The New Jersey Devils won the 2003 Stanley Cup after defeating the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in Game 7. It was the Devils third Stanley Cup in the past nine seasons. Here's some ice cold facts about New Jersey's victory in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals.
Home Ice Advantage
The Devils won the Stanley Cup with the best home-ice record in playoff history. New Jersey was 12-1 on their home turf including four victories in the Finals.
The Neidermeyer Rivalry
The Stanley Cup Finals had two brothers playing against each other for the first time since 1946. Scott Neidermeyer of the Devils won this brotherly battle over his younger brother Rob Neidermeyer, a forward for the Mighty Ducks. Their mother cheered for the Mighty Ducks since Rob has never won a Stanley Cup and Scott had already won two other Cups with New Jersey in 1995 and 2000.
Mighty Ducks Snag MVP
Jean-Sebastiene Giguere, the goaltender for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was just the fifth time that a player from the losing team has been named the MVP.
The History of the Devils
Long before the NHL's New Jersey Devils were winning Stanley Cups and eating up Mighty Ducks, the legend of the New Jersey Devil was born. In 1735, Jane Leeds was pregnant with her 13th child and she really didn't want to have another baby. She apparently made a deal with the devil in which she traded the baby for escape from marriage and the return of her youth. This devil-child flew right out of Jane's womb, went up the chimney and has been living in the swamps of New Jersey ever since. The New Jersey Devil regularly eats livestock, trys to steal children and loves to tease, torment and generally harass other people in New Jersey.
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