I say New Jersey. Just too many weapons against one man. Giguere is good but he can't do it by himself. I say NJ in 6.

Anaheim, because God cannot dislike that much to let New Jersey win it all. :laugh:

NJ,,,,,,,,they just seem to be destined to win it.

I don't follow hockey at all...but it seems to me that Anaheim wasn't supposed to make it this far?? So I'll go with the underdog, because if they can beat the Red Wings, they can beat anybody! :wave:

Stepping from the shadows

Darren Eliot, SI.com

The most striking element of this Stanley Cup finals matchup is the number of similarities between the two teams. From trades to tactics to touchy-feely stories, the Devils and the Mighty Ducks share a staggering array of likenesses.

As far as I can tell, there are only a couple of differences between the two teams. First of all, the Ducks are a surprise representative of the Western Conference, having won just one playoff series in their 10-year team history before this postseason. The Devils, on the other hand, are making their third Stanley Cup finals appearance in the past four seasons. With two championships to their credit since 1995, they are the standard bearers of the Eastern Conference over the past decade.

The other aspect that sets these teams apart has to do with the importance placed on publicity. In New Jersey, the Devils operate in relative anonymity given their success. Part of that is the proximity to the Big Apple, but most of the obscurity issues have to do with general manager Lou Lamoriello's secretive "our business is our business alone" approach. He seems to disdain the very notion of selling or promoting the Devils in any form or fashion beyond his team's impressive on-ice accomplishments.

Meanwhile, the Ducks were a marketing vehicle before they were even an entity in the NHL. Their unusual and cartoonish moniker came directly from the Disney movies of the same name. It worked initially, as the fans in Orange County flocked to the Pond in sellout numbers for the first three-plus seasons and merchandise sales boomed everywhere. But as the team struggled, attendance plummeted and fan interest quickly waned. Enter general manager Bryan Murray. Part of his business plan acknowledged the importance of reviving the local verve for the team. He accurately assessed that winning now was vital.

And that's where the 2002-03 sagas of these two franchises converge. Lamoriello was looking to change the mix of his team, while Murray was looking to overhaul the chemistry of his. The two made a big deal in July, with the Ducks acquiring Petr Sykora in exchange for Jeff Friesen and Oleg Tverdovsky. At the same time, Murray made a major monetary commitment to aging free-agent center Adam Oates -- a move that, according to captain Paul Kariya, signaled the immediacy and seriousness of Murray's intent. All in all, Murray's revitalized roster has 12 players who played elsewhere a season ago.

Aside from the offseason trade between these two clubs that began a transformation for the Mighty Ducks and a tweaking for the Devils, here is the glossary of other similarities:

The head coaches are in their first years with their respective teams.

Both goaltenders are Montreal natives on the leading edge of the Quebec goaltending phenomenon.

Each team has a Niedermayer -- Scott for the Devils and younger brother Rob for the Mighty Ducks.

The Devils and the Ducks finished 1-2 in penalty-killing efficiency during the regular season.

Looking at these points one-by-one, the coaching styles of Pat Burns of the Devils and Mike Babcock of the Ducks share common principles. Both are adamant when it comes to getting matchups. Babcock admitted that he adopted Burns' strategy of sticking to matchup game-planning -- even on the road -- when Burns did just that to Babcock during the only regular-season meeting between these two teams in Anaheim on Jan. 24.

Throughout the playoffs, both men have made sure that their defensive stopper is on the ice every time the opposition's key offensive performer takes a shift. In this series, that means Kariya and Sykora likely will see a steady diet of Scott Stevens on the blueline and John Madden up front. Likewise, Babcock will insist that defenseman Keith Carney and Steve Rucchin's line marks the Joe Nieuwendyk trio -- if Nieuwendyk is healthy enough to be a factor -- or the Scott Gomez-Patrik Elias combination, if they rediscover their elusive offensive touch.

One intriguing possibility has the Madden line out against the Rucchin line since both have been not only the top defensive lines for their teams, but they have also been dependable offensive producers. That point alone tells you what you need to know about these teams -- both coaches espouse defense first, with the offense largely flowing from the effort expended on the other side of the puck.

