This Day in Hockey History – June 7, 1997 – Welcome Back to Hockeytown

Jun 7, 2019

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It had been 42 years since Detroit last took home the Stanley Cup. None of the Red Wings who played in the 1996-97 finals had even been born the last time the team won the championship. On June 7, 1997, they ushered in a new era after sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers. Upon winning, Captain Steve Yzerman exclaimed, “It’s unbelievable. It’s been a long time coming in Detroit.”

The last time Detroit won the Stanley Cup was back in 1955. Over the next decade, they lost five Stanley Cup finals, losing two of the final games on their own ice. They did not return to the finals until 1994-95, the season after Scotty Bowman took over as coach. In both seasons, the Red Wings received the Presidents’ Trophy. In 1995, they came so close to breaking their dry spell only to be swept by the New Jersey Devils.

Two years later, at the end of the 1996-97 season, Detroit earned 94 points (38-26-18). That ranked them second in the Central Division and fifth in the NHL. In the playoffs, they easily sailed past the lower-ranked St. Louis Blues (4-2) and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (4-0). Then, Detroit defeated the Colorado Avalanche (4-2), winners of the Presidents’ Trophy.

The first two games of the Stanley Cup finals took place at Philadelphia. The Red Wings beat the Flyers 4-2 in both of them. When the series moved to Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, the home team crushed the visitors 6-1. To complete the sweep, the Red Wings won Game 4 with a score of 2-1.

For the game, Gordie and Colleen Howe shared a private box with Commissioner Gary Bettman. The Howe couple’s son Mark worked for the Red Wings as a scout. The elder Howe had skated with the team the last time they won the championship. “This has been my life,” commented Howe. “I just want to see it happen.”

What the crowd saw was Nicklas Lidstrom and Darren McCarty scoring the only goals in each of the first two periods. Eric Lindros prevented a shutout by scoring during the final 15 seconds. Goalie Mike Vernon had made 26 saves to that point. Throughout the playoffs, Vernon had a 16-4 record, a 1.79 goals-against average, and a .927 save percentage. The goalie everyone assumed would be benched instead earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as postseason MVP. Vernon told the press, “Every hockey player dreams of situations like this, but I never really thought it could happen. It’s been a lot of fun. When it’s said and done, I’ll look back and reflect and analyze how it all happened.”

When the series ended, Commissioner Bettman presented the Stanley Cup to Steve Yzerman, who had captained the team for 14 seasons. Yzerman had said, “It’s really the only thing I want to accomplish. I want to win a Stanley Cup like everybody else and play a few more years, and then I’ll be done.” With the ultimate prize in sight, he advised, “You always try and seize the moment, I guess, and make the most of it. Because you never know what will happen in the future.”

The Detroit Red Wings had won their eighth Stanley Cup championships. This one was the seventh for Coach Bowman, having previously led the Montreal Canadiens to five championships and the Pittsburgh Penguins to another. His mentor back in Montreal, Toe Blake, had set a record by coaching the Canadiens to eight Stanley Cup victories in 13 years. Bowman commented, “I don’t think anybody will be able to ever beat his records, eight Stanley Cups in 13 years, so I don’t think about trying to catch him or anything like that.” During Bowman’s tenure, Detroit would go on to win the next season as well and then another in 2002. Bowman surpassed Blake’s number of Stanley Cup victories but needed almost 30 years (instead of 13) to do it. The Red Wings most recently brought home the Cup in 2008.