“Off the Floor, On the Board!” The 15th Anniversary of Paul Kariya’s Mighty Ducks Triumph
Fifteen years ago, June 7, 2003, was a day that hope for Ducks fans was taken away. Then in heroic form, it was resurrected. We look back at that pivotal moment and what we should take away from one of the most emotional days in Ducks history.
Background
When Paul Kariya was selected in the entry draft by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 1993, the team was brand new. In fact, if you went back only seven months, no one knew they were going to exist. Kariya had been successful with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships.
His hockey cards were all the rage. The speedy left wing won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s top player as a rookie at the University of Maine in his freshman season.
I still remember where I was when I found out Paul Kariya was selected fourth overall by the Mighty Ducks in 1993. The internet wasn’t widely available as it is today. I found the news buried in a newspaper sports section a couple of days later since I was on vacation in the mountains. This was huge news for the fledgling franchise.
Kariya was not only talented, he was controlled. Disney was planning to sell the game to families, and they needed a wholesome image to project. Kariya was no risk to the brand. He has always been a gentleman who handled himself well. The young Mighty Duck player became the reason to go see games at the Pond after the shine had worn off of the expansion team.
Kariya’s first two seasons, 2004-06, proved he was highly skilled. It was clear he was missing something. That something turned out to be speedy right winger Teemu Selanne. The Finnish Flash was traded to the Mighty Ducks late in Kariya’s second season. Selanne left Kariya in 2001 when Anaheim traded him to the San Jose Sharks. With Selanne’s push, Kariya had become a full-fledged star in the league.
The Cup Finals
The 2003 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were the definition of a Cinderella team. They surprised everyone by even making the playoffs. A few veteran pickups, a goaltender playing at historical levels of greatness, and a sensational leader in Paul Kariya brought this team all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in only their tenth season.
The seventh-seeded Mighty Ducks entered the final round of the playoffs with an astounding 12-2 record. They had defeated their nemesis, the Detroit Red Wings, in four one-goal games during the first round.
It was more difficult with the Dallas Stars in the second round. Anaheim again won four one-goal games, this time in a six-game series. The Conference Final against the Minnesota Wild wasn’t close. In a four-game sweep, the Mighty Ducks outscored the Wild 9-1.
It’s hard to remember there was a time when that 2003 Mighty Ducks team and their fans lacked hope. But they did. Anaheim dropped their first two games of the Stanley Cup Final in New Jersey 3-0.
Start of a Series Comeback
Coming home, they trailed, and it appeared they had finally met their match. Back at the Pond for Game 3, the Mighty Ducks scored early. Sandis Ozolinsh scored off Martin Brodeur’s dropped stick to again take the lead to break a tie. Ruslan Salei, who perished in a team plane crash eight years later, scored the overtime winner to give the Mighty Ducks some hope.
In Anaheim two nights later, veteran Steve Thomas finally scored the game’s first goal in the first overtime of a nail-biting scoreless game. That sent the teams back to New Jersey for game five. The Mighty Ducks received another sound beating. This time they lost 6-3. Back to Anaheim, the Mighty Ducks had to win to have any chance at skating with the Stanley Cup.
“Off the Floor”
Going into Game 6, Paul Kariya had yet to score a goal. It wasn’t surprising that a team with defensemen such as Brian Rafalski, Scott Stevens, and future Duck Scott Niedermayer had made life difficult on the Mighty Duck captain.
Rafalski did a good job keeping Kariya bottled up on the right side of New Jersey’s defense. In New Jersey, the Devils had the last change, meaning they could get the Rafalski/Stevens pairing on the ice against Kariya all night.
Kariya already had a history of concussions, so he really wasn’t free to cut across the ice to his right because Scott Stevens was patrolling the ice over there. In case you’ve forgotten, Stevens was the most feared hitter in the game at the time.
Times were different. The league was doing almost nothing to prevent concussions. Even though many of Stevens’ most devastating hits were directed toward the head of his opponents, the mantras of the day were, “He should have kept his head up.,” and, “Don’t watch your passes.”
Anaheim took a quick 3-0 lead in the first on two goals by Steve Rucchin and one by Steve Thomas. The Devils then scored early in the second period to put the game back in question. Less than four minutes later with 13:48 remaining in the second period, and the Mighty Ducks holding a 3-1 lead, Scott Gomez turned the puck over to Kariya at center ice.
Kariya turned the puck back toward the New Jersey end and head-manned it to his right wing who was hugging the left boards. Presumably, because the right wing was vacant, Kariya let the pass go, then turned to the middle to fill the right wing slot.
