Stanley Cup – 1998
The 1998 Stanley Cup Finals NHL championship series was contested by the Western Conference champion and defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings and the Eastern Conference champion Washington Capitals. It was the 105th year of the Stanley Cup being contested. It was the Capitals’ first appearance in a Stanley Cup Final since the franchise’s inception in 1974. The Red Wings won the series for the second year in a row, four games to none. It was the Wings’ ninth Stanley Cup, and as of 2014, this is the last season in which a defending Stanley Cup champion has successfully defended and retained the Stanley Cup and is also the most recent time when a Finals concluded with a sweep.

Stanley Cup – 1997
The 1997 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the Philadelphia Flyers. Detroit was in the Final for the second time in three years (the other coming in 1995 when they lost to the New Jersey Devils) while the Flyers were making their first appearance since losing in the 1987 Final. Detroit won the series in four games to win the Stanley Cup for the eighth time in franchise history and the first time since 1955. 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 2009.