2002 Stanley Cup playoffs 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championships of the National Hockey League began on April 17, 2002. The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes on June 13, 2002, four games to one, to win their tenth championship in their history. The Hurricanes were in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in their 23-year history, which includes their tenure as the Hartford Whalers. 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
History of the National Hockey League players; at the time, Taffy Abel was the only American-born player who was a regular player in the league. With eight out of 14 players Americans, the Black Hawks won only 14 of 48 games. In the playoffs, however, the Hawks upset the Canadiens, New York Americans, and the Maple Leafs to become the only team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup despite a losing regular-season record. In the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals, the heavily favoured Toronto Maple Leafs were facing an upset, having fallen 3–0 in the seven-game series to the fifth-place Detroit Red Wings. Toronto rebounded,