The Stanley Cup Final begins June 3 at 8:00 P.M., and there are plenty of connections between members of the Devils organization to the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights.
The New Jersey Devils season came to an end on May 11. Over the past few weeks, the players went their separate ways to start their summer break. Nico Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler represented Switzerland at the IIHF Men's World Championship, and Curtis Lazar reunited with his wife Reanne and son Owen.
For those interested in the Stanley Cup Final matchup between the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights, I put my investigative journalist hat on to find some odd connections between the Devils and the last two remaining teams, in addition to completing my own six degrees of separation connecting Devils' head coach Lindy Ruff to Paul Maurice and Bruce Cassidy. Let's dive in.
New Jersey's Connections to the Florida Panthers
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Let's Connect Lindy Ruff to Paul Maurice
Lindy Ruff served as assistant head coach of the Panthers during the 1995-96 campaign. During that season, Devils' current general manager, Tom Fitzgerald, earned 34 points for Florida. Fitzgerald is cousins with Keith Tkachuk, who was part of the 1990-91 All-Hockey East Rookie Team with Scott Lachance.
Lachance, who is currently the head of US scouting for the Devils, participated in the 1997 NHL All-Star Game with Martin Brodeur, who played under Peter DeBoer for three seasons. DeBoer and Paul Maurice were teammates on the Windsor Compuware Spitfires.
New Jersey's Connections to the Vegas Golden Knights
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Now, Let's Connect Lindy Ruff to Bruce Cassidy
The Buffalo Sabres traded Ruff to the New York Rangers for a fifth-round draft pick in 1990, which turned into Richard Smehlik. Smehlik was part of the Devils' 2003 Stanley Cup Championship team with John Madden. The former Frank J. Selke Trophy winner finished his NHL career with the Panthers, the same organization that drafted goaltender Kevin Weekes. The now multimedia broadcaster and analyst is listed as an Ottawa 67's alumni along with Bruce Cassidy.
TNT will broadcast Game 1 on Saturday, June 3, when the Stanley Cup Final begins at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.