The Top 10 Stanley Cup Playoff Upsets In NHL History
By Justin Perez
#10 Mighty Ducks deny stacked Red Wings of a chance at second straight Cup- 2003 Western Conference Quarter-Finals
The 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs has some wild moments. Another first round series from 2003 is bound to make this list. However, we will talk about this one to start. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are one of the many example of a team going on an unexpected playoff run.
In 2002-03, the aforementioned team from the Los Angeles metropolitan area were trying to form into a respectable franchise. After they ironically lost in the first round to Detroit in 1999, Anaheim missed the playoffs for the next three seasons. In the process, three different men claimed the role as the bench boss.
In the offseason, the franchise hired Mike Babcock as head coach. The move payed off immediately as he led the Ducks to their first ever 40 win season. The team had some talent such as Petr Sykora, Steve Rucchin, and an aging but still effective Adam Oates. The main face of the franchise however was Paul Kariya, the teams’ first ever entry draft pick.
Kariya had another superstar like campaign, posting 25 goals and 56 assists for 81 points, which was more than enough to lead the team in scoring. Sykora led the team in goals with 34. However, even with the names I mentioned, the backbone of the team was the starting netminder, Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
Giguere, had a fantastic regular season, posting a .920 save percentage and 8 shutouts, good for second in the NHL that year. More on him later. Detroit on the other hand, was coming off a championship from the previous year. They still had their embarrassment of riches on the roster.
The team was littered with hall of fame talent. Steve Yzerman led a group that consisted of Sergei Fedorov, Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Chelios, Nicklas Lidström, and Igor Larionov. They even featured a young Pavel Datsyuk, who was in his second season, and a rookie by the name of Henrik Zetterberg.
Because of the amazing roster of skaters, along with the steady goaltending of Curtis Joseph and Manny Legace, the Red Wings were able to finish first in the Central Division and obtained 110 points in the regular season. Everyone expected the Wings to sweep the floor with the Ducks, go on another deep run, and win a second straight Stanley Cup.
When the series began, it was clear that Anaheim was not going to be satisfied with just making the playoffs, especially one man. Remember Jean-Sebastien Giguere? He captivated the NHL with his amazing playoff performance. He stood on his head and became an example of a hot goalie carrying a team.
In game 1, Brendan Shanahan scored on the power play just 4:15 into the contest. The goalie took that blow and ran with the rest of the series, Adam Oates tied the game in the late stages of the first frame and it remained tied. Overtime was needed to decide a winner. It didn’t take until the third overtime for the deadlock to be broken when Paul Kariya gave Anaheim the first win.
In game 2, Giguere gave up 2 goals in the second period and stopped everything else. Jason Krog and Steve Thomas would end up giving the Ducks their second and third goals in the game to give them a 3-2 win. Anaheim led 2-0 in the series.
When the series shifted to the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, the Ducks fed off their home crowd. Samuel Pahlsson and Stanislav Chistov scored to put Anaheim up 2-0. A late goal by Tomas Holmström wasn’t enough to mount a comeback. Anaheim stood on the verge on sweeping the the champs. In game 4 Steve Rucchin scored the series winner in overtime to send Detroit home. They would end up making the Stanley Cup Final before falling to New Jersey.