What were the Line Combinations for the 2003 Devils

[PhillyBluesFan]

Forward and defense. I know it probable got tweaked a bit through out the year but specifically for the playoffs

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

In the playoffs, the lines were actually remarkably stable.

Patrik Elias- Scott Gomez - Grant Marshall
Jeff Friesen - Joe Nieuwendyk - Jamie Langenbrunner*
Jay Pandolfo - John Madden - Brian Gionta*
Sergei Brylin** - Pascal Rheume - Turner Stevenson

*Langenbrunner and Gionta were sometimes switched when Burns wanted to add Langenbrunner's scoring and physical play to the 3rd line (Gionta hadn't developed yet).

**Jim McKenzie started the playoffs on the 4th line until Brylin came back from injury.

Mike Rupp famously took Nieuwendyk's spot in the finals after he was injured.

Scott Stevens - Brian Rafalsi
Colin White - Scott Niedermayer
Tommy Albelin - Ken Daneyko/Oleg Tverdovsky

The top 4 was very stable and played huge minutes. The bottom pairing was constantly changed, but eventually a 38 year old Tommy Albelin won the spot for good. His partner was usually Daneyko (couldn't skate anymore) or Tverdovsky (stunk in his own zone). Richard Smehlik (just plain stunk) saw some bottom pairing time, as well.

 

[PhillyBluesFan]

In the playoffs, the lines were actually remarkably stable.

Patrik Elias- Scott Gomez - Grant Marshall
Jeff Friesen - Joe Nieuwendyk - Jamie Langenbrunner*
Jay Pandolfo - John Madden - Brian Gionta*
Sergei Brylin** - Pascal Rheume - Turner Stevenson

*Langenbrunner and Gionta were sometimes switched when Burns wanted to add Langenbrunner's scoring and physical play to the 3rd line (Gionta hadn't developed yet).

**Jim McKenzie started the playoffs on the 4th line until Brylin came back from injury.

Mike Rupp famously took Nieuwendyk's spot in the finals after he was injured.

Scott Stevens - Brian Rafalsi
Colin White - Scott Niedermayer
Tommy Albelin - Ken Daneyko/Oleg Tverdovsky

The top 4 was very stable and played huge minutes. The bottom pairing was constantly changed, but eventually a 38 year old Tommy Albelin won the spot for good. His partner was usually Daneyko (couldn't skate anymore) or Tverdovsky (stunk in his own zone). Richard Smehlik (just plain stunk) saw some bottom pairing time, as well.

Thanks.

Were Stevens and Daneyko still the top PK line?

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Thanks.

Were Stevens and Daneyko still the top PK line?

Daneyko only played 13 of 24 games and I do remember that he saw very limited minutes even in the games he played. It was one of those things where a player was rapidly declining in front of your eyes.

I'm not 100% sure on the following, but I believe Stevens-White ended up being the top PK pairing for most, if not all, of the playoffs.

That would leave Niedermayer to anchor the 2nd PK pairing. Not entirely sure who his most common partner was; I would imagine all of Rafalski, Albelin, and Daneyko saw some time. I remember Niedermayer-Rafalski PKed together at some point and being worried about how soft they were.

 

[Terry Yake]

seeing those names still haunts me, especially that idiot friesen

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

I actually kind of wish we had a stickied thread of every championship team(+ some?)'s lines.(at least loosely) With an explanation post like TheDevilMadeMe with specific context. Information like that is hard to come by.

 

[NYR94]

Very balanced team. Completely forgot that Smehlik was on NJ that spring.

 

[Brodeur]

To this day, I'm still a little puzzled how that team won a Cup. Especially considering that Mike Rupp was the de facto #2 center for the deciding games. Pascal Rheaume came up huge after the Nieuwendyk injury and absorbed a lot of those minutes as well. He became a Group V UFA after the season but nobody offered him a deal despite a reasonably good playoff outing.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Yeah, outside of the top 3 D-men on that team, Elias in his prime, and Brodeur that team just doesn't look that great to me, yet they ripped through the first two rounds, beat a super-talented Ottawa team, and then was the only team to solve Giguere.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

BTW, I thought Tverdovsky was on the 03 Ducks, no? I thought he scored against Dallas.

 

[Brodeur]

BTW, I thought Tverdovsky was on the 03 Ducks, no? I thought he scored against Dallas.

Devils traded Sykora+ to Anaheim for Friesen and Tverdovsky in July 2002. Was a little funny to both teams make the Finals after making the deal.

I was bummed that Tverdovsky didn't do better. Devils were searching for somebody who fit as well as Vladimir Malakhov had during the 2000 Cup run. Tverdovsky more or less admitted that he had difficulty playing a simplified game. Devils tried to trade him after the season but nobody was interested; His qualifying offer was 3.6 million. Ended up going back to Russia for a couple of seasons.

Off the top of my head, maybe you're confusing Tverdovsky with Sandis Ozolinsh who was a deadline acquisition for the Ducks that year?

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Devils traded Sykora+ to Anaheim for Friesen and Tverdovsky in July 2002. Was a little funny to both teams make the Finals after making the deal.

I was bummed that Tverdovsky didn't do better. Devils were searching for somebody who fit as well as Vladimir Malakhov had during the 2000 Cup run. Tverdovsky more or less admitted that he had difficulty playing a simplified game. Devils tried to trade him after the season but nobody was interested; His qualifying offer was 3.6 million. Ended up going back to Russia for a couple of seasons.

Off the top of my head, maybe you're confusing Tverdovsky with Sandis Ozolinsh who was a deadline acquisition for the Ducks that year?

No. But I do think Sykora in OT scored against Dallas which is ironic since the trade was for each other and I thought Tverdovsky scored.

 

[Sticks and Pucks]

Yeah, outside of the top 3 D-men on that team, Elias in his prime, and Brodeur that team just doesn't look that great to me, yet they ripped through the first two rounds, beat a super-talented Ottawa team, and then was the only team to solve Giguere.

The Devils got lucky in the second round that year in that they got to play an inexperienced Lightning team whereas the Sens had to face a talented Flyers team. Then the Devils basically used their trap system and experience to beat a very talented but not so experienced Sens team. Giguere pretty much lost his magic after the long layover between beating the conference finals and Cup finals. I think the Devils won that year due to other teams imploding. Had a team like Dallas, Detroit or Colorado made it to the Finals, I don't think the Devils would have won the Cup.