The Series
This was the first appearance in the Cup Finals for the Hurricanes (formerly the Hartford Whalers), who made an unlikely run to the Cup. While they were seeded third as a division winner, in actuality they had the second-lowest point total (91) for a playoff team not only in the Eastern Conference, but also the whole NHL. In their whole NHL history, they had only won one playoff series prior to this season (as the Whalers), and had streaks of 5 and 6 seasons in which they did not make the playoffs. With the Red Wings having won the Presidents' Trophy with 116 points, the 25 point was the largest point differential between two teams in a Stanley Cup Finals since 1994 (27 points between New York Rangers (112) and the Canucks (85)).
The Hurricanes stunned the Red Wings in Game 1 of the Finals on the strength of Ron Francis's overtime goal. That would be Carolina's only win in the series as the Red Wings won four straight including a triple overtime win in game three that proved to be the turning point in the series. The Cup win would be the first for many veterans on the team including goaltender Dominik Hasek, forward Luc Robitaille, as well as defensemen Steve Duchesne and Fredrik Olausson. It also marked the second Cup win for Chris Chelios, 16 years after he first won the Cup as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in 1986.
Read more about this topic: 2002 Stanley Cup Finals
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