The New National Hockey League (NNHL) was formed in 1997 following the collapse of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league began operation with seven teams located in Philadelphia, Chicago, San Jose, Toronto, New Jersey, Boston and Colorado.

Toronto made goalie Martin Brodeur the first player chosen in the league's dispersal draft. He was followed, in order, by Peter Forsberg, John Vanbiesbrouck, Jaromir Jagr, Joe Sakic, Dominik Hasek and Eric Lindros.

The league played its first game on Oct. 1, 1997 with the New Jersey Devils edging the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2. New Jersey's Keith Tkachuk became the league's first 50-goal scorer, finishing the season with 51 while Philadelphia's Teemu Selanne won the scoring race with 85 points. Tkachuk edged Selanne for the league MVP award while the Chicago Blackhawks' Vanbiesbrouck posted a 2.41 average to win the Jacques Plante Trophy as the top goalie.

The Boston Bruins became the first league champion after finishing the regular season with a record of 46-23-11. The Bruins spoiled a 49-save effort by Philadelphia's Jeff Hackett to win the semifinal opener 2-1 in overtime. Bonton then won three of the next four, losing only Game 3 in overtime, to advance to the final.
New Jersey faced Chicago, which it had beaten only twice in 13 regular season games. The Hawks took the opener 1-0 but New Jersey won the next three. The Hawks took Game 5 but New Jersey ended their comeback big on Tony Amonte's overtime winner in Game 6.

It looked as though the Bruins would cruise to the Cup after they took the first two games of the series on home ice. But Tkachuk answered the bell with a record four goals in Game 3 and Jersey held off a late Boston comeback for a 3-2 win in Game 4 to square the series. The series stars continued to shine with Paul Kariya scoring twice in a 5-4 Boston win in Game 5 while Tkachuk responded with two of his own in a 3-2 Devils' win in Game 6. At home for Game 7, the Bruins appeared headed for victory until Amonte tied the game 3-3 with 1:29 to play in the third. With overtime looming, Kariya raced down the wing and fired a shot past Chris Osgood with one second remaining to cap a remarkable first NNHL season.

Kariya, who finished with nine goals and 13 points in 12 playoff games was the first recipient of the Jean Beliveau Trophy as playoff MVP but it was Tkachuk who led the playoffs in scoring with 10 goals and 16 points.

On the strength of the inaugural season, the NNHL expanded to nine teams for the 1998/99 season, adding teams in Pittsburgh and Detroit. The Minor Hockey League (MHL) was also formed with four teams as a farm system for the NNHL.

The Chicago Blackhawks, who led the NNHL in goals, felt they needed more offensive punch. To accomplish that they acquired 42-goal scorer Peter Bondra from the New Jersey Devils, in an eight-player deal that included Bobby Orr Trophy winner Ray Bourque, going to New Jersey. Bondra rewarded them with a 50-goal season. Keith Primeau also made the deal pay off for the Hawks with 65 points and 26 goals, one of a record eight Hawks to top the 20-goal plateau.

The defending champion Bruins were thought to too offensively challenged to defend the Cup. But thanks to the brilliant goaltending of Dominik Hasek, who set league records with a 2.22 average, a .927 save percentage, 76 games and 38 wins, the Beantown boys finished just one point behind Chicago, who edged Boston for first place 98 points to the Bruins' 97. Once again New Jersey, Philadelphia and Toronto finished 3rd-4th-5th respectively while the expansion Pittsburgh Penguins surprised many by finishing sixth with 72 points. Pittsburgh's expansion partner, the Detroit Red Wings, did not fare so well. They finished with 21 wins and 51 points, both record lows.

Pittsburgh continued its successful campaign by upsetting New Jersey in six games in the opening round of the playoffs. New Jersey had finished 22 points ahead of Pittsburgh during the regular season. Meanwhile, Chicago took out Colorado in five games, San Jose's first playoff appearance was short as they were swept by Boston and Philadelphia eliminated Toronto in five games, despite the Leafs' getting eight goals from Joe Nieuwendyk in the series. That included a four-goal performance in the series opener.

