June 10, 2003
Need To Know:
If there were a better time to arrive in the NHL than that of Devils forward Mike Rupp, we’d like to see it. Having only played 26 regular season games in making his NHL debut this season, the 23-year-old rookie could very well have been a Black Ace during the Stanley Cup finals. But Mike’s persistence in practice, coupled with some key injuries, gave coach Pat Burns no choice but to insert the Cleveland, Ohio native into the lineup for the final four games of the Stanley Cup Final series. It was Mike’s first action of the playoffs, but he certainly didn’t show the cobwebs of a player who hadn’t seen game action since March 28. Instead, Mike scored the opening and game-winning goal in Game 7, and assisted on both of Jeff Friesen’s insurance markers to help the team lift their third Stanley Cup in nine years. The goal, a deflection of a Scott Niedermayer shot, was the first of his playoff career, which now stands at a very memorable four games.
Mike is well-known to hockey fans in Erie, Pennsylvania where he played three seasons for the OHL’s Otters, and in Albany, New York where he has been a key component of the Devils’ strong AHL affiliate for two-plus seasons. At 6’5”, 228 pounds, Mike is about as hard to move as Stonehenge, and has become very effective getting his big frame in front of the opposing net.
Mike has a 7-month-old daughter named Madeline.
Recently:
Mike’s goal was his first since February 12, in a game against the Coyotes. He no stranger to heroism, though, as three of his five regular season goals were also game-winners.
Did You Know:
Mike is the first native of Cleveland to win the Stanley Cup. His was only the second three-point performance by a Devil in the series matching Brian Gionta’s standout Game 5.
NHLPA.com BIO:
Mike Rupp was originally drafted in the first round (ninth-overall) in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. He re-entered the draft in 2000 and was selected in the third round (76th overall) by the Devils. On January 13, 2003, his 23rd birthday, Mike made his NHL debut with the Devils in a game against Florida. He scored the first two goals of his career that night including the game-winner against Roberto Luongo.