As a result, both Burns and Babcock trade on the details within the game, namely line changes and faceoffs. The Ducks were the top team in the circle this season, led by Oates and Rucchin. The Devils were a top-five team as well, led by Madden and Nieuwendyk, again underscoring the need for a healthy Nieuwendyk.

What gives all this defensive posturing credence is the goaltending at each end. Martin Brodeur has long been the lynchpin to the Devils' success, while Jean-Sebastien Giguere has burst on the playoff scene this year. Giguere's performance has ranged from staggering to steady, as he tries to become the first goaltender since Patrick Roy in 1986 to win it all in his first postseason appearance. He is likely to have more traffic to contend with versus the Devils than at any time during the first three rounds, but he will not see the volume of shots he faced in the early rounds.

In both cases, the goaltending backstops league-leading penalty killing. Brodeur and Giguere's excellence allows both teams to look for offense while short-handed. Such a situation might prove the difference when it comes to special teams, as both power plays have operated with sporadic results in the playoffs. A short-handed goal by either side is nearly as likely as a power-play marker.

As far as the Niedermayers go, specifically, it is a nice story that they are the first brothers to oppose each other in the finals since the Reardon brothers in 1946. Generally, though, comparing Scott's two Cups and three previous Cup appearances to Rob's lone appearance in 1996 as a member of the Florida Panthers is representative of the experience gap between the two teams. Will that chasm prove the difference? Not likely. As with the brothers -- Scott the smooth-skating rearguard who plays a seamless game at both ends of the rink, and Rob, the defensively capable, versatile forward -- the players on both sides have embraced their respective roles and performed accordingly.

All of which promises a close, hard-fought Stanley Cup finals -- one in which goaltending will be central, as usual -- but given the team emphasis of each, look for heroes to emerge from the unlikeliest of sources in these lineups.

Darren Eliot, a former NHL goaltender, is a hockey analyst for SI.com. Eliot will provide Stanley Cup Playoffs commentary throughout the postseason, and he is also broadcasting the Stanley Cup Finals for NHL Radio.

Taken from yahoo.com

I really think Anaheim is going to win the Cup. Giguere has just been too solid.

I would like to see NJ win it, which is why I picked them, but it looks like the Ducks are gonna win it all.

Pre-Game News

Game 1 8:00 on ESPN

With Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Martin Brodeur in goal, it should require very little offense for either the Anaheim Mighty Ducks or New Jersey Devils to win the Stanley Cup.

Giguere and the Ducks look to complete their stunning postseason run and win their first NHL championship by knocking off Brodeur and the playoff-tested New Jersey Devils, who are looking for their third Stanley Cup in eight years.

It may be difficult for anyone who prefers high-scoring games to enjoy this final series, in which the performance of the two goaltenders may go further toward determining the outcome than ever before.

The 26-year-old Giguere, though, is as tough in turning away that notion as he has been in stopping opponents' shots during this postseason.

"It's team against team,'' Giguere said. "Whoever shows up best as a team is going to win. Obviously, a goalie's a part of the team, so you need the goalie to play well, along with your defensemen and your forwards. That's the only way you're successful.''

His performance, of course, suggests otherwise.

Giguere has followed up a breakout regular season with one of the best playoff performances ever by a goalie -- and he's been getting better as he has gone along. Giguere lowered his goals-against average to 1.22 in these playoffs by almost completely shutting down the Minnesota Wild in Anaheim's sweep in the Western Conference finals.

By going the entire series allowing only one goal, which came in the final game, Giguere powered the seventh-seeded Mighty Ducks into the first Cup finals in the nine-year history of the franchise.

Giguere has his team playing for the championship because he has overcome challenge after challenge in these playoffs, and he'll have a few more as this series gets under way. Perhaps the most immediate is Anaheim's layoff, which reached 10 days because of the Ducks' sweep of the Wild, as well as the Devils' seven-game victory over the Ottawa Senators in the East finals.