Nieuwendyk's scoring feats were no match for the Flyer duo of Eric Lindros and Teemu Selanne. Although Philadelphia would be eliminated in six games by Boston in the semifinal, Lindros would lead the playoffs in scoring with 19 points while Selanne would be the top goal scorer with 11. In the other semifinal, the Penguins were no match for the Hawks, who swept them in four games.

Chicago entered the final having won eight straight games and were looking for a ninth as they went to overtime in the opening game of the final against Boston. But Hawks goalie Ed Belfour was injured 12 minutes into overtime. Just 1:10 later, Boston's Sergei Zubov scored the winning on Belfour's replacement, John Vanbiesbrouck.
In game two, the Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Chicago narrowed the gap to 4-2 but Boston scored three times in 1:40 as they cruised to a 7-2 win. Chicago rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third period to tie game three but Bobby Holik scored to give the Bruins a 5-4 win and a stranglehold lead.
Belfour returned for game four but even his 30-save performance was not enough to save the Hawks. Holik gave the Bruins a 3-1 lead heading into the final period. Adam Oates would cut the lead to one but Dominik Hasek stopped 14 shots in the final period to preserve the win.
Dmitri Khristich was named the playoff MVP, leading all scorers with eight goals and 16 points in the playoffs.

Hasek wasn't the only player breaking records. Eric Lindros shattered the league's point record with 107, including a league record 17-game point streak. Lindros finished the season with 55 points in the final 35 games and also broke the assist record with 62. That earned him the Gordie Howe Trophy as MVP over Hasek. He also led the league in playoff scoring with 19 points, despite the fact the Flyers were knocked out in the semifinals.

The one record Hasek held before the season fell as Colorado's Patrick Roy topped Hasek's shutout record by posting seven. Other record breakers included Pittsburgh's Stu Barnes who had 74 points in his rookie season while another freshman, Toronto's Joe Nieuwendyk, potted 33 goals. Nieuwendyk was the first overall pick in the NNHL's first entry draft. The Leafs had swapped eight draft picks with Detroit to get the first pick.

The season began with the announcement that the Montreal Canadiens had been granted an expansion franchise for the 2000/2001 season. The Canadiens would become the league's 10th team.

For the second year in a row, Detroit traded away the first overall pick in the entry draft, dealing it to Boston in the deal that landed them Mike Modano. Boston used the number one selection to take Peter Sykora. The Czech winger finished third in rookie scoring with 60 points but was overshadowed by teammate Luc Robitaille, who established a new rookie record with 36 goals and led the Bruins with 72 points. Meanwhile, despite a good season from Modano, the Wings set league futility marks in wins (15) and points (36).

Chicago dealt veterans Adam Oates and Doug Gilmour but didn't miss a beat. Led by defenceman Ray Bourque, who was reacquired from San Jose in the off-season, Keith Primeau, John LeClair, Bill Guerin and Rod Brind'Amour--who all topped the 30-goal mark, the Hawks set a league record with 51 wins and 110 points. Guy Hebert and Steve Shields allowed only a league-low 187 goals and combined to post 10 shutouts.

Colorado was the league's biggest surprise jumping from eighth to fourth. Pavel Bure was the biggest reason behind that, scoring a league record 59 goals despite missing 20 games. Goalie Tommy Salo also took over the number one job from veteran Patrick Roy and helped the Avs reel off a league record 11 straight wins and a 13-game unbeaten streak (11-0-2). However, without Bure out for the first round of the playoffs, Colorado's Cinderella season came to an end as they were ousted in six games by Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, coming off its worst finish ever (fifth), became the new Cinderella team. After falling behind 2-0 to first-place Chicago in the semifinals, the Flyers rallied to win four of the next five games to advance to their first final. The Flyers were 27 seconds away from elimination in game six but Eric Lindros scored to tie the game and Teemu Selanne won it in double overtime. The Flyers then won the deciding game 4-1.

