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 (1992–present) Stanley Cup in seven games over the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers' championship was the last hurrah for the great Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s, as there were seven ex-Oilers on the team, including Mark Messier, who became the first (and to this date, the only) player to win Stanley Cups as the captain for two franchises, having captained the Oilers to the last of their five Stanley Cups in . The Rangers' victory also resulted in the first Russian names to be engraved on the Stanley Cup: Alexei Kovalev, Alexander Karpovtsev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Sergei Zubov. The global audience