Goaltenders thrive on regular work and feel for the puck, and Giguere could be very rusty in Game 1 after not facing shots in game situations for more than a week.

Anaheim first-year coach Mike Babcock, however, isn't concerned the layoff could affect his star goaltender or his team.

"I could tell by the way we were today, our guys are excited and looking forward to playing,'' Babcock said after a spirited practice Saturday. "It's kind of like the switch goes on again. It's been long, and yet, you can't just not do anything for 10 days. Our guys have worked hard to prepare and we're going to be ready.''

Even if Giguere is able to pick up where he left off, Brodeur is sure to present another obstacle for him. The Devils goalie has led his club to a pair of Stanley Cups, and has been arguably the NHL's best at his position over the past several years.

Brodeur is clearly the best goaltender the Mighty Ducks have faced in this postseason.

"I will answer a lot of questions from now until the end of the series about Giguere, but that's not new,'' Brodeur said. "I played a final against Patrick Roy a few years ago and it was the same.

"Technically, (Giguere's) as good as anybody out there and he's playing with a lot of confidence.''

Despite needing seven games to eliminate top-seeded Ottawa, New Jersey's layoff of three days may be the perfect amount to keep it from losing momentum. The Devils' experience and penchant for clutch goals lifted them past the Senators in Game 7 at Ottawa on Friday night, as Jeff Friesen scored with 2:14 remaining in the third period to give New Jersey a 3-2 win.

The victory gave the Devils their third berth in the Stanley Cup finals in four seasons.

Friesen's presence in the series is one of several subplots between the clubs. The forward was dealt to the Devils last summer along with defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky as part of a seven-player deal with the Ducks. Forward Petr Sykora, one of Anaheim's top forwards, went to the Ducks in the trade.

"It's funny how your career works,'' said Friesen, who had three game-winning goals against Ottawa.

The Mighty Ducks-Devils series will also give the NHL the first matchup between brothers in the Cup finals since 1946. Anaheim center Rob Niedermayer, a late-season addition, will be going against his brother, Scott, a winner of two Stanley Cups and one of the anchors of the Devils' formidable defense.

"As kids growing up, being competitive, we were always playing against each other, so I guess it's only fitting that we're doing it in the Stanley Cup finals,'' Rob Niedermayer said.

Game 2 will be Thursday night at Continental Airlines Arena.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Mighty Ducks - 7th seed; beat Detroit Red Wings 4-0, conference quarterfinals; beat Dallas Stars 4-2, conference semifinals; beat Minnesota Wild 4-0, conference finals. Devils - 2nd seed; beat Boston Bruins 4-1, conference quarterfinals; beat Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1, conference semifinals; beat Ottawa Senators 4-3, conference finals.

PLAYOFF TEAM LEADERS: Mighty Ducks - Paul Kariya, 5 goals; Mike Leclerc, 8 assists; Leclerc and Adam Oates, 10 points; Ruslan Salei, 18 PIM. Devils - Jamie Langenbrunner, 9 goals; Scott Niedermayer, 11 assists, Langenbrunner and John Madden, 15 points; Colin White, 25 PIM.

PLAYOFF SPECIAL TEAMS: Mighty Ducks - Power play: 11.5 percent (6 for 52). Penalty killing: 87.8 percent (43 for 49). Devils - Power play: 15.9 percent (10 for 63). Penalty killing: 89.3 percent (50 for 56).

GOALTENDERS: Mighty Ducks - Giguere (12-2, 4 SO, 1.22 GAA); Martin Gerber (0-0, 3.00). Devils - Brodeur (12-5, 4, 1.62); Corey Schwab (0-0, 0.00).

REGULAR SEASON SERIES: Devils, 2-0. In the first meeting, Langenbrunner and Scott Gomez had goals 29 seconds apart to force overtime, and Langenbrunner scored with 1:56 left in the extra period to give the Devils a 3-2 home victory Nov. 12. In the second matchup, Jay Pandolfo's short-handed goal broke a tie midway through the final period to lift New Jersey to a 3-1 win Jan. 24 at Arrowhead Pond.

