2003 Stanley Cup Finals

The 2003 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2002–03 season, and the culmination of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs. The second-seeded Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils defeated the seventh-seeded Western Conference champion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games and were awarded the Stanley Cup for the third time in franchise history. It was New Jersey's first appearance since 2001 and third in four years. It was Anaheim's first-ever appearance. The Devils defeated the Mighty Ducks in seven games to win their third Stanley Cup in less than a decade. For the first time since 1965, all seven games were won by the home team. To date, this is the last Stanley Cup Finals in which that has occurred.

The Devils' win was the last in a series of wins they, along with the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings, established in the era from 1995 to 2003. The three teams won a combined eight of nine Stanley Cups during that time. The Devils won in 1995, followed by the Avalanche in 1996, then the Red Wings in 1997 and 1998. The Dallas Stars win in 1999 would be superseded by the Devils in 2000, Colorado in 2001 and Detroit in 2002.

Paths to the Finals

New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils were in the Stanley Cup Finals for their fourth time in franchise history, as well as their third appearance in four years. En route to the finals, New Jersey defeated the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning in five games, and the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Finals in a seven-game series. Strong goaltending from future Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur, and strong defense from future Hockey Hall of Fame captain Scott Stevens and future Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Niedermayer led the Devils to the finals. Niedermayer and forward Jamie Langenbrunner led all NHL players in points during the entire playoffs. Forwards John Madden and Jeff Friesen, the latter of whom had been traded to New Jersey from Anaheim during the off-season, also finished among the top scorers in the league during the playoffs.

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim entered their first Stanley Cup Finals in franchise history after upsetting two heavily favored teams: sweeping the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings and defeating the Dallas Stars in six games. Anaheim also swept the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference Finals, largely due to the stellar goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who only allowed one goal during the entire series. Supporting Giguere were future Hockey Hall of Fame members Paul Kariya and Adam Oates as well as forwards Petr Sykora and Rob Niedermayer, brother of then-Devils star defenseman Scott Niedermayer.

This series was considered memorable as two brothers on different teams competed against one another for the Stanley Cup. Carol Niedermayer, the mother of Rob and Scott, said she hoped Rob would win because Scott had already won Stanley Cups in 1995 and 2000. Scott said of his mother's statement: "That made sense to me."

Game summaries

The 2003 Stanley Cup Finals pitted the second-seeded Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils against the seventh-seeded Western Conference champion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Devils, who finished the season with 108 points, defeated the Mighty Ducks in seven games to win the Stanley Cup. The series opened at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Game 1

In game one Martin Brodeur held the Ducks off the scoreboard while the Devils players continually dominated the Ducks. Sergei Brylin scored the winning goal in the second period and the Devils went on to shut out the Mighty Ducks 3–0.

May 27	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim		0–3		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No Scoring
No Scoring		Second period			01:45 – Jeff Friesen (6)
No Scoring		Third period			05:34 – Grant Marshall (5) 19:38 – en – Jeff Friesen (7)
Jean-Sebastien Giguere 27 saves / 29 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 16 saves / 16 shots

Game 2

In a virtual repeat of game one, Patrik Elias scored the winning goal in the second period and the Devils shut out Anaheim 3–0 again.

May 29	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim		0–3		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No Scoring
No Scoring		Second period			04:42 – pp – Patrik Elias (3) 12:11 – Scott Gomez (2)
No Scoring		Third period			04:22 – Jeff Friesen (8)
Jean-Sebastien Giguere 22 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 16 saves / 16 shots

Game 3

Down 2–0 after two games, the series shifted to the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Southern California. 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, only to lose in overtime. Over the mistake with his stick, Brodeur later claimed, "It was just one of those once in a lifetime things."

May 31	New Jersey Devils		2–3	OT	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No Scoring
Patrik Elias (4) – 14:02		Second period			03:39 – Marc Chouinard (1) 14:47 – Sandis Ozolinsh (2)
Scott Gomez (3) – 09:11		Third period			No Scoring
No Scoring		First overtime period			06:59 – Ruslan Salei (2)
Martin Brodeur 30 saves / 33 shots		Goalie stats			Jean-Sebastien Giguere 29 saves / 31 shots

Game 4

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 2–2.

