2001–02 NHL season

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.

League business
The cash-strapped Pittsburgh Penguins, desperate to dump payroll, could no longer afford perennial superstar Jaromir Jagr. 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 Dallas Stars moved their home games from Reunion Arena to American Airlines Center.

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.

Uniform updates
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).


 * Buffalo Sabres: In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the Sabres, in a sign of solidarity, took to the ice at Madison Square Garden on October 7 wearing jerseys reading "New York" on the front. Like the New York Rangers, their opponents in that game, the Sabres, play their home games in the state of New York.


 * Colorado Avalanche: The Avalanche introduce a third jersey, with the word "Colorado" slanted across the front of the jersey.


 * Columbus Blue Jackets: The numbers become more narrow and the names on the back shrink slightly.


 * Edmonton Oilers: The team introduces an alternate jersey, featuring silver in place of bronze and red. The crest is their new Alternate logo with an oil bolt with 5 rivets for the team's 5 Stanley Cup titles.


 * Los Angeles Kings: The Kings wore two patches. On the upper right chest was the All-Star Game patch, as the Kings were the hosts of the 2002 All-Star Game. On the upper left chest is a patch with the letters "AM," for director of scouting Garnet "Ace" Bailey and scout Mark Bavis, who were killed aboard United Airlines Flight 175 in the September 11 attacks.


 * Nashville Predators: The Predators unveil a mustard yellow alternate jersey.


 * New York Rangers: In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the Rangers wore ribbons on their uniforms in memory of the victims. Also in their October 7 game at Madison Square Garden against the Buffalo Sabres, both teams wore "New York" on their jerseys. For the Rangers, it was a return of sorts to the blue jerseys they wore from 1978 to 1987.


 * Ottawa Senators: The Senators wore special stickers on their helmets marking their 10th season in the NHL.


 * Philadelphia Flyers: The orange jersey is retired, leaving the black jersey to be worn on the road full time. In a "spooky" kind of way, the Philadelphia Flyers took to (what was then known as) the First Union Center ice on Halloween night 2001 wearing the orange jerseys that were thought to have been retired in the offseason. The jerseys brought good luck to the Flyers that night, as they shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3–0. In a show of support for New York's finest and bravest, the Flyers wore three special patches at the bottom of the back of the jersey. From left to right, they were "FDNY," the American flag, and "NYPD." The jerseys were auctioned off after the game to benefit the NHL's Twin Towers fund.


 * San Jose Sharks: The Sharks introduce a new black alternate jersey.


 * Tampa Bay Lightning: Team has a font change due to fan complaints deeming them unreadable. Also, the Lightning wore a patch to celebrate their 10th NHL season.


 * Toronto Maple Leafs: In honor of the 75th anniversary of the St. Pats becoming the Maple Leafs, the team wears vintage St. Pats jerseys in their game against the Buffalo Sabres on March 2. During the rest of the season, they wore special stickers on their helmets celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Maple Leafs.


 * Vancouver Canucks: A new alternate jersey is introduced, featuring a torso that changes from navy blue to maroon. The jersey features a redesigned Canuck Place patch.


 * Washington Capitals: The Capitals wore a patch in memory of the victims of the September 11 attacks.

Regular season
For the second time in three seasons, no player reached the 100-point plateau. 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.

Final standings
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

Eastern Conference
Teams in bold qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference
Teams in bold qualified for the playoffs.

Stanley Cup Finals
The Finals were contested by the Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings and the Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes. It was Detroit's twenty-second appearance in the Finals, their last appearance being a win in 1998. It was Carolina's first appearance in the Finals in franchise history. Detroit defeated Carolina in five games to win their tenth Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

Awards
The NHL Awards presentation took place in Toronto.

Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Leading goaltenders
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

Eastern Conference

 * Atlanta Thrashers: Curt Fraser
 * Boston Bruins: Robbie Ftorek
 * Buffalo Sabres: Lindy Ruff
 * Carolina Hurricanes: Paul Maurice
 * Florida Panthers: Duane Sutter and Mike Keenan
 * Montreal Canadiens: Michel Therrien
 * New Jersey Devils: Larry Robinson and Kevin Constantine
 * New York Islanders: Peter Laviolette
 * New York Rangers: Ron Low
 * Ottawa Senators: Jacques Martin
 * Philadelphia Flyers: Bill Barber
 * Pittsburgh Penguins: Ivan Hlinka and Rick Kehoe
 * Tampa Bay Lightning: John Tortorella
 * Toronto Maple Leafs: Pat Quinn
 * Washington Capitals: Ron Wilson

Western Conference

 * Mighty Ducks of Anaheim: Brian Murray
 * Calgary Flames: Greg Gilbert
 * Chicago Blackhawks: Brian Sutter
 * Colorado Avalanche: Bob Hartley
 * Columbus Blue Jackets: Dave King
 * Dallas Stars: Ken Hitchcock and Rick Wilson
 * Detroit Red Wings: Scotty Bowman
 * Edmonton Oilers: Craig MacTavish
 * Los Angeles Kings: Andy Murray
 * Minnesota Wild: Jacques Lemaire
 * Nashville Predators: Barry Trotz
 * Phoenix Coyotes: Bobby Francis
 * San Jose Sharks: Darryl Sutter
 * St. Louis Blues: Joel Quenneville
 * Vancouver Canucks: Marc Crawford

Debuts
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):


 * Ilya Bryzgalov, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
 * Dany Heatley, Atlanta Thrashers
 * Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers
 * Ales Kotalik, Buffalo Sabres
 * Henrik Tallinder, Buffalo Sabres
 * Erik Cole, Carolina Hurricanes
 * Tyler Arnason, Chicago Blackhawks
 * Radim Vrbata, Colorado Avalanche
 * Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
 * Sean Avery, Detroit Red Wings
 * Kristian Huselius, Florida Panthers
 * Stephen Weiss, Florida Panthers
 * Nick Schultz, Minnesota Wild
 * Martin Erat, Nashville Predators
 * Brian Gionta, New Jersey Devils
 * Raffi Torres, New York Islanders
 * Trent Hunter*, New York Islanders
 * Chris Neil, Ottawa Senators
 * Vesa Toskala, San Jose Sharks
 * Barret Jackman, St. Louis Blues
 * Alex Auld, Vancouver Canucks

Last games
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):
 * Steve Duchesne, Detroit Red Wings
 * Ray Ferraro, St. Louis Blues
 * Grant Ledyard, Tampa Bay Lightning
 * John MacLean, Dallas Stars
 * Dave Manson, Dallas Stars
 * Stephane Richer, New Jersey Devils
 * Kevin Stevens, Pittsburgh Penguins
 * Gary Suter, San Jose Sharks
 * Rick Tocchet, Philadelphia Flyers
 * John Vanbiesbrouck, New Jersey Devils
 * Pat Verbeek, Dallas Stars
 * Mike Vernon, Calgary Flames

Canada
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.

United States
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.