This game angers me as i watch the D-core we had. God damn we were spoiled.

forgot that there was no trapezoid at that time

i almost posted the Kool-aid man when neids scored….almost

And suddenly they’re in the DANGAH ZONE

I like Marty’s old pads from back then better. Very cool.

I know it will soon be Niedermayer night, but Stevens was the best…in history. He had WAY more points every season when both were on the Devils, and he’s 11th all time on the defenseman scoring list (a fact which just about everyone but die-hard Devils fans forget). And he was the best defensive defenseman in the world.

It’s amazing. Defensemen who excel to that level usually only do it on one side of the puck. They’re either an amazing defensive defenseman or an offensive defenseman, but not both. Stevens was one of the greatest ever on offense, and perhaps THE greatest ever on defense.

Considering how much airtime and color commentator verbiage they spent on Melanie Brodeur…. I think I know what this franchise’s current problem is: we don’t have the “hot wife/girlfriend” at the moment.

Someone find a Russian supermodel (or tennis player) for Kovalchuk, stat!

Mike Modano was always such a class act.

bettmen seems upset we won

lol 10 years later and they haven’t cleaned up the audio.

was when he uttered “The Conn Smythe trophy is awarded by the Professional Hockey Writers Association for the MVP for the 4 ROUNDS OF THE PLAYOFFS (with a hand jesture)”

that just absolutely sealed JSG getting the award. Even though it wasn’t his call, he felt like he had to prove to the crowd it was the right choice.

DARN IT!!! I wish i had known about this sooner….I only got to see the cup presentation…basically the last 5 mintues :(

truly inspiration stuff. Deboer should force the team to watch that game at least once a week – again and again, the whole season. definetly going to make a difference.

I turned on MSG + after seeing this thread and instead of game 6 NJ vs the Stars the broadcast they’re showing contains Snooki, Boomer, and Carton.

After watching this game again(it has been at least 5 years since I last saw it) several things standout.

1. The current most talented player still in the NHL today that participated in that game is Patrik Elias and it speaks volumes about how special this guy truly is as a player. He was one of the three best offensive players on the ice that series, and will garner serious consideration for the Hall of Fame when he retires.

2. The amount of Hall of Famers on both teams is staggering. Brodeur, Hull, Modano, Belfour, Nieuwendyk, Stevens, Niedermayer, Mogilny are either in or guaranteed. Hell, a few other guys on the fringe in Arnott, Elias, Derian Hatcher, Sergei Zubov, Brian Rafalski(who ranks 32nd all time in defenseman PPG, and 27th all time in +/-), and yes even Claude Lemieux made up the teams. These teams were loaded.

3. With the salary cap now in place, we may never see a team as talented as the Devils again from top to bottom. The only forward not to score a goal for the Devils throughout the playoffs was Jay Pandolfo. Not one player on that team was a minimum salary player in today’s salary cap world. Can you imagine Cam Janssen, Eric Boulton, or Tim Sestito producing for us in the playoffs? Yeah, neither can I.

4. The clutching and grabbing in game 6 makes me wonder how any player could put up 100 points in a season during that time-period. I saw sticks literally taken away from players with nothing called. Dan-o literally body-slammed Grant Marshall and got away with it. Hatcher nearly decapitated Sykora with an elbow and did not get a penalty. Claude Lemieux cross-checked Brendan Morrow twice in the back while shoving his head into the boards, and nothing was called. Brett Hull hooked Gomez so blatantly that it was astonishing that he could get rid of the puck at all, and it was described by Gary Thorne as a “tie-up.” Granted, it was game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, but the rest of the playoffs were not much different in 2000.

5. As great as Scott Stevens was, he had two critical turnovers that could have led to goals in the 3rd period of game 6. The following season he played mediocre in game 7 versus Colorado, and contributed negatively to that loss. Scott Niedermayer on the other hand scored a massive short-handed goal in game 6, played a ton of minutes, and played on a worse pairing. The fact that Niedermayer is not revered in the same way Stevens is makes me question if the fans ever truly appreciated Niedermayer. I guess we’ll find out Friday night.

6. Martin Brodeur’s rebound control was flawless during game 6, and is a major reason he may never get the credit he fully deserves from his critics for his role in the 3 Devil Stanley Cup Championships. It had been years since I saw him play without the trapezoid and it reminded me why they eliminated it in the first place. The Niedermayer short-handed goal is directly caused by Brodeur skating behind the net and firing the puck perfectly around the boards, high off the glass. It allows Lemieux to knock over Cote leading to the break.

Speaking of which, if the trapezoid were eliminated tomorrow, Hedberg should consider retiring.