| 1996 Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||||||
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| * indicates overtime period | |||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Denver: McNichols Sports Arena (1, 2) Miami: Miami Arena (3, 4) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Florida: Doug MacLean Colorado: Marc Crawford | ||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Florida: Brian Skrudland Colorado: Joe Sakic | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthems | Florida: Jim Salestrom Colorado: Aaron Bergell | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referees | Bill McCreary (1, 4) Don Koharski (2) Andy Van Hellemond (3) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | June 4–10, 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Joe Sakic (Avalanche) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Uwe Krupp (4:31, 3OT, G4) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Avalanche: Peter Forsberg (2014) Patrick Roy (2006) Joe Sakic (2012) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Networks | Canada: (English): CBC (French): SRC United States: (English): Fox (1, 3), ESPN (2, 4) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||
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The 1996 Stanley Cup Finals 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.
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 Finals appearance faster: the Toronto Arenas winning the Stanley Cup in the NHL inaugural season in 1917–18, the St. Louis Blues in their debut season in 1967–68 (they lost the 1968 Finals to the Montreal Canadiens), the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural year in 2017–18, and the 1928 Cup-winning New York Rangers (who were in their second season of play, having been formed for the 1926–27 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. The Panthers are currently the second Stanley Cup finalist team after the 1982 Vancouver Canucks without any Hall of Famers on their roster.