New Jersey avenged the last-second loss to Boston in the 1998 final by ending the Bruins' bid for a third straight Cup. Trailing 3-2 in their series, Peter Forsberg's overtime goal forced a seventh game and he scored two more goals as New Jersey completed the comeback with a 3-2 victory in the final game. Ed Belfour, who had been relegated to the pressbox for the first nine Jersey playoff games, came in to win the final two games.

In the final, Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead in games but were without starting goalie Ron Tugnutt for Game 4. The Flyers still jumped out to a 4-1 lead but New Jersey rallied to tie the game 5-5. Jeff Hackett, who had been recalled from the minors three days earlier, came off the bench and stopped 34 shots before Eric Desjardins scored in double overtime to end the league's longest game ever. The Flyers wrapped up the championship with a 4-2 win in Game 5 behind a three-point effort from Selanne. Selanne, who captured his second scoring title in the regular season, set playoff records for goals (14) and points (22) and took home the Beliveau Trophy.

The Detroit Red Wings had the first overall pick in the entry draft for the third straight year but for the first time didn't trade it away. The Wings used it to select Scott Gomez. Gomez would contribute a respectable 44 points but the Wings were only slightly less dismal with 18 wins and 39 points, finishing last for the third straight year.

The Montreal Canadiens began play and made a run at a playoff berth. Despite San Jose's 14-game winless streak to end the season, Montreal was unable to capitalize and finished with 58 points, three behind the Sharks who secured the final playoff spot.

At the other end of the standings, New Jersey charged out to a 20-8-2 start and never looked back, going on to finish first with 50 wins and 106 points, the second highest total ever recorded. Leading the way for the Devils was Steve Yzerman, who won the scoring title with 99 points. Despite leading the league in goals against, the Devils looked for goaltending help at the trade deadline. When Philadelphia outbid them for the services of Dominik Hasek, the Devils acquired Patrick Roy from Colorado.

Hasek was hot down the stretch leading Philadelphia to an 11-1-1 finish which gave the Flyers their best season ever with 98 points. However, Hasek struggled in the playoffs and Martin Brodeur shook his playoff jinx with a 49-save effort which carried Toronto to a 2-1 overtime victory in Game 7 of the opening round.

Another team that made a change in net was Chicago, who acquired Jeff Hackett from Philadelphia in November. Hackett posted a 30-13-3 record and a 2.75 average and went on to win the Plante Trophy as Chicago cracked the 100-point barrier for the second year in a row, finishing second to New Jersey with 102 points. Despite Hackett's play in net, it was the Hawks offence that carried them as they broke their own league record with 337 goals. Rookie of the year Milan Hejduk scored 37 of those goals to established a freshman record.

The biggest surprise of the year was the early struggles of the Boston Bruins, who started the year in a 1-9-1 tailspin. Though they rebounded for their fourth straight 40-win season, they fell to fifth place and 86 points--a drop of three places and 16 points from the previous year. The Bruins failure to secure home ice would haunt them as they were eliminated in the opening round for the first time, falling in seven games to Colorado.

Colorado secured their second straight winning season to again finish fourth. And once again it was Pavel Bure leading the charge as he became the first NNHL player to record two 50-goal seasons, finishing with a league leading 51.

Pittsburgh had its best season, finishing with 78 points, but were quickly swept in the opening round by Chicago. Meanwhile, New Jersey eliminated San Jose in five games.

Colorado and Toronto, who finished sixth, both made their first trips to the semifinals. Toronto was swept by New Jersey while Chicago bounced back from a 9-4 loss in game six to defeat Colorado 7-1 in Game 7.

It was New Jersey's third appearance in the final in four years and Chicago had finished first or second for four straight years, yet neither had won a Cup. The teams split the first four games and New Jersey scored an important 3-2 win in Game 5. Chicago came through with a 5-3 win on the road to force Game 7 back in Chicago.

