Jump to content

2003 Stanley Cup Final

From Alfawiki

The 2003 Stanley Cup Final represented the decisive championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2002–03 season and concluded the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs. The New Jersey Devils, seeded second in the Eastern Conference, triumphed over the seventh-seeded Western Conference champions, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, in a full seven-game series. This victory secured the Stanley Cup for New Jersey for the third time in franchise history. Marking their third Finals appearance in four years and first since 2001, the Devils faced Anaheim making their debut in the championship round. Notably, every game in this series was won by the home team—a phenomenon last witnessed during the 1965 and remaining unique to this day.

The triumph by New Jersey in 2003 concluded a period dominated by three franchises: the Colorado Avalanche, the Detroit Red Wings, and the Devils themselves. Between 1995 and 2003, these teams collectively secured eight of nine Stanley Cups. The sequence began with New Jersey’s 1995 title, followed by Colorado’s 1996 win, Detroit’s back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998, Dallas’ victory in 1999, then New Jersey again in 2000, Colorado in 2001, and Detroit capturing the Cup in 2002. This era underscored a strategic concentration of success among these key NHL organizations.

New Jersey Devils

Making their fourth Stanley Cup Final appearance—and third within four seasons—the New Jersey Devils advanced by defeating both the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning in five-game series each. They then overcame the Ottawa Senators in a tightly contested seven-game Eastern Conference final. Central to their playoff run was exceptional goaltending from future Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Martin Brodeur, complemented by defensive leadership from future Hall of Famers Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer. Both Niedermayer and forward Jamie Langenbrunner led all players in playoff scoring. Additionally, forwards John Madden and offseason addition Jeff Friesen contributed significantly among top scorers throughout the postseason.

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

The Mighty Ducks reached their first-ever Stanley Cup Final by upsetting higher-ranked opponents: they swept the reigning champions, the Detroit Red Wings, then defeated the Dallas Stars in six games. In the Western Conference finals, Anaheim swept the Minnesota Wild, powered by stellar goaltending from Jean-Sébastien Giguère, who conceded only a single goal throughout that series. Supporting Giguère were future Hall of Famers Paul Kariya and Adam Oates, along with forwards Petr Sykora and Rob Niedermayer, who is notably the brother of Devils’ star Scott Niedermayer.

A unique aspect of this Final was the sibling rivalry between brothers Rob and Scott Niedermayer competing on opposing sides. Their mother publicly expressed her wish for Rob’s team to prevail, as Scott had previously secured Stanley Cups in 1995 and 2000.

Game summaries

The 2003 Stanley Cup Final featured a matchup between New Jersey Devils, seeded second from the Eastern Conference, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks, seventh seed from the Western Conference. The Devils accumulated 108 points during the regular season and ultimately clinched the championship after seven games. The series commenced at Continental Airlines Arena located in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Game 1

During the opening game, Martin Brodeur recorded a shutout as the Ducks were thoroughly outplayed. The winning goal was netted by Sergei Brylin in the second period, resulting in a 3–0 triumph for the Devils.

Game 2

Mirroring the first encounter, Patrik Elias delivered the decisive goal in the second period, helping the Devils secure another 3–0 shutout against Anaheim.

Game 3

Down two games to none in the series, the Devils traveled to the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim to face the Ducks. A critical mistake occurred when Martin Brodeur lost his stick, enabling a deflected shot that put Anaheim ahead 2–1. Although New Jersey managed to even the score later, they ultimately fell in overtime. Brodeur referred to his error as "one of those once in a lifetime things."

Game 4

The fourth game turned into a defensive showdown between goaltenders Brodeur and Giguere, with neither team scoring during regulation time. Anaheim clinched a 1–0 victory in overtime, leveling the series at 2–2.

Game 5

At the Meadowlands for game five, the contest was tightly matched early on. With the score tied at 3–3 in the second period, Jay Pandolfo scored on a deflection that was initially ruled off due to an apparent kicking motion. After video review overturned this decision, confirming no kicking motion, New Jersey was awarded the goal. This shifted momentum heavily toward the Devils, who then saw Jamie Langenbrunner add two more goals, sealing a 6–3 win and taking a 3–2 lead in the series.

Game 6

Seeking to clinch their Stanley Cup victory on Anaheim ice, New Jersey faced a strong Ducks performance in game six. A key moment featured Ducks captain Paul Kariya absorbing a heavy hit from Devils captain Scott Stevens, reminiscent of a famous playoff hit from 2000. Kariya briefly left but returned to score an important slapshot roughly eleven minutes later. The Ducks prevailed 5–2, forcing a decisive seventh game.

Game 7

Back on home ice for game seven, the Devils once again dominated Anaheim. The winning goal came from Michael Rupp, who made history as the first player whose initial playoff goal was also a Stanley Cup-winning goal. Jeff Friesen contributed two late goals to close out a 3–0 victory, securing New Jersey’s third Stanley Cup title. Despite Anaheim’s defeat, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP—becoming only the fifth player and fourth goalie to receive this honor while on the losing team. He remained the last goalie to do so until Connor McDavid achieved it in 2024.

