1997 Stanley Cup Finals

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 had a relatively easy time with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres in the first two rounds.

Detroit was the dark horse in the Western Conference, the third seed behind the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche. 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 final. Even though Detroit won only 38 games, they would get star Brendan Shanahan and the departure of several players whom head coach Scotty Bowman blamed for their loss to Colorado a year prior. Previously, the Wings dispatched a fractured St. Louis Blues team and a surprising rival Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to reach the conference finals for the third straight season.

This is the first time that these two teams met in the postseason.

Bolded years under Finals appearance indicates year won Stanley Cup.

Detroit Red Wings

Goaltenders
	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
30	Chris Osgood	L	1991		Peace River, Alberta	second (1995) (did not play)
29	Mike Vernon	L	1994–95		Calgary, Alberta	fourth (1986, 1989, 1995 1997)
31	Kevin Hodson	L	1993–94		Winnipeg, Manitoba	first (did not play)

Defencemen
#	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
2	Viacheslav Fetisov	L	1994–95		Moscow, Soviet Union	second (1995)
3	Bob Rouse	R	1994–95		Surrey, British Columbia	second (1995)
4	Jamie Pushor	R	1991		Lethbridge, Alberta	first (did not play)
5	Nicklas Lidstrom	L	1989		Krylbo, Sweden	second (1995)
11	Mathieu Dandenault	R	1994		Sherbrooke, Quebec	first (did not play)
16	Vladimir Konstantinov	R	1989		Murmansk, Soviet Union	second (1995)
27	Aaron Ward	R	1993–94		Windsor, Ontario	first
55	Larry Murphy	R	1996–97		Scarborough, Ontario	third (1991, 1992)

Forwards
#	Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
8	Igor Larionov	C	L	1995–96		Voskresensk, Soviet Union	first
13	Vyacheslav Kozlov	LW	L	1990		Voskresensk, Soviet Union	second (1995)
14	Brendan Shanahan – A	LW	R	1996–97		Etobicoke, Ontario	first
15	Tomas Holmstrom	LW	L	1994		Piteå, Sweden	first (did not play)
17	Doug Brown	RW	R	1994–95		Southborough, Massachusetts	second (1995)
18	Kirk Maltby	RW	R	1995–96		Guelph, Ontario	first
19	Steve Yzerman – C	C	R	1983		Burnaby, British Columbia	second (1995)
20	Martin Lapointe	RW	R	1991		Ville St. Pierre, Quebec	second (1995)
25	Darren McCarty	RW	R	1992		Burnaby, British Columbia	second (1995)
26	Joe Kocur	RW	R	1996–97		Kelvington, Saskatchewan	second (1994)
28	Tomas Sandstrom	LW	L	1996–97		Jakobstad, Finland	second (1993)
33	Kris Draper	C	L	1993–94		Toronto, Ontario	second (1995)
37	Tim Taylor	C	L	1993–94		Stratford, Ontario	second (1995) (did not play)
91	Sergei Fedorov – A	C	L	1989		Pskov, Soviet Union	second (1995)

Philadelphia Flyers

Goaltenders
#	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
27	Ron Hextall	L	1994–95		Brandon, Manitoba	second (1987)
30	Garth Snow	L	1995–96		Wrentham, Massachusetts	first (did not play)

Defencemen
#	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
6	Chris Therien	L	1990		Ottawa, Ontario	first
23	Petr Svoboda	L	1995–96		Most, Czechoslovakia	third (1986, 1989)
24	Karl Dykhuis	L	1994–95		Sept-Îles, Quebec	first
28	Kjell Samuelsson	R	1995–96		Tingsryd, Sweden	third (1987, 1992) (did not play)
37	Eric Desjardins – A	R	1994–95		Rouyn, Quebec	third (1989, 1993)
44	Janne Niinimaa	L	1993		Raahe, Finland	first
77	Paul Coffey	L	1996–97		Weston, Ontario	seventh (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1995)

Forwards
#	Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of birth		Finals appearance
9	Dainius Zubrus	LW	L	1996		Elektrėnai, Soviet Union	first
10	John LeClair	LW	L	1994–95		St. Albans, Vermont	second (1993)
15	Pat Falloon	RW	R	1995–96		Foxwarren, Manitoba	first
17	Rod Brind'Amour – A	C	L	1991–92		Ottawa, Ontario	first
18	Dale Hawerchuk	C	L	1995–96		Toronto, Ontario	first
19	Mikael Renberg	RW	L	1990		Piteå, Sweden	first
20	Trent Klatt	RW	R	1995–96		Robbinsdale, Minnesota	first
25	Shjon Podein	LW	L	1994–95		Rochester, Minnesota	first
26	John Druce	RW	R	1995–96		Peterborough, Ontario	first
29	Joel Otto	C	R	1995–96		Elk River, Minnesota	third (1986, 1989
32	Daniel Lacroix	LW	L	1996–97		Montreal, Quebec	first (did not play)
45	Vaclav Prospal	C	L	1993		České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia	first (did not play)
88	Eric Lindros – C	C	R	1992–93		Toronto, Ontario	first

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

1997 Detroit Red Wings

Players

• Hodson played only six games (dressed for 23 games), but name was included on the Stanley Cup, because he spent majority of the season with Detroit.

Included on the team picture, but left off the Stanley Cup

• #22 Mike Knuble† – played nine regular season games, did not qualify to be engraved on the Stanley Cup. He was left off for playing 68 games in the minors for Adirondack.
• Johnny Remejes† (Dressing Room Asst.), Mike Vella† (Dressing Room Asst). Each of the three members and many other members not listed were awarded Stanley Cup rings.

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.[2]

On June 13, 1997, just six days after the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, a limousine carrying Vladimir Konstantinov, team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov and Viacheslav Fetisov crashed into a tree after returning from a private party. Konstantinov spent several weeks in a coma and suffered from serious head injuries and paralysis. Fetisov, on the other hand, sustained minor injuries and Mnatsakanov suffered heavy head injuries and a coma. Fetisov continued to play, but Konstantinov did not, as the crash ended his career. The Red Wings successfully returned to the Finals the following year. This time, the Red Wings played the Washington Capitals and swept them 4–0 to capture their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. During the celebration ceremonies after winning the Stanley Cup, Konstantinov was wheeled around the ice with his teammates in his wheelchair with the Cup on his lap.

The Philadelphia Flyers lost in the first round to the Buffalo Sabres (4–1) the next season.

• 1996–97 NHL season

• Diamond, Dan (2008). 2008 Playoff Media Guide/Total Stanley Cup. NHL.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.
• Sports Illustrated Article