September 11, 2001
The United States was attacked by terrorists organized by Osama bin Laden when highjacked commercial planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

January 1, 2002
Detroit's youngest mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick at age 31, took office and was officially sworn in on Friday, January 4 at the historic Fox Theatre.

January 22, 2002
K Mart Corporation, with roots dating back to 1897, filed for Chapter 11 protection, making it the largest such filing by a retailer in U.S. history.



Most Goals - Brendan Shanahan: 38
Most Assists - Nicklas Lidstrom: 50
Most Points - Brendan Shanahan: 75
Most Penalty Minutes - Chris Chelios: 126
Most Wins, Goaltender - Dominik Hasek: 41
Lowest Goals-Against Average - Dominik Hasek: 2.17
Most Shutouts - Dominik Hasek: 5
NHL Award Winners
Chris Chelios - Bud Light Plus-Minus Award & 1st Team All-Star
Nicklas Lidstrom - Norris Trophy & 1st Team All-Star, Brendan Shanahan - 2nd Team All-Star

Central Division	W	L	T	OTL	PTS	GF	GA
DETROIT	51	17	10	4	116	251	187
St. Louis	43	27	8	4	98	227	188
Chicago	41	27	13	1	96	216	207
Nashville	28	41	13	0	69	196	230
Columbus	22	47	8	5	57	164	255

Western Conference Winners:
Detroit Red Wings

Playoff Results
Defeated the Vancouver Canucks in Series "E" (4-2)
Defeated the St. Louis Blues in Series "K" (4-1)
Defeated the Colorado Avalanche in Series "N" (4-3)
Defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in Series "O" (4-1)

Stanley Cup Champion
Detroit Red Wings



In the spring of 2001, for the first time in seven years, the Stanley Cup had been decided without a single round being decided in Detroit's favor. You didn't need to be a member of the Red Wings organization to know that such failure wouldn't fly. Within days of their first-round upset at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings, the wheels of change were set in motion, with six-time Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Dominik Hasek arriving from Buffalo. Hasek would handle the stopping and free agents Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull were signed to beef up the club's goal-scoring potency. The Wings jumped from the gate like Secretariat in the Belmont, leaving all challengers behind. Rolling to a 28-12-6-3 start, they were the talk of the hockey world, winning the President's Trophy as NHL regular-season champions with 116 points.

As befitting a team of great legends, milestone performances abounded. Reigning Norris Trophy holder Nicklas Lidstrom garnered two assists Oct. 12 in a 4-2 win over Buffalo to surpass Reed Larson (570 points) as Detroit's all-time top-scoring defenseman. Brendan Shanahan beat Colorado's Patrick Roy March 23 to record his 500th NHL goal. He also garnered his 1,000th NHL point. Scotty Bowman coached his NHL-record 1,200th game and joined Jack Adams as the only men to post 400 wins as Wings coach. When Steve Yzerman set up Mathieu Dandenault's overtime winner Jan. 20 against Ottawa, it gave the Detroit captain 1,000 NHL assists. Robitaille joined Yzerman and Hull in the NHL's exclusive 600-goal club Nov. 9 at Anaheim, but didn't' stop there. Jan. 18 against Washington, Robitaille scored his 612th career goal, to surpass Brett's dad Bobby Hull as the all-time leading goal scorer among left wingers in NHL history. Lidstrom won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman, but for all the history they made, only one bauble interested this group - Lord Stanley's mug. The Cup would make a comeback to Detroit, but not without first providing a couple of frightening moments. The Wings dropped their first two games of their first-round series on home ice against Vancouver, then rallied to win the set in six. St. Louis fell easily in five games in the second round, leaving Colorado the last team in the way of a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.

When the Avalanche grabbed a 3-2 series lead, things looked grim. But Hasek delivered back-to-back shutouts, the second coming in a memorable 7-0 Game 7 rout in which the Wings chased long-time nemesis Roy to the bench. The upstart Carolina Hurricanes upset the applecart with a Game 1 OT win at the JLA, but the Wings prevailed in a five-game final series. This golden team had provided Hockeytown another silver lining.



Wings' Cup Triumph a Perfect 10

Lord Stanley's mug came back to Hockeytown for the 10th time, but it didn't come easily, making its arrival all the more sweet. Detroit trailed in three of its four playoff rounds and faced elimination twice, but never surrendered. That perseverance paid off when Brendan Shanahan scored twice in the Cup-clinching 3-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Nicklas Lidstrom won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, but any number of players could have taken the honor. There was captain Steve Yzerman, gamely plahing on a knee in dire need of surgical repair; Dominik Hasek, posting a Stanley Cup-record six shutouts; Brett Hull, firing a team-leading 10 goals; Sergei Fedorov, who made the puck his own personal play-thing; and Igor Larionov, 41, who became the oldest player to score in a Cup final game, netting the winner in triple overtime in Game 3 against Carolina. That so many contributed was the perfect finish for a club which was a team in every sense of the word.



Scotty calls it a day

The Stanley Cup captured, Detroit coach Scotty Bowman donned his skates to tour Lord Stanley's mug around the Joe Louis Arena ice surface. The he hung them up for good.

"I just coached my last game," Bowman told Wings GM Ken Holland moments after the Cup was acquired.

"I made up my mind in Februrary," Bowman, 68, said later. "I know it's time now."

Bowman finished his career with an NHL-record 1,244 regular season wins. His playoff (227) and Cup final (36) wins totals are also league marks. The Cup triumph, Bowman's third with Detroit, was his record ninth as a coach, shattering the mark he shared with his mentor, long-time Montreal coach Toe Blake, who imparted his hockey wisdom upon a young Bowman when the latter coached Montreal's junior squad in the early 1960s. Blake retired in 1968 after winning his eighth Cup at the expense of the St. Louis Blues and their rookie coach Bowman.



Three future Hall of Famers joined the fold when goalie Dominik Hasek was added from Buffalo and right-winger Brett Hull and left-winger Luc Robitaille were signed as free agents. Defenseman Fredrik Olausson was another free-agent additions, as were center Sean Avery and right-winger Ladislav Kohn. Yuri Butsayev and a 2002 third-round draft pick were dealt to Atlanta for defenseman Jiri Slegr. Center Pavel Datsyuk was supplied by the NHL entry draft. Goalie Chris Osgood was lost to the New York Islanders in the NHL waiver draft, right-winger Martin Lapointe was signed as a free agent by Boston and center/winger Brent Gilchrist was lost on waivers to Dallas.

2001-02 Final
The Detroit Red Wings became the first team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup after starting the playoffs with two losses at home. After losing the first two games in their Conference Quarter-Final to the Vancouver Canucks, the Red Wings then won 16 of their next 21 games en route to their third Cup win under coach Scotty Bowman. Bowman established a new coaching record with his ninth Cup victory, surpassing the mark held with legendary Montreal coach Toe Blake.
After the slow start in their showdown against the Canucks, Detroit proceeded to win the series in six games. They then defeated the St. Louis Blues in five games before eliminating the Colorado Avalanche in a seven game Conference Final.
Those series wins set up a Stanley Cup Final against the Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes stunned the Red Wings in game one of the finals on the strength of Ron Francis’ overtime goal. That would be Carolina’s only win in the series as the Red Wings won four straight including a triple overtime win in game three that proved to be the turning point in the series. The Cup win would be the first for many veterans on the team including goaltender Dominik Hasek, forward Luc Robitaille, as well as defensemen Steve Duchesne and Fredrik Olausson. It also marked the second Cup win for Chris Chelios, 16 years after he first won the Cup as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in 1986.

Conference Quarterfinals