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 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.
The teams that made it into the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs were:
by rankings
Eastern Conference
# Boston Bruins
# Philadelphia Flyers
# Carolina Hurricanes
# Toronto Maple Leafs
# New York Islanders
# New Jersey Devils
# Ottawa Senators
# Montreal Canadiens
Western Conference
# Detroit Red Wings (President's Trophy winners)
# Colorado Avalanche
# San Jose Sharks
# St. Louis Blues
# Chicago Blackhawks
# Phoenix Coyotes
# Los Angeles Kings
# Vancouver Canucks
==Playoff bracket==
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
==First Round==
===Eastern Conference===
{| cellpadding="5" border="1"	(1)Boston vs. (8)Montreal	(1)Boston vs. (8)Montreal	(1)Boston vs. (8)Montreal	(1)Boston vs. (8)Montreal	(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	Montreal wins series 4–2 	Montreal wins series 4–2 	Montreal wins series 4–2 	Montreal wins series 4–2 	
===Western Conference===
{| cellpadding="3" border="1"	(1)Detroit vs. (8)Vancouver	(1)Detroit vs. (8)Vancouver	(1)Detroit vs. (8)Vancouver	(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	Detroit wins series 4–2 	Detroit wins series 4–2 	Detroit wins series 4–2 	
==Conference semi-finals==
 Eastern Conference
{| cellpadding="3" border="1"	(3)Carolina vs. (8)Montreal	(3)Carolina vs. (8)Montreal	(3)Carolina vs. (8)Montreal	(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	Carolina wins series 4–2 	Carolina wins series 4–2 	Carolina wins series 4–2 	
 Western Conference
{| cellpadding="3" border="1"	(1)Detroit vs. (4)St. Louis	(1)Detroit vs. (4)St. Louis	(1)Detroit vs. (4)St. Louis	(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	Detroit wins series 4–1 	Detroit wins series 4–1 	Detroit wins series 4–1 	
==Conference finals==
{| cellpadding="3" border="1" 	(3)Carolina vs. (4)Toronto 	(3)Carolina vs. (4)Toronto 	(3)Carolina vs. (4)Toronto 	(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 andPrince of Wales Trophy	Carolina wins series 4–2 andPrince of Wales Trophy	Carolina wins series 4–2 andPrince of Wales Trophy	Carolina wins series 4–2 andPrince of Wales Trophy	
==Stanley Cup Final==
{| cellpadding="3" border="1" 	(W1)Detroit vs. (E3)Carolina 	(W1)Detroit vs. (E3)Carolina 	(W1)Detroit vs. (E3)Carolina 	(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 4–1and Stanley Cup 	Detroit wins series 4–1and Stanley Cup 	Detroit wins series 4–1and Stanley Cup 	Detroit wins series 4–1and Stanley Cup 	
Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit)wins Conn Smythe Trophy	Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit)wins Conn Smythe Trophy	Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit)wins Conn Smythe Trophy	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 lead the playoffs in scoring with 18 assists and 27 points. Brett Hull of the Detroit Red Wings lead the playoffs with 10 goals.
==See also==
*List of Stanley Cup champions
*2001–02 NHL season
==External links==
*http://nhl.com/
Category:Stanley Cup
Category:2002 in hockey
Category:Stanley Cup Playoffs