This series marked just the third occasion in NHL history—after 1955 and 1965—that every Finals game was won by the home team.

Team rosters

Years displayed in bold under "Finals appearance" denote Stanley Cup championships.

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

  (Roster continues as original)
# Nat Player Position Hand Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
21 United States Template:Sortname RW L Template:NHL Year Grand Haven, Michigan first
3 United States Template:Sortname – A D L Template:NHL Year Providence, Rhode Island first
23 Template:Country data RUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Template:Sortname LW R 2001 NHL Entry Draft Chelyabinsk, Soviet Union first
11 Canada Template:Sortname C R Template:NHL Year Charlesbourg, Quebec first
29 Template:Country data SUITemplate:Namespace detect showall Template:Sortname G L Template:NHL Year Burgdorf, Switzerland first
35 Canada Template:Sortname G L Template:NHL Year Montreal, Quebec first
28 Template:Country data SWETemplate:Namespace detect showall Template:Sortname D L 1999 NHL Entry Draft Stockholm, Sweden first
9 Canada Template:Sortname – C LW L 1993 NHL Entry Draft North Vancouver, British Columbia first
10 Canada Template:Sortname C R Template:NHL Year Fernie, British Columbia first
12 Canada Template:Sortname LW L 1995 NHL Entry Draft Winnipeg, Manitoba first
44 Canada Template:Sortname LW L Template:NHL Year Cassiar, British Columbia

  | second (1996)


New Jersey Devils

 11  Template:Flagicon 'CAN'29 RW R style='text-align:left;'>Port Credit, Ontario 3rd (Template:Scfy '1999', Template:Scfy '2000') 19 LW L style='text-align:left;'>Gull Lake, Saskatchewan 2nd (Template:Scfy '2001') 27Template:Flagicon CAN D L1991 NHL Entry Draft style='text-align:left;'>Edmonton, Alberta 4th (Template:Scfy '2000') 25Template:Flagicon CAN C LTemplate:NHL Year 2001 style='text-align:left;'>Oshawa, Ontario 4th (did not participate; Template:Scfy '1999') 20Template:Flagicon USA LW L1993 NHL Entry Draft style='text-align:left;'>Winchester, Massachusetts 3rd (Template:Scfy '2000', Template:Scfy '2001') 28Template:Flagicon USA D RTemplate:NHL Year 1999 style='text-align:left;'>Dearborn, Michigan 3rd (Template:Scfy '2000', Template:Scfy '2001') 21Template:Flagicon CAN C LTemplate:NHL Year 2002 style='text-align:left;'>Quebec City, Quebec 1st 16Template:Flagicon USA RW R2000 NHL Entry Draft style='text-align:left;'>Cleveland, Ohio 1st 35Template:Flagicon CAN G LTemplate:NHL Year 2002 style='text-align:left;'>North Battleford, Saskatchewan 1st 2Template:Flagicon CZE D LTemplate:NHL Year 2002 style='text-align:left;'>Ostrava, Czechoslovakia 2nd (did not play in Final) 4Template:Flagicon CAN DLTemplate:NHL Year 1991
style=text-align: left;> Kitchener, Ontario
4 appearances (95, 00, 01) 24 CAN Turner Stevenson RW R NHL Year 2000 Prince George British Columbia Second (01) |- 10 RUS Oleg Tverdovsky D L NHL Year 2002 Donetsk Soviet Union First |- 5 CAN Colin White D L 1996 NHL Entry Draft New Glasgow Nova Scotia Third (00) (01) |-
# Nat Player Position Shooting Hand Acquisition Year Birthplace Stanley Cup Final Appearances
6 D L Stockholm, Sweden 2nd
9 RW L 1997 Košice, Czechoslovakia 1st
30 G L 1990 Montreal, Quebec 4th
18 LW/C L 1992 Moscow, Soviet Union 4th
3 D L 1982 Windsor, Ontario 4th
26 – A LW L 1994 Třebíč, Czechoslovakia 3rd
12 LW L Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan 1st
14 RW R 1998 Rochester, New York 1st
23 C L 1998 Anchorage, Alaska 3rd
15 RW R Cloquet, Minnesota 3rd {{small  ('Template:Scfy '1999',  'Template:Scfy '2000')}}
scope  'row'  style  'text-align:left;'  Template:Sortname John Madden dab=ice hockey 
 C
 L
 Template:NHL Year '1997'
 style  'text-align:left;'  Toronto, Ontario
 3rd (Template:Scfy '2000', Template:Scfy '2001')
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>Template:Sortname Scott Niedermayer – Captain (ice hockey)#Alternate captains
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>Template:Sortname Joe Nieuwendyk
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>Template:Sortname Jay Pandolfo
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>Template:Sortname Brian Rafalski
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>Template:Sortname Pascal Rheaume
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>Template:Sortname Michael Rupp
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>Template:Sortname Corey Schwab
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>Template:Sortname Richard Smehlik
scope='row' style='text-align:left;'>Template:Sortname Scott Stevens – Captain (ice hockey)

