2001–02 record 51–17–10–4 Road record 23–10–5–3 | Conference 1st Western Home record 28–7–5–1 Goals for 251 | |
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The 2001–02 Detroit Red Wings season was the 76th National Hockey League season in Detroit, Michigan. The Wings scored 116 points, winning the Central Division, their third Presidents' Trophy, and home ice throughout the playoffs. The team is considered one of the most talented teams of all time with 10 then future-Hall-of-Famers on the team, as well as a hall of fame coach in Scotty Bowman.
Contents
- Regular season
- Season standings
- October
- November
- December
- January
- February
- March
- April
- Playoffs
- Western Conference Quarter finals vs 8 Vancouver Canucks
- Western Conference Semi finals vs 4 St Louis Blues
- Western Conference Finals vs 2 Colorado Avalanche
- Stanley Cup Finals vs E3 Carolina Hurricanes
- Skaters
- Goaltending
- Trophies and awards
- Transactions
- Draft picks
- Cincinnati Mighty Ducks
- Toledo Storm
- References
After last season's disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Kings, Ken Holland went out into the trade market to address Detroit's more glaring needs. He quickly filled them by trading for Hall of Fame goaltender Dominik Hasek and signing Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille. These big names joined other future Hall of Fame talents in Chris Chelios, Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, and Steve Yzerman, as well as important supporting players in Jiri Fischer, Tomas Holmstrom, the Grind Line of Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, and Darren McCarty, and Pavel Datsyuk in his rookie season, and rounded out with legendary coach Scotty Bowman, who had decided to return for one more year.
The Wings were quickly selected as favorites to win the Stanley Cup and they were right. With so much talent on one team, including the first time three 500-goal scorers were on the same team, they quickly got off to a great start, winning 22 of their first 27 games. After finishing with 116 points and the best record in the NHL, the Wings had earned the first seed in the Western Conference and met the Vancouver Canucks in the first round. After the Canucks took the first 2 games, it looked like the Canucks were going to sweep the Red Wings. And the Red Wings were going to have their 2nd straight early exit. Their Captain, Steve Yzerman gave a closed-door speech to the team. Only the players in the locker room knew what was said, but the Wings headed to Vancouver and won four straight games to take the series.
After a quick series against the division rival St. Louis Blues, Detroit met their old nemesis, the second-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the Conference Finals. They battled back and forth during the series, tying the series three times before reaching game seven in Detroit. The Wings came out firing and won the deciding game 7 – 0. After that the Wings fought the cinderella story Carolina Hurricanes for the Stanley Cup, winning in game five at home. Over a million people showed up for the victory parade in downtown Detroit on June 17.
There was no All-Star game this year as the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City took place in February 2002 where eleven Red Wings players represented their countries. Brendan Shanahan and Steve Yzerman represented Canada, Chris Chelios and Brett Hull represented the United States, Dominik Hasek represented the Czech Republic, Sergei Fedorov, Pavel Datsyuk and Igor Larionov represented Russia, and Nicklas Lidstrom, Fredrik Olausson, and Tomas Holmstrom represented Sweden.
The Red Wings sold out all 41 home games in 2001–02 as 20,058 fans packed Joe Louis Arena for every regular season and playoff game played in Detroit. The season was chronicled by Detroit Free Press sportswriter Nicholas J. Cotsonika's 2002 book, "Hockey Gods: The Inside Story of the Red Wings' Hall of Fame Team".
Regular season
The Red Wings tied the Los Angeles Kings for the most power-play goals scored during the regular season, with 73.
Season standings
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific, NW – Northwest
bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy; y – Won division
October
Record: 11–2–0–0; Home: 5–2–0–0; Road: 6–0–0–0
November
Record: 11–1–1–1; Home: 8–0–1–0; Road: 3–1–0–1
December
Record: 6–5–2–1; Home: 4–2–1–0; Road: 2–3–1–1
January
Record: 8–2–3–0; Home: 7–0–1–0; Road: 1–2–2–0
February
Record: 7–1–0–0; Home: 1–1–0–0; Road: 6–0–0–0
March
Record: 8–3–2–0; Home: 3–1–1–0; Road: 5–2–1–0
April
Record: 0–3–2–2; Home: 0–1–1–1; Road: 0–2–1–1
Playoffs
The Detroit Red Wings ended the 2001–02 regular season as the Western Conference's first seed and played Vancouver in the first round. After losing the first two games in Detroit, the Wings rallied back to win four straight. Then the Wings made quick work of the Blues before meeting the second-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals. The Wings would beat the Avalanche in a hard fought seven game series, winning the final game 7 – 0. As the final game in the series came to a close, the Neil Diamond song "Sweet Caroline" was played over the Joe Louis Arena loudspeakers, as the victorious Red Wings prepared to head off to a Stanley Cup clinching series with the third-seeded victors of the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes. They won the series in five games, beating the Hurricanes three to one at home in Detroit on June 13 to take home their tenth Stanley Cup.
Western Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (8) Vancouver Canucks
Detroit wins series 4–2
Western Conference Semi-finals: vs. (4) St. Louis Blues
Detroit wins series 4–1
Western Conference Finals: vs. (2) Colorado Avalanche
Detroit wins series 4–3
Stanley Cup Finals: vs. (E3) Carolina Hurricanes
Detroit wins series 4–1
Skaters
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Goaltending
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Trophies and awards
Transactions
The Red Wings were involved in the following transactions during the 2001–02 season.
Draft picks
Detroit's picks at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft in Sunrise, Florida. The Wings had the 29th overall pick, however traded it to Chicago in 1999 during the deal to acquire Chris Chelios.
Cincinnati Mighty Ducks
The Mighty Ducks were Detroit's top affiliate in the American Hockey League in 2001–02 and were coached by Mike Babcock (who later became Red Wings coach in 2005).
Toledo Storm
The Storm were the Red Wings' ECHL affiliate for the 2001–02 season. Now known as the Toledo Walleye and still an affiliate to the Red Wings.