In the Stanley Cup Finals, a sweep refers to a National Hockey League (NHL) team winning four straight games and losing none in a best-of-seven format. There have been 20 sweeps in Stanley Cup Finals history. [1]
The first sweep is credited to the Boston Bruins who defeated the Detroit Red Wings in four straight games in the 1941 Stanley Cup Finals. The most recent sweep occurred in the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, when the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Washington Capitals.
| Year | Winning team | Head Coaches | Losing team | Head Coaches | Conn Smythe | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Boston Bruins | Cooney Weiland | Detroit Red Wings | Jack Adams | [a] | [2] |
| 1943 | Detroit Red Wings | Jack Adams | Boston Bruins | Art Ross | [3] | |
| 1944 | Montreal Canadiens | Dick Irvin | Chicago Black Hawks | Paul Thompson | [4] | |
| 1948 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Hap Day | Detroit Red Wings | Tommy Ivan | [5] | |
| 1949 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Detroit Red Wings | [6] | |||
| 1952 | Detroit Red Wings | Tommy Ivan | Montreal Canadiens | Dick Irvin | [7] | |
| 1960 | Montreal Canadiens | Toe Blake | Toronto Maple Leafs | Punch Imlach | [8] | |
| Year | Winning team | Head Coaches | Losing team | Head Coaches | Conn Smythe | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Montreal Canadiens | Toe Blake | St. Louis Blues | Scotty Bowman | Glenn Hall | [9] |
| 1969 | Montreal Canadiens | Claude Ruel | St. Louis Blues | Serge Savard | [10] | |
| 1970 | Boston Bruins | Harry Sinden | St. Louis Blues | Bobby Orr | [11] |
Starting in the 1974-75 NHL season, the National Hockey League expanded to 18 teams, installing new conferences and divisions and reorganizing its playoff format. [12] In the 1993-94 NHL season, The Eastern Conference and Western Conference became officially formed and are both tied for 2 sweeps each conference, with the Detroit Red Wings account for half of those, with two. As of the 2013-2014 NHL season, the National Hockey League uses these methods today with 2 Eastern Conference divisions (Atlantic & Metropolitan) and 2 in the Western Conference (Central & Pacific). [13]
| Western Conference | |
| Eastern Conference |
| Year | Winning team | Head Coaches | Losing team | Head Coaches | Conn Smythe | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Montreal Canadiens | Scotty Bowman | Philadelphia Flyers | Fred Shero | Reggie Leach | [14] |
The 1977 Series between the Canadiens and Bruins was unique due to both teams partaking in the finals as members of the same conference (Wales).
| Year | Winning team | Head Coaches | Losing team | Head Coaches | Conn Smythe | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Montreal Canadiens | Scotty Bowman | Boston Bruins | Don Cherry | Guy Lafleur | [15] |
| Year | Winning team | Head Coaches | Losing team | Head Coaches | Conn Smythe | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | New York Islanders | Al Arbour | Vancouver Canucks | Roger Neilson | Mike Bossy | [16] |
| 1983 | New York Islanders | Edmonton Oilers | Glen Sather | Billy Smith | [17] | |
| 1988 | Edmonton Oilers | Glen Sather | Boston Bruins | Terry O'Reilly | Wayne Gretzky | [18] |
| 1992 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Scotty Bowman | Chicago Blackhawks | Mike Keenan | Mario Lemieux | [19] |
| Year | Winning team | Head Coaches | Losing team | Head Coaches | Conn Smythe | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | New Jersey Devils | Jacques Lemaire | Detroit Red Wings [b] | Scotty Bowman | Claude Lemieux | [20] |
| 1996 | Colorado Avalanche | Marc Crawford | Florida Panthers | Doug MacLean | Joe Sakic | [21] |
| 1997 | Detroit Red Wings | Scotty Bowman | Philadelphia Flyers | Terry Murray | Mike Vernon | [22] |
| 1998 | Detroit Red Wings | Washington Capitals | Ron Wilson | Steve Yzerman | [23] |
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