1996 Stanley Cup Finals

1996 Stanley Cup Finals
Teams1234***Games
Colorado Avalanche 38314
Florida Panthers  1 1 20 0

* indicates overtime period

Location:Denver (McNichols Sports Arena) (1,2)
Miami (Miami Arena) (3,4)
Format:Best-of-seven
Coaches:Colorado: Marc Crawford
Florida: Doug MacLean
Captains:Colorado: Joe Sakic
Florida: Brian Skrudland
Referees:Bill McCreary (1,4)
Don Koharski (2)
Andy Van Hellemond (3)
Dates:June 4–June 11
MVP:Joe Sakic (Colorado)
Series-winning
goal:		Uwe Krupp (4:31, 3OT, G4)
 < 1995Stanley Cup Finals1997 > 

The 1996 Stanley Cup Final was the NHL championship series of the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs contested between the Western Conference champion Colorado Avalanche and the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers, two teams in the Final for the first time and that did not exist only three seasons before. It was Colorado's first appearance in the Final, in only their first season in Denver since moving from Quebec City (where they had formerly played as the Nordiques) in 1995. It was Florida's first appearance in the Final, in only the franchise's third season since entering the NHL in 1993. Only two other teams have made their first Stanley Cup Final appearance faster: the St. Louis Blues in their debut season in 1967–68 (they lost the 1968 Finals to the Montreal Canadiens), and the 1928 Cup-winning New York Rangers (who were in their second season of play, having been formed for the 1926–27 season). This was also the first time since the formation of the NHL in 1917 that the two teams competing for the Cup were making their first Final appearance.

Colorado defeated Florida in a four-game sweep to win their first Stanley Cup becoming the seventh post-1967 expansion team and the second former WHA team (after the Edmonton Oilers) to win the Cup. Colorado's Joe Sakic earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the 1996 Playoffs.

Road to the Final

For more details on this topic, see 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Colorado defeated the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings in six games each to advance to the final.

Florida defeated the Boston Bruins in five games, the Philadelphia Flyers in six, and the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven.

The series

Game one

The series opened on Tuesday, June 4, at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver. Patrick Roy was in goal for Colorado, and John Vanbiesbrouck was between the pipes for Florida (a rematch from the 1986 Wales Conference Finals when Roy was with the Montreal Canadiens and Vanbiesbrouck was with the New York Rangers). Although Colorado was the heavy favorite in the series, Florida got on the board first on Tom Fitzgerald's goal at 16:51 of the first period. That would be all the Panthers would get, however, as Colorado scored three times within five minutes in the second period. Scott Young scored at 10:32, Mike Ricci scored at 12:21, and Uwe Krupp scored at 14:21. The Avalanche went on to win the game 3–1, with Roy making 25 saves in the victory.

Game two

Peter Forsberg got the Avalanche on the board first in game two, scoring an unassisted goal at 4:11 of the first period. The Panthers tied the game on Stu Barnes' power-play goal at 7:52. Rene Corbet broke the 1–1 tie with a power-play goal at 10:43, and then Forsberg scored two power-play goals of his own at 13:46 and 15:05 to complete the hat trick. Colorado led 4–1 after just one period. The Avalanche would make it 5–1 with Corbet’s second goal of the game at 4:37 of the second period. Valeri Kamensky followed with a goal just 31 seconds later, and Jon Klemm scored at 10:03 to give Colorado a dominating 7–1 lead after two periods. Klemm would add another goal at 17:28 of the third period. It was the Avalanche’s fourth power-play goal of the game. Colorado won the game 8–1, with three players scoring at least twice.

Game three

The Avalanche went to the Miami Arena in Florida with a 2–0 series lead. Claude Lemieux, back after his two-game suspension, scored the first goal of the game at 2:44 of the first period to give Colorado a 1–0 lead. Florida played determinedly, however, and tied the game on Ray Sheppard’s power-play goal at 9:14. Rob Niedermayer scored at 11:19 to give the Panthers their second lead of the series. The score was 2–1 Florida after one period. At 1:38 of the second period, Colorado’s Mike Keane scored a game-tying goal. Captain Joe Sakic scored the go-ahead goal just 82 seconds later, and Colorado went on to win 3–2 and take a commanding three-games-to-none lead in the series. Patrick Roy made 32 saves in the win.

Game four

With their backs to the wall, the Panthers played a defensive game. Florida goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck went save for save with Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy. The two teams played a marathon game that took until the third overtime period. Uwe Krupp’s unassisted goal at 4:31 ended 44 minutes and 31 seconds of overtime and gave the Avalanche a 1–0 win and a four-games-to-none series win. Goaltender Patrick Roy stopped all 63 shots he faced. Colorado outscored Florida 15–4 in the series, and Patrick Roy stopped 147 of 151 shots, for a save percentage of .974. Joe Sakic was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, having led all skaters in goals with 18, and points with 34. For both Patrick Roy and Claude Lemieux, it was one of their three Stanley Cup wins in eleven years. Roy and Lemieux first won the Cup in 1986 with the Montreal Canadiens. Roy won a second Cup with Montreal in 1993. Lemieux won a second cup with New Jersey in 1995.

The Avalanche became the third team to win the cup after relocating: the 1989 Calgary Flames won the Cup after moving from Atlanta and the New Jersey Devils in 1995 won the Cup 13 years after they played their last game in the same city and same arena that the Avs played in as the Colorado Rockies.

Rosters

Bolded years under Finals appearance indicates year won Stanley Cup.

