1997 Stanley Cup Finals

Infobox Stanley Cup Final
year=1997
team1=Detroit Red Wings
team1_1=4
team1_2=4
team1_3=6
team1_4=2
team1_tot=4
team2=Philadelphia Flyers
team2_1=2
team2_2=2
team2_3=1
team2_4=1
team2_tot=0
dates=May 31–June 7
coaches=Detroit: Scotty Bowman
Philadelphia: Terry Murray
captains=Detroit: Steve Yzerman Philadelphia: Eric Lindros
mvp=Mike Vernon
location2=Detroit (Joe Louis Arena) (3,4)
location1=Philadelphia (CoreStates Center) (1,2)
series_winner=Darren McCarty (13:02, 2nd, G4)
networks=CBC (Canada-English), SRC (Canada-French), FOX (United States, Game 1), ESPN (United States, Games 2–4)

The 1997 Stanley Cup Finals determined the winner of the Stanley Cup and the champion of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 1996–97 NHL season. The Stanley Cup winners were the Detroit Red Wings, who swept the Philadelphia Flyers in four games and won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 42 years. Detroit is also the last team to win the Cup without having home ice advantage in the Finals.

Paths to the Final

The Flyers arrived into the Finals having beaten their perennial rivals, the New York Rangers in a memorable five-game Eastern Conference Final series. Eric Lindros and Wayne Gretzky each recorded a hat trick in the set, but the size, strength and discipline of Philadelphia trumped the veteran savvy of the Blueshirts. 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, had an easy time with Pittsburgh and Buffalo in the first two rounds.

Detroit was the dark-horse in the Western Conference, the third-seed behind Dallas and Colorado. The Red Wings made their second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in three years by besting the Avalanche in an often brutal six-game Western Conference Finals. Despite winning 62 games the year before, Detroit won only 38 in 1996–97 but got tougher with the addition of Brendan Shanahan and the departure of several players whom head coach Scotty Bowman blamed for their loss to Colorado a year prior. The Wings dispatched a fractured St. Louis Blues team and a surprising Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to reach the conference finals for the third straight season.

The teams had never faced each other in the playoffs prior to the season; even in the early days of expansion beyond the Original Six, the clubs never made the postseason when the NHL employed its cross-over format between East and West divisions. Nor had they met in the two year experiment to rank NHL playoff teams 1 through 16 in 1980 and 1981.

Detroit was looking for its first Cup win since 1955, and to avenge the shocking four-game sweep to New Jersey in 1995. Philadelphia was trying to win its first Cup since 1975 in its first Finals appearance in 10 years.

The series

Game one

Game one in Philadelphia took place exactly 10 years after the Flyers' emotional game seven loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the 1987 Finals, and the omen was a bad one for the start of the 1997 series. Although Rod Brind'Amour and John LeClair netted a goal each for the home team, Philly goaltender Ron Hextall allowed a bad 60-foot goal to Steve Yzerman which made the score 4–2 early in the third period and seemed to lift the Wings' collective spirit in a 4–2 win. Sergei Fedorov scored the winner and was named the games' first star.

Game two

Although Brind'Amour scored a pair of power-play goals late in the first period which sent the CoreStates Center into a frenzy, Red Wing forward Brendan Shanahan scored a pair of goals himself which sent the Wings to another 4–2 victory and a 2–0 series lead heading back to Joe Louis Arena.

Game three

LeClair put the Flyers up 1–0 with a goal early in the first period, but the Flyers slowly unraveled.Third-line winger Martin Lapointe blew a shot past Hextall late in the period 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 commanding 6–1 win and three games to none series advantage.

In his post-game comments, Flyers head coach Terry Murray was quoted as saying the team was "basically in a choking situation," which many writers, broadcasters, fans as well as Flyers management took to mean Murray 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. However, with a decade in between, it is more likely Murray equated the 3–0 series hole as being stuck in a room without oxygen where it's hard to breathe, rather than an explicit implication of his players. Sergei Fedorov scored the winner and posted a 4-point night. He was named the games' first star.

Game four

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 under 30 seconds to play. The 2–1 win brought Detroit its eighth Stanley Cup, and its first in 42 seasons.

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' aborted 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.

Detroit Red Wings 1997 Stanley Cup Champions

Stanley Cup champion
centers=*19 Steve Yzerman (Captain)
*8 Igor Larionov
*33 Kris Draper
*37 Tim Taylor
*91 Sergei Fedorov (A. Capt.)
wingers=*13 Vyacheslav Kozlov
*14 Brendan Shanahan (A. Capt.)
*17 Doug Brown
*18 Kirk Maltby
*20 Martin Lapointe
*25 Darren McCarty
*26 Joey Kocur
*96 Tomas Holmstrom
*11 Mathieu Dandenault(also played Defense)
*22 Mike Knuble†
defence=*2 Viacheslav Fetisov
*3 Bob Rouse
*4 Jamie Pushor
*5 Nicklas Lidstrom
*16 Vladimir Konstantinov
*27 Aaron Ward
*55 Larry Murphy
goaltenders=
*29 Mike Vernon
*30 Chris Osgood
*31 Kevin Hodson†
non-players=
*Mike Ilitch Sr. (Owner/President/Governor), Marian Ilitch (Owner/Secretary-Treasurer)
*Atanas Ilitch, Christopher Ilitch (Vice president/Owners), Denis Ilitch Lites, Ronald Ilitch (Minority Owners)
*Michael Ilitch 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 (Ass’t General Manager/Goaltending Coach), Barry Smith (Asssociate Coach)
*Dave Lewis (Associate Coach), Mike Krushelnyski (Ass’t Coach),
*Jim Nill (Director of Player Development/Director of Scouting), Dan Belise, Bruce Haralson (Scouts)
*Mark Howe, Håkan Andersson (Scouts),
*John Wharton (Athletic Trainer), Wally Crossman (Dressing Room Assistant), Mark Leach (Scout)
*Paul Boyer (Equipment Manager), Tim Abbott (Ass’t Equipment Manager),
*Sergei Mnatsakanov (Massage Therapist), Joe McDonnell (Scout)
*Johnny Ramejes†, Mike Vella† (Dressing Room Assistants).

Stanley Cup engravings

† Included on the team picture, but left off the Stanely Cup.††Kevin Hodson was dressed for over 20 games, but only played 6 regular season games. He was not dressed in the playoffs. Detroit included his name on the Stanley Cup, because he spent the whole season with Detroit. However, Mike Knuble but name was left off the Stanley Cup, because he spent most of season in the minors. He only played 9 regular season, and did not qualify to be on the Cup.
*Wally Crossman name was last engraved on the Stanley Cup in 1954, 43 years earlier. A Stanley Cup record most for years between Stanley Cup engravings.
* William "Scotty" Bowman was 2nd Scotty Bowman to win the Stanley Cup with Detroit. Defenceman Ralph "Scotty" Bowman won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 1936, 1937

References

*
* Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books, 12, 50. ISBN 1–55168–261–3.

ee also

* 1996–97 NHL season