The 2001–02 NHL season was the 85th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams competed in an 82-game regular season. The regular season began on October 3, and the playoffs concluded on June 13, with the Detroit Red Wings defeating the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals in five games, winning their tenth Stanley Cup in franchise history.
This season wasn't without tragedy however, as it was marred by the death of Brittanie Cecil, a 13-year old fan who died after getting struck in the head by a puck during a match between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Calgary Flames on March 16, 2002 at the Nationwide Arena, she died two days later. As a result of the tragedy, the NHL made it mandatory to install protective nylon mesh nets above the glass behind both goals.
The cash-strapped Pittsburgh Penguins, desperate to dump payroll, could no longer afford perennial superstar Jaromir Jagr.[1] He would be traded, along with Frantisek Kucera, to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Kris Beech, Ross Lupaschuk, Michal Sivek, and $4.9 million. Despite Mario Lemieux's return the previous season, the absence of Jagr proved devastating to the Penguins, and they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1990. The Penguins did not return to the playoffs until they drafted Sidney Crosby in 2005.
The NHL honored the victims of September 11 attacks by having all players wear a patch on their jerseys, a ribbon sticker on the back of their helmet, and placed a red, white, and blue ribbon painted on the ice behind each net, with the Canadian teams having a red and white ribbon painted on the ice behind either net. On September 20, 2001, in the middle of a pre-season game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers with both teams tied up 2–2, nine days after the attacks, the game was stopped so that a national television address by U.S. President George W. Bush about the September 11 attacks could be broadcast on the arena video screen. After the end of the television address, the game did not resume and was declared a 2–2 tie.[2]
The NHL honored the victims of the September 11 attacks by having all players wear a patch on their jerseys, a ribbon sticker on the back of their helmet, as well as a red, white and blue ribbon painted on the ice behind each net, (with the Canadian teams having a red and white ribbon painted on the ice behind either net).
For the second time in three seasons, no player reached the 100-point plateau.[3] In addition, for the first time since 1980, the Art Ross Trophy was not won by either Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, or Jaromir Jagr. Instead, the award went to Jarome Iginla, who scored 96 points.
The Detroit Red Wings placed first in the league standings and received home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. This is the first season that the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers both missed the playoffs.
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams in bold qualified for the playoffs.
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot
Teams in bold qualified for the playoffs.
Divisions: CEN – Central, PAC – Pacific, NW – Northwest
bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy; y – Won division
In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winners seeded 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8.
The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.
The NHL Awards presentation took place in Toronto.
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes Played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage
Source: 2003 NHL Yearbook
[6]
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 2001–02 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 2001–02 (listed with their last team):
This was the fourth and final season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with CBC and Sportsnet. CBC aired Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada regular season games, while Sportsnet's telecasts included Tuesday Night Hockey and other weeknight games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs continued to primarily be on CBC, while Sportsnet aired first round all-U.S. series.
The league would then sign a multi-year deal with Sportsnet's rival TSN.
This was the third year of the league's five-year U.S. national broadcast rights deal with ESPN and ABC. ESPN and ESPN2 aired weeknight games throughout the regular season. ABC's coverage included the All-Star Game and five weeks worth of regional games on Saturday afternoons in January and March. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected games, while ABC had Saturday regional telecasts. Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster produced local coverage of first and second round games (except for those games on ABC). ABC's weekend telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the third round games. ESPN then aired the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals before the rest of the series shifted to ABC.