2001 Second Round Game 7 vs Detroit Red Wings

Lore & Background

The rivalry peaked from 1996 to 2002, with the teams meeting in the postseason five times and combining to win five Stanley Cups. The epicenter was a March 26, 1997 game at Joe Louis Arena featuring 18 fighting majors and 148 penalty minutes.

In Their Own Story

The arena lights hummed over the ice, reflecting off the sweat of players who had given everything for forty minutes. The crowd roared as the Red Wings pressed forward, but Patrick Roy stood like a statue in net, denying chance after chance. In overtime, the ice seemed to shrink. Joe Sakic skated with a quiet intensity, receiving a pass near the blue line. He deked, slid, and buried the puck past Hasek. The silence of the crowd was instantly replaced by the roar of the visiting bench.

Reader's Guide

In the 1997 Western Conference finals, Marc Crawford screamed at Scotty Bowman across the glass separating the two benches in game four at Joe Louis Arena on May 22. Bowman told Crawford, 'I knew your father before you did, and I don't think he'd be very proud of how you're acting.' Crawford was fined $10,000. The Red Wings won that game 6–0 and the series in six games.

Did You Know?

• Kris Draper skated past Claude Lemieux in the handshake line following the 1997 Western Conference finals.
• Draper and Lemieux finally shook hands at the 2014 NHL entry draft, but Lemieux never apologized to Draper.
• The Detroit News printed a 'wanted' poster of Lemieux with a prison number under his photo on the day of the March 26, 1997 game.