The 1997 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1996–97 season, and the culmination of the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the Philadelphia Flyers. Detroit was in the Finals for the second time in three years (the other coming in , when they lost to the New Jersey Devils) while the Flyers were making their first appearance since losing in to the Edmonton Oilers. Detroit won the series in four games to win the Stanley Cup for the eighth time in franchise history and the first time since ; Philadelphia had not won since . Detroit was the last team to win the Cup without having home ice advantage in the Finals and with fewer than 100 points earned during the regular season until . Paths to the Finals Philadelphia rose to the top on the back of a 17-game unbeaten streak in December and January, and despite losing the Atlantic Division title to New Jersey, had a relatively easy time with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres in the first two rounds. The Flyers arrived into the Stanley Cup Finals having beaten their perennial rivals, the New York Rangers, in a memorable five-game Eastern Conference Final series. Eric Lindros and Wayne Gretzky each recorded a hat trick in the set, but the size, strength and discipline of Philadelphia (particularly the Legion of Doom line) trumped the veteran savvy of the Blueshirts. For Detroit there was the departure of several players whom head coach Scotty Bowman blamed for their loss to Colorado a year prior, including trading away Paul Coffey to get star Brendan Shanahan. Detroit won 38 games in the regular season, in contrast to the record-setting 62 win season the previous year, making them the dark horse in the Western Conference as the third seed behind the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche. In the playoffs, the Wings dispatched a fractured St. Louis Blues team and a surprising rival Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to reach the Western Conference finals for the third straight season. In a rematch of last year's conference finals where Colorado had upset Detroit, this time Detroit overcame defending Cup holders Colorado in an often brutal six-game series to earn second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in three years. This is the first time that these two teams met in the