Stanley Cup engraving

Following the Devils’ decisive Game Seven win over the Mighty Ducks with a score of 3–0, the Stanley Cup was awarded to team captain Scott Stevens by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

New Jersey Devils – Stanley Cup Champions of the 2002–03 Season

  • #2 Richard Šmehlík ‡
  • #3 Ken Daneyko
  • #4 Scott Stevens (Captain)
  • #5 Colin White
  • #6 Tommy Albelin
  • #10 Oleg Tverdovsky
  • #27 Scott Niedermayer (A)
  • #28 Brian Rafalski
  • #30 Martin Brodeur
  • #35 Corey Schwab
  • #11 John Madden
  • #21 Pascal Rhéaume
  • #23 Scott Gomez
  • #25 Joe Nieuwendyk †
  • #9 Jiří Bicek
  • #12 Jeff Friesen
  • #14 Brian Gionta
  • #15 Jamie Langenbrunner
  • #16 Michael Rupp
  • #18 Sergei Brylin *
  • #19 Jim McKenzie
  • #20 Jay Pandolfo
  • #24 Turner Stevenson
  • #26 Patrik Eliáš (A)
  • #29 Grant Marshall
  • * Played both centre and wing positions.
  • † Injured and did not participate in the Final.
  • ‡ Received special permission to have name engraved despite not meeting automatic criteria.
  • Ray Chambers (owner/governor), Lewis Katz (owner), Peter Simon (chairman), Lou Lamoriello (CEO/president/GM)
  • Pat Burns (head coach), Bobby Carpenter Jr. (assistant coach), John MacLean (assistant coach), Jacques Caron (goaltending coach), Larry Robinson (special assignment coach)
  • David Conte (director of scouting), Claude Carrier (assistant director of scouting), Chris Lamoriello (scout/AHL GM), Milt Fisher (scout), Dan Labraaten (scout)
  • Marcel Pronovost (scout), Bob Hoffmeyer (scout), Jan Ludvig (scout), Dr. Barry Fisher (head team physician)
  • Chris Modrzynski (vice-president), Terry Farmer (vice-president of ticket operations), Vladimir Bure (fitness consultant), Taran Singleton (director of hockey operations/video coordinator)
  • Bill Murray (medical trainer), Michael Vasalani (strength & conditioning coordinator), Rich Matthews (equipment manager)
  • Juergen Merz (massage therapist), Alex Abasto and Joe Murray (equipment assistants)

Engraving details

  • Template:Note Richard Šmehlík (#2) participated in ten regular season games and five playoff contests but did not appear in any Finals matches; New Jersey was granted an exemption for his name to be included on the Cup.
  • Marcel Pronovost celebrated his eighth Stanley Cup victory overall—five as a player and three as a scout with New Jersey—spanning a remarkable period of fifty-three years between his first and last titles.
  • Jeff Friesen’s name was uniquely inscribed with his full middle name: “JEFF DARYL FRIESEN.”
  • To allow for future additions, several names on the replica Stanley Cup were shortened during the 2003 engraving process.
  • The Devils’ three Stanley Cup championships in ’95, ’00, and ’03 featured many returning players and staff such as Martin Brodeur, Sergei Brylin, Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer, Scott Stevens, Bobby Carpenter Jr., Lou Lamoriello, Larry Robinson, Jacques Caron among others.

Broadcasting

In the United States market, the Final was televised by ESPN and ABC networks under Disney ownership. The announcing team consisted of Gary Thorne' and Bill Clement,’ with John Davidson joining for ABC’s coverage. ESPN aired the initial two games while ABC broadcasted the remaining matchups.

This marked the sole occasion when ABC simultaneously aired both the Stanley Cup Finals and NBA Finals featuring teams competing within the same venue during their respective series. During ABC’s broadcast of Game Seven, Thorne acknowledged NBA lead announcer Brad Nessler for highlighting the hockey game amid this unprecedented scheduling overlap.

Canadian viewers received coverage through CBC with commentary from Bob Cole' and Harry Neale.’ Notably, CBC’s New Brunswick affiliate CBAT-TV preempted Game Seven to air provincial general election results. This championship series was also the first to be televised by RDS in French-language markets, taking over from SRC.

For radio broadcasts in New York City, Devils announcer John Hennessy called the games on WABC–AM 770. Meanwhile in Anaheim, Steve Carroll provided radio commentary for local listeners.

Retrieved from "https://www.alfawiki.org/index.php?title=2003_Stanley_Cup_Final&oldid=69526"