2001 Stanley Cup Finals
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The 2001 Stanley Cup Finals was the NHL championship series of the 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs contested between the Eastern Conference champion and defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils and the Western Conference champion Colorado Avalanche. It was Colorado's second appearance in the Final, and the first since the team won the Cup in 1996. It was New Jersey's third appearance in the Final and second straight appearance after winning the Cup in the 2000 Final. Colorado defeated New Jersey in seven games to win their second Stanley Cup in franchise history. Colorado's Patrick Roy would win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the 2001 Playoffs. This was the first Stanley Cup Final since 1994 that would be decided in the maximum seven games. This was also the first and, as of 2016, most recent Finals since 1989 that the number one seeds in each conference met.
Road to the 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.
The series
This was the second straight Final that featured two relocated NHL teams and the first ever Final 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 center Joe Sakic scored his 10th and 11th goal of the playoffs in the first and second periods of game one. 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 two started with goals in the first period by Colorado's Sakic, New Jersey's Bob Corkum and N.J.'s 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. The Devils victory would be important because the team stole home-ice advantage from the Colorado club.
Game three, in New Jersey, Devils center Jason Arnott scored an early power-play goal, but in the 10th minute, the Avalanche evened the score when Martin Skoula found the back of the net. Neither team scored any goals in the second period. Early in the third, however, 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 didn't respond. The win by Colorado marked another road win in the series, shifting the home-ice advantage back to Colorado.
In the first period of game four, 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, though, Avalanche center 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 offense 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.
Back in Colorado for game five, Devils forward Patrik Elias started the scoring for the Devils as they jumped out to an early one-goal lead. Precisely seven minutes following that goal, Colorado winger Alex Tanguay tied the game when he scored a power-play goal, but in the late minutes of the first period, New Jersey forward Alexander Mogilny scored the goal that wound up winning the game for the Devils. 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, center John Madden piled a fourth goal onto the Devils' scoreboard. The Devils won and reclaimed the home-ice advantage. They forced the Avalanche to try to win on the road to force a seventh game in Denver.
The sixth game paralleled the first game for the Colorado Avalanche. The Devils tested the Avalanche early with a barrage of shots on 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 going into the third period. Alex Tanguay scored the only goal of the third period, and the Avalanche won to force a seventh game in Denver for the Stanley Cup. Despite Colorado's high number of penalty minutes, the Devils were unable to put anything past Colorado goalie Patrick Roy.
Around the eighth minute of game seven, the Avalanche started the scoring when Alex Tanguay smacked the puck past Brodeur, and New Jersey trailed going into the second period by a goal. The Colorado club scored two consecutive goals in the second period: another by Tanguay, his sixth of the playoffs, and a power-play goal scored by Sakic, his 13th of the playoffs. Shortly after Sakic's goal, though, 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.
| May 26 | New Jersey Devils | 0–5 | Colorado Avalanche | Pepsi Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 11:07 – Joe Sakic (10) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 09:35 – Chris Drury (9) 15:06 – Joe Sakic (11) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:36 – pp – Rob Blake (5) 17:36 – Steve Reinprecht (2) | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Patrick Roy 25 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| May 29 | New Jersey Devils | 2–1 | Colorado Avalanche | Pepsi Center | Recap | |||
| Bob Corkum (1) – 14:29 Turner Stevenson (1) – 17:20 |
First period | 05:58 – pp – Joe Sakic (12) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 19 saves / 20 shots | Goalie stats | Patrick Roy 18 saves / 20 shots | ||||||
