The 1996 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1995–96 season, and the culmination of the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Western Conference champion Colorado Avalanche and the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers, two teams in the Finals for the first time. The Avalanche swept the Panthers to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, 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. This was the first major professional sports championship ever won by a Denver-based team.
It was Colorado's first appearance in the Finals, in only their first season in Denver since moving from Quebec City (where they had formerly played as the Nordiques) in 1995. It was also Florida's first appearance in the Finals, in only the franchise's third season since entering the NHL in 1993. Only four other teams have made their first Stanley Cup Final appearance faster: the Toronto Arenas winning the Stanley Cup in the NHL inaugural season in , the St. Louis Blues in their debut season in (they lost the Finals to the Montreal Canadiens), the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural year in , and the Cup-winning New York Rangers (who were in their second season of play, having been formed for the 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 Finals appearance.
Paths to the Finals
Colorado Avalanche Colorado defeated the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings in six games each to advance to the Finals.
Florida Panthers Florida defeated the Boston Bruins in five games, the Philadelphia Flyers in six, and the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven, becoming the first team from a Southern state to appear in the Stanley Cup Final.
Game summaries
Game one
The series opened on 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. Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st FLA Tom Fitzgerald (4) Bill Lindsay (5) 16:51 1–0 FLA2nd COL Scott Young (3) Adam Deadmarsh (9) and Sylvain Lefebvre (5) 10:32 1–1 COL Mike Ricci (6) Sandis Ozolinsh (13) and Mike Keane (2) 12:21 2–1 COL COL Uwe Krupp (3) Valeri Kamensky (11) and Peter Forsberg (10) 14:21 3–1 COL3rdNonePenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTimePIM1st FLA Scott Mellanby Roughing 09:12 2:00 FLA Brian Skrudland Roughing 09:21 2:00 COL Uwe Krupp High-sticking 13:46 2:00 COL Alexei Gusarov Holding 18:15 2:002nd FLA Robert Svehla Interference 00:41 2:00 FLA Bill Lindsay Roughing 07:56 2:00 COL Mike Ricci Roughing 15:31 2:00 FLA Robert Svehla Roughing 17:39 2:00 COL Mike Ricci Goaltender interference 18:30 2:003rd COL Joe Sakic Holding 03:35 2:00 FLA Terry Carkner Slashing 07:51 2:00 FLA John Vanbiesbrouck (served by Ray Sheppard) Slashing 09:55 2:00 FLA Ed Jovanovski Roughing 19:42 2:00 Shots by periodTeam123Total 12 6 8 26 6 15 9 30
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. With 10:21 remaining in the game, Colorado forward Warren Rychel engaged in a fight with Florida defenseman Ed Jovanovski. As a result, Rychel was given a minor penalty for instigator and was ejected from the game. Colorado won the game 8–1, with three players scoring at least twice. Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st COL Peter Forsberg (8) Unassisted 04:11 1–0 COL FLA Stu Barnes (6) – pp Dave Lowry (7) and Ed Jovanovski (7) 07:52 1–1 COL Rene Corbet (2) – pp Scott Young (12) and Joe Sakic (13) 10:43 2–1 COL COL Peter Forsberg (9) – pp Joe Sakic (14) and Sandis Ozolinsh (14) 13:46 3–1 COL COL Peter Forsberg (10) – pp Joe Sakic (15) and Adam Deadmarsh (10) 15:05 4–1 COL2nd COL Rene Corbet (3) Unassisted 04:37 5–1 COL COL Valeri Kamensky (10) Alexei Gusarov (8) and Adam Deadmarsh (11) 05:08 6–1 COL COL Jon Klemm (1) Rene Corbet (2) and Uwe Krupp (12) 10:03 7–1 COL3rd COL Jon Klemm (2) – pp Joe Sakic (16) 17:28 8–1 COLPenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTimePIM1st COL Adam Deadmarsh Roughing 05:53 2:00 FLA Bill Lindsay Slashing 08:55 2:00 FLA Terry Carkner Roughing 12:51 2:00 FLA John Vanbiesbrouck Interference 14:50 2:002nd COL Sylvain Lefebvre Holding 06:26 2:00 COL Warren Rychel Roughing 17:01 2:003rd COL Valeri Kamensky High-sticking – double minor 03:11 4:00 COL Curtis Leschyshyn Charging 07:28 2:00 COL Valeri Kamensky Roughing 07:28 2:00 FLA Ed Jovanovski Roughing 07:28 2:00 COL Warren Rychel Instigator 09:39 2:00 COL Warren Rychel Fighting – major 09:39 5:00 COL Warren Rychel Game misconduct 09:39 10:00 FLA Ed Jovanovski Fighting – major 09:39 5:00 FLA Paul Laus Goaltender interference 11:42 2:00 FLA Scott Mellanby Roughing 16:09 2:00 Shots by periodTeam123Total 8 15 5 28 11 12 7 30
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. Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st COL Claude Lemieux (5) Valeri Kamensky (12) and Peter Forsberg (11) 02:44 1–0 COL FLA Ray Sheppard (8) – pp Martin Straka (2) and Ed Jovanovski (8) 09:14 1–1 FLA Rob Niedermayer (5) Scott Mellanby (6) and Johan Garpenlov (2) 11:19 2–1 FLA2nd COL Mike Keane (3) Adam Foote (3) and Alexei Gusarov (9) 01:38 2–2 COL Joe Sakic (18) Adam Deadmarsh (12) and Curtis Leschyshyn (2) 03:00 3–2 COL3rdNonePenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTimePIM1st COL Adam Deadmarsh Hooking 07:40 2:00 COL Adam Foote Roughing 12:49 2:00 FLA Dave Lowry Roughing 12:49 2:002ndNone3rdNone Shots by periodTeam123Total 6 10 6 22 16 13 5 34
Game four
With their backs to the wall, the two teams combined for a defensive battle that set a new record for the longest scoreless tie (104:31) in a Stanley Cup Final game, breaking the previous record from Game 4 of the 1934 Stanley Cup Final (which ended after 90:05 of overtime); this record would be passed by Game 5 of the 2000 Stanley Cup Final.