June 2	New Jersey Devils		0–1	OT	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No Scoring
No Scoring		Second period			No Scoring
No Scoring		Third period			No Scoring
No Scoring		First overtime period			00:39 – Steve Thomas (3)
Martin Brodeur 25 saves / 26 shots		Goalie stats			Jean-Sebastien Giguere 26 saves / 26 shots

Game 5

Game five, returning to the Meadowlands, saw a continual battle for the first half of 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 an apparent kicking motion with the skates. Video replays, however, showed that there was no distinct kicking motion from the skates, and thus the referees' call was reversed, resulting in a goal. 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 three games to two series lead.

June 5	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim		3–6		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
Petr Sykora (3) – 00:42 Steve Rucchin (5) – 12:50		First period			03:35 – Pascal Rheaume (1) 07:45 – pp – Patrik Elias (5)
Samuel Pahlsson (2) – 06:35		Second period			03:12 – Brian Gionta (1) 09:02 – Jay Pandolfo (5)
No Scoring		Third period			05:39 – Jamie Langenbrunner (10) 12:52 – Jamie Langenbrunner (11)
Jean-Sebastien Giguere 31 saves / 37 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 20 saves / 23 shots

Game 6

With New Jersey looking to clinch the series and win the Stanley Cup in Anaheim, game six 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 failed to see Devils captain Scott Stevens approaching after he passed the puck, and he was subsequently checked by the defensemen in a hit similar to the check that knocked out Eric Lindros during the 2000 playoffs and caused Lindros to miss the next season. Kariya was lying motionless for a few minutes, where he was then escorted to the locker room. Kariya, however, unexpectedly returned to the bench minutes later. About 11 minutes after the hit, Kariya fired a slapshot that got past Brodeur. This helped the Ducks win the game 5–2 and sent the series to a seventh and final game.

June 7	New Jersey Devils		2–5		Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim	Recap
No Scoring		First period			04:26 – Steve Rucchin (6) 13:42 – Steve Rucchin (7) 15:59 – pp – Steve Thomas (4)
Jay Pandolfo (6) – 02:18		Second period			17:15 – Paul Kariya (6)
Grant Marshall (6) – pp – 10:46		Third period			03:57 – pp – Petr Sykora (4)
Martin Brodeur 17 saves / 22 shots Corey Schwab 2 saves / 2 shots		Goalie stats			Jean-Sebastien Giguere 26 saves / 28 shots

Game 7

Game seven in New Jersey saw the Devils once more completely dominate the Ducks. The game-winning goal was scored by Michael Rupp. Rupp became the first player in Stanley Cup history to have his first playoff goal be the Stanley Cup winner. Additionally, Jeff Friesen dominated his former Mighty Duck teammates, scoring the game's final two goals to solidify the victory. The 3–0 win gave the Devils their third Stanley Cup victory, as Anaheim could not complete their Cinderella run. The Mighty Ducks, however, didn't leave empty-handed; for his stellar play throughout the playoffs and Finals, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player (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, joining Detroit's Roger Crozier (Template:Scfy), the St. Louis Blues' Glenn Hall (Template:Scfy), and the Philadelphia Flyers' Reggie Leach (Template:Scfy, a right winger) and Ron Hextall (Template:Scfy). He was the last player to win the Conn Smythe trophy on a losing team until the Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid did so in 2024. To date, Giguere is the last goaltender to win the Conn Smythe trophy on a losing team.

This was only the third time in NHL history, after Template:Scfy and Template:Scfy, that the home team won every Finals game.

June 9	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim		0–3		New Jersey Devils	Continental Airlines Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No Scoring
No Scoring		Second period			02:22 – Michael Rupp (1) 12:18 – Jeff Friesen (9)
No Scoring		Third period			16:16 – Jeff Friesen (10)
Jean-Sebastien Giguere 22 saves / 25 shots		Goalie stats			Martin Brodeur 24 saves / 24 shots