NJ up 1 after 2.

NJ wins game one 3-0. Heres the scoring summary.

1st Period
None
2nd Period
New Jersey 1:45, Jeff Friesen 6 (Sergei Brylin, Brian Gionta)
3rd Period
New Jersey 5:34, Grant Marshall 5 (Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez)
New Jersey 19:38, Jeff Friesen 7 (empty net) (Colin White, Martin Brodeur)

I'm shocked. Maybe NJ will be able to get to Giguere. :eek:

:eek: :eek: :eek:

In order for Giguere to stop the puck, he has to be in the net! Ducks cannot rely on the pulled goalie and extra man to get back into the game.

During their improbable run to the Stanley Cup finals, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks haven't faced much adversity. That changed with a lackluster performance against the New Jersey Devils in the series opener.

Faced with their first series deficit of the playoffs, the Mighty Ducks will need improvement in every area when they face the Devils in Game 2 at Continental Airlines Arena.

With 10 days off between the end of the Western Conference finals and Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, the Mighty Ducks could have either benefited from the extended layoff or suffered the negative effects of such a long break. Judging by their performance in Tuesday's opener, it's clearly the latter.

New Jersey outskated, outhit and outplayed Anaheim en route to a 3-0 victory Tuesday, improving the Devils to 9-1 at home this postseason.

Jeff Friesen, who spent last season with the Mighty Ducks, gave goalie Martin Brodeur all the support he needed with his first goal of the game 1:45 into the second period. Grant Marshall scored at 5:34 of the third period, and Friesen closed the scoring with an empty-net goal.

Anaheim managed just four shots on goal in each of the first two periods and 16 overall. The Devils bottled up the speedy Ducks, and Brodeur faced little work in recording his fifth shutout of the postseason and 18th of his playoff career.

"In fairness to them, you could tell they had a little rust on their blades,'' Devils coach Pat Burns said. "But they'll get better as the series goes along.''

History is certainly on New Jersey's side. The team winning Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals has gone on to win 50 of 64 times since the best-of-seven format started in 1939.

"It's always important to start off good -- especially against this team; they won the first two games all three rounds,'' said Devils forward Patrik Elias, who set up Marshall's goal. "It was important to play our game and show them we mean business.''

It took just one game for New Jersey to prove that Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere is, in fact, mortal. The Devils beat Giguere twice on 29 shots after he limited the Minnesota Wild to one goal on 123 shots in a four-game sweep in the conference finals.

"Did we get to him?'' Burns asked. "I'll be able to tell you if we got to him or not when the series is over. Hey, he made some big saves too.''

In the first three rounds against Detroit, Dallas and Minnesota, Anaheim won the first two games of each series on the road. The Ducks won of 12 of 14 playoff games before Tuesday but now find themselves behind in a series for the first time.

"I knew it would be tough to generate offense against them,'' Anaheim coach Mike Babcock said. "What I expected was it also would be tough for them to generate offense against us. We had a big opportunity tonight, but we're not going to make excuses. They were hungrier than us.''

Giguere's remarkable play has overshadowed Anaheim's lack of offense in the playoffs, but that could be exposed against the battle-tested Devils, who allowed the fewest goals in the league during the regular season.

The Ducks gave up only 21 goals in their first 14 playoff games but also scored only 33, and don't have a single scorer among the top 15 in the playoffs.

Anaheim's best players were the biggest culprits in Game 1. Captain Paul Kariya, the team leader with five goals, had one shot on goal, former Devil Petr Sykora had two and Adam Oates none.

Devils center Joe Nieuwendyk sat out Game 1 with a lower-body injury he suffered in Game 6 of the conference finals against Ottawa. New Jersey, however, is 2-0 without Nieuwendyk in the lineup.

After missing the Devils' 3-2 victory in Game 7 against the Senators, Nieuwendyk was replaced Tuesday by Sergei Brylin, who played on a line between Friesen and Brian Gionta.

