WWE's Goldberg parties with the Devils: An oral history

"This story needs to truly be told in its entirety so that people can see how ridiculous it was."
Coming from an athlete that played in the NFL and became one of the most popular performers of a generation in professional wrestling (and, on Friday, April 6 in New Orleans, will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame), that's saying something.

But it was the night the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup for the second time in the club's history, defeating the Dallas Stars in six games inside the now closed Reunion Arena, that Bill Goldberg considers his most cherished sports memory.
For the multiple-time WCW and WWE champion, what transpired wasn't even fathomable. Especially since he didn't know any of the Devils personally. If not for a chance meeting, this whole thing wouldn't have happened.
Goldberg, members of the 2000 New Jersey Devils Stanley Cup winning team and others recall the events in their own words:
SCOTT GOMEZ: (Current New York Islanders assistant coach; New Jersey Devils, 1999-2007, 2014-2015): A lot of people forget (Game 5) was triple-overtime and we lost at home. Now [the series is] 3-2 and we're going back to Dallas.
BILL GOLDBERG(former NFL player; WCW and WWE superstar; WWE Hall of Fame inductee): Over the years I got to be friends with Brett Hull. Through events, or just going to games, he and I became buddies. I was in Dallas filming a movie, (Game 6) fit into my schedule. I took my brother.
SCOTT GOMEZ: Now (Game 6 is) a double-overtime game. Jason Arnott scores and ... words can't describe it. It was exhaustion. I think a lot of the guys were relieved that it was over.
KEN DANEYKO (Current MSG Networks color commentator, New Jersey Devils, 1983-2003): We won in dramatic fashion, so it was a great thrill. I remember Dallas fans being pretty polite, I respected that. They were like, somebody had to win, somebody had to lose almost, you know, very cordial and respectful of us winning the Cup while being on their ice. There's nothing like getting back to the room with the guys, you gave your blood sweat and tears with them, and yes we had a surprise visitor in there.

BILL GOLDBERG: The game ends, we go to the players lounge. I see Brett and a few of the other guys.
GRANT MARSHALL(Dallas Stars, 1994-2001; New Jersey Devils, 2003-06): As big and crazy as Bill was, he's a really down-to-earth cool guy. Loved to talk about hockey. He was extremely complimentary of our sport from what I remember.
STAN FISCHLER (Writer/broadcaster, MSG Networks reporter in the locker room on that night): As opposed to the first Cup win in '95, this one was on the road. It was a totally different ambiance. We were in a road dressing room, not surrounded by raucous fans. Since it was self-contained, it had a special beauty to it.
COLIN WHITE (New Jersey Devils, 1999-2011): It wasn't like in 2003 when we won at home and all your buddies are there too. It was more of a private party.
BILL GOLDBERG: After a while (we) leave, we make our way towards where our limo is waiting outside. We happen to walk right by the locker room where the Devils are celebrating.
SCOTT GOMEZ: We stay on the ice for however long, and then we got into the locker room. And you know, champagne is flowing, this and that. I happen to go outside the room, and Bobby Holik and Sergei Nemchinov were there. Next thing you know, Brett Hull is walking down with Goldberg. I was a big wrestling guy. You know, Brett Hull is a legend, I said hi to Hully, and Hully is the best, he congratulated us. I was so pumped to see Goldberg.
BILL GOLDBERG: All of a sudden, somebody yells out my name. I turn around, and it's Gomez. I'm such a huge hockey fan, of course I know who he is, he had a great rookie year, ended up winning the Calder that year. I was a big fan of his. He motions me over to the locker room.
SCOTT GOMEZ: I shook his hand and I kept saying, "You gotta come in the room, you gotta come in the room." That's how cool Brett Hull was, Hully was like, "go in there, whatever".
BILL GOLDBERG: I get to the door, and the dude at the door wouldn't let me in. He said, "you can't come in." I said, "Well, OK ...' Then he says, "No, you don't understand," and I say, "I guess I don't! Gomez just motioned me to come in!" He looks up at my Stars hat on my head.
SCOTT GOMEZ: I think he had a Dallas Stars hat on. Bobby Holik, what you've gotta know about Bobby Holik, he doesn't give a flyin' (expletive), he'll tell it like it is.
BOBBY HOLIK(New Jersey Devils 1992-2002, 2008-2009): I'm not a wrestling fan. I wasn't then and I'm not now. But he was big time at the time. He was a major celebrity.
SCOTT GOMEZ:He was chirping Goldberg, like, "Yeah you can come in, but you gotta take that hat off." Goldberg kind of gave him a look and he said again, "I ain't kidding."
BILL GOLDBERG: He takes it off my head, throws it on the ground, takes the (Devils) hat off his head and puts it on my head. Then he says, "Go for it."
BOBBY HOLIK: I don't recall, but it sounds like me (laughs). If you ask other people, it's definitely something I would do. I didn't hold back. I remember a lot of things about that night, but I don't remember telling him to take off his hat but I can see myself saying that because I would say anything to anybody, you know? (laughs) I'm starting to remember him walking by with Brett Hull. If Gomer says I said it, then I believe it, because that guy remembers more things I said than I do.
BILL GOLDBERG: So I went in. I was kind of indifferent to it in the beginning, because, you know, I'm friends with Brett and I don't want to be a flipper by any means. But the Cup was in there, you know? These guys asked me to come in, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.
SCOTT GOMEZ: He felt like he was a guest of Brett Hull's, he kinda felt whatever and Hully said, "Just go in there." So he came in the room, and the younger guys, we all knew him. The older guys who didn't follow wrestling had no clue, but it was a big deal to us. Guys like Colin White, we start freaking out. He was one of the biggest wrestlers at the time.
COLIN WHITE: When (Goldberg) came in, everybody knew who he was. So he was kind of a big deal in the locker room. It added to the excitement. All the cameras turned to him. It's still about the Cup, but the noise in the dressing room was, "Goldberg's here!"
SCOTT GOMEZ:He's in the room and I forget what happened. I think someone, maybe one of the wives, made him take his shirt off and pose with the Cup.
KEN DANEYKO: We all knew about the monster pythons of Goldberg. He was with us celebrating. I really don't remember how that transpired. But he was great. Super nice guy. It just added to the whole aura, the whole celebration.
BILL GOLDBERG: I get five, 10 feet into the room and I'm posing with Ken Daneyko. I see Scott (Stevens) and he was my idol because of his playing style.
SCOTT GOMEZ:And then they made Scotty (Stevens) take off his shirt also, because Scotty's like a Greek God too. Next thing you know, Scotty and him are having a pose off. It was just awesome, he was great.

