2002 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championships of the National Hockey League, was played from April until June. The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes four games to one to clinch the 10th championship in their history. It was the Hurricanes first ever appearance in the championship round. Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. It was the ninth championship for Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman, who announced his retirement after the deciding game of the series. The Phoenix Coyotes would play their last playoff games at America West Arena and would miss the playoffs until 2010 when they played in Glendale.

The Stanley Cup, awarded to the champion of the NHL.

The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions played a best-of-7 series for the Stanley Cup.

A record 25 shutouts were recorded in the 2002 Playoffs and, for the first time since 1991, not a single team was swept in a playoff series.

For the first time in history, both teams from the province of Alberta, the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers missed the playoffs in the same season. This would not happen again until 2010 and 2011.

Playoff seeds

A total of 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The Detroit Red Wings were the Presidents' Trophy winners with 116 points.

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Bruins – Northeast Division and Eastern Conference regular season champions, 101 points
2. Philadelphia Flyers – Atlantic Division champions, 97 points
3. Carolina Hurricanes – Southeast Division champions, 91 points
4. Toronto Maple Leafs – 100 points
5. New York Islanders – 96 points
6. New Jersey Devils – 95 points
7. Ottawa Senators – 94 points
8. Montreal Canadiens – 87 points

Western Conference

1. Detroit Red Wings – Central Division and Western Conference regular season champions, 116 points
2. Colorado Avalanche – Northwest Division champions, 99 points (45 wins)
3. San Jose Sharks – Pacific Division champions, 99 points (44 wins)
4. St. Louis Blues – 98 points
5. Chicago Blackhawks – 96 points
6. Phoenix Coyotes – 95 points (40 wins, 7 points head–to–head vs. Los Angeles)
7. Los Angeles Kings – 95 points (40 wins, 3 points head-to-head vs. Phoenix)
8. Vancouver Canucks – 94 points

Playoff bracket

	Conference Quarter-finals					Conference Semi-finals					Conference Finals					Stanley Cup Finals
	1	Boston Bruins	2			3	Carolina Hurricanes	4
	8	Montreal Canadiens	4			8	Montreal Canadiens	2
	2	Philadelphia Flyers	1							Eastern Conference
	7	Ottawa Senators	4
											3	Carolina Hurricanes	4
										4	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
	3	Carolina Hurricanes	4
	6	New Jersey Devils	2
	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	4			4	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
	5	New York Islanders	3			7	Ottawa Senators	3
																E3	Carolina Hurricanes	1
		(Pairings are re-seeded after the first round.)
																W1	Detroit Red Wings	4
	1	Detroit Red Wings	4			1	Detroit Red Wings	4
	8	Vancouver Canucks	2			4	St. Louis Blues	1
	2	Colorado Avalanche	4
	7	Los Angeles Kings	3
											1	Detroit Red Wings	4
										2	Colorado Avalanche	3
	3	San Jose Sharks	4
	6	Phoenix Coyotes	1								Western Conference
	4	St. Louis Blues	4			2	Colorado Avalanche	4
	5	Chicago Blackhawks	1			3	San Jose Sharks	3

• During the first three rounds home ice is determined by seeding number, not position on the bracket. In the Finals the team with the better regular season record has home ice.

Note: All dates in 2002.

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	P
Peter Forsberg	Colorado	20	9	18	27
Steve Yzerman	Detroit	23	6	17	23
Joe Sakic	Colorado	21	9	10	19
Brendan Shanahan	Detroit	23	8	11	19
Gary Roberts	Toronto	19	7	12	19
Sergei Fedorov	Detroit	23	5	14	19
Brett Hull	Detroit	23	10	8	18
Ron Francis	Carolina	23	6	10	16
Nicklas Lidstrom	Detroit	23	5	11	16
Alyn McCauley	Toronto	20	5	10	15

Conference quarter-finals

Eastern Conference

(1)Boston vs. (8)Montreal Date Away Home Score April 18 Montreal 5 2 Boston April 21 Montreal 4 6 Boston April 23 Boston 3 5 Montreal April 25 Boston 5 2 Montreal April 27 Montreal 2 1 Boston April 29 Boston 1 2 Montreal Montreal wins series 4–2	(2)Philadelphia vs. (7)Ottawa Date Away Home OT Score April 17 Ottawa 0 1 Philadelphia OT April 20 Ottawa 3 0 Philadelphia April 22 Philadelphia 0 3 Ottawa April 24 Philadelphia 0 3 Ottawa April 26 Ottawa 2 1 Philadelphia OT Ottawa wins series 4–1
(3)Carolina vs. (6)New Jersey Date Away Home OT Score April 17 New Jersey 1 2 Carolina April 19 New Jersey 1 2 Carolina OT April 21 Carolina 0 4 New Jersey April 23 Carolina 1 3 New Jersey April 24 New Jersey 2 3 Carolina OT April 27 Carolina 1 0 New Jersey Carolina wins series 4–2	(4)Toronto vs. (5)New York Islanders Date Away Home Score April 18 NY Islanders 1 3 Toronto April 20 NY Islanders 0 2 Toronto April 23 Toronto 1 6 NY Islanders April 24 Toronto 3 4 NY Islanders April 26 NY Islanders 3 6 Toronto April 28 Toronto 3 5 NY Islanders April 30 NY Islanders 2 4 Toronto Toronto wins series 4–3