Brylin hasn't played much center this season but looked very comfortable, setting up Friesen for the game's first goal and finishing plus-two.

"To step in like that in the finals is just awesome,'' Devils center Scott Gomez said. "I have played with the guy the most since I have been here and the guy is so underrated. He is so dangerous out there. He can do it all.''

New Jersey is 9-0 in the playoffs when scoring first, while Anaheim is 8-0 when it gets the opening goal.

The series shifts to Anaheim for Game 3 on Saturday.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Mighty Ducks - 7th seed; beat Detroit Red Wings 4-0, conference quarterfinals; beat Dallas Stars 4-2, conference semifinals; beat Minnesota Wild 4-0, conference finals. Devils - 2nd seed; beat Boston Bruins 4-1, conference quarterfinals; beat Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1, conference semifinals; beat Ottawa Senators 4-3, conference finals.

PLAYOFF TEAM LEADERS: Mighty Ducks - Kariya, 5 goals; Mike Leclerc, 8 assists; Leclerc and Oates, 10 points; Ruslan Salei, 18 PIM. Devils - Jamie Langenbrunner, 9 goals; Scott Niedermayer, 11 assists; Langenbrunner and John Madden, 15 points; Colin White, 27 PIM.

PLAYOFF SPECIAL TEAMS: Mighty Ducks - Power play: 11.1 percent (6 for 54). Penalty killing: 88.0 percent (44 for 50). Devils - Power play: 15.6 percent (10 for 64). Penalty killing: 89.7 percent (52 for 58).

GOALTENDERS: Mighty Ducks - Giguere (12-3, 4 SO, 1.27 GAA); Martin Gerber (0-0, 3.00). Devils - Brodeur (13-5, 5, 1.53); Corey Schwab (0-0, 0.00).

REGULAR SEASON SERIES: Devils, 2-0. In the first meeting, Langenbrunner and Gomez had goals 29 seconds apart to force overtime, and Langenbrunner scored with 1:56 left in the extra period to give the Devils a 3-2 home victory Nov. 12. In the second matchup, Jay Pandolfo's short-handed goal broke a tie midway through the final period to lift New Jersey to a 3-1 win Jan. 24 at Arrowhead Pond.

My prediction: Anaheim 1 - NJ 4

End of first tied at one.

1-0 NJ.

New Jersey definitely seems to be the better team and I think they will go on to win tonight and go up 2-0 in the series.

New Jersey 2
Anaheim 0
Late 2nd period

NJ wins 3-0. Thats Bordeur's second shut-out in a row! Ladies and Gentleman, this just in. Brodeur is better than Giguere.

Scoring Summary
1st Period
None
2nd Period
New Jersey 4:42, Patrik Elias 3 (power play) (Oleg Tverdovsky, Scott Gomez)
New Jersey 12:11, Scott Gomez 2 (Oleg Tverdovsky, Patrik Elias)
3rd Period
New Jersey 4:22, Jeff Friesen 8 (Brian Gionta, Scott Niedermayer)

PLAYOFF SERIES: Stanley Cup final; Devils lead 2-0.

It's hard to argue with the fans at Continental Airlines Arena after the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals.

Coming off back-to-back shutouts of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at home, Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils look to move within one win of their third Stanley Cup in eight years when the series shifts to Arrowhead Pond for Game 3.

This series figured to be highlighted by a classic goaltenders' battle between the veteran Brodeur and Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere. That duel, however, has yet to materialize because Brodeur has stopped all 32 shots he's faced in two relatively easy 3-0 shutouts while Giguere has looked ordinary in allowing five goals on 54 shots.

Brodeur's play led the sellout crowd at Continental Airlines Arena in Game 2 on Thursday to chant "Marty's better,'' in reference to Giguere.

"What's important is we're winning,'' Brodeur said. "You've got to be excited about starting the series like this.''