In another storybook ending, the final game went to overtime. The Devils, who lost three years earlier on a last second goal in Game 7 of the final would have their hearts broken again. Keith Primeau, who returned for Game 7 after missing three games due to injury, scored the Cup winning goal 2:03 into overtime when his centring pass hit a skate in front of the net and slipped past Roy. Patrick Elias, who led the Hawks with 13 goals in the playoffs, including four game-winners, was named the playoff MVP.

Ray Bourque, who picked up his third Orr Trophy in four years and the elusive Stanley Cup, retired following the season.

The next season began with the NNHL Expansion Draft as Edmonton selected 30 players to form the league's 11th team. Among those chosen were former Howe Trophy winner Eric Lindros, whose career was in jeopardy due to concussions. The Oilers also selected Ed Belfour, who led the league in shutouts the previous season with another expansion team, Montreal, and former all-star game MVP Sandis Ozolinsh from Toronto.

It was a busy off season with some big names changing teams--sometimes twice. Detroit's new management wasted little time in shaking things up with a couple of draft day blockbusters. First they sent Mike Modano to New Jersey in a six-player deal. Detroit then acquired Joe Sakic from Toronto, while giving up last year's first overall pick, Scott Gomez. The teams also exchanged first round picks, which gave the Leafs the first overall selection. Toronto used that pick to choose Brad Richards. Also changing hands on draft day was Dominik Hasek, who was sent from Philadelphia to San Jose.

Before the season began, Toronto would trade Ziggy Palffy to New Jersey. Then Detroit was at it again, packaging the newly-acquired Sakic to Boston for Jere Lehtinen, Chris Drury and Mattias Ohlund. Those teams would continue to trade more often than Monty Hall throughout the season. Detroit made 12 more deals once the season began while Toronto swung nine different trades.

Perennial powerhouses, Boston and New Jersey floundered around the .500 mark for much of the first month. While Boston would get on track by going 7-2-2 in November, New Jersey never got back on the rails. Steve Yzerman suffered a 64-point drop from his MVP season and Peter Forsberg sat out more than half the season. With Patrick Roy struggling, the Devils acquired Martin Brodeur from Toronto for prospect Evgeny Nabokov. It didn't help. Brodeur posted the worst numbers of his career while Nabokov would go on to post the fourth best save percentage in the league for Toronto. New Jersey began to remold the team, dealing veterans Roy, Scott Stevens, Teppo Numminen, Jason Arnott and Adam Deadmarsh for youngsters. The Devils finished out of the top three for the first time, placing seventh with a franchise low 72 points--34 fewer than the previous season.

Leading the way were Chicago and Philadelphia, who bolted out of the blocks. Philadelphia, led by rookie goalie Roberto Luongo, posted a 24-9-3 record in 2001. Luongo had matched the league record of seven shutouts by Christmas and added two more to finish the season with a record nine. Chicago got outstanding goaltending from Sean Burke in the first two months and then the offence, led by 45-goal scorer Bill Guerin and 39-goal man Patrick Elias, took over as the Hawks hit the new year 23-10-4.

In the end the Hawks, who led the NNHL in goals for the fifth straight year, won out by posting their third-straight 100-point season. They finished the year 47-23-10 for 104 points. The Flyers hit the century mark for the first time with a 45-25-10 record and led the league in goals against, allowing just 199 goals.

The expansion Edmonton Oilers charged out of the gate by going 6-4-2 in October but would sink back to earth with just five wins in the next two months. Despite a March charge that put them in playoff contention, they won just one of their last seven games to finish with 64 points. That still put them ahead of Montreal, who went 5-20-3 after January and actually finished with three fewer points (55) than they did in their first season.

The slide coinsided with the trade of Mario Lemieux. The Habs' leading scorer at the time, Lemieux really caught fire with his new team the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins struggled to a 9-16-0 start before reeling off 11 straight wins in November. They were treading water until landing Lemieux arrived and finished the season on a 17-10-2 roll. They ended up with 93 points, their first .500 season in four years, and placed fourth. Lemieux set rookie records for points (77) and assists (45) and his arrival brought Jaromir Jagr to life. Jagr finished third in the NNHL scoring race with career bests in goals (43) and points (81).

