New Jersey Devils 2012 Stanley Cup Team: Where are they now?

Petr Sykora

A New Jersey Devils legend through and through, Petr Sykora spent the first seven years of his NHL career with the Devils before making pitstops with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Minnesota Wild. After an abbreviated season with the Wild, Sykora spent the 2010-11 season with both HC Plzeň 1929 in the ELH and Dinamo Minsk in the KHL before returning home for one last dance.

Petr Sykora was offered a tryout by the New Jersey Devils at the age of 34 on September 12, 2011, and converted that tryout into an NHL contract weeks later on October 5. Even at his advanced age, Sykora made his 15th and final year in the NHL a good one.

In the 2011-12 season, Petr Sykora scored 21 goals and 23 assists, and managed to play in all 82 regular season games. Not bad for a guy who needed a tryout before making the team.

Sykora was less effective in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as he scored only two goals and three assists and played in 18 of a possible 24 games. Still, Sykora’s experience was valuable. Sykora, Martin Brodeur, Patrik Elias, Ryan Carter, and Anton Volchenkov were the only players on the roster who had played in a Stanley Cup Final prior to 2012.

Although things ultimately didn’t have a fairytale ending, Petr Sykora came full circle with the New Jersey Devils. He won a Cup in 2000 and lost one in 2012. In between that time, he lost one in 2008 with the Pittsburgh Penguins and won one with them a year later. He also lost to the Devils in the 2003 Final as a member of the Mighty Ducks.

Sykora’s last year of playing professional hockey was 2012-13 when he played nine total games for SC Bern in Switzerland. Sykora has since retired, but did make an appearance in 2020, as he finally got to take his lap with the Stanley Cup after missing the celebrations in the hospital in 2000.