Team rosters

Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
21	Template:Flagicon		RW	L	Template:NHL Year	Grand Haven, Michigan	first
3	Template:Flagicon	– A	D	L	Template:NHL Year	Providence, Rhode Island	first
23	Template:Flagicon		LW	R	2001	Chelyabinsk, Soviet Union	first
11	Template:Flagicon		C	R	Template:NHL Year	Charlesbourg, Quebec	first
29	Template:Flagicon		G	L	Template:NHL Year	Burgdorf, Switzerland	first
35	Template:Flagicon		G	L	Template:NHL Year	Montreal, Quebec	first
28	Template:Flagicon		D	L	1999	Stockholm, Sweden	first
9	Template:Flagicon	– C	LW	L	1993	North Vancouver, British Columbia	first
10	Template:Flagicon		C	R	Template:NHL Year	Fernie, British Columbia	first
12	Template:Flagicon		LW	L	1995	Winnipeg, Manitoba	first
44	Template:Flagicon		LW	L	Template:NHL Year	Cassiar, British Columbia	second (Template:Scfy)
77	Template:Flagicon		C	R	Template:NHL Year	Weston, Ontario	second (Template:Scfy)
2	Template:Flagicon		D	R	Template:NHL Year	Nybro, Sweden	second (Template:Scfy)
8	Template:Flagicon		D	L	Template:NHL Year	Riga, Soviet Union	second (Template:Scfy)
26	Template:Flagicon		C	L	Template:NHL Year	Ånge, Sweden	first
20	Template:Flagicon	– (A)	C	L	1994	Thunder Bay, Ontario	first
24	Template:Flagicon		D	L	1996	Minsk, Soviet Union	first
34	Template:Flagicon		D	R	2000	St. Cloud, Minnesota	first
22	Template:Flagicon		LW	L	2000	Kalinin, Soviet Union	first
39	Template:Flagicon		RW	L	Template:NHL Year	Plzeň, Czechoslovakia	third (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
32	Template:Flagicon		RW	L	Template:NHL Year	Stockport, England	first
5	Template:Flagicon		D	L	1998	Kharkiv, Soviet Union	first

New Jersey Devils

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
6	Template:Flagicon		D	L	Template:NHL Year	Stockholm, Sweden	second (Template:Scfy)
9	Template:Flagicon		RW	L	1997	Košice, Czechoslovakia	first
30	Template:Flagicon		G	L	1990	Montreal, Quebec	fourth (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
18	Template:Flagicon		LW	L	1992	Moscow, Soviet Union	fourth (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
3	Template:Flagicon		D	L	1982	Windsor, Ontario	fourth (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
26	Template:Flagicon	– A	LW	L	1994	Třebíč, Czechoslovakia	third (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
12	Template:Flagicon		LW	L	Template:NHL Year	Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan	first
14	Template:Flagicon		RW	R	1998	Rochester, New York	first
23	Template:Flagicon		C	L	1998	Anchorage, Alaska	third (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
15	Template:Flagicon		RW	R	Template:NHL Year	Cloquet, Minnesota	third (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
11	Template:Flagicon		C	L	Template:NHL Year	Toronto, Ontario	third (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
29	Template:Flagicon		RW	R	Template:NHL Year	Port Credit, Ontario	third (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
19	Template:Flagicon		LW	L	Template:NHL Year	Gull Lake, Saskatchewan	second (Template:Scfy)
27	Template:Flagicon	– A	D	L	1991	Edmonton, Alberta	fourth (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
25	Template:Flagicon		C	L	Template:NHL Year	Oshawa, Ontario	fourth (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
20	Template:Flagicon		LW	L	1993	Winchester, Massachusetts	third (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
28	Template:Flagicon		D	R	Template:NHL Year	Dearborn, Michigan	third (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
21	Template:Flagicon		C	L	Template:NHL Year	Quebec City, Quebec	first
16	Template:Flagicon		RW	R	2000	Cleveland, Ohio	first
35	Template:Flagicon		G	L	Template:NHL Year	North Battleford, Saskatchewan	first
2	Template:Flagicon		D	L	Template:NHL Year	Ostrava, Czechoslovakia	second (did not play; Template:Scfy)
4	Template:Flagicon	– C	D	L	Template:NHL Year	Kitchener, Ontario	fourth (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)
24	Template:Flagicon		RW	R	Template:NHL Year	Prince George, British Columbia	second (Template:Scfy)
10	Template:Flagicon		D	L	Template:NHL Year	Donetsk, Soviet Union	first
5	Template:Flagicon		D	L	1996	New Glasgow, Nova Scotia	third (Template:Scfy, Template:Scfy)

Stanley Cup engraving

The 2003 Stanley Cup was presented to Devils captain Scott Stevens by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Devils 3–0 win over the Mighty Ducks in game seven.

The following Devils players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup:

2002–03 New Jersey Devils

Players

  Centres

• 11 John Madden
• 18 Sergei Brylin
• 21 Pascal Rheaume
• 23 Scott Gomez
• 25 Joe Nieuwendyk

  Wingers

• 9 Jiri Bicek
• 12 Jeff Friesen
• 14 Brian Gionta
• 15 Jamie Langenbrunner
• 16 Michael Rupp
• 19 Jim McKenzie
• 20 Jay Pandolfo
• 24 Turner Stevenson
• 26 Patrik Elias (A)
• 29 Grant Marshall

  Defencemen

• 4 Scott Stevens (Captain)
• 2 Richard Smehlik^†
• 3 Ken Daneyko
• 5 Colin White
• 6 Tommy Albelin
• 10 Oleg Tverdovsky
• 27 Scott Niedermayer (A)
• 28 Brian Rafalski

  Goaltenders

• 30 Martin Brodeur
• 35 Corey Schwab

^† Did not play or dress in Finals. Name engraved on Stanley Cup due to successful petition.

