The 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, the National Hockey League (NHL) championship, began on April 9, 2003, following the 2002–03 regular season. The playoffs concluded on June 9, 2003, with the New Jersey Devils defeating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games.
The sixteen qualifying teams played best-of-seven series in the conference quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Each conference champion proceeded to the Stanley Cup Finals.
These playoffs marked the first time the Minnesota Wild qualified, in only their third season in the NHL. The Minnesota Wild, a sixth-seed, made an unlikely advance to the Western Conference Finals as underdogs after being down three games to one in two consecutive rounds.
Read more about 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Playoff Seeds, Playoff Bracket, Player Statistics
Famous quotes containing the words stanley and/or cup:
“Rain falls into the open eyes of the dead
Again again with its pointless sound
When the moon finds them they are the color of everything”
—William Stanley Merwin (b. 1927)
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—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)