Number of teams 30 Number of games 82 | Sport Ice hockey Dates 3 Oct 2001 – 13 Jun 2002 | |
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Duration October 3, 2001 – June 13, 2002 Goals Žigmund Pálffy, Teemu Selänne, Dave Andreychuk, Denis Arkhipov Similar 2003–04 NHL season, 2005–06 NHL season, 2006–07 NHL season, 2004–05 NHL season, 1993–94 NHL season | ||
The 2001–02 NHL season was the 85th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Detroit Red Wings, who won the best of seven series 4–1 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Contents
League business
The cash-strapped Pittsburgh Penguins, desperate to dump payroll, could no longer afford perennial superstar Jaromir Jagr. He would be traded, along with Frantisek Kucera, to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Kris Beech, Ross Lupaschuk, Michal Sivek and $4.9 million. Despite Mario Lemieux's return last season, the absence of Jagr proved devastating to the Penguins, and they missed the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. They would continue to miss the playoffs until the Sidney Crosby era began.
The Dallas Stars moved their home games from Reunion Arena to American Airlines Center.
The NHL honored the victims of 9/11 by having all players wear a patch on their jerseys, a ribbon sticker on the back of their helmet, as well as a red, white and blue ribbon painted on the ice behind each net, (with the Canadian teams having a red and white ribbon painted on the ice behind either net). On September 20, 2001, in the middle of a pre-season game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers with both teams tied up 2–2, nine days after the attacks, the game was stopped. A message from United States President George W. Bush about the 9/11 attacks was broadcast on the arena video screen. After the message, the game did not resume and was declared a 2–2 tie.
Regular season
For the second time in three seasons, no player reached the 100-point plateau.
Final standings
The Detroit Red Wings placed first in the league standings, and received home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. This is the first season that the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers both missed the playoffs.
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams in bold qualified for the playoffs.
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
Z- Clinched Conference; Y- Clinched Division; X- Clinched Playoff spot
Teams in bold qualified for the playoffs.
Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific, NW – Northwest
bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy; y – Won division
Final
The Final was contested by the Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings and the Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes. It was Detroit's twenty-second appearance in the Final, their last appearance being a win in 1998. It was Carolina's first appearance in the Final in franchise history. Detroit defeated Carolina in five games to win their tenth Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.
Playoff bracket
Awards
The NHL Awards presentation took place in Toronto.
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
Source: 2003 NHL Yearbook
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 2001–02 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 2001–02 (listed with their last team):
Trading deadline
Trading deadline: March 19, 2002.