Lightning owner William Davidson became the first owner in sports history to win two championships in one year as eight days after this series ended, the other team that Davidson owned (the Detroit Pistons of the NBA) won the NBA title in five games over the Los Angeles Lakers.

This was the last Stanley Cup Finals to be played for two years, as the 2004–05 NHL lockout began three months after the end of this series, lasting over ten months and leading to the cancellation of the following season, with the league not returning to play for the Stanley Cup until 2006.

Tampa Bay finished the season with 106 points and entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

[1] They defeated the eighth, seventh, and third-seeded teams, beating the New York Islanders 4–1, the Montreal Canadiens 4–0 and the Philadelphia Flyers 4–3, in order, and they advanced to the Finals for the first time in franchise history since their establishment in 1992.

[2] It was also the third year in a row in which a team made their debut Finals appearance, after the Carolina Hurricanes and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Dave Andreychuk began the game with a record 634 career goals without a Stanley Cup Finals appearance.

Martin Gelinas got Calgary on the board early, and they extended the lead to 3–0 in the second period on goals by Jarome Iginla, his 11th of the playoffs, and Stephane Yelle.

With a chance to take a commanding 3–1 series lead, Calgary was shut out by Lightning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who recorded his fifth shutout of the postseason, a 29-save shutout, in a 1–0 Tampa Bay victory, with the game's lone goal being scored by Brad Richards three minutes into the game on a two-man advantage.

[7] Meanwhile, fans at the Pengrowth Saddledome angrily booed referees Kerry Fraser and Brad Watson throughout most of the contest.

The series returned to Tampa Bay tied, 2–2, for a critical game five, and Calgary pulled off a 3–2 overtime victory to move within one win from the Stanley Cup.

However, the ABC broadcast of Game 7 showed a CGI video analysis of the play, which estimated that the puck did not completely cross the line, and that the call on the ice was correct.

The series ended as Flames center Marcus Nilson missed a last-second opportunity to force overtime.

The Finals would also be the last time a Canadian team played a game on ABC (regular season and postseason) until 2024.