New Jersey Devils Are New Jersey's Angels

Representative Stephen R. Rothman

Mr. Speaker, it is my great pleasure to rise today to honor the New Jersey Devils as the 2000 Stanley Cup champions.

The Devils play a brand of hockey that typifies New Jersey. They are tough competitors led by their captain and playoff MVP, Scott Stevens, whose hard-nosed play shut down the best offensive players in the game. In the finals, they were the underdogs against the defending champs, and we in New Jersey love an underdog.

With a stone wall for a goal tender in Martin Brodeur, the offensive firepower of Jason Arnott, Patrick Elias and Peter Sykora, and a quartet of rookies, including the first Hispanic American player drafted in the first round, Scott Gomez, the Devils fought late into the night in sudden death double overtime on Saturday. In the end, it was the sweet passing from Stevens to Elias to Arnott for the game-winning goal that brought the Cup back to East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Mr. Speaker, the New Jersey Devils are the Stanley Cup champions once again. In the hearts of New Jerseyans, in bringing this Stanley Cup back to New Jersey, these Devils are our angels.

[Taken from the Congressional Record, 13 June 2000, page H4226.]