Detroit Red Wings: Remembering the 2001-02 season

After the Detroit Red Wings lost to the L.A. Kings in the first round of the 2000-01 playoffs, many thought a rebuild was necessary. They reloaded instead.

The Detroit Red Wings fell on some disappointing times after winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998 .

Losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the second round in back-to-back years was frustrating, but losing to the Los Angeles Kings in the first round seemed like a true downward turning point for the franchise.

Despite how good the Red Wings were in the 2000-01 season, before the early playoff exit, it seemed like the fans and media thought the team was getting to old.

What followed was one of the best and most surprising offseasons in Red Wings history. In late June, the Red Wings traded Vyacheslav Kozlov to the Buffalo Sabres for arguably the number one goalie at that time,, Dominik Hasek.

That was followed by signing Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull as unrestricted free agents. Being coached by Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman, the Red Wings went into training camp as huge favorites to win the Stanley Cup considering their stacked roster that season.

Chris Osgood was moved to the New York Islanders to make room for Hasek, so it was Stanley Cup or bust for the Red Wings.

The Red Wings breezed through the regular season, winning the Presidents’ Trophy with a record of 51-17-10-4. The Red Wings drew the up-and-coming Vancouver Canucks in the first round and after losing the first two games at Joe Louis Arena fans voiced their displeasure.

Fans were booing the team, jerseys were thrown on the ice, Brett Hull was frustrated by the fans. Many people thought the series was over and that this all star team wouldn’t even make it out of the first round.

But thankfully the Red Wings would win four straight against the Canucks and advance to the second round. The turning point was Nick Lidstrom’s goal late in the second period in game three from center ice.

The Red Wings would then dismiss the St Louis Blues in five games which set up an exciting matchup against the hated Colorado Avalanche.

With the series split two-two heading back to Joe Louis Arena for game five the Colorado Avalanche won in Overtime 2-1 and went back to Denver with a chance to end the Red Wings’ season once again.

But Dominik Hasek showed why he was the number one goalie in the NHL as he shutout the Avs in Game 6 and in a beatdown in Game 7.

Game 7 was one of the best games to watch if you were a Red Wings fan. The Red Wings won 7-0, got Patrick Roy pulled, and the fans chanted “We Want Roy” after he was pulled.

In some ways, the Red Wings ended the rivalry with the Avalanche that night.

The Red Wings went to the Stanley Cup Finals to meet the Carolina Hurricanes who stunned the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Eastern Conference Finals in six games.

The Hurricanes won Game 1 in overtime but that would be the only game the Canes would win. The series was tied 1-1 heading to Carolina for games 3 and 4. With game three going into triple overtime, Igor Larionov scored the winner to give the Red Wings the victory.

Dominik Hasek would register his sixth shutout of the postseason in game 4 and the Red Wings headed back to the Joe to end the series.

In a great ending, the Red Wings clinched the Stanley Cup at home as Brendan Shanahan scored an empty net goal and a raucous celebration started.

With the NHL having a salary cap now a team like this will never be seen again. In my opinion this was the greatest team in NHL history.

Next: Detroit Tigers: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of 2016

The Red Wings had nine future Hall of Famers on that team and most likely Pavel Datsyuk will make it 10 when it’s all said and done.

The 2001-02 Red Wings went down as one of the most memorable Stanley Cup Champions in recent times and were the subject of Nick Cotsonika’s great book Hockey Gods: The Inside Story of the Red Wings Hall of Fame team.

Was this the greatest team in NHL History? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.