1998 Stanley Cup Final Appearance

Lore & Background

The Red Wings became the fourth franchise to win the Stanley Cup in back-to-back sweeps, joining the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and New York Islanders, and remain the most recent team to accomplish this feat. Detroit coach Scotty Bowman won his eighth Stanley Cup in that capacity (having previously done so with the Montreal Canadiens in , , , , and , the Pittsburgh Penguins in , and the Wings the previous year), tying him with former Canadiens coach Toe Blake for the record of most Cups won by a coach (which he would break when he helped the Red Wings win the 2002 Cup).

Reader's Guide

Just six days after sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1997 Finals, Red Wings defenceman Vladimir Konstantinov and masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov sustained serious brain injuries when the limousine in which they were riding crashed. Viacheslav Fetisov was also in the limousine but was not seriously injured. The Red Wings subsequently dedicated their 1997–98 season to the two injured members and wore a patch on their jerseys bearing the players' initials. When the Red Wings were presented with the Stanley Cup, they wheeled Konstantinov onto the ice and placed the Cup in his lap. They also took him for a victory lap around the rink.

Did You Know?

• In this series, Capitals head coach Ron Wilson became the first person to head coach in both an Olympics and a Stanley Cup Final in the same year, having coached team USA at the Nagano Olympics.
• Detroit successfully requested an exemption to engrave the names of two players who did not automatically qualify: #16 Vladimir Konstantinov and #15 Dmitri Mironov.
• Wally Crossman was the oldest person engraved on the Stanley Cup at age 87.
• Detroit wanted to include a record 55 names on the Stanley Cup in 1997–98, but the NHL limited the number to 52.