page_title: History of the New Jersey Devils
section_title: 2001–2007: A third Cup and the lockout
hierarchical_section_title: History of the New Jersey Devils / New Jersey / 2001–2007: A third Cup and the lockout
caption_attribution_description: Martin Brodeur in the pre-game warmup in Calgary
context_page_description: The history of the New Jersey Devils National Hockey League team dates back to 1982, when the Colorado Rockies moved to New Jersey and became the Devils. Since 1995, the franchise has played in the Stanley Cup Finals five times, winning the Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003.
context_section_description: Led by the Patrik Elias–Jason Arnott–Petr Sykora line ("The A Line"), Bobby Holik and the goaltending of Martin Brodeur, the Devils reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the second-straight year in 2001. They lost the series, however, to the Colorado Avalanche despite leading 3–2 and having Game 6 on home ice; Brodeur had a subpar series, with a save percentage under .900, and was bested by Colorado and future Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy. The team's strong regular season was recognized at the NHL's annual awards that year, with John Madden becoming the first player in franchise history to win the Frank J. Selke Trophy (for top defensive forward), along with Brodeur and Scott Stevens named as finalists for the Vezina Trophy (top goalie) and Norris Trophy (top defenseman) awards, respectively.
  In the 2001–02 season, New Jersey were expected to be contenders once again, and they finished the season as the third best team in the Atlantic Division, with 95 points. The Devils entered the playoffs as the sixth seed, but lost in the first round to the third-seeded Carolina Hurricanes.
  In 2003, the Devils finished first in the Atlantic Division with 108 points, earning the second seed in the East. Their playoff run included a seven-game Conference Final victory, decided in the final three minutes on a goal by newly acquired forward Jeff Friesen, over the Ottawa Senators, who won the Presidents' Trophy that season. In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Devils and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim had a back-and-forth battle, with both teams winning only their home games. This was the first time since 1965 that all the games in a Stanley Cup Final were won by the home team. The Devils brought the Stanley Cup to New Jersey a third time, however, after defeating the Mighty Ducks in Game 7 in New Jersey. Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko and Sergei Brylin each won their third Cup, and after the series, Daneyko, a long-time fan favorite, announced his retirement. Despite Anaheim not being able to complete their Cinderella run, the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP was awarded to their goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the first player not on the championship team to be named playoff MVP since Ron Hextall in 1987. Some hockey writers speculated a New Jersey player did not win because there were multiple candidates, resulting in a split vote among the sportswriters who select the winner. Brodeur, however, was awarded the Vezina Trophy as outstanding goaltender in the regular season for the first time in his career. The New Jersey Nets were in their finals at the same time the Devils won this Stanley Cup, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs in six, which denied the state of New Jersey from having both NBA and NHL championships in the same year.
  In the 2003–04 season, Martin Brodeur took home the Vezina Trophy again. Despite the loss of long-time team captain Scott Stevens, the Devils finished second in the Atlantic Division with 100 points. With the sixth seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Devils lost to the Philadelphia Flyers four games to one. In March 2004, near the end of the season, Lehman Brothers executive Jeff Vanderbeek purchased a controlling interest from Puck Holdings and resigned from Lehman Brothers to assume full-time ownership. He had been a minority owner since the 2000 sale.  Like Puck Holdings/YankeeNets, Vanderbeek largely left the Devils in Lamoriello's hands.
  Vanderbeek was a strong proponent of the proposed arena in Newark, which first received funding from the city council during Puck Holdings' ownership in 2002. After legal battles over both eminent domain and the city's financial participation in the arena project, the final deal was approved by council in October 2004, and the groundbreaking occurred almost exactly a year later. Nonetheless, in January 2006, financial issues threatened to halt the deal, as the Devils did not provide the City with a required letter of credit until the last possible day.
  Though construction was well underway, in late summer 2006, Cory Booker, who had rec
caption: Goaltender Martin Brodeur has led the Devils to three Stanley Cup championships, and he is the NHL's all-time leader in goalie wins, shutouts and awarded goals.[65]
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