RED WINGS

’97-98, ’01-02 Wings in NHL’s final 20 for top champion

The Detroit News

Two Detroit Red Wings teams are in the final 20 of the NHL’s greatest teams.

The 1997-98 and 2001-02 Red Wings are among the teams remaining for the third and final round of fan voting, the NHL revealed Thursday.

The list has been whittled down from the original 96 teams, using head-to-head voting.

Steve Yzerman (center) and the Red Wings celebrate their 1997-98 Stanley Cup after defeating the Capitals.

The NHL is using the “interactive digital and mobile program” found at NHL.com/GreatestTeams to give fans the power to determine the “greatest Stanley Cup championship team of all-time.”

That team could hail from Detroit.

The 1997-98 team won the second of back-to-back Stanley Cups, sweeping the Washington Capitals in four games. The Red Wings amassed a 44-23-15 record during the regular season for 103 points, good for second in the Central Division to the Dallas Stars, and third in Western Conference.

Steve Yzerman led that team with 69 points (24 goals), and was one of three Red Wings with at least 24 goals, joining Brendan Shanahan (28) and Vyacheslav Kozlov (25). Chris Osgood was the No. 1 goalie, going 33-20-11 with a .913 save percentage and a 2.21 goals-against average.

The 2001-02 edition defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup finals, 4-1, capping a dominant season in which the Red Wings (51-17-10-4) won the Presidents’ Trophy with 116 points, including a Central Division title.

The team was loaded with future Hall-of-Famers, including Yzerman, Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov, Brett Hull, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Igor Larionov, Luc Robataille, Dominik Hasek, as well as a 23-year-old Pavel Datsyuk.

Shanahan (37), Fedorov (31), Hull (30) and Robitaille (30) each scored at least 30 goals, and Lidstrom had 50 assists en route to the Norris Trophy awarded to the league’s top defenseman.

Voting closes May 25.

Here’s a list of the remaining 20 teams, in reverse chronological order.

■ 2015-16 Pittsburgh Penguins

■ 2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks

■ 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings

■ 2000-01 Colorado Avalanche

■ 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings

■ 1993-94 New York Rangers

■ 1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins

■ 1990-91 Pittsburgh Penguins

■ 1988-89 Calgary Flames

■ 1987-88 Edmonton Oilers

1986-87 Edmonton Oilers

■ 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers

■ 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers

■ 1982-83 New York Islanders

■ 1981-82 New York Islanders

■ 1979-80 New York Islanders

■ 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens

■ 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens

■ 1975-76 Montreal Canadiens

■ 1969-1970 Boston Bruins