Boston's Joe Sakic posted the third best point total in league history with 97. He also tied a league record with 21 of his 44 goals coming on the power play. That earned him MVP honours. Boston also got a career performance from Chris Pronger. He led all defenceman in scoring and became the first blueliner to win both the Orr and Harvey Trophy--and did it in the same year. Injuries were the only thing that could dampen Pronger's season and Boston was clearly not the same team without him in the lineup. They went 4-12-2 (.278) without him and 38-15-9 (.685) with him in the lineup.

Pavel Bure came out of nowhere to win his third consecutive Rocket Richard Trophy. Through the first four months, the two-time 50-goal scorer had just 19 goals in 50 games. But the Russian Rocket scored 28 times in the last 30 games to finish the season with 47 to beat Palffy and Guerin by two.

The NNHL saw its most exciting playoff race come down to the final game. Detroit began the season 2-8-2 but came on strong after acquiring Marty Turco from Toronto. Turco would post the league's best save percentage (.915) and lost a close vote to Luongo for the Jacques Plante Trophy. Markus Naslund led the Wings offensively with team record 40 goals and 77 points. Meanwhile, San Jose, which had kept pace with Chicago and Philly through the first month of the season, faltered badly down the stretch. After winning 21 games in the first half of the season, the Sharks went 4-17-4 through February and March.

With three games remaining, all against each other, Detroit trailed San Jose by three points. The Wings needed to take no less than five of six points to make the playoffs for the first time. Detroit trailed the first game in San Jose 4-2 heading into the third. But it scored twice in the third to tie the game. Jeff O'Neill then scored with five seconds to play in overtime to give the Wings the win. Returning home, the Wings again erased a two-goal deficit and won on Jiri Slegr's goal with 2:58 to play. With a one-game showdown to see who would go to the playoffs, Turco came through with a 36-save shutout as the Wings won 3-0.

But the regular season finale was only a sign of strange events to come. The playoffs would prove to be the most bizarre witnessed in NNHL history. Detroit kicked off the weirdness. After losing the opening game of the series to Chicago, Detroit won four straight to knock off the highly favoured Hawks, who finished 34 points ahead of them in the standings.

Meanwhile, Toronto kept things interesting. Trailing the Bruins 3-1, the Leafs kept themselves alive with a 6-2 victory. Scott Young then came through with clutch overtime goals in Game 6 and 7 to eliminate Boston.

With the Bruins and Hawks out of the way, the only barrier for Philadelphia seemed to be the Pittsburgh Penguins, who swept Colorado in four games. Philadelphia first had to survive its own scare. Up 3-1, New Jersey came back with two wins to send the series to a seventh game, which the Flyers won 6-1.

The Toronto/Pittsburgh series turned into a battle of attrition. Both teams lost their starting goalies as Toronto's Evgeny Nabokov and Pittsburgh's Patrick Lalime went down with injuries in Game 2 of the series. Felix Potvin outduelled Johan Hedberg in the battle of the backups as Toronto took a 3-1 series lead. Hedberg kept the Pens alive in Game 5 and with both starting goalies back for Game 6, Lemieux scored twice to lead the Pens to victory and into Game 7. (Lemieux would end up leading all playoff scorers with 12 goals and 22 points in 11 games). With the deciding game tied 1-1, Lalime was again injured late in the first period. Nabokov would also leave the game in the third with the Leafs leading 5-3. It took a Twilight Zone-like twist when Potvin was forced to leave the game with less than a minute to play. That left defenceman Zdeno Chara to guard the net for 54 tense seconds. Pittsburgh scored with 40 seconds to play to cut the lead to one but Toronto would hold on to win 6-4.

In the other semifinal, Philadelphia looked to be cruising into the final for the second time in three years. They again led 3-1 but Detroit stayed alive in Game 5 and won Game 6 in overtime. In Game 7, the Wings scored three third period goals to win 4-1 and keep their Cinderella run going.