Western Conference

(1)Detroit vs. (8)Vancouver Date Away Home April 17 Vancouver 4 3 Detroit OT April 19 Vancouver 5 2 Detroit April 21 Detroit 3 1 Vancouver April 23 Detroit 4 2 Vancouver April 25 Vancouver 0 4 Detroit April 27 Detroit 6 4 Vancouver Detroit wins series 4–2	(2)Colorado vs. (7)Los Angeles Date Away Home April 18 Los Angeles 3 4 Colorado April 20 Los Angeles 3 5 Colorado April 22 Colorado 1 3 Los Angeles April 23 Colorado 1 0 Los Angeles April 25 Los Angeles 1 0 Colorado OT April 27 Colorado 1 3 Los Angeles April 29 Los Angeles 0 4 Colorado Colorado wins series 4–3
(3)San Jose vs. (6)Phoenix Date Away Home April 17 Phoenix 1 2 San Jose April 20 Phoenix 3 1 San Jose April 22 San Jose 4 1 Phoenix April 24 San Jose 2 1 Phoenix April 26 Phoenix 1 4 San Jose San Jose wins series 4–1	(4)St. Louis vs. (5)Chicago Date Away Home April 18 Chicago 2 1 St. Louis April 20 Chicago 0 2 St. Louis April 21 St. Louis 4 0 Chicago April 23 St. Louis 1 0 Chicago April 25 Chicago 3 5 St. Louis St. Louis wins series 4–1

Conference semi-finals

Eastern Conference

(3)Carolina vs. (8)Montreal Date Away Home May 3 Montreal 0 2 Carolina May 5 Montreal 4 1 Carolina May 7 Carolina 1 2 Montreal OT May 9 Carolina 4 3 Montreal OT May 12 Montreal 1 5 Carolina May 13 Carolina 8 2 Montreal Carolina wins series 4–2

(4)Toronto vs. (7)Ottawa Date Away Home May 2 Ottawa 5 0 Toronto May 4 Ottawa 2 3 Toronto 3OT May 6 Toronto 2 3 Ottawa May 8 Toronto 2 1 Ottawa May 10 Ottawa 4 2 Toronto May 12 Toronto 4 3 Ottawa May 14 Ottawa 0 3 Toronto Toronto wins series 4–3

Western Conference

(1)Detroit vs. (4)St. Louis Date Away Home May 2 St. Louis 0 2 Detroit May 4 St. Louis 2 3 Detroit May 7 Detroit 1 6 St. Louis May 9 Detroit 4 3 St. Louis May 11 St. Louis 0 4 Detroit Detroit wins series 4–1

(2)Colorado vs. (3)San Jose Date Away Home May 1 San Jose 6 3 Colorado May 4 San Jose 2 8 Colorado May 6 Colorado 4 6 San Jose May 8 Colorado 4 1 San Jose May 11 San Jose 5 3 Colorado May 13 Colorado 2 1 San Jose OT May 15 San Jose 0 1 Colorado Colorado wins series 4–3

Conference finals

Eastern Conference (3)Carolina vs. (4)Toronto Date Away Home May 16 Toronto 2 1 Carolina May 19 Toronto 1 2 Carolina OT May 21 Carolina 2 1 Toronto OT May 23 Carolina 3 0 Toronto May 25 Toronto 1 0 Carolina May 28 Carolina 2 1 Toronto OT Carolina wins series 4–2 and Prince of Wales Trophy

Western Conference (1)Detroit vs. (2)Colorado Date Away Home May 18 Colorado 3 5 Detroit May 20 Colorado 4 3 Detroit OT May 22 Detroit 2 1 Colorado OT May 25 Detroit 2 3 Colorado May 27 Colorado 2 1 Detroit OT May 29 Detroit 2 0 Colorado May 31 Colorado 0 7 Detroit Detroit wins series 4–3 and Clarence S. Campbell Bowl

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 2002 Stanley Cup Finals

(W1)Detroit vs. (E3)Carolina Date Away Home June 4 Carolina 3 2 Detroit OT June 6 Carolina 1 3 Detroit June 8 Detroit 3 2 Carolina 3OT1 June 10 Detroit 3 0 Carolina June 13 Carolina 1 3 Detroit Detroit wins series 4–1 and Stanley Cup Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit) wins Conn Smythe Trophy

¹As of 2008, the playoff game on June 8, 2002 between Detroit and Carolina is the 18th longest NHL overtime game. 54 minutes and 47 seconds of overtime were played before Igor Larionov of Detroit scored the game-winning goal. It is also the longest home debut in Stanley Cup Finals history. Larionov had just broken his own record for oldest player to score a final-round goal, set less than 2 hours previous. He was 42 years and 172 days old at the time.

Playoff Awards

Presidents' Trophy:	Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Carolina Hurricanes
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:	Detroit Red Wings
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit)

Playoff Scoring Leaders

Despite getting eliminated by the Red Wings in the Western Conference Final, Colorado forward Peter Forsberg led the playoffs in scoring with 18 assists and 27 points. Brett Hull of the Detroit Red Wings led the playoffs with 10 goals.

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 2001–02 NHL season
• 2002 in sports

Preceded by 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs

Stanley Cup Champions

Succeeded by 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs

External links

• http://nhl.com/