The 2003 Stanley Cup Finals was a best-of-seven playoff series that determined the champion of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2002–03 season. As a 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. 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.
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, as 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. After the Dallas Stars won in 1999, the four-year cycle repeated as the Devils started it again in 2000, followed by Colorado in 2001 and Detroit in 2002.
Read more about 2003 Stanley Cup Finals: Road To The Final, The Series
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