1998 Stanley Cup Final
1 2 3 4 Total Detroit Red Wings 2 5* 2 4 4 Washington Capitals 1 4* 1 1 0
* – Denotes overtime period(s)
Location(s)	Detroit:Joe Louis Arena (1, 2) Washington:MCI Center (3, 4)
Coaches	Detroit:Scotty Bowman Washington:Ron Wilson
Captains	Detroit:Steve Yzerman Washington:Dale Hunter
National anthems	Detroit:Karen Newman Washington: Robert "Bob" McDonald
Referees	Bill McCreary (1, 4) Don Koharski (2) Terry Gregson (3)
Dates	June 9–16, 1998
MVP	Steve Yzerman (Red Wings)
Series-winning goal	Martin Lapointe (2:26, second)
Hall of Famers	Red Wings: Sergei Fedorov (2015) Viacheslav Fetisov (2001) Igor Larionov (2008) Nicklas Lidstrom (2015) Larry Murphy (2004) Brendan Shanahan (2013) Steve Yzerman (2009) Capitals: Phil Housley (2015) Adam Oates (2012) Coaches: Scotty Bowman (1991) Officials: Bill McCreary (2014)
Networks	Canada: (English):CBC (French):SRC United States: (English):Fox (1),ESPN (2–4)
Announcers	(CBC)Bob Cole andHarry Neale (SRC)Claude Quenneville andGilles Tremblay (Fox)Mike Emrick andJohn Davidson (ESPN)Gary Thorne andBill Clement
← 1997 Stanley Cup Final 1999 →

The1998 Stanley Cup Final was thechampionship series of theNational Hockey League's (NHL)1997–98 season, and the culmination of the1998 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by theWestern Conference champion anddefending Stanley Cup championDetroit Red Wings and theEastern Conference championWashington Capitals. It was the 105th year of theStanley Cup being contested. The series was the Capitals' first Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history. The Red Wings swept the Capitals to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, capturing their ninth Stanley Cup in team history. This also marked the fourth consecutive, and most recent Stanley Cup Final as of 2025 to end in asweep.

The Red Wings became the fourth team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup in back-to-back sweeps, joining theToronto Maple Leafs,Montreal Canadiens, andNew York Islanders, and remain the most recent team to accomplish this feat.^[1]

Detroit coachScotty Bowman won his eighth Stanley Cup in that capacity (having previously done so with theMontreal Canadiens in1973,1976,1977,1978, and1979, thePittsburgh Penguins in1992, and the Wingsthe previous year), tying him with former Canadiens coachToe Blake for the record of most Cups won by a coach (which he would break when he helped the Red Wings win the2002 Cup).

Just six days after sweeping thePhiladelphia Flyers in the 1997 Finals, Red Wings defencemanVladimir Konstantinov and masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov sustained serious brain injuries when the limousine in which they were riding crashed.Viacheslav Fetisov was also in the limousine but was not seriously injured. The Red Wings subsequently dedicated their 1997–98 season to the two injured members and wore a patch on their jerseys bearing the players' initials. When the Red Wings were presented with the Stanley Cup, they wheeled Konstantinov onto the ice and placed the Cup in his lap. They also took him for a victory lap around the rink.

Detroit advanced to the Finals by defeating thePhoenix Coyotes,St. Louis Blues, andDallas Stars in six games each.

Washington defeated theBoston Bruins 4–2, theOttawa Senators 4–1, and theBuffalo Sabres 4–2.

In this series, Capitals head coachRon Wilson became the first person to head coach in both an Olympics and a Stanley Cup Final in the same year, having coached team USA at theNagano Olympics.Peter Laviolette would join him in this feat in2006 while with theCarolina Hurricanes during their championship season, having coached the American ice hockey team during theTorino Olympics.

At home, Detroit took an early lead in the first period and scored two goals within two minutes and 14 seconds of each other. The Red Wings were able to hold off a Washington assault and take the first game of the series with a score of 2–1.

