1998 Stanley Cup Final

Motivation to win a second straight title

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.

Paths to the Finals

Detroit Red Wings

Detroit advanced to the Finals by defeating the Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues, and Dallas Stars in six games each.

Washington Capitals

Washington defeated the Boston Bruins 4–2, the Ottawa Senators 4–1, and the Buffalo Sabres 4–2.

Game summaries

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. Peter Laviolette would join him in this feat in while with the Carolina Hurricanes during their championship season, having coached the American ice hockey team during the Torino Olympics.

Game 1

At home, Detroit took an early lead in the first period and scored two goals within two minutes and 14 seconds of each other. The Red Wings were able to hold off a Washington assault and take the first game of the series with a score of 2–1.

Game 2

It looked as if the Capitals were to tie the series with a 4–2 lead in the third period, but after a Detroit goal to make it 4–3, Capitals forward Esa Tikkanen had a scoring opportunity midway through the third period that would have likely put Detroit away before the venue changed back to Washington's MCI Center, and also would have changed the entire dynamic of the series, but he missed the open net shot. Detroit then rallied late in the third period to tie the game and send it into overtime. Kris Draper scored with four minutes left in the first overtime to give the Red Wings a 5–4 victory and a 2–0 lead in the series.

Game 3

Detroit scored in the first 35 seconds to take an early lead which held up until the third period. The Capitals tied the game midway through the third period, but Sergei Fedorov scored to give the Wings a three games to none lead in the series.

Game 4

In game four, Detroit was dominant throughout to win the game by a score of 4–1 and sweep the series. Steve Yzerman was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. When the Cup was awarded, Vladimir Konstantinov was brought onto the ice in his wheelchair and joined the celebration with his team.

Team rosters

Bolded years under Finals appearance indicates year won Stanley Cup.

Detroit Red Wings

Washington Capitals

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1998 Stanley Cup was presented to Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Red Wings 4–1 win over the Capitals in game four

The following Red Wings players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1997–98 Detroit Red Wings

• 19 Steve Yzerman (Captain)
• 33 Kris Draper
• 41 Brent Gilchrist*
• 91 Sergei Fedorov
• 17 Doug Brown
• 14 Brendan Shanahan (A)
• 18 Kirk Maltby
• 20 Martin Lapointe
• 22 Mike Knuble*
• 25 Darren McCarty
• 26 Joe Kocur
• 13 Vyacheslav Kozlov
• 96 Tomas Holmstrom
• 5 Nicklas Lidstrom (A)
• 2 Viacheslav Fetisov
• 15 Dmitri Mironov †
• 16 Vladimir Konstantinov †
• 27 Aaron Ward*
• 34 Jamie Macoun
• 44 Anders Eriksson
• 55 Larry Murphy
• 31 Kevin Hodson |player-notes=
• • Did not play or dress in the Final.
• † Exemption granted to engrave the name of a player who did not automatically qualify. | non-players=
• Mike Ilitch Sr. (Owner/President/Governor), Marian Ilitch (Owner/Secretary-Treasurer), Atanas Ilitch (Vice President/minority Owner)
• Christopher Ilitch (Vice President/minority owner), Denise Ilitch Lites, Ronald Ilitch (Minority Owners)
• Michael Ititch Jr., Lisa Ilitch Murray, Carole Ilitch Trepeck (Minority Owners)
• Jim Devellano (Sr. Vice President), Ken Holland (General Manager), Don Waddell (Assistant General Manager), William Scotty Bowman (Head Coach/Director of Player Personnel)
• Barry Smith (Associate Coach), Dave Lewis (Associate Coach), Jim Nill (Director of Player Development/Director of Amateur Scouting), Dan Belise (Pro Scout), Mark Howe (Pro Scout)
• Jim Bedard (Goaltending Consultant), Hakan Andersson (Director of European Scouting), Mark Leach (Scout), Joe McDonnell (Scout)
• Bruce Haralson (Scout), John Wharton (Athletic Trainer), Paul Boyer (Equipment Manager), Tim Abbott (Asst. Equipment Manager)
• Bob Huddleston (Massage Therapist), Sergei Mnatsakanov (Masseur), Wally Crossman (Dressing Room Assistant)}}

Engraving notes

• Detroit successfully requested an exemption to engrave the names of two players who did not automatically qualify.
  • #16 Vladimir Konstantinov (D) – career ended in a car accident. The Red Wings still recognized him as part of the team and got permission from the league to have his name engraved.
  • #15 Dmitri Mironov (D) – played 66 regular season games for Anaheim before joining Detroit. Played 11 regular season games and 7 playoff games (none in the Finals) for Detroit.
• 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. Following that request, the NHL decided to limit the number of names to 52 to make sure all names fit on the Cup. No player who officially qualifies may be left off to include more non-players.
• #34 Norm Maracle (G – 4 regular season games) and #21 Darryl Laplante (D – 2 regular season games) were on the roster during the Final, but left off the Stanley Cup engraving due to not qualifying. None played in the playoffs. Detroit did not request an exemption to engrave their names. All were included in the team picture.
• Art Mnatsusakanov, Johnny Remejes, and Mike Vella (Dressing Room Asst.); were left off the Stanley Cup engraving, but included in the team picture.

Broadcasting

In Canada, the series was televised on CBC. In the United States, Fox broadcast game one while ESPN televised games two through four. Had the series extended, games five and seven would have been broadcast on Fox, and ESPN would have aired game six.

Notes

References

before = Detroit Red Wings 1997 | after = Dallas Stars 1999 | title = Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup champions | years = 1998|

References

1. Dierberger, Tom. (June 10, 2024). "Looking Back at Every Sweep in Stanley Cup Final History".