Past Meets Present | 2003 CUP FEATURE

There were two main topics of conversation swirling around the 2003 Cup Champion reunion on Saturday night: the past and the present.
Members of the 2003 championship team were in the building watching the 2023 team manhandle the Philadelphia Flyers in a 7-0 game.
The night was a perfect time to celebrate both and catch up with some old friends like Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermeyer and Brian Gionta, among others, to see how they're feeling about what has been built with this 2023 team and how bright the future is for the franchise.

Scott Niedermeyer:

They're a team that sort of exemplifies the modern team. They're fast, they're skilled, and they're fearless, in a lot of ways, offensively. t's sort of the way the game is played now. They're having success. They're young and they still have things to learn because playoff hockey is a different animal, but in this game, you have to earn a Stanley Cup. It takes time, it takes hard lessons, but this year's team has a lot of talent. They're a good young team and they're on the right path.

Brian Gionta:

You see the youth, you see the excitement, you see the energy in the youth. So for me, that's fun. I live through it through my kids now and so, who they're watching, what they're watching on TV, I have to watch, so it's (Jack) Hughes, can we meet Hughes now. I went to college with his uncle so we're good friends with the family but the youth in this league is insane, what they can do, and how good they can be early on in their careers.
It's early on, but they're hitting their stride now. They're going to go through some ups and downs as a team, and as an organization, but I think what sticks out to me is the speed, and how fun it is watching them play. They're going to go through their times, right? They went on a hot streak, and then they cooled off. And I think that's all good learning lessons for a young team coming into the playoffs. So those are things that they're going to need to experience in order to have success.

Joe Nieuwendyk:

Everyone's probably telling them that they're too young, they don't have enough experience, but I don't think any of those kids in that locker room believe that. They'll be ready. I'm a good friend of Tom Fitzgerald, and I know that he probably is in their ear, too. He has a lot of experience. I don't think anybody expected them to do this well, but when you're young and you're energetic and you have success, and then get some goaltending, good things can happen.

Turner Stevenson:

They've got to grow the young players, everything has to fall into place, get a little bit lucky and then go through the actual four rounds of doing this, as we know it's very difficult, we're doing this 20 years later, and haven't done it since. Hopefully, it will be a good opportunity, if they don't do it this year, they have the pieces of the next little while to do it, I think.

'Pat Would Love This'

Members of the 2003 championship team also reflected on what this night would have meant to head coach Pat Burns, who passed away in 2010. Burns is often regarded league-wide as one of the best coaches to coach the game and is the only coach in NHL history to win the coach of the year award - the Jack Adams Trophy - on three occasions.
Burns' lone Stanley Cup came with the New Jersey Devils and on Saturday his players reflected on his absence and what the night would have meant to him, 20 years later.

Line Burns (Pat Burns' Widow):

He would have loved to just spend some time with the guys. It was such a special feeling when I saw them all yesterday, he would have had a ball. His group, his boys, he would have been so proud. So proud.

Gionta:

I think it would have meant the world to him. He worked his entire pro career to win a Stanley Cup and to come here and do it, I think meant a lot to him. I kept in touch with him throughout the years after leaving New Jersey and living in Montreal, me playing there, and right up into his passing. It was tough to watch. He meant a lot to me. It was my first full season in the league that he came in and he did a lot to solidify me as an NHL player. So I owe a lot to him and Lou (Lamoriello) but seeing (Burns') wife and his daughter this weekend was super special because I haven't seen Mrs. Burns probably in 10 years or so.

Stevens:

It would mean the world. He won a lot of awards, and he had a lot of success with hockey teams but this is where he reached his goal which was winning the Stanley Cup, which is all he really wanted to do. I feel great that we could win that for him. It's unfortunate that he isn't still here with us, but I think that he had a good gift. He was one of the best coaches and a guy that has done a lot for this game.

Stevenson:

(It would be) huge. He was a great coach and an even better man. I had Pat in Montreal when I started, then I had him here towards the end of my career. He's a big part of this, part of why we all came together as a team. Everyone talks about we weren't the best team talent-wise, he made sure everyone checked their egos at the door and that's the way we played. So this would be a big day for him.

In Case You Missed It:

Catch up on everything you may have missed from Saturday night's festivities by visiting the
2003 Cup Hub,
and clicking some of the links below!
- BIG READ: An Oral History of the 2003 Cup - WATCH: Brodeur 1-on-1 - WATCH: Gomez 1-on-1 - WATCH: Sarge 1-on-1