Tonight, it’s the long awaited finale of HBO show Game of Thrones. We finally will learn who will sit on the Iron Throne (my money is on a zombie Ned Stark). It’s been anticipated for the better part of a decade, and because of the journey there’s no doubt that a majority of those waiting for the end will not be happy with the result.
The New Jersey Devils have had many terrible finales. Game Seven in Colorado in 2001, a very certain Carolina game that we don’t want to talk about and of course Steve Bernier‘s major penalty. However, we want to talk about the finales that made every Devils fan happy.
We are specifically looking at the seasons of Devils hockey that ended with us winning the Iron Throne, err the Stanley Cup.
The Devils have won three Stanley Cup Championships in three very different ways. It’s actually pretty remarkable how different their three Cup wins are. One was a laugher, but it was the first one. One was a nail-biting final game that ended in ecstasy. Their last Cup came with everything on the line, in a game seven, and the Devils lifted the trophy in the end.
Let’s go in chronological order. The first great amazing finale for the New Jersey Devils came in 1995. The Devils were the major underdog, sort of like Tyrion Lannister. Nobody really expected them to win it all that season, despite the season being shorter than everyone wanted (sound familiar?).
They were taking on the Detroit Red Wings, basically playing the other Lannisters as the hated rival who nobody really wanted to win, despite all the signs pointing it will happen.
We’ll focus on the finale. The Red Wings were decimated, and were down to their last chance to keep their fight alive. However, it went about as well as the Red Wedding went for the Starks. The Devils struck just over a minute into game four. The Red Wings struck back immediately to tie the game, and eventually took the lead in the first period. It was false hope, like thinking George R.R. Martin will ever release his next two books in the series.
The Devils ended up dominating thanks to two goals from Neal Broten and Shawn Chambers. Martin Brodeur dominated the entire series, and the Devils ended up lift Lord Stanley’s Cup for the first time in their history. 13 years after coming to New Jersey from Colorado, they were champions. That’s a very sweet finale for that season.
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The second great finale may have been the best “episode” of New Jersey Devils hockey in history. It was game four of the 2000 Finals. This was basically the Battle of the Bastards. Two NHL teams that many old-school fans think shouldn’t be in the city they are. People will say the Metropolitan area doesn’t deserve three teams. Others will say that Texas can’t get people interested in hockey. This proved differently.
It was an epic battle between two teams, the Devils obviously playing the role of Winterfell and the Stars playing that terrible Bolton clan, led by Mike Modano as Ramsey. (Okay, that’s not really fair. Modano was great, but let’s try it out anyway.)
The battle was epic, especially games five and six. The Devils went into three overtimes before losing game five. Then, because our stress level wasn’t high enough, they went into two overtimes in game six. It was the greatest goal in New Jersey Devils history. Say what you want about the “Henrique, it’s over” goal, but this one won the team a Stanley Cup.
In 2003, the Devils went into the fight the heavy favorite. Think back to the Starks taking on the Night King and his army. Obviously, they tried to sell that the Army of the Dead had a shot to end things, but based on where it all happened in the season, we knew it wasn’t happening.
The Devils tried to end things in Anaheim, just like Jon Snow tried at times to end the Night King away from his home. Well, like the Devils, Snow had to wait for the enemy to come to his home to end them. It was a winner take all fight that used every possible resource from both sides. Both sides had dragons (Paul Kariya and Patrik Elias). Mike Rupp played the role of Arya Stark, the less than obvious choice to put away their opponent.
So, which finale is best? In my opinion, it’s probably the year 2000. Brodeur was in his prime, the team was far and away the best in the league, and it was the most thrilling battle, just like the Battle of the Bastards. Enjoy the GOT finale tonight, and after it’s over, we can look forward to the Stanley Cup Finals! (Go Western Conference, obviously.)