The Leafs, missing six regulars from their lineup and playing their third-string goalie, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, split the first two games of the series. Potvin returned to post a shutout in Game 3 against the team that dealt him away at the trade deadline. Toronto then wounded Detroit by rallying from a 4-2 deficit in the third to win 5-4. In Game 5, the Leafs again found themselves down 2-0 in the third but tied the game and forced overtime. That set the stage for Mark Parrish, a minor league sniper with only five NNHL games under his belt who was recalled during the finals because of the Leafs' injury woes. He would make his first NNHL goal very memorable --a Cup winning goal 4:26 into overtime. Young with 11 goals and 17 points in the playoffs, won the Beliveau Trophy.

Prior to its sixth season, the NNHL established a Hall of Fame and three-time Orr Trophy winner Ray Bourque was the first to enter the shrine. Bourque retired as the league's all-time highest scoring defenceman with 219 points in 309 games over four seasons.

Vancouver joined the league, becoming the 12th NNHL team. Among the players it picked up in the expansion draft were Jeff Friesen of Philadelphia, Petr Nedved of Detroit, Sean Burke of Chicago and Martin Brodeur of New Jersey. Vancouver made Kyle Calder first overall in the NNHL entry draft and acquired one of the league's best snipers, Teemu Selanne, prior to the season in exchange for Burke.

Vancouver first season got off to a rocky start. They were welcomed into the league with an 8-1 loss to the Boston Bruins. That game kicked off a nine-game road trip to start the season and by mid-November the Canucks were 3-15-0.

Meanwhile, the second-year Edmonton Oilers got off to a 12-4-4 start. The Oilers were led by Eric Lindros, who bounced back after missing all but three games of the previous season. Lindros would capture his second Wayne Gretzky Trophy as the league's scoring leader, finishing with 80 points.

The Detroit Red Wings, coming off their surprising trip to the Stanley Cup final, carried their momentum into the new season, starting the campaign off with a 10-4-2 run while the Philadelphia Flyers led the pack at the quarter pole with a 15-5-0 mark. The Flyers would stumble through November before catching fire again and going on a 17-game unbeaten streak (13-0-4), shattering the Colorado's record of 13.

Still, the streak never got the Flyers more than four points ahead of New Jersey, who had taken over first with a 15-3-2 run. Jose Theodore's record-setting season was a big reason for New Jersey's resurgance. By February 6, the Devils had already matched the previous season's point total. Theodore would become the first goalie to post a sub-2.00 average, finishing the year at 1.98 while setting a new records for wins (43) and shutouts (10). Theodore would take home the Howe Trophy as league MVP and sweep all three goaltending awards--the Plante, Sawchuk and Hall.

By the midway point of the season, the Flyers and Devils had opened up an 11-point gap over the rest of the league. But the rest was wide open from there. By New Year's Day, only five points separated third place from 10th. The biggest surprise was that Edmonton and Montreal, two teams who had never made the playoffs were holding down third and fourth. Edmonton was slipping back to the .500 mark but Montreal was charging forward with a 12-3-4 hot streak. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that Chicago, which had finished first or second in each of the previous five years was struggling to hold on to a playoff spot and climb above the .500 mark. They hit mid-season at 16-18-6.

Edmonton's once-promising season went up in flames with a 13-game winless streak and by the end of February were 22-30-10.

Boston had finally caught fire and moved into third, while at the bottom of the standings, Vancouver was starting to make some noise. The finally moved out of the basement and by the end of March were the hunt for a playoff berth, having gone 29-15-4 since mid-November.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were suffering from a season-long Stanley Cup hangover. At 19-26-4, the Leafs were fading from the playoff picture. At the deadline, they traded many of the key component's over the previous season's championship. Richard Matvichuk and Joe Nieuwendyk were dealt to Edmonton, and Teppo Numminen was shipped to New Jersey. By season's end, Toronto would be dead last with a franchise low 61 points.