Coaching and administrative staff

• Ray Chambers (owner/governor), Lewis Katz (owner), Peter Simon (chairman), Lou Lamoriello (chief executive officer/president/general manager)
• 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, scouting), Claude Carrier (assistant director, 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, ticket operations), Vladimir Bure (fitness consultant), Taran Singleton (director – hockey operations/video coordinator),
• Bill Murray (medical trainer), Michael Vasalani (strength & conditioning coordinator), Rich Matthews (equipment manager),
• Juergen Merz (massage therapists), Alex Abasto (asst. equipment), Joe Murray (equipment asst.)

Engraving notes

• ^† #2 Richard Smehlik (D) – played 10 regular season games and 5 playoff games, but none in the Finals. As he did not automatically qualify, New Jersey successfully requested an exemption to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
• Marcel Pronovost won his eighth Stanley Cup – five as a player with Detroit in 1950, 1952, 1954–55 and Toronto in 1967, as well as three championships as a scout for New Jersey in 1995, 2000 and 2003. He set the record for years between his first and last Stanley Cup wins with 53 years.
• Jeff Friesen was the first player engraved on the Stanley Cup with a full middle name, as "JEFF DARYL FRIESEN." Some players in the past had their middle initial included along with their first name on the Stanley Cup. The 2003 New Jersey team included nine other players who were listed with an initial and 2 full names.
• When Louise St. Jacques engraved the replica Stanley Cup she realized she had left too much space between winning teams. So in order to make sure there was enough room on the Stanley Cup for 2004 winning team two names were changed Jacques J. Caron was changed to J.J.Caron, and Larry Robinson has changed L.Robinson (see 2004 Stanley Cup Finals)
• New Jersey won three Stanley Cups – 1995, 2000, and 2003. These players and staff were members of all three Stanley Cup championships. Martin Brodeur, Sergei Brylin, Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer, Scott Stevens, Bobby Carpenter Jr. (one as a player, two as an assistant coach), Lou Lamoriello, Larry Robinson, Jacques Caron, Claude Carrier, David Conte, Milt Fisher, Dan Labraaten, Marcel Provonost, Mike Vasalani, Peter McMullen (left Cup in 2003).
• #7 Raymond Giroux (D) – 11 regular season games and 0 playoff games. He was on the roster during the Finals, but left off the Stanley Cup engraving due to not qualifying by playing in 41 regular season games or 1 Finals game for New Jersey. New Jersey did not request an exemption to engrave his name.

Broadcasting

In the United States, the Disney-owned networks ESPN and ABC aired the Finals. Gary Thorne, and Bill Clement called the entire series, with John Davidson joining them for the ABC games. ESPN aired the first two games while ABC broadcast the rest of the series.

This was also the only year that ABC broadcast both the Stanley Cup and the NBA Finals that involved teams playing in the same arena during each series. During ABC's broadcast of game 7, Thorne thanked Brad Nessler, ABC's lead NBA voice, for promoting the game after he stated during game 3 of the NBA Finals that ABC was in a unique situation getting ready for both game 7 and their game the night before.

In Canada, Bob Cole and Harry Neale were in the broadcast booth for CBC. One of the CBC's owned and operated Station's in New Brunswick (CBAT-TV) decided to preempt game seven of the Final in order to broadcast the New Brunswick general election returns. This would also be the first finals televised by RDS, replacing SRC as the Canadian French-language broadcaster.

For the radio coverage, Devils team broadcaster John Hennessy called the series on WABC–AM 770 in New York City. In Anaheim, Steve Carroll called the series.

Quotes

Into the zone Sykora kicked in out, got it back, near side Kariya. Kariya the fans want one. SCORE! OFF THE FLOOR, ON THE BOARD! PAUL KARIYA!

— Template:Comma separated entries

The celebration starts, the New Jersey Devils! For the third time in their history, have won the Stanley Cup! The Devils 3, the Ducks, nothing! Devils, Stanley Cup Champions!

— Template:Comma separated entries