2003 Stanley Cup Finals

2003 Stanley Cup Final
Teams 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Games New Jersey Devils  3 3 2 0 6 2 3 4 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim  0 0 3 1 3 5 0 3
Location: East Rutherford, NJ (Continental Airlines Arena) (1,2,5,7) Anaheim, CA (Honda Centre) (3,4,6) Format: Best-of-seven Coaches: New Jersey: Pat Burns Anaheim: Mike Babcock Captains: New Jersey: Scott Stevens Anaheim: Paul Kariya Referees: Paul Devorski, Dan Marouelli, Bill McCreary, and Brad Watson[1] Dates: May 27-June 9, 2003 MVP: Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Anaheim Series-winning Goal: Michael Rupp (2:22, 2nd, G7) Networks: ABC, CBC, ESPN, RDS, NASN Announcers: (CBC) Bob Cole, Harry Neale (ESPN/ABC) Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, John Davidson
< 2002 Stanley Cup Finals 2004 >

The 2003 Stanley Cup Finals featured the Eastern Conference finalist, the second-seeded New Jersey Devils, against the Western Conference finalist, the seventh-seeded Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Devils defeated the Mighty Ducks in seven games to win their third Stanley Cup in less than a decade.

1 Paths to the final 2 The series 2.1 Games one and two 2.2 Games three and four 2.3 Game five 2.4 Game six 2.5 Game seven 3 Quotes 4 New Jersey Devils 2003 Stanley Cup champions 4.1 Roster 4.2 Stanley Cup engravings 4.3 Won all three Stanley Cups with New Jersey 5 References 6 See also

See also: 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, 2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season, and 2002–03 New Jersey Devils season

The New Jersey Devils were in the finals for their fourth time after defeating the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning in five games, and beating the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games. Strong goaltending from Martin Brodeur, and strong defense from captain Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer led the way.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim entered their first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history after upsetting two heavily favored teams: sweeping the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Detroit Red Wings, defeating the Dallas Stars in six games, plus sweeping the upstart Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference Finals thanks to the stellar goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, only allowing one goal during the entire series. Backing up Giguere were players such as Paul Kariya, Petr Sykora, Adam Oates, plus Rob Niedermayer, brother of then-Devils star defenceman Scott Niedermayer. This series was memorable for two brothers on different teams competing for the same prize.

The series opened with two games in New Jersey. In both games, Martin Brodeur kept the Ducks off the score board while the Devils players continually dominated the Ducks. Both games one and two ended with New Jersey shutting out Anaheim, 3–0.

When the series moved to Anaheim, games three and four were must-win situations for the Ducks. Game three was remembered for the clumsy mistake from Martin Brodeur when he accidentally dropped his stick when the puck came to him, the puck deflected off his fallen stick and into the net to give the Ducks a lucky break and a 2–1 lead. The Devils would later tie the game, but lose in overtime. Over the mistake with his stick, Brodeur later claimed, "It was just one of those once in a lifetime things." Game four had no scoring throughout regulation and was a battle between goaltenders Brodeur and Giguere. But Anaheim again came out on top in overtime, winning 1–0 and tying the series.

Game five, at the Meadowlands saw a continual battle for the first half the game. With the game tied 3–3 in the second period, the Devils took the lead with a deflection goal by Jay Pandolfo that was initially waved off by referees due to a kicking motion dispute with the skates, but replays showed there was no distinct kicking motion from the skates, thus the goal counted. This would prove to deflate the Ducks for the rest of the game, as Jamie Langenbrunner scored two more goals for the Devils to give New Jersey a 6–3 win and a 3–2 series lead.

