2001 Stanley Cup Finals

New Jersey defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4–2, the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4–1 to advance to the Finals.

Colorado defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4–0, the Los Angeles Kings 4–3 and the St. Louis Blues 4–1 to advance to the Finals.

This was the second straight Finals that featured two relocated NHL teams and the first ever Finals that featured two teams playing in a city that was the previous home of one team and the present home of another. The Colorado Rockies were formerly based in Denver and were relocated to East Rutherford and renamed the New Jersey Devils prior to the 1982–83 season. The Quebec Nordiques were relocated to Denver and renamed the Colorado Avalanche prior to the 1995–96 season.

Colorado centre Joe Sakic scored his 10th and 11th goal of the playoffs in the first and second periods of Game 1. The Avalanche smothered the New Jersey defense and scored five goals in the game. The Devils did not score any goals, and in the third period, after the game was 5–0, things culminated in a fistfight between the Avalanche's Chris Dingman and the Devils' Sean O'Donnell. The third period had a total tally of 44 penalty minutes accumulated by both clubs.

Game 2 began with goals in the first period by Colorado's Sakic and New Jersey's Bob Corkum and Turner Stevenson. The 2–1 lead by the Devils held throughout the game as they defeated the Avalanche to even the series at one game apiece.

Game 3 in New Jersey, Devils centre Jason Arnott scored an early power-play goal, but in the tenth minute, the Avalanche evened through defenceman Martin Skoula. Neither team scored any goals in the second period. Early in the third, Colorado defenceman Ray Bourque scored a power-play goal to break the tie. Five minutes later, Colorado winger Dan Hinote scored the team's third goal, and the Devils did not respond. The win by Colorado marked another road win in the series.

In the first period of Game 4, Colorado scored an early goal when Rob Blake shot the puck past Devils goalkeeper Martin Brodeur. Patrik Elias and New Jersey responded when he scored a short-handed goal to even the score at one goal apiece. Later in the second, Avalanche centre Chris Drury scored to give the Avalanche a one-goal lead going into the third period. But the third period belonged to the Devils: Scott Gomez and Petr Sykora each scored a goal in the third, and Brodeur stopped every puck that went his way. The New Jersey offence overwhelmed the Avalanche defense as they managed 35 shots; Colorado managed only 12 shots. New Jersey again evened the series, this time at two games apiece.

In Colorado for Game 5, Devils forward Patrik Elias started the scoring for the Devils as they jumped out to an early one-goal lead. Exactly seven minutes later, Colorado winger Alex Tanguay tied the game on the power-play. However, in the late minutes of the first period, New Jersey forward Alexander Mogilny scored the game's eventual winner. In the second period, Devils forward Sergei Brylin scored a power-play goal to give the Devils a two-goal lead, and in the third period, centre John Madden scored a fourth goal for insurance. The Devils won and reclaimed the home-ice advantage; they eventually won 4-1. They forced the Avalanche to try to win on the road to force a Game 7 in Denver.

Game 6 paralleled Game 1 for the Avalanche. The Devils tested the Avalanche early with a barrage of shots on goaltender Patrick Roy. After stopping them all, and with two minutes remaining in the first period, Colorado defenceman Adam Foote scored an unassisted goal to give the Avalanche the lead on just their fourth shot. Early in the second period, Avalanche winger Ville Nieminen scored a power-play goal, and late in the second period, Drury scored his 11th goal of the playoffs to give the Avalanche a commanding lead entering the third period. Alex Tanguay scored the only goal of the third period and the Avalanche won to force a deciding Game 7 in Denver. Despite Colorado's high number of penalty minutes, the Devils were unable to put anything past Roy.

Around eight minutes into Game 7, the Avalanche started the scoring through Alex Tanguay, the period's only goal. Colorado then scored two consecutive goals in the second period: another by Tanguay, his sixth of the playoffs, and a power-play goal scored by Joe Sakic, his 13th of the playoffs. Shortly after Sakic's goal, Petr Sykora and the Devils sprang into life when he scored a power-play goal. It left the Devils with only two goals to overcome, but Roy and the Avalanche would prove too much for the Devils in the third period as Colorado defensively shut the door on New Jersey to win the game and the series.

The Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup made this the second straight year that the defending champions lost in the Finals, as the Devils themselves defeated the 1999 Cup champion Dallas Stars the year before. This was the first and only Stanley Cup championship for defenceman Ray Bourque who, after being traded from the Boston Bruins to Colorado in 2000, retired from the NHL after the Avalanche's 2001 Cup win.

Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.