For the second year in a row, the final day would determine the playoff participants. Edmonton, Montreal and Vancouver were still in the hunt for two spots on the final day. Edmonton controlled its own fate but lost 3-2 to Colorado. Vancouver and Montreal could each get in with a win and the Canucks delivered, shutting out San Jose 1-0 to jump into 7th. Montreal could still get in, but lost its seventh straight game, 2-1 to Philadelphia, to miss the playoffs again.

The Pittsburgh Penguins might have factored into that race as well had they not lost 11 in a row through March and April. They finally snapped the streak in their final game of the season but finished with a franchise low 64 points. Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux who were both among the league's top-10 scorers the previous season, finished with 34 and 19 points--not even enough to get them into the top 10 combined.

Edmonton and Vancouver would not enjoy the playoff party too long. New Jersey, which finished first with 109 points, swept the Oilers in four games. Vancouver, after winning the first game, lost four in a row to Philadelphia, who finished with a team record 103 points in the regular season.

Chicago, which finished 11-5-2 behind the goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere and the firepower of Jarome Iginla, carried their momentum into the playoffs and put the Sharks out in six games. Locked in a battle for the Richard Trophy with three-time defending champ Pavel Bure of Colorado, Iginla scored seven goals in the Hawks last six games to run away with the award. He finished with 46 while Bure and New Jersey's Keith Tkachuk tied for second with 41.

The Hawks' victory ended San Jose's finest season as the team's new management guided it to a franchise best 37-31-12 record, bettering the franchise record by 17 points. Defenceman Bryan McCabe was a big reason. He led all defencemen with 21 goals and 60 points and was awarded the Orr Trophy, San Jose's first post-season award.

The other first-round series saw a disturbing trend continue for the Boston Bruins. They lost in seven games to Detroit. Making it worse was that Boston, for the second year in a row, blew a 3-1 series lead. It also extended the Bruins losing streak to 10 games in games in which they could close a series. They lost after having 3-2 leads in 2000 (New Jersey--semifinals) and 2001 (Colorado--quarterfinals). Meanwhile, the Wings rallied from a 3-1 deficit for the second year in a row.

Led by Ron Francis, the Flyers swept Chicago in the second round. Francis carried a 12-game point streak into the Chicago series and added six more points against the Hawks. Radek Bonk won game four with his second double overtime goal of the playoffs, which improved the Flyers to 4-0 in overtime in the playoffs.

In the New Jersey-Detroit semifinal, Theodore blanked the Wings in the opener and in game two, despite losing goalie Marty Turco to injury, the Wings held on to even the series. Burke replaced Turco and stopped 32 shots and 34 shots in consecutive wins to put the Wings up 3-1. New Jersey evened the series with an overtime victory, in which Burke was injured leaving Martin Brodeur to take over in net. Brodeur would play well in Game 6 but didn't need to as the Wings pounded New Jersey 9-3 to earn a trip back to the Cup final.

The Flyers would outshoot the Wings 68-44 in the first two games of the final but Brodeur would steal a pair of 3-2 road victories with 33 and 31 save performances in Philadelphia. The Flyer offence would come to life in Detroit as Philly evened the series with 6-3 and 7-5 wins. Back at home the Flyers cruised to a 5-1 win.

For game six, Detroit reached deep into the well. Tom Barrasso, who had been talking of retiring because of his No. 4 status in the Wings' crease, got the start for the biggest game of the year. The Wings and Flyers exchanged first period goals and despite a 16-shot onslaught by the Flyers in the second, only Gary Roberts' power play goal got by Barrasso. In the third, Roberto Luongo kicked aside 13 shots to preserve the win and give the Flyers their second Stanley Cup.

Daniel Alfredsson, the only player to win three Cups, won his fourth. Ron Francis, who set league records with 16 assists and 26 points, won the Beliveau Trophy. He had multiple points in nine of the Flyers 15 playoff games. Francis was also rewarded for his fine 75-point regular season. He was awarded the Bobby Hull Trophy for skill and gentlemanly play and was runner-up to Detroit's Mike Peca for the Bob Gainey Trophy as the league's best defensive forward.