BILL GOLDBERG:You've reached the pinnacle and you can relax and let it all hang out because you are so happy and exhausted because you love what you've gone through, your true kid comes out. It was unabashed awesome unfiltered cool fun. It really was.
SCOTT GOMEZ:It's a pretty good picture. Two guys ripped out of their minds, it was hilarious.
COLIN WHITE:Scotty was pretty ripped up and Goldberg even made him look tiny, you know what I mean? We were all cheering and stuff, it was pretty funny. We're not small guys by any means but we were really lean compared to the thickness and size of him, a professional wrestler.
BILL GOLDBERG: It wasn't, "Hey let's do this for the cameras so we can pose for Instagram." It was just purely an awesome experience. I guess it was the definition of living in the moment.
PATRIK ELIAS(New Jersey Devils, 1994-2016): Scotty (Stevens) did that with so many people I don't even remember … I'm just kidding.
SCOTT GOMEZ: I remember they were trying to get me to take my shirt off. I was chubby back then. There was no way I was taking it off.

BILL GOLDBERG: I'm celebrating with this guy and that guy, with the Cup … it was a complete whirlwind.
STAN FISCHLER: I must have bumped into him two or three times and I felt like a pinball hitting a bumper.
PATRIK ELIAS: He made me look pretty small, even more than I actually was.
BILL GOLDBERG:Drinking out of that Cup, I mean, that's the most coveted prize you could ever get in sports. What those dudes have to go through to earn that thing is remarkable. As a fan, I couldn't pass that opportunity up. I mean, if I would have been 50 yards from (Scott Gomez) he never would have seen me and I never would have had that experience.
SCOTT GOMEZ: He stayed with us. Everyone got pictures. Super nice guy. Him and his brother.
COLIN WHITE: That picture got into ESPN Magazine. The picture of myself, Dano, Gomer and Goldberg.

PATRIK ELIAS: I think it was my first time ever smoking a cigar. With Bobby Holik, who is very strict.
BOBBY HOLIK: There was a lot of cigar smoke, I remember the air was thick. The old locker rooms in Dallas Reunion Arena, it was low ceilings, it was an old building … man, it was smoky there. Like in some kind of dive bar. It was so bad. In our locker room in Jersey in '95, the ceilings were high. This place was a dump, the visiting locker room. I'm surprised we didn't set off the smoke detectors, the smoke was so bad. I put one in my mouth in '95 and I got sick from (inhaling) the tobacco. I've never smoked in my life or drank in my life. It did a number on me, I remember that.
KEN DANEYKO: The celebratory victory cigars, even Scott Niedermayer had one lit. I knew it was a special moment because I never thought I'd see a lit cigar in Neider's mouth. I don't want to say it was my idea, we did it in '95. I know Marty (Brodeur) had one back then. I've enjoyed them after, as people know, in my retirement. It's kind of my relaxing vice you could say. It's just a tradition in a lot of sports and we took part of it. Even Lou (Lamoriello) let us do that. You know it was all over and done with if Lou let us do it. Everyone knows how disciplined Lou is. Well, anything went after you win.
BILL GOLDBERG:(Finally) I walk out (of the locker room), and there's Brett. Brett didn't leave, I guess. He saw me and just shook his head. I had to haul ass, I had to get to New York, I did (a television appearance) the next day. Brett gets it, he called me and said no big deal.
SCOTT GOMEZ: I became friends with (Goldberg). There was a (WCW wrestling) event that summer. I think it was the Bash (at the Beach). He asked me if I would want to be a security guard or walk him to the ring or something like that. … I should have done it.
BOBBY HOLIK: I'm a huge historian. Things that are not interesting to most are interesting to me. One thing I remember, I have a towel from Parkland Memorial Hospital (in Dallas). After JFK was shot, that's where they brought him. Over the years I'd look at this towel and think, "Where did that come from? That's where JFK died."
[During Game 6], Petr Sykora got knocked out. He suffered a concussion and they took him to the hospital. [After we celebrated], we finally got dressed and (head coach) Larry Robinson suggested, "Let's go see Petr." So we brought the Cup, it was maybe a half dozen of us, I know Larry was there, Lou was there, four or five other players. It's early June in Dallas, and it's hot as a mother. Hot and humid. Even in the middle of the night, 2 o'clock in the morning. So we get to the hospital, go see Sykie. I was sweating profusely. This came to me years after thinking, where did I get this towel from Parkland Memorial Hospital? I was sweating, still worked up from the game. I'm in a suit. So I grabbed a towel in the hospital to wipe my face and keep dry. Well, I didn't realize I kept it and I've had it in my house all these years and finally I figured it out. So that's my story about winning the Stanley Cup in Dallas, Texas.
BILL GOLDBERG: It was the most unbelievable sports experience I've ever had.