1995 Stanley Cup Finals

1995 Stanley Cup Finals
1995 Stanley Cup Finals
Location(s)	East Rutherford: Brendan Byrne Arena (3, 4); Detroit: Joe Louis Arena (1, 2)
Coaches	New Jersey: Jacques Lemaire; Detroit: Scotty Bowman
Captains	New Jersey: Scott Stevens; Detroit: Steve Yzerman
National anthems	New Jersey: Unknown; Detroit: Karen Newman
Referees	Bill McCreary (1, 4); Terry Gregson (2); Kerry Fraser (3)
Dates	June 17–24, 1995
MVP	Claude Lemieux (Devils)
Series-winning goal	Neal Broten (7:56, second, G4)
Hall of Famers	Devils:; Martin Brodeur (2018); Scott Niedermayer (2013); Scott Stevens (2007); Red Wings:; Dino Ciccarelli (2010); Paul Coffey (2004); Sergei Fedorov (2015); Viacheslav Fetisov (2001); Mark Howe (2011); Nicklas Lidstrom (2015); Mike Vernon (2023); Steve Yzerman (2009); Coaches:; Scotty Bowman (1991); Jacques Lemaire (1984, player)
Networks	Canada:; (English): CBC; (French): SRC; United States:; (English): Fox (1, 4), ESPN (2–3)
Announcers	(CBC) Bob Cole and Harry Neale; (SRC) Claude Quenneville and Gilles Tremblay; (Fox) Mike Emrick and John Davidson; (ESPN) Gary Thorne and Bill Clement

The 1995 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1994–95 season, and the culmination of the 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils and the Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings. It was the Devils franchise's first appearance in the Finals, while the Red Wings returned to the Finals for the first time since 1966. The Devils upset the heavily-favored Red Wings in a sweep to win their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history in their 21st season. The Devils became the sixth team to earn a championship after joining the league in 1967 or later. This was the first of nine consecutive Finals to feature only American-based franchises. This also marked the first of four consecutive sweeps in the finals.

This was also the first time in both the NHL and NBA history where both finals involved the first-seeded team being swept. In addition, the Devils became the first team in NHL history to win the title without having home ice advantage in any of the four playoff rounds since the playoffs was expanded to a 16-team format in 1980. Coincidentally, this feat would also be achieved in the NBA by the Houston Rockets that same year, when they won the NBA Championship over the Orlando Magic.

Despite the fact that the regular season was cut short by the owners' lockout, both the season and the Finals were saved at the eleventh hour – this was the latest date that the Stanley Cup was awarded. This record was later matched in 2013 and then broken by the COVID-19 pandemic affected 2019–20 NHL season. The fifth seeded Devils held the record as the lowest seeded team to win the Stanley Cup until the Los Angeles Kings broke the record in 2012. Their regular season winning percentage was also the lowest for a Cup winner since the 1966–67 Toronto Maple Leafs.

This was the first Cup Finals since 1980 to be played entirely within one time zone.