It looked as if the Capitals were to tie the series with a 4–2 lead in the third period, but after a Detroit goal to make it 4–3, Capitals forwardEsa Tikkanen had ascoring opportunity midway through the third period that would have likely put Detroit away before the venue changed back to Washington's MCI Center, and also would have changed the entire dynamic of the series, but he missed the open net shot. Detroit then rallied late in the third period to tie the game and send it into overtime.Kris Draper scored with four minutes left in the first overtime to give the Red Wings a 5–4 victory and a 2–0 lead in the series.

Detroit scored in the first 35 seconds to take an early lead which held up until the third period. The Capitals tied the game midway through the third period, butSergei Fedorov scored to give the Wings a three games to none lead in the series.

In game four, Detroit was dominant throughout to win the game by a score of 4–1 and sweep the series.Steve Yzerman was awarded theConn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. When the Cup was awarded,Vladimir Konstantinov was brought onto the ice in his wheelchair and joined the celebration with his team.

Bolded years under Finals appearance indicates year won Stanley Cup.

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
30		Chris Osgood	G	L	1991	Peace River, Alberta	third(1995,1997)
31		Kevin Hodson	G	L	1993–94	Winnipeg, Manitoba	second(1997)
2		Viacheslav Fetisov	D	L	1994–95	Moscow, Soviet Union	third(1995,1997)
3		Bob Rouse	D	R	1994–95	Surrey, British Columbia	third(1995,1997)
5		Nicklas Lidstrom –A	D	L	1989	Krylbo, Sweden	third(1995,1997)
15		Dmitri Mironov	D	R	1997–98	Moscow, Soviet Union	first(did not play)
16		Vladimir Konstantinov	D	R	1989	Murmansk, Soviet Union	third(1995,1997) (did not play)
27		Aaron Ward	D	R	1993–94	Windsor, Ontario	second(1997) (did not play)
34		Jamie Macoun	D	L	1997–98	Newmarket, Ontario	third(1986,1989)
44		Anders Eriksson	D	L	1993	Bollnäs, Sweden	first
55		Larry Murphy	D	R	1996–97	Scarborough, Ontario	fourth(1991,1992,1997)
8		Igor Larionov	C	L	1995–96	Voskresensk, Soviet Union	second(1997)
11		Mathieu Dandenault	LW	R	1994	Sherbrooke, Quebec	second(1997)(did not play)
13		Vyacheslav Kozlov	LW	L	1990	Voskresensk, Soviet Union	third(1995,1997)
14		Brendan Shanahan –A	LW	R	1996–97	Etobicoke, Ontario	second(1997)
17		Doug Brown	RW	R	1994–95	Southborough, Massachusetts	third(1995,1997)
18		Kirk Maltby	RW	R	1995–96	Guelph, Ontario	second(1997)
19		Steve Yzerman –C	C	R	1983	Burnaby, British Columbia	third(1995,1997)
20		Martin Lapointe	RW	R	1991	Ville St. Pierre, Quebec	third(1995,1997)
22		Mike Knuble	RW	R	1991	Toronto, Ontario	first(did not play)
25		Darren McCarty	RW	R	1992	Burnaby, British Columbia	third(1995,1997)
26		Joe Kocur	RW	R	1996–97	Kelvington, Saskatchewan	third(1994,1997)
33		Kris Draper	C	L	1993–94	Toronto, Ontario	third(1995,1997)
41		Brent Gilchrist	C	L	1997–98	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan	second(1989)(did not play)
91		Sergei Fedorov	C	L	1989	Pskov, Soviet Union	third(1995,1997)
96		Tomas Holmstrom	LW	L	1994	Piteå, Sweden	second(1997)

