Ilitch (Vice President/Minority Owner), Denise Ilitch Lites, Ronald Ilitch (Minority Owners) Michael Ititch Jr., Lisa Ilitch Murray, Carole Ilitch Trepeck (Minority Owners) Jim Devellano (Sr. Vice President-of Hockey Operations), William Scotty Bowman (Head Coach/Director of Player Personnel), Ken Holland (Asst. General Manager/Goaltending Coach), Barry Smith (Associate Coach) Dave Lewis (Associate Coach), Mike Krushelnyski (Asst. Coach), Jim Nill (Director of Player Development/Director of Scouting), Dan Belise (Scout), Bruce Haralson (Scout) Mark Howe (Scout), Hakan Andersson (Scouts), John Wharton (Athletic Trainer), Wally Crossman (Dressing Room Asst.), Mark Leach (Scout) Paul Boyer (Equipment Manager), Tim Abbott (Asst. Equipment Manager), Sergei Mnatsakanov (Massage Therapist), Joe McDonnell (Scout) Engraving notes #31 Kevin Hodson (G) – played in 6 regular season games (dressed for 23), but was a healthy scratch for the entire playoffs. As he did not automatically qualify,qualify Detroit successfully requested an exemption to engrave his name. #22 Mike Knuble (RW) – played in 9 regular season games, but none in the playoffs. He was on the roster during the Finals, but left off the Stanley Cup engraving due to not qualifying by playing in 41 regular season games or 1 Finals game for Detroit. Detroit did not request an exemption to engrave his name. He was included in the team picture. Johnny Remejes (Dressing Room Asst.), Mike Vella (Dressing Room Asst). Each of the three members and many other members were left off the Stanley Cup engraving, but included in the team picture. Broadcasting In Canada, the series was televised on CBC. In the United States, Fox broadcast game one while ESPN televised games two through four. Had the series extended, games five and seven would have been broadcast on Fox, and ESPN would have aired game six.https://web.archive.org/web/19970719043957/http://www.nhl.com/playoffs_97/playsched4.htm http://www.nhl.com:80/playoffs_97/playsched4.htm 1997-07-19 1997 Stanley Cup Final schedule NHL.com dead 2018-09-01 See also 1996–97 NHL season Notes References Further reading Diamond Dan 2008 Playoff Media Guide/Total Stanley Cup 2008 NHL Podnieks Andrew Hockey Hall of Fame 2004 Lord Stanley's Cup Triumph Books 978-1-55168-261-7 Farber Michael SI Flashback: Stanley Cup 1997 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/features/si_stanley_cup/1997/ sportsillustrated.cnn.com May 26, 2025 June 16, 1997 https://web.archive.org/web/20010520175340/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/features/si_stanley_cup/1997/ 2001-05-20 Colorado Avalanche1996 Detroit Red WingsStanley Cup champions 1997 Detroit Red Wings1998 Category:Detroit Red Wings games Category:Philadelphia Flyers games Category:Stanley Cup Finals Stan Category:May 1997 sports events in the United States Category:June 1997 sports events in the United States Category:Ice hockey competitions in Philadelphia Category:Ice hockey competitions in Detroit Category:1997 in Detroit Category:1997 in Philadelphia Category:1997 in sports in Illinois Category:1997 in sports in Pennsylvania