Flights of Fancy & Non-Fiction

This series opened as the one that no one anticipated. The questions swirled: Do people care enough about these teams? Is anyone going to watch? Was it good for the league? In the end, those questions were irrelevant because this final series proved again the validity of the old saying: That's why they play the games.

It was a confrontation between a team daring to dream in the moment versus a team seeking solace on a grander scale. As the series unfolded --already loaded with more story lines than most -- it was fraught with emotional highs and lows born of overtime, unlikely misplays, high drama and the hope and finality of a Game 7. Despite all of the hand wringing, the home fans witnessed victory in all seven games.

However, the payoff on the human-interest side of things just wasn't there for the dreamers. For, if this series had an ending fit for Disney, veterans Steve Thomas -- appearing in his first final in his 19-year career -- and Adam Oates would have hoisted the Cup. The two were boyhood teammates, providing the perfect syrupy backdrop for a Mighty Ducks' victory.

Same for goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. His exploits in the early rounds were mind-numbing -- the kind of performance that that always leads to the ultimate payoff when scripted. And what of brother Rob Niedermayer playing older brother Scott? With Mom Carol going on the record saying she hoped Rob and the Ducks would prevail because Scott had already won two titles with the Devils, wouldn't Hollywood handle that plea in the affirmative? Of course they would.

So too, the high drama provided in Game 6 by Scott Stevens -- the villain -- and Paul Kariya -- the hero -- made for a memorable moment. Stevens' crushing open ice hit that left Kariya flat on his back and motionless at the offensive blueline, followed by Kariya's return from the locker room and subsequent goal left an indelible mark on this series.

Except, such fanciful fictional heroics would have happened in Game 7, or at least led to an inspired effort by Kariya and the Ducks in the decisive moment. Instead, that is where reality took over. The Devils overcame two overtime losses on the road in games three and four – so close to a sweep, yet forced to soldier on in the face of the Ducks' unfolding tale as a team of destiny. Still, the Devils persisted, surviving uneven efforts in Games 5 and 6 from their superstar netminder Martin Brodeur.

The Devils took solace in their home-ice dominance and their experience. They had been there before and their would-be conquerors had not. Experience, though, cuts both ways. The Devils lost a 3-2 series lead and the Stanley Cup to the Colorado Avalanche two Junes prior. It was that memory that spurred this team. Yes, they knew the satisfying feeling of victory. Nevertheless, they dreaded more the sickening emptiness of coming so close and falling short. Sometimes, the most lasting lessons come not from winning, but from losing.

In that context, the Devils had fairy tale plotlines of their own, saving the best for the pivotal Game 7. Rookie Mike Rupp scored a goal and assists on two others, playing just his fourth playoff game, all in this series. Coach Pat Burns reinserted Ken Daneyko into the lineup -- he of a lifetime as a Devil -- after holding him out of the first six games of the series. Then there were Jeff Friesen's two goals in the final game -- five in the series -- against the team he requested a trade from -- a team with which he never felt comfortable.

Finally, there was Brodeur, standing tall making the necessary saves and backstopping the exceptional effort of his teammates in front of him. That tried and true formula -- timely saves supporting a steadfastly unselfish team game -- resulted in a record setting seventh playoff shutout by Brodeur, their third Stanley Cup in nine seasons, yet no individual accolades. That award -- the Conn Smythe Trophy honoring the MVP of the playoffs -- went not to Brodeur or any of his closely held Devils teammates, instead bestowed upon Giguere, still thought a de rigueur selection for his entire body of playoff work, despite going 0-4 and surrendering 14 goals on the road in the championship series.

Could any of us have predicted the sequence of events in this postseason, these Stanley Cup finals, or this Game 7? Hardly. And that's the point. That's what the spring of 2003 embodied: the hope and desire; the elation and despair. This series had all of that and more. That is what draws us in as fans -- and that's why they play the games.

Darren Eliot, a former NHL goaltender, is a hockey analyst for SI.com.

 

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