Colorado Avalanche

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
1		David Aebischer	G	L	1997	Fribourg, Switzerland	first (did not play)
4		Rob Blake	D	R	2000–01	Simcoe, Ontario	second (1993)
77		Ray Bourque – A	D	L	2000–01	Saint-Laurent, Quebec	third (1988, 1990)
7		Greg de Vries	D	L	1998–99	Sundridge, Ontario	first
11		Chris Dingman	LW	L	1998–99	Edmonton, Alberta	first
37		Chris Drury	C	R	1994	Trumbull, Connecticut	first
52		Adam Foote – A	D	R	1989	Toronto, Ontario	second (1996)
21		Peter Forsberg – A	C	L	1992–93	Örnsköldsvik, Sweden	second (1996; did not play)
23		Milan Hejduk	RW	R	1994	Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia	first
13		Dan Hinote	RW	R	1996	Leesburg, Florida	first
24		Jon Klemm	D	R	1991–92	Cranbrook, British Columbia	second (1996)
29		Eric Messier	LW	L	1996–97	Drummondville, Quebec	first
2		Bryan Muir	D	L	2000–01	Winnipeg, Manitoba	first (did not play)
39		Ville Nieminen	LW	L	1997	Tampere, Finland	first
27		Scott Parker	RW	R	1998	Hanford, California	first (did not play)
25		Shjon Podein	LW	L	1998–99	Rochester, Minnesota	second (1997)
44		Nolan Pratt	D	L	2000–01	Fort McMurray, Alberta	first (did not play)
14		Dave Reid	LW	L	1999–2000	Etobicoke, Ontario	second (1999)
28		Steven Reinprecht	C	L	2000–01	Edmonton, Alberta	first
33		Patrick Roy	G	L	1995–96	Quebec City, Quebec	fifth (1986, 1989, 1993, 1996)
19		Joe Sakic – C	C	L	1987	Burnaby, British Columbia	second (1996)
41		Martin Skoula	D	L	1998	Litoměřice, Czechoslovakia	first
40		Alex Tanguay	LW	L	1998	Sainte-Justine, Quebec	first
26		Stephane Yelle	C	L	1994–95	Ottawa, Ontario	second (1996)

New Jersey Devils

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
25		Jason Arnott – A	C	R	1997–98	Collingwood, Ontario	second (2000)
30		Martin Brodeur	G	L	1990	Montreal, Quebec	third (1995, 2000)
18		Sergei Brylin	LW	L	1992	Moscow, Soviet Union	third (1995, 2000)
22		Bob Corkum	C	R	2000–01	Salisbury, Massachusetts	first
3		Ken Daneyko	D	L	1982	Windsor, Ontario	third (1995, 2000)
26		Patrik Elias	LW	L	1994	Třebíč, Czechoslovakia	second (2000)
23		Scott Gomez	C	L	1998	Anchorage, Alaska	second (2000)
16		Bobby Holik	LW	R	1992–93	Jihlava, Czechoslovakia	third (1995, 2000)
11		John Madden	C	L	1997–98	Toronto, Ontario	second (2000)
21		Randy McKay – A	RW	R	1991–92	Montreal, Quebec	third (1995, 2000)
19		Jim McKenzie	LW	L	2000–01	Gull Lake, Saskatchewan	first (did not play)
89		Alexander Mogilny	RW	L	1999–2000	Khabarovsk, Soviet Union	second (2000)
12		Sergei Nemchinov	C	L	1998–99	Moscow, Soviet Union	third (1994, 2000; did not play)
27		Scott Niedermayer	D	L	1991	Edmonton, Alberta	third (1995, 2000)
6		Sean O'Donnell	D	L	2000–01	Ottawa, Ontario	first
20		Jay Pandolfo	LW	L	1993	Winchester, Massachusetts	second (2000)
28		Brian Rafalski	D	R	1999–2000	Dearborn, Michigan	second (2000)
4		Scott Stevens – C	D	L	1991–92	Kitchener, Ontario	third (1995, 2000)
24		Turner Stevenson	RW	R	2000–01	Prince George, British Columbia	first
2		Ken Sutton	D	L	1998–99	Edmonton, Alberta	first (did not play)
17		Petr Sykora	RW	L	1995	Plzeň, Czechoslovakia	second (2000)
34		John Vanbiesbrouck	G	L	2000–01	Detroit, Michigan	second (1996; did not play)
5		Colin White	D	L	1996	New Glasgow, Nova Scotia	second (2000)

The 2001 Stanley Cup was presented to Avalanche captain Joe Sakic by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Avalanche's 3–1 win over the Devils in game seven

The following Avalanche players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

2001 Colorado Avalanche

Players

In Canada, the series was televised on CBC. In the United States, ESPN aired the first two games while ABC broadcast the rest of the series.

The Colorado Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup! Raymond Bourque, a dream has come true!

— ABC's Gary Thorne calling the final seconds of game 7

And after 22 years, RAYMOND BOURQUE!

— Thorne moments later as Joe Sakic handed Bourque the Cup

• 2000–01 NHL season

• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.

• "CNNSI.com – 2001 NHL playoffs". Retrieved 2008-04-27.