Here Comes the Boom
That would have been the last thing Kariya remembered, but he has said he doesn’t remember anything that day, or for many days after that game. As soon as the Mighty Ducks captain cut to the middle, the big defenseman started licking his chops.
He lined Kariya up and put his shoulder right to Kariya’s head at full speed. That hit would be a double-digit game suspension today with Stevens’ history of headshots. Back then, it didn’t even merit a two-minute minor penalty that day from referees Dan Marouelli and Bill McCreary for the obvious interference that it was.
“On the Board!”
Kariya laid motionless on the ice for the better part of a minute. The puff of breath that finally fogged his face shield is legendary now. He slowly got up off of the ice and returned to the Anaheim locker room. Everyone knew he was done for the season after the Stevens hatchet job. The Mighty Ducks had to regroup and hang onto their two-goal lead without their leader.
In what would be inconceivable today given concussion protocols, only a few minutes later Paul Kariya emerged from the Mighty Ducks’ locker room ready to play. Let’s chalk it up to ignorance about concussions and their effects that the league and the team allowed that to happen.
Everyone today understands Kariya should have been off at least until the following season after what was surely a major concussion in Game 6. But there he was, tapping his teammates on the back and providing encouragement for holding the lead.
I didn’t make the long drive up from San Diego to be at that game. I remember watching the game intently with my two-year-old son. Just moments after Kariya returned to the ice, the defense, and a timely hook by Adam Oates, caused a turnover at the Anaheim blue line.
Sykora and Oates exchanged passes while Kariya wound up from midway in his own zone. As Kariya gained speed, Sykora knew what to do. He laid the puck to his left in front of a speeding Paul Kariya.
Hero Time
I am sure I was not alone as I yelled out, “Come on Paul!” The national audience must have been rooting for it too. As Kariya crossed the blue line, he wound up for a ridiculous slap shot that barely touched the defender’s stick.
He let it go outside the top of the circle. It appears Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur even got a slight piece of the rising shot. But it didn’t matter. It was destiny. Kariya’s shot went in right under the far crossbar, just inside the post. It was a perfect shot for a perfect moment.
The Mighty Ducks went back to New Jersey where the Devils could ensure Kariya would face their top pairing of defensemen all night. As we now know, Anaheim fell 3-0 again in that final game. It was also Kariya’s final game as a Mighty Duck.
Where Is Kariya Now?
Paul Kariya left the Mighty Ducks that off-season, signing in Colorado to play with his friend Teemu Selanne. He was mercilessly booed for the rest of his career by the fans in Anaheim. He briefly considered a return to the Ducks in 2011, before being told he could not come back to the game he once loved because of the risk to his brain.
Kariya has been noticeably absent from Honda Center over the years. He lives less than 20 miles from the arena where the magic happened for all those years. He finally returned with only one fan in attendance to paint over the number 9 on the Honda Center wall during the Ducks’ run to the Conference Finals in 2017.
Late last year, Kariya again showed his face in Anaheim. This time he was at center ice with a packed house. There were very few boos. The owner, Henry Samueli, begged Kariya to let the team place his number in the rafters with that of his friend, Teemu Selanne.
His number remains absent from Honda Center’s walls. At this point, Ducks fans should just be happy their hero can live a relatively normal daily life. If you’re still thinking Kariya deserves to be booed, consider investing a few minutes watching “Surfacing” special on him from last year.
What Have We Learned?
Just a few years ago, I was sitting at Ruby’s Diner in Laguna Beach with my family when a nice dark SUV rolled into the parking lot. A familiar silhouette emerged from the vehicle. I thought, “There’s no way that’s Paul Kariya, right?”
Then as he entered the restaurant with his partner, I knew it was him. He looked great. My kids occasionally stared over in his direction. But I lacked understanding. We walked out right by his table, but I had no desire to talk to Kariya. I was one of the many who had been booing him for years, and I wasn’t about to make a scene.
I hope we’ve all moved past that kind of ignorance. Paul Kariya lives with the effects of at least six concussions to this day. There will be no way to determine if he has chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) until he is dead. But that condition is common among athletes with repeated head trauma. Many hockey players, including now deceased former Duck Steve Montador, have suffered from CTE’s horrible effects.
Next: Ducks Stanley Cup 11th Anniversary
I’m glad Kariya appears ok. I hope he finds his way to allowing the fans another chance to salute him as the Ducks raise his number 9 to the rafters. It would only make sense that the league would eventually bring his passion in to help out in the department of player safety. I wish I would have just said “thank you” that day in the restaurant. It was ignorant not to acknowledge all the excitement he gave my family and me.