Stanley Cup (2008)

Lore & Background

This was the first Cup Finals between two United States–based NHL teams since 2003, and the last one until 2026 in which neither team played a Game 7 in an earlier round of that season’s playoffs. In the United States, Versus televised games one and two, and NBC broadcast the rest of the series. It was broadcast in Canada on CBC in English and on RDS in French. In the United Kingdom, all games were aired live on Five, and on the cable sports channel NASN. The series was also broadcast by NHL Radio via Westwood One.

In Their Own Story

The ice at Mellon Arena felt different that night in June; the air thick with tension and the weight of history. As the final buzzer sounded, silence briefly gripped the arena before erupting into a chaotic mix of cheers from the traveling Detroit faithful and groans from the home crowd. On the bench, Steve Yzerman watched his teammates swarm Nicklas Lidström, a quiet smile on his face as he realized this might be his last dance. The Stanley Cup, gleaming under the arena lights, was about to be raised one final time by this legendary group.

Reader's Guide

The Detroit Red Wings entered the Finals after winning the Presidents' Trophy as the team that had the best record during the regular season. Led by forwards Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Johan Franzen, Detroit scored 55 goals in the first three rounds of the playoffs. With struggling goaltender Dominik Hasek being replaced mid-series by Chris Osgood, the Red Wings defeated their division rival Nashville Predators in the Western Conference quarterfinals, in six games. The team swept the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference semifinals, in which Franzen scored nine goals – tying with the entire Avalanche squad, who also scored nine goals in the series. The Red Wings then defeated the Dallas Stars in six games to win their fifth Clarence S. Campbell Bowl in franchise history. The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the championship series after winning the Atlantic Division and earning the second-best regular season record in the Eastern Conference. The team was led by Sidney Crosby; missing 29 games throughout the regular season because of an ankle injury, the captain returned to lead the first three rounds of the playoffs in assists, and to tie for the lead in points heading into the Stanley Cup Final. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury recorded three shutouts throughout the playoffs, to lead the league in that category. Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa each recorded nine goals and ten assists throughout the playoffs. The Penguins swept the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, a reversal of the series of the previous season when Ottawa beat Pittsburgh 4–1. In the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Penguins defeated division rival the New York Rangers, in five games. The team won the Prince of Wales Trophy by defeating another division rival, their in-state rivals, and another fierce rival of the Rangers, the Philadelphia Flyers, also in five games.

Did You Know?

• The 2008 Stanley Cup Final marked the first time that the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins met in postseason play.
• It was the first time since the 1909 World Series that professional sports teams from Detroit and Pittsburgh met in a postseason series or game.
• The Red Wings and Penguins did not play each other during the 2007–08 regular season.
• Pittsburgh's Gary Roberts played in Game 1, while Detroit's Chris Chelios was a healthy scratch.
• Prior to game one, a ceremonial faceoff featured former Pittsburgh captain and current team chairman Mario Lemieux and former Detroit captain and team vice president at the time Steve Yzerman.