2001 Stanley Cup Final

The 2001 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2000–01 season, and the culmination of the 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Eastern Conference champion and defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils and the Western Conference champion and Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche. It was Colorado's second appearance in the Final, and the first since the team won the Cup in 1996. It was New Jersey's third appearance in the Final and second straight appearance after winning the Cup in the previous year.

Colorado defeated New Jersey in seven games to win their second Stanley Cup in franchise history. Colorado's Patrick Roy was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the 2001 playoffs. This was the first Stanley Cup Final since 1994 that would be decided in the maximum seven games. This was also the first and, as of 2024, most recent Final since 1989 that the number one seeds in each conference met in the Final. This marked the only time in NHL history where two teams who occupied the same market at different times faced off against each other. The Devils were based out of Denver as the Colorado Rockies from 1976 to 1982 and the Avalanche established themselves in the city in 1995 after relocating from Quebec City.

New Jersey finished the regular season with 111 points and an Atlantic Division title, good for the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4–2, the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4–1 to advance to the Final.

Colorado finished the regular season with 118 points and a Northwest Division title, good for the first overall seed in the Western Conference, and the Presidents' Trophy as the team with the league's best regular season record. In the playoffs, they defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4–0, the Los Angeles Kings 4–3 and the St. Louis Blues 4–1 to advance to the Final.

Colorado centre Joe Sakic scored his 10th and 11th goal of the playoffs in the first and second periods of game one. The Avalanche smothered the New Jersey defence and scored five goals in the game. The Devils did not score any goals, and in the third period, after the game was 5–0, things culminated in a fistfight between the Avalanche's Chris Dingman and the Devils' Sean O'Donnell. The third period had a total tally of 44 penalty minutes accumulated by both clubs.

The second game began with goals in the first period by Colorado's Sakic and New Jersey's Bob Corkum and Turner Stevenson. The 2–1 lead by the Devils held throughout the game as they defeated the Avalanche to even the series at one game apiece.

Game three was held in New Jersey. Devils centre Jason Arnott scored an early power-play goal, but in the tenth minute, the Avalanche evened through defenceman Martin Skoula. Neither team scored any goals in the second period. Early in the third, Colorado defenceman Ray Bourque scored a power-play goal to break the tie. Five minutes later, Colorado winger Dan Hinote scored the team's third goal, and the Devils did not respond. The win by Colorado marked another road win in the series.

In the first period of game four, Colorado scored an early goal when Rob Blake shot the puck past Devils goalkeeper Martin Brodeur. Patrik Elias and New Jersey responded when he scored a short-handed goal to even the score at one goal apiece. Later in the second, Avalanche centre Chris Drury scored to give the Avalanche a one-goal lead going into the third period. But the third period belonged to the Devils: Scott Gomez and Petr Sykora each scored a goal in the third, and Brodeur stopped every puck that went his way. The New Jersey offence overwhelmed the Avalanche defence as they managed 35 shots; Colorado managed only 12 shots. New Jersey again evened the series, this time at two games apiece.

In Colorado for game five, Devils forward Patrik Elias started the scoring for the Devils as they jumped out to an early one-goal lead. Exactly seven minutes later, Colorado winger Alex Tanguay tied the game on the power-play. However, in the late minutes of the first period, New Jersey forward Alexander Mogilny scored the game's eventual winner. In the second period, Devils forward Sergei Brylin scored a power-play goal to give the Devils a two-goal lead, and in the third period, centre John Madden scored a fourth goal for insurance. The Devils won and reclaimed the home-ice advantage; they eventually won 4–1. They forced the Avalanche to try to win on the road to force a Game 7 in Denver.

Game six paralleled game one for the Avalanche. The Devils tested the Avalanche early with a barrage of shots on goaltender Patrick Roy. After stopping them all, and with two minutes remaining in the first period, Colorado defenceman Adam Foote scored an unassisted goal to give the Avalanche the lead on just their fourth shot. Early in the second period, Avalanche winger Ville Nieminen scored a power-play goal, and late in the second period, Drury scored his 11th goal of the playoffs to give the Avalanche a commanding lead entering the third period. Alex Tanguay scored the only goal of the third period and the Avalanche won to force a deciding game seven in Denver. Despite Colorado's high number of penalty minutes, the Devils were unable to put anything past Roy.

Around eight minutes into game seven, Alex Tanguay of the Avalanche scored the period's only goal. Colorado then scored two consecutive goals in the second period: another by Tanguay, his sixth of the playoffs, and a power-play goal scored by Joe Sakic, his 13th of the playoffs. Shortly after Sakic's goal, Petr Sykora and the Devils sprang into life when he scored a power-play goal. It left the Devils with only two goals to overcome, but Roy and the Avalanche would prove too much for the Devils in the third period as Colorado defensively shut the door on New Jersey to win the game and the series.

With the win, the Avalanche became the fifth team to win the Presidents' Trophy and Stanley Cup in the same season since the former trophy's introduction in 1985–86.

The Devils' series loss marked the second straight season that the defending Stanley Cup champion lost in the Final, as the Devils themselves defeated the 1999 Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars in the 2000 Stanley Cup Final.

This was the first and only Stanley Cup championship for defenceman Ray Bourque, who retired shortly after the series ended. His number 77 would be retired by both the Avalanche and Boston Bruins (the team he played for from 1979 to 2000).^[1] To date, he is one of only nine NHL players to have his number retired by more than one team.^[2]

This was the last major professional sports championship won by a Denver-based team until 2016, when the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50 in the 2015 NFL season. This would also be the Avalanche's last Stanley Cup title and Final appearance until 2022, when they defeated the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.

Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.

The 2001 Stanley Cup was presented to Avalanche captain Joe Sakic by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Avalanche's 3–1 win over the Devils in game seven. Although the normal tradition dictates that the captain skates with the cup first, in a gesture of class by Sakic, he kept the cup under his waist and handed it to Bourque, who skated with it first, in what is widely considered to be one of the most emotional moments in NHL history.^[3]

The following Avalanche players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup:

2000–01 Colorado Avalanche

• * Played both centre and wing.
• † Did not play or dress in the Final.^[a]
• ‡ Exemption granted to engrave the name of a player who did not automatically qualify.^[b]

• #2 Bryan Muir (D) – played in 8 regular season games (previously ten games for the Tampa Bay Lightning) and 3 playoff games. As he did not automatically qualify,^[b] Colorado successfully requested an exemption to engrave his name.
• Six players also won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996: Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Jon Klemm, Stephane Yelle, Patrick Roy and Adam Foote.
• David Aebischer was the first player born and trained in Switzerland to win the Stanley Cup.

In Canada, the series was televised on CBC. In the United States, ESPN aired the first two games while ABC broadcast the rest of the series.

• 2000–01 NHL season

• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.

• "CNNSI.com – 2001 NHL playoffs". Archived from the original on April 13, 2001. Retrieved April 27, 2008.