The 2002–03 Stanley Cup Final

Lore & Background

The 2003 playoffs began with the kind of desperation that only a small-market team can summon. Dwayne Roloson, a journeyman goaltender in his prime, became the series' unsung hero, stringing together multi-goal saves and even a no-goal game that kept Ottawa alive when the roster was stretched thin. Daniel Brière, a young French-Canadian winger, emerged as the team's emotional engine, skating with a ferocity that belied his size. Jason Allison, the steady captain, anchored the blue line and set the tone in every locker-room meeting.

The Devils, by contrast, were a machine. Coach John MacLean's system was built on physicality, speed, and the sheer dominance of Martin Brodeur between the pipes. Scott Stevens, Stéphane Yelle, and Scott Gomez formed a forward group that could score at will, while the defensive structure made Ottawa's attack look disjointed over seven games. The series swung back and forth, with Ottawa winning on the road and then faltering at home—a pattern that haunted the Corel Centre's rafters.

Game 7 in Ottawa will live in the memories of every fan who was there. The noise was deafening, the tension palpable. The Senators had the chance to become the first expansion team to win the Cup in a generation, but the Devils' depth and Brodeur's composure proved decisive. The final horn brought a silence in the building that felt almost sacred in its grief. It was, for many, the moment the modern Senators were born—not in triumph, but in the promise that they would return.

In Their Own Story

The Corel Centre smelled of cold air, popcorn, and the faint metallic tang of skates on ice. Row 314, seat 12, a man in a faded Senators jersey pressed his palms against the glass as the puck dropped for Game 7. He'd been saving for this ticket since the second round. Around him, the crowd hummed like a single organism—ten thousand throats breathing together. Dwayne Roloson crouched in his crease, tape wrapped around his stick, eyes locked on the blue line. The Devils' winger carried the puck up the left, deke, shot. Roloson sprawled, glove out, and the puck kissed the pad and stopped. The building erupted. For one breathless minute, the impossible felt within reach. Then the next play came, and the next, and the minutes bled away like the season itself. When the final horn sounded, the man in seat 12 didn't cheer, didn't curse. He just pressed his forehead to the glass, whispered something no one could hear, and stayed in his seat long after the arena emptied. Outside, the Ottawa night was cold and quiet, and the city carried its heartbreak home like a secret it would never fully let go.

Reader's Guide

1992: The Ottawa Senators enter the NHL as an expansion franchise, joining the league with a mandate to bring major-league hockey back to the nation's capital after decades of absence.

1997: After five seasons of rebuilding, the Senators finally taste playoff hockey, reaching the Conference Semifinals and establishing a competitive identity built on speed and skill.

2000: The team advances to the Conference Final for the first time, falling to the Florida Panthers. The near-miss galvanizes the fanbase and signals that the franchise is no longer a also-ran.

2002–03: The defining season. The Senators capture the Atlantic Division, storm through the playoffs behind Dwayne Roloson's goaltending, and reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history. The seven-game loss to New Jersey becomes a rite of passage for the entire city.

2007: The Senators return to the Final, losing to the Anaheim Ducks in six games. The two Cup runs establish Ottawa as a perennial contender rather than a one-hit wonder.

Post-2007: The franchise enters a long rebuilding period, trading away key veterans and retooling the roster. The identity forged in 2003 and 2007—grit, loyalty, small-market pride—remains the cultural bedrock of the organization.

Did You Know?

• The 2003 run made the Ottawa Senators the first expansion team in NHL history to reach the Stanley Cup Final.
• Dwayne Roloson, a journeyman who had played for several NHL teams before Ottawa, became the emotional face of the 2003 playoffs and a local legend almost overnight.
• The Senators had to overcome a 2-0 series deficit in the 2003 playoffs to reach the Final, with Roloson delivering multiple multi-save performances to keep the team alive.
• The 2003 Final was the last time the Senators reached the Cup Final before their 2007 appearance, making the two runs a bookend era for the franchise.