Colorado Avalanche

Goaltenders
Player Catches Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
35 Stephane Fiset L 1988 Canada Montreal, Quebec first (did not play)
33 Patrick Roy L 1995–96 Canada Quebec City, Quebec fourth (1986, 1989, 1993)
Defensemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
2 Sylvain Lefebvre - A L 1994–95 Canada Richmond, Quebec first
4 Uwe Krupp R 1994–95 Germany Cologne, Germany first
5 Alexei Gusarov L 1988 Soviet Union Leningrad, USSR first
6 Craig Wolanin - A L 1989–90 United States Grosse Pointe, Michigan first (did not play)
7 Curtis Leschyshyn - A L 1988 Canada Thompson, Manitoba first
8 Sandis Ozolinsh L 1995–96 Latvia Riga, Latvia first
24 Jon Klemm R 1991–92 Canada Cranbrook, British Columbia first
52 Adam Foote R 1988 Canada Toronto, Ontario first
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
9 Mike Ricci – A C L 1991–92 Canada Scarborough, Ontario first
10 Troy Murray C R 1995–96 Canada Calgary, Alberta first (did not play)
12 Chris Simon LW L 1992–93 Canada Wawa, Ontario first (did not play)
13 Valeri Kamensky LW R 1988 Soviet Union Voskresensk, USSR first
14 Dave Hannan C/LW L 1995–96 Canada Sudbury, Ontario second (1988)
16 Warren Rychel LW L 1995–96 Canada Strathroy, Ontario second (1993)
18 Adam Deadmarsh RW R 1993 Canada Trail, British Columbia first
19 Joe Sakic – C C L 1987 Canada Burnaby, British Columbia first
20 René Corbet LW R 1991 Canada Victoriaville, Quebec first
21 Peter Forsberg C L 1994–95 Sweden Örnsköldsvik, Sweden first
22 Claude Lemieux RW R 1995–96 Canada Buckingham, Quebec fourth (1986, 1989, 1995)
25 Mike Keane RW R 1995–96 Canada Winnipeg, Manitoba fourth (1986, 1989, 1993)
26 Stephane Yelle C L 1993–94 Canada Ottawa, Ontario first
48 Scott Young RW R 1994–95 United States Clinton, Massachusetts second (1991)

Florida Panthers

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
30 Mark Fitzpatrick L 1993–94 Canada Toronto, Ontario first (did not play)
34 John Vanbiesbrouck L 1993–94 United States Detroit, Michigan first
Defensemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
2 Terry Carkner L 1995–96 Canada Smiths Falls, Ontario second (1995)
3 Paul Laus R 1993–94 Canada Beamsville, Ontario first
5 Gord Murphy – A R 1993–94 Canada Willowdale, Ontario first
6 Jason Woolley L 1994–95 Canada Toronto, Ontario first (did not play)
23 Rhett Warrener R 1994 Canada Shaunavon, Saskatchewan first
24 Robert Svehla R 1993–94 Slovakia Martin, Czechoslovakia first
55 Ed Jovanovski L 1994 Canada Windsor, Ontario first
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
10 Dave Lowry LW L 1993–94 Canada Sudbury, Ontario first
11 Bill Lindsay LW L 1993–94 United States Bigfork, Montana first
12 Jody Hull RW R 1993–94 Canada Petrolia, Ontario first (did not play)
14 Stu Barnes C R 1993–94 Canada Spruce Grove, Alberta first
18 Mike Hough LW L 1993–94 Canada Montreal, Quebec first
19 Radek Dvorak RW R 1995 Czech Republic Tábor, Czechoslovakia first
20 Brian Skrudland – C C L 1993–94 Canada Peace River, Alberta third (1986, 1989)
21 Tom Fitzgerald RW R 1993–94 United States Billerica, Massachusetts first
26 Ray Sheppard RW R 1995–96 Canada Petawawa, Ontario first
27 Scott Mellanby - A RW R 1993–94 Canada Montreal, Quebec second (1987)
28 Martin Straka C L 1995–96 Czech Republic Plzeň, Czechoslovakia first
29 Johan Garpenlov LW L 1995–96 Sweden Stockholm, Sweden first
44 Rob Niedermayer C L 1993 Canada Cassiar, British Columbia first

Colorado Avalanche - 1996 Stanley Cup Champions

Roster

  Centres
  Wingers
  Defencemen
  Goaltenders


  Coaching and administrative staff
  • Charlie Lyons (Chairman/Chief Executive Officer/Owner/President/Governor), Pierre Lacroix (Vice President/General Manager), Marc Crawford (Head Coach)
  • Joel Quenneville (Asst. Coach), Jacques Cloutier (Goaltending Coach), Francois Giguere (Asst. General Manager)
  • Michel Goulet (Director of Player Personnel), Dave Draper (Chief Scout), Jean Martineau (Director of Public Relations)
  • Pat Karns (Athletic Trainer), Matthew Sokolowski (Asst. Trainer), Rob McLean (Equipment Manager)
  • Mike Kramer (Asst. Equipment Manager), Brock Gibbins (Asst. Equipment Manager), Skip Allen (Strength-Conditioning Coach)
  • Paul Fixter (Video Coordinator), Leo Vyssokov (Massage Therapist)
  • Sandis Ozolinsh was first Latvian born-trained player to win the Stanley Cup.
  • Uwe Krupp was first the German born-trained player to win the Stanley Cup.

Stanley Cup engravings

Adam Deadmarsh's name was misspelled ADAM DEADMARCH. This mistake was corrected by stamping an "S" over the "C" twice. Deadmarsh's name was the first player's name to be corrected on the Presentation Stanley Cup.

See also

References

Preceded by
New Jersey Devils
1995		 Colorado Avalanche
Stanley Cup Champions
1996 		Succeeded by
Detroit Red Wings
1997
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