While Brodeur has been one of the best goaltenders of his era and already has won two Stanley Cups with New Jersey, Giguere entered this series playing as well as any goalie in recent history. He allowed just one goal in Anaheim's sweep of Minnesota in the conference finals, and was 12-2 with a minuscule 1.22 goals-against average in the playoffs.

Although he won't admit it, Brodeur had every right to feel slighted with all the attention Giguere was receiving before the series began.

"You want to be the best out there,'' said Brodeur, now the favorite for the Conn Smythe Trophy. "Jean-Sebastien really proved that he belonged here and he's playing so far really well. We're getting really good goals on him. But definitely it's really an incentive to beat the best goalie that's playing right now.''

The Devils' netminder is the first goalie to start the finals with consecutive shutouts since Toronto's Frank McCool had three straight against Detroit in 1945. His sixth shutout of this postseason tied the NHL record set by Detroit's Dominik Hasek last season and increased his shutout streak to 138:07, dating back to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

"It's definitely easier to go all the way to California (with a two-game lead),'' Brodeur said. "I think we discouraged them a lot by playing solid defense.''

Anaheim has put itself in a very dangerous position. Of the 28 teams to sweep Games 1 and 2 at home in the finals, only one -- the Chicago Blackhawks against Montreal in 1971 -- has not gone on to win the Stanley Cup.

"It's still a seven-game series,'' Anaheim defenseman Kurt Sauer insisted. "The first two games, there isn't much we can do about it but now we have five more games to play. We're going home and that helps, but we have to play our game.''

If the Mighty Ducks are going to make this a series, their best players need to elevate their game. Paul Kariya, Adam Oates and former Devil Petr Sykora have combined for just three shots on goal -- none in Game 2.

"Everyone has to look at themselves individually,'' Kariya said. "Everybody individually has to play better and collectively as a team. Myself, obviously I can't have a game without any shots. I have to generate more offensively.''

While Brodeur has stopped every shot that has come his way, he certainly hasn't been tested very often or with many quality chances. New Jersey has continued to play the suffocating defense that got it to the finals, and has capitalized on the few scoring chances it has created.

Fomer Mighty Duck Oleg Tverdovsky, who had seen limited time in the playoffs for the Devils, set up second-period power-play goals by Patrik Elias and Scott Gomez in Game 2. Jeff Friesen, acquired in the same deal that sent Tverdovsky to New Jersey, added his third goal of this series and his eighth of the postseason.

"I think any time you go from one team to another, you want to prove to them, you want to play your best hockey against them,'' Devils captain Scott Stevens said. "Jeff is showing that right now and so is Oleg.''

The first goal will be crucial for Anaheim in Game 3. The Devils are 10-0 in the playoffs when they score first, and the Ducks also are unbeaten when they get the first goal at 8-0.

Game 4 is Monday at Arrowhead Pond.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Devils - 2nd seed; beat Boston Bruins 4-1, conference quarterfinals; beat Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1, conference semifinals; beat Ottawa Senators 4-3, conference finals. Mighty Ducks - 7th seed; beat Detroit Red Wings 4-0, conference quarterfinals; beat Dallas Stars 4-2, conference semifinals; beat Minnesota Wild 4-0, conference finals.

PLAYOFF TEAM LEADERS: Devils - Jamie Langenbrunner, 9 goals; Scott Niedermayer, 12 assists; Langenbrunner and John Madden, 15 points; Colin White, 27 PIM. Mighty Ducks - Kariya, 5 goals; Mike Leclerc, 8 assists; Leclerc and Adam Oates, 10 points; Ruslan Salei, 18 PIM.

PLAYOFF SPECIAL TEAMS: Devils - Power play: 16.2 percent (11 for 68). Penalty killing: 90.2 percent (55 for 61). Mighty Ducks - Power play: 10.5 percent (6 for 57). Penalty killing: 87.0 percent (47 for 54).

GOALTENDERS: Devils - Brodeur (14-5, 6 SO, 1.46 GAA); Corey Schwab (0-0, 0.00). Mighty Ducks - Giguere (12-4, 4, 1.36); Martin Gerber (0-0, 3.00)