With New Jersey overconfident and looking to clinch the series, game six at Anaheim saw the Mighty Ducks return the favor of game five to the Devils with complete dominance throughout the game. Quite possibly the most remembered moment of the entire series came when the Ducks were winning 3–1 in the second period. Ducks captain Paul Kariya didn't see Scott Stevens coming after he passed the puck and was leveled by the Devils captain in a hit similar to the check that knocked out Eric Lindros during the 2000 playoffs and caused Lindros to miss the next season. The opinions on the hit were mixed as some considered it late and dirty, but the referees ruled it a legal hit. Kariya was lying motionless for a few minutes, then was escorted to the locker room. Kariya unexpectedly returned to the bench minutes later, and about eleven minutes after the hit, fired a slap shot that found the back of the net. The crowd at the Arrowhead Pond erupted as ABC broadcaster Gary Thorne said, "Off the floor, on the board!" This helped the Ducks win the game 5–2 and now put the Ducks within one game of clinching.

Game seven on New Jersey home ice saw the Devils once more completely dominate the Ducks. The game winning goal was scored by Michael Rupp. Rupp become the first player in Stanley Cup history to have his first playoff goal be the Stanley Cup winning goal. Jeff Friesen dominated his former teammates with two goals. The 3–0 win gave the Devils their third Stanley Cup victory as Anaheim could not complete their Cinderella run. However, the Mighty Ducks wouldn't leave empty handed; for his stellar play throughout the playoffs and finals, Jean-Sebastien Giguere for the Ducks was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. He became only the fifth player, and fourth goaltender, in NHL history to have won the trophy as a member of the losing team.

Anaheim vs. New Jersey
Date	Away	Home	OT	Score
Tue, May 27	Anaheim	New Jersey		0 – 3
Thu, May 29	Anaheim	New Jersey		0 – 3
Sat, May 31	New Jersey	Anaheim	OT	2 – 3
Mon, June 2	New Jersey	Anaheim	OT	0 – 1
Thu, June 5	Anaheim	New Jersey		3 – 6
Sat, June 7	New Jersey	Anaheim		2 – 5
Mon, June 9	Anaheim	New Jersey		0 – 3
New Jersey wins series 4–3 and Stanley Cup
J. S. Giguere (Anaheim) wins Conn Smythe Trophy

In four seconds, you'll hear the 1-minute announcement. (1-minute announcement) Must be great if you're a Devils fan. They're fighting tooth and nail in there. No stick, trying to sweep it away. There's Daneyko, hasn't seen much time tonight, plays on now. But he's on now. That's a pretty good move by Pat Burns, to have the veteran Daneyko out there. And he gets him screaming again. Under 30 seconds for the Stanley Cup. Wow this is nothing else here at the Continental Arena in New Jersey. The Devils, masters southern play tonight. THREE GOALS! TEN SECONDS! (pictures and crowds then tell story)

—Bob Cole, the final minute of Game 7

The celebration starts! The New Jersey Devils for the third time in their history, have won the Stanley Cup. The Devils 3, the Ducks 0. DEVILS, STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!

—Gary Thorne, dying seconds of Game 7

• Marcel Pronovost won his 8 Stanley Cups - 5 as Player with Detroit in 1950, 1952, 1954–55, and Toronto in 1967, as well as 3 championships as a scout for New Jersey in 1995, 2000, and 2003. He set the record for years between first and last Stanley Cup wins with 53 years.
• Christian Berglund played 38 games for New Jersey. His name was left off the cup, because he was sent to the minors, before the trading deadline.
• Jeff Friesen was first player engaved on the Stanley Cup with full middle name JEFF DARYL FRIESEN. Some players in the past had their middle initial included along with their first name on the Stanley cup. 2003 New Jersey included 9 other players who were listed with a middle initial.

Martin Brodeur, Sergei Brylin, Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer, Scott Stevens (5 players), Bobby Carpenter Jr. (1 player-non player), Lou Lamoriello, Larry Robinson, Jacques Caron, Claude Carrie, David Conte, Milt Fisher, Dan Labraaten, Marcel Provonost, Mike Vasalani, Peter McMullen (left cup in 2003) (10 Non-players).

• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books, 12, 50. ISBN 1–55168–261–3.

• 2002–03 NHL season
• 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs

Preceded by Detroit Red Wings 2002

New Jersey Devils Stanley Cup Champions 2003

Succeeded by Tampa Bay Lightning 2004

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