The 1997 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1996–97 season, and the culmination of the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the Philadelphia Flyers. Detroit was in the Finals for the second time in three years (the other coming in 1995, when they lost to the New Jersey Devils) while the Flyers were making their first appearance since losing in 1987 to the Edmonton Oilers. Detroit won the series in four games to win the Stanley Cup for the eighth time in franchise history and the first time since 1955; Philadelphia had not won since 1975. Detroit was the last team to win the Cup without having home ice advantage in the Finals and with fewer than 100 points earned during the regular season until 2009.

Philadelphia rose to the top on the back of a 17-game unbeaten streak in December and January, and despite losing the Atlantic Division title to New Jersey, had a relatively easy time with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres in the first two rounds. The Flyers arrived into the Stanley Cup Finals having beaten their perennial rivals, the New York Rangers, in a memorable five-game Eastern Conference Final series. Eric Lindros and Wayne Gretzky each recorded a hat trick in the set, but the size, strength and discipline of Philadelphia (particularly the Legion of Doom line) trumped the veteran savvy of the Blueshirts.

For Detroit there was the departure of several players whom head coach Scotty Bowman blamed for their loss to Colorado a year prior, including trading away Paul Coffey to get star Brendan Shanahan.^[1] Detroit won 38 games in the regular season, in contrast to the record-setting 62 win season the previous year, making them the dark horse in the Western Conference as the third seed behind the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche. In the playoffs, the Wings dispatched a fractured St. Louis Blues team and a surprising rival Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to reach the Western Conference finals for the third straight season. In a rematch of last year's conference finals where Colorado had upset Detroit, this time Detroit overcame defending Cup holders Colorado in an often brutal six-game series to earn second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in three years.

This is the first time that these two teams met in the postseason.

Bolded years under Finals appearance indicates year won Stanley Cup.

Detroit Red Wings

More information #, Nat ...

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
30		Chris Osgood	G	L	1991	Peace River, Alberta	second (1995) (did not play)
29		Mike Vernon	G	L	1994–95	Calgary, Alberta	fourth (1986, 1989, 1995)
31		Kevin Hodson	G	L	1993–94	Winnipeg, Manitoba	first (did not play)
2		Viacheslav Fetisov	D	L	1994–95	Moscow, Soviet Union	second (1995)
3		Bob Rouse	D	R	1994–95	Surrey, British Columbia	second (1995)
4		Jamie Pushor	D	R	1991	Lethbridge, Alberta	first (did not play)
5		Nicklas Lidstrom	D	L	1989	Krylbo, Sweden	second (1995)
11		Mathieu Dandenault	D	R	1994	Sherbrooke, Quebec	first (did not play)
16		Vladimir Konstantinov	D	R	1989	Murmansk, Soviet Union	second (1995)
27		Aaron Ward	D	R	1993–94	Windsor, Ontario	first
55		Larry Murphy	D	R	1996–97	Scarborough, Ontario	third (1991, 1992)
8		Igor Larionov	C	L	1995–96	Voskresensk, Soviet Union	first
13		Vyacheslav Kozlov	LW	L	1990	Voskresensk, Soviet Union	second (1995)
14		Brendan Shanahan – A	LW	R	1996–97	Etobicoke, Ontario	first
15		Tomas Holmstrom	LW	L	1994	Piteå, Sweden	first (did not play)
17		Doug Brown	RW	R	1994–95	Southborough, Massachusetts	second (1995)
18		Kirk Maltby	RW	R	1995–96	Guelph, Ontario	first
19		Steve Yzerman – C	C	R	1983	Burnaby, British Columbia	second (1995)
20		Martin Lapointe	RW	R	1991	Ville St. Pierre, Quebec	second (1995)
25		Darren McCarty	RW	R	1992	Burnaby, British Columbia	second (1995)
26		Joe Kocur	RW	R	1996–97	Kelvington, Saskatchewan	second (1994)
28		Tomas Sandstrom	LW	L	1996–97	Jakobstad, Finland	second (1993)
33		Kris Draper	C	L	1993–94	Toronto, Ontario	second (1995)
37		Tim Taylor	C	L	1993–94	Stratford, Ontario	second (1995) (did not play)
91		Sergei Fedorov – A	C	L	1989	Pskov, Soviet Union	second (1995)

Close

Philadelphia Flyers

More information #, Nat ...

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
27		Ron Hextall	G	L	1994–95	Brandon, Manitoba	second (1987)
30		Garth Snow	G	L	1995–96	Wrentham, Massachusetts	first
6		Chris Therien	D	L	1990	Ottawa, Ontario	first
8		Michel Petit	D	R	1996–97	Saint-Malo, Quebec	first
23		Petr Svoboda	D	L	1994–95	Most, Czechoslovakia	third (1986, 1989)
24		Karl Dykhuis	D	L	1994–95	Sept-Îles, Quebec	first
28		Kjell Samuelsson	D	R	1995–96	Tingsryd, Sweden	third (1987, 1992)
37		Eric Desjardins – A	D	R	1994–95	Rouyn, Quebec	third (1989, 1993)
44		Janne Niinimaa	D	L	1993	Raahe, Finland	first
77		Paul Coffey	D	L	1996–97	Weston, Ontario	seventh (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1995)
9		Dainius Zubrus	LW	L	1996	Elektrėnai, Soviet Union	first
10		John LeClair	LW	L	1994–95	St. Albans, Vermont	second (1993)
15		Pat Falloon	RW	R	1995–96	Foxwarren, Manitoba	first
17		Rod Brind'Amour – A	C	L	1991–92	Ottawa, Ontario	first
18		Dale Hawerchuk	C	L	1995–96	Toronto, Ontario	first
19		Mikael Renberg	RW	L	1990	Piteå, Sweden	first
20		Trent Klatt	RW	R	1995–96	Robbinsdale, Minnesota	first
21		Dan Kordic	LW	L	1990	Edmonton, Alberta	first
25		Shjon Podein	LW	L	1994–95	Rochester, Minnesota	first
26		John Druce	RW	R	1995–96	Peterborough, Ontario	first
29		Joel Otto	C	R	1995–96	Elk River, Minnesota	third (1986, 1989)
32		Daniel Lacroix	LW	L	1996–97	Montreal, Quebec	first
45		Vaclav Prospal	C	L	1993	České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia	first (did not play)
48		Colin Forbes	C	L	1994	New Westminster, British Columbia	first
88		Eric Lindros – C	C	R	1992–93	Toronto, Ontario	first

Close

The 1997 Stanley Cup was presented to Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Red Wings 2–1 win over the Flyers in game four

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

1996–97 Detroit Red Wings

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.^[3]

On June 13, 1997, just six days after the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, a limousine carrying Vladimir Konstantinov, team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov and Viacheslav Fetisov crashed into a tree after returning from a private party. Konstantinov spent several weeks in a coma and suffered from serious head injuries and paralysis. Fetisov, on the other hand, sustained minor injuries and Mnatsakanov suffered heavy head injuries and a coma. Fetisov continued to play, but Konstantinov did not, as the crash ended his career. The Red Wings successfully returned to the Finals the following year. This time, the Red Wings played the Washington Capitals and swept them 4–0 to capture their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. During the celebration ceremonies after winning the Stanley Cup, Konstantinov was wheeled around the ice with his teammates in his wheelchair with the Cup on his lap.

• 1996–97 NHL season