Curious timing for Devils' tribute
The Devils will honor their 2003 Stanley Cup team that beat the Ducks in seven games -- on the same night New Jersey hosts the Ducks. Coincidental timing?
Only goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere remains on the Ducks' roster from that team. The 2003 Conn Smythe winner told the team's radio analyst, Dan Wood that "it's a long time ago, but it still stinks, it still hurts."
Scott Niedermayer, then a Devil, is now a Duck. Rob Niedermayer, then a Duck, is now a Devil. Martin Brodeur remains the No.1 goalie in New Jersey.
"You know, 2003 was our last Stanley Cup but it was a great season," Brodeur told the team's Web site. "We accomplished a lot of great things, and it was the first Cup for Pat Burns as a coach. He's coached in the biggest markets you can imagine, and he won his first Stanley Cup with us in New Jersey. So, a lot of good things, a lot of good friendships that were made - that's what a winning team is all about. Anaheim could tell you the same when they won (in 2007), how close they were when it happened."
About J.P.
J.P. Hoornstra has been covering the Anaheim Ducks since 2007. Eight months after the University of Wisconsin won its third NCAA hockey championship, he was born in a frigid Madison winter. He betrayed his blue-blooded beginnings by graduating from UCLA in 2003, and welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
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