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2012 Stanley Cup Final
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2012 Stanley Cup Final
The 2012 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2011–12 season, and the culmination of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference playoff champion Los Angeles Kings defeated the Eastern Conference playoff champion New Jersey Devils four games to two, capturing the first Stanley Cup title in the team's 45-year history, dealing the Devils just their second Stanley Cup Final defeat in five tries and first since 2001. Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Kings made their second appearance in the Final in franchise history, having lost in their previous appearance to the Montreal Canadiens in five games in 1993. The New Jersey Devils last appeared in 2003, when they defeated the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games to win their third Stanley Cup title. It was the first championship series since 2007 whose Stanley Cup-clinching game was played on the winning team's home ice.
The Eastern Conference winner had home ice advantage for the first time since 2006, since the Devils had a better regular season record than the Kings. The Devils finished the regular season as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, making them the lowest-seeded team to have home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final, a record previously held by the Devils when they won the Cup as a fourth seed in 2000. With the Devils entering the playoffs as the ninth seed of the sixteen playoff teams by regular season record (no division titles) and the Kings as the thirteenth, their combined seed of twenty-two was the second highest of any playoff matchup (only trailing the 1991 Cup Final with twenty-three), and it was the first playoff matchup with no team seeded better than ninth. The Kings became the first eighth-seeded team in North American sports history to win a championship, as well as the only eighth-seeded team to win the Stanley Cup as of 2026.
The Los Angeles Kings historically had not fared well in the postseason, having only progressed beyond the second round of the playoffs once in franchise history. There were some highlights in franchise history, such as a dramatic seven-game series loss to the heavily favoured Boston Bruins in 1976, the upset of the top seeded Edmonton Oilers (including the game three Miracle on Manchester) in 1982, a comeback from a 3–1 series deficit to beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Oilers in 1989, and an upset of a second-seeded Detroit Red Wings team in 2001 often referred to as the "Frenzy on Figueroa." The first time that they advanced to the Western Conference Final was in 1993, where the Kings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games to reach their first Cup Final in franchise history, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games. From 1994 to 2011 the Kings won just one playoff series in 2001 against the aforementioned Red Wings team and coming back from a 3–1 deficit to push the eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche to seven games.
The Kings started the regular season at 13–12–4 before firing head coach Terry Murray on December 12, 2011. John Stevens served as interim coach before the team hired Darryl Sutter on December 20. Under Sutter, the Kings finished the season at 95 points. The Kings lost their final two regular season games to fall from first place in the Pacific Division (and the #3 seed in the West) to third place in the division and eighth in the conference. The Kings won only 40 out 82 games, and with 95 points became the first losing record team to finish the season with more than 90 points.
The Kings then went on to become the second team to eliminate the first, second and third seeds from the playoffs in the same postseason (and the first team to do so in that order), after the 2003–04 Calgary Flames, also coached by Darryl Sutter, eliminating the back-to-back Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks in five games, the second-seeded St. Louis Blues in a four game sweep, and the third-seeded Phoenix Coyotes in five games. In addition, the Kings went a perfect 8–0 on the road in these playoff games and the first team to go undefeated while en route to the Final.
The Kings became the second eighth seed to reach the Final, following the Edmonton Oilers in 2006 (the Oilers lost out to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games). Kings players Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene were part of that Oilers team in 2006, while teammate Justin Williams played for the Cup-winning Hurricanes.
The Devils started the season having missed the playoffs in the 2010–11 season for the first time since 1995–96 season, breaking a 13-year consecutive postseason appearance streak. This was the Devils' first season under head coach Peter DeBoer, who replaced the retiring Jacques Lemaire during the offseason. Under DeBoer, New Jersey finished the regular season with 102 points, but ended up with the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
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2012 Stanley Cup Final AI simulator
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2012 Stanley Cup Final
The 2012 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2011–12 season, and the culmination of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference playoff champion Los Angeles Kings defeated the Eastern Conference playoff champion New Jersey Devils four games to two, capturing the first Stanley Cup title in the team's 45-year history, dealing the Devils just their second Stanley Cup Final defeat in five tries and first since 2001. Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Kings made their second appearance in the Final in franchise history, having lost in their previous appearance to the Montreal Canadiens in five games in 1993. The New Jersey Devils last appeared in 2003, when they defeated the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games to win their third Stanley Cup title. It was the first championship series since 2007 whose Stanley Cup-clinching game was played on the winning team's home ice.
The Eastern Conference winner had home ice advantage for the first time since 2006, since the Devils had a better regular season record than the Kings. The Devils finished the regular season as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, making them the lowest-seeded team to have home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final, a record previously held by the Devils when they won the Cup as a fourth seed in 2000. With the Devils entering the playoffs as the ninth seed of the sixteen playoff teams by regular season record (no division titles) and the Kings as the thirteenth, their combined seed of twenty-two was the second highest of any playoff matchup (only trailing the 1991 Cup Final with twenty-three), and it was the first playoff matchup with no team seeded better than ninth. The Kings became the first eighth-seeded team in North American sports history to win a championship, as well as the only eighth-seeded team to win the Stanley Cup as of 2026.
The Los Angeles Kings historically had not fared well in the postseason, having only progressed beyond the second round of the playoffs once in franchise history. There were some highlights in franchise history, such as a dramatic seven-game series loss to the heavily favoured Boston Bruins in 1976, the upset of the top seeded Edmonton Oilers (including the game three Miracle on Manchester) in 1982, a comeback from a 3–1 series deficit to beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Oilers in 1989, and an upset of a second-seeded Detroit Red Wings team in 2001 often referred to as the "Frenzy on Figueroa." The first time that they advanced to the Western Conference Final was in 1993, where the Kings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games to reach their first Cup Final in franchise history, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games. From 1994 to 2011 the Kings won just one playoff series in 2001 against the aforementioned Red Wings team and coming back from a 3–1 deficit to push the eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche to seven games.
The Kings started the regular season at 13–12–4 before firing head coach Terry Murray on December 12, 2011. John Stevens served as interim coach before the team hired Darryl Sutter on December 20. Under Sutter, the Kings finished the season at 95 points. The Kings lost their final two regular season games to fall from first place in the Pacific Division (and the #3 seed in the West) to third place in the division and eighth in the conference. The Kings won only 40 out 82 games, and with 95 points became the first losing record team to finish the season with more than 90 points.
The Kings then went on to become the second team to eliminate the first, second and third seeds from the playoffs in the same postseason (and the first team to do so in that order), after the 2003–04 Calgary Flames, also coached by Darryl Sutter, eliminating the back-to-back Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks in five games, the second-seeded St. Louis Blues in a four game sweep, and the third-seeded Phoenix Coyotes in five games. In addition, the Kings went a perfect 8–0 on the road in these playoff games and the first team to go undefeated while en route to the Final.
The Kings became the second eighth seed to reach the Final, following the Edmonton Oilers in 2006 (the Oilers lost out to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games). Kings players Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene were part of that Oilers team in 2006, while teammate Justin Williams played for the Cup-winning Hurricanes.
The Devils started the season having missed the playoffs in the 2010–11 season for the first time since 1995–96 season, breaking a 13-year consecutive postseason appearance streak. This was the Devils' first season under head coach Peter DeBoer, who replaced the retiring Jacques Lemaire during the offseason. Under DeBoer, New Jersey finished the regular season with 102 points, but ended up with the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.