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NHL '94 "Game of the Night" Ducks vs Senators "2007 Stanley Cup Finals Rematch"

The 2007 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2006–07 season, and the culmination of the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Western Conference champion Anaheim Ducks and the Eastern Conference champion Ottawa Senators. It was the second appearance in the Finals for Anaheim since 2003 (known at the time as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim), when they lost to the New Jersey Devils. It was the first appearance for the Senators since entering the NHL as an expansion team in 1992. Anaheim defeated Ottawa in five games and were awarded their first Stanley Cup becoming the eleventh post-1967 expansion team to win the NHL championship trophy, and the first Stanley Cup championship for a team from California. This was also the last Finals in which both teams were seeking their first Stanley Cup until 2018, as well as the fifth straight Finals to feature a team vying for its first Stanley Cup. Brothers Scott and Rob Niedermayer both played for the Ducks team, becoming the first set of brothers to win the Stanley Cup together since Duane and Brent Sutter accomplished the feat twice with the New York Islanders in 1982 and 1983. Prior to the season, the Ducks had been the pick of many in the media to make it to the Final, and they did not disappoint. The second-seeded Anaheim Ducks defeated both the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks in five games before defeating their rivals the Detroit Red Wings in six games in the Western Conference Final. The Ducks had the most penalties out of any team during the post-season and had one suspension going into the final, but had a top penalty-kill percentage. They were led by two Norris Trophy candidates captain Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, the scoring touches of Andy McDonald, Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, and the goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The Ducks were looking to shut down Ottawa's offense with the checking line of Rob Niedermayer, Samuel Pahlsson and Travis Moen, and overall team defence. The fourth-seeded Ottawa Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, and upset both the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres, all in five games apiece, en route to their first Eastern Conference championship. Ottawa was led by the top line of captain Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, and Jason Spezza, who combined for 23 goals in the first three rounds, and the goaltending of Ray Emery. Other Senators who played pivotal roles were forwards Mike Fisher and Dean McAmmond and defencemen Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov. The Senators were looking to work past Anaheim's defence with their speed and higher-scoring offence, although both teams played a similar style of responsible team defence. Anaheim had home ice advantage for the series, as they finished the regular season with 110 points to Ottawa's 105. The attention leading into the finals was Ottawa being "Canada's Team" despite Anaheim having five more Canadian skaters than the Senators. Many fans were saying that the Stanley Cup needed to be brought back to Canada after a 14-year drought (up to that point, the last Canadian team to hoist the Stanley Cup was the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, who defeated the Los Angeles Kings). Only four players remained on the Ducks roster from 2003, including the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The 2003 club's general manager, Bryan Murray, was now the Ottawa head coach. Two Ottawa-area players were in the finals, playing for the Ducks. The Senators and Ducks had never met in the playoffs before, and had not played each other since January 19, 2006, when the Ducks (then known as the Mighty Ducks) won 4–3 in a shootout in Ottawa. The 2007 Stanley Cup was presented to Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Ducks 6–2 win over the Senators in game five. The following Ducks players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup 2006–07 Anaheim Ducks Players Centres 15 – Ryan Getzlaf 19 – Andy McDonald1 22 – Todd Marchant 26 – Samuel Pahlsson 38 – Ryan Shannon1 52 – Ryan Carter Wingers 8 – Teemu Selanne 10 – Corey Perry 14 – Chris Kunitz 16 – George Parros† 17 – Dustin Penner 18 – Drew Miller 24 – Brad May 32 – Travis Moen 44 – Rob Niedermayer (A) 45 – Shawn Thornton 46 – Joe Motzko Defencemen 5 – Ric Jackman 21 – Sean O'Donnell 23 – Francois Beauchemin 25 – Chris Pronger (A) 27 – Scott Niedermayer (Captain) 33 – Joe Dipenta 40 – Kent Huskins Goaltenders 30 – Ilya Bryzgalov 35 – Jean-Sebastien Giguere This was the first time since the 1925 Victoria Cougars that a team from the west coast of North America won the Stanley Cup, and the first time an NHL team from the west coast had done so. The Ducks are the fourth west coast team to win the Cup, and the first from California.