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-game series sweep. 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 11 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 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. Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1stNone2ndNone3rdNoneOTNone2OTNone3OT COL Uwe Krupp (4) Unassisted 04:31 1–0 COLPenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTimePIM1st FLA Robert Svehla Roughing 18:51 2:002nd COL Valeri Kamensky Hooking 05:21 2:00 COL Sandis Ozolinsh Roughing 05:21 2:00 FLA Rob Niedermayer Roughing 05:21 2:00 COL Adam Foote Roughing 09:28 2:00 FLA Ed Jovanovski Cross-checking 12:27 2:00 COL Curtis Leschyshyn Hooking 15:33 2:00 COL Mike Ricci Roughing 18:05 2:00 FLA Stu Barnes Roughing 18:05 2:003rd FLA John Vanbiesbrouck Interference 05:15 2:00 COL Claude Lemieux High-sticking 06:29 2:00OT COL Sandis Ozolinsh Roughing 13:04 2:00 FLA Johan Garpenlov Roughing 13:04 2:002OT COL Claude Lemieux Roughing 09:57 2:00 FLA Brian Skrudland Slashing 09:57 2:003OTNone Shots by periodTeam123OT2OT3OTTotal 9 10 10 11 12 4 56 10 17 8 7 18 3 63
Team rosters Bolded years under Finals appearance indicates year won Stanley Cup.
Colorado Avalanche
#NatPlayerPositionHandAcquiredPlace of birthFinals appearance 35 G L 1988Montreal, Quebec first 33 G L Quebec City, Quebec fourth 2 – A D L Richmond, Quebec first 4 D R Cologne, West Germany first 5 D L 1988Leningrad, Soviet Union first 6 – A D L Grosse Pointe, Michigan first 7 – A D L 1988Thompson, Manitoba first 8 D L Riga, Soviet Union first 24 D R Cranbrook, British Columbia first 52 D R 1988Toronto, Ontario first 9 – A C L Scarborough, Ontario first 10 C R Calgary, Alberta first 12 LW L Wawa, Ontario first 13 LW R 1988Voskresensk, Soviet Union first 14 C/LW L Onaping Falls, Ontario second 16 LW L Strathroy, Ontario second 18 RW R 1993Trail, British Columbia first 19 – C C L 1987Burnaby, British Columbia first 20 LW R 1991Victoriaville, Quebec first 21 C/LW L Örnsköldsvik, Sweden first 22 RW R Buckingham, Quebec fourth 25 RW R Winnipeg, Manitoba third 26 C L Ottawa, Ontario first 48 RW R Clinton, Massachusetts second
Florida Panthers
#NatPlayerPositionHandAcquiredPlace of birthFinals appearance 30 G L Toronto, Ontario first 34 G L Detroit, Michigan first 2 D L Smiths Falls, Ontario first 3 D R Beamsville, Ontario first 5 – A D R North York, Ontario first 6 D L Toronto, Ontario first 23 D R 1994Shaunavon, Saskatchewan first 24 D R Martin, Czechoslovakia first 55 D L 1994Windsor, Ontario first 10 LW L Sudbury, Ontario first 11 LW L Bigfork, Montana first 12 RW R Petrolia, Ontario first 14 C R Spruce Grove, Alberta first 18 LW L Montreal, Quebec first 9 RW R 1995Tábor, Czechoslovakia first 20 – C C L Peace River, Alberta third 21 RW R Billerica, Massachusetts first 26 RW R Pembroke, Ontario second 27 – A RW R Montreal, Quebec second 28 C L Plzeň, Czechoslovakia first 29 LW L Stockholm, Sweden first 44 C L 1993Cassiar, British Columbia first
Stanley Cup engraving