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
30		Bill Ranford	G	L	1996–97	Brandon, Manitoba	third(1988,1990)(did not play)
37		Olaf Kolzig	G	L	1989	Johannesburg, South Africa	first
2		Ken Klee	D	R	1990	Indianapolis, Indiana	first
6		Calle Johansson –A	D	L	1988–89	Gothenburg, Sweden	first
19		Brendan Witt	D	L	1993	Humboldt, Saskatchewan	first(did not play)
24		Mark Tinordi	D	L	1994–95	Red Deer, Alberta	second(1991)
28		Jeff Brown	D	R	1997–98	Ottawa, Ontario	second(1994)
29		Joe Reekie	D	L	1993–94	Victoria, British Columbia	first
55		Sergei Gonchar	D	L	1992	Chelyabinsk, Soviet Union	first
96		Phil Housley	D	L	1996–97	Saint Paul, Minnesota	first
9		Todd Krygier	LW	L	1995–96	Chicago Heights, Illinois	first
10		Kelly Miller	LW	L	1986–87	Lansing, Michigan	first
11		Esa Tikkanen	LW	L	1997–98	Helsinki, Finland	sixth(1985,1987,1988,1990,1994)
12		Peter Bondra	RW	L	1990	Bakovtsi, Soviet Union	first
13		Andrei Nikolishin	C	L	1996–97	Vorkuta, Soviet Union	first
17		Chris Simon	LW	L	1996–97	Wawa, Ontario	second(1996)
20		Michal Pivonka	C	L	1984	Kladno, Czechoslovakia	first(did not play)
21		Jeff Toms	C	L	1997–98	Swift Current, Saskatchewan	first
22		Steve Konowalchuk	LW	L	1991	Salt Lake City, Utah	first(did not play)
23		Brian Bellows	RW	R	1997–98	St. Catharines, Ontario	third(1991,1993)
27		Craig Berube	LW	L	1993–94	Calahoo, Alberta	first
32		Dale Hunter –C	C	L	1987–88	Petrolia, Ontario	first
36		Mike Eagles	C/RW	L	1993–94	Sussex, New Brunswick	first
44		Richard Zednik	RW	L	1994	Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia	first
77		Adam Oates –A	C	R	1996–97	Weston, Ontario	first
90		Joe Juneau	C	L	1993–94	Pont-Rouge, Quebec	first

The 1998 Stanley Cup was presented to Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman byNHL CommissionerGary Bettman following the Red Wings 4–1 win over the Capitals in game four

The following Red Wings players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1997–98 Detroit Red Wings

• * Did not play or dress in the Final.
• † Exemption granted to engrave the name of a player who did not automatically qualify.^[a]

• Detroit successfully requested an exemption to engrave the names of two players who did not automatically qualify.^[a]
  • #16Vladimir Konstantinov (D) – career ended in a car accident. The Red Wings still recognized him as part of the team and got permission from the league to have his name engraved.
  • #15Dmitri Mironov (D) – played 66 regular season games forAnaheim before joining Detroit. Played 11 regular season games and 7 playoff games (none in the Finals) for Detroit.
• Wally Crossman was the oldest person engraved on the Stanley Cup at age 87.
• Detroit wanted to include a record 55 names on the Stanley Cup in 1997–98. Following that request, the NHL decided to limit the number of names to 52 to make sure all names fit on the Cup. No player who officially qualifies may be left off to include more non-players.
• #34Norm Maracle (G – 4 regular season games) and #21Darryl Laplante (D – 2 regular season games) were on the roster during the Final, but left off the Stanley Cup engraving due to not qualifying.^[a] None played in the playoffs. Detroit did not request an exemption to engrave their names. All were included in the team picture.
• Art Mnatsusakanov, Johnny Remejes, and Mike Vella (Dressing Room Asst.); were left off the Stanley Cup engraving, but included in the team picture.

In Canada, the series was televised onCBC. In the United States,Fox broadcast game one whileESPN televised games two through four. Had the series extended, games five and seven would have been broadcast on Fox, and ESPN would have aired game six.

• 1997–98 NHL season
• List of Stanley Cup champions

External videos
1998 Stanley Cup Final, Game 4 - Detroit vs. Washington onYouTube

• Diamond, Dan (2000).Total Stanley Cup. NHL.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004).Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books.ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.
• Wilborn, Michael (1998). "Red Wings Fans jam Downtown".Washington Post.

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