| May 31 | Colorado Avalanche | 3–1 | New Jersey Devils | Continental Airlines Arena | Recap | |||
| Martin Skoula (1) – 10:38 | First period | 03:16 – pp – Jason Arnott (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ray Bourque (4) – pp – 00:31 Dan Hinote (2) – 06:28 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Patrick Roy 21 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 18 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| June 2 | Colorado Avalanche | 2–3 | New Jersey Devils | Continental Airlines Arena | Recap | |||
| Rob Blake (6) – 03:58 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Chris Drury (10) – 13:54 | Second period | 03:42 – sh – Patrik Elias (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 08:09 – Scott Gomez (5) 17:23 – Petr Sykora (9) | ||||||
| Patrick Roy 32 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 10 saves / 12 shots | ||||||
| June 4 | New Jersey Devils | 4–1 | Colorado Avalanche | Pepsi Center | Recap | |||
| Patrik Elias (9) – 03:09 Alex Mogilny (5) – 18:47 |
First period | 10:09 – pp – Alex Tanguay (3) | ||||||
| Sergei Brylin (3) – pp – 04:39 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| John Madden (4) – 18:05 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 22 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Patrick Roy 22 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| June 7 | Colorado Avalanche | 4–0 | New Jersey Devils | Continental Airlines Arena | Recap | |||
| Adam Foote (3) – 18:02 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ville Nieminen (4) – pp – 02:26 Chris Drury (11) – 18:27 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Alex Tanguay (4) – 13:46 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Patrick Roy 24 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Martin Brodeur 14 saves / 18 shots | ||||||
| June 9 | New Jersey Devils | 1–3 | Colorado Avalanche | Pepsi Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 07:58 – Alex Tanguay (5) | ||||||
| Petr Sykora (10) – pp – 09:33 | Second period | 04:57 – Alex Tanguay (6) 06:16 – pp – Joe Sakic (13) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Martin Brodeur 19 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Patrick Roy 25 saves / 26 shots | ||||||
| Colorado won series 4–3 | |
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.
Colorado Avalanche – 2001 Stanley Cup champions
Roster
- 19 Joe Sakic (Captain) ^
- 21 Peter Forsberg(A)^
- 26 Stephane Yelle^
- 28 Steven Reinprecht
- 37 Chris Drury
- 11 Chris Dingman
- 13 Dan Hinote
- 14 Dave Reid
- 23 Milan Hejduk
- 25 Shjon Podein
- 27 Scott Parker
- 29 Eric Messier
- 39 Ville Nieminen
- 40 Alex Tanguay
- 2 Bryan Muir†
- 4 Rob Blake
- 7 Greg de Vries
- 24 Jon Klemm^
- 41 Martin Skoula
- 44 Nolan Pratt
- 52 Adam Foote(A)^
- 77 Raymond Bourque(A)
- Coaching and administrative staff
- E. Stanley Kroenke (Owner/Governor/Chairman), Pierre Lacroix (President/General Manager), Bob Hartley (Head Coach)
- Jacques Cloutier (Goaltending Coach), Bryan Trottier (Asst. Coach), Paul Fixter (Video Coach)
- François Giguère (Vice President of Hockey Operations), Brian MacDonald (Asst. General Manager), Michel Goulet (Vice President of Player Personnel)
- Jean Martineau (Vice President-Communications & Team Service), Pat Karns (Athletic Therapist), Matthew Sokolowski (Asst. Athletic Therapist)
- Wayne Flemming (Equipment Manager), Mark Miller (Equipment Manager), Dave Randolph (Asst. Equipment Manager)
- Paul Goldberg (Strength-Conditioning Coach), Gregorio Pradera (Massage Therapist), Brad Smith (Pro Scout)
- Jim Hammett (Chief Scout), Garth Joy (Scout), Steve Lyons (Scout),
- Joni Lehto (Scout), Orval Tessier (Scout), Charlotte Grahame (Director of Hockey Operations).
Stanley Cup engraving
† Bryan Muir was called up from the minors mid-season. He played 8 regular-season games and 3 playoff games. Colorado was given permission to include Muir's name on the Stanley Cup because 1 of his 3 playoff games was in the conference finals.
^ Six players also won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996 – Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Jon Klemm, Stephane Yelle, Patrick Roy, and Adam Foote.
- -David Aebischer was the first player born and trained in Switzerland to win the Stanley Cup.
See also
References
- Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.
External links
- "CNNSI.com – 2001 NHL playoffs". Retrieved 2008-04-27.
| Preceded by New Jersey Devils 2000 |
Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup Champions 2001 |
Succeeded by Detroit Red Wings 2002 |
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