2002–03 NHL season
The 2002–03 NHL season was the 86th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the New Jersey Devils, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. This was the last season before the NHL switched home and away jerseys.
2002–03 NHL season | |
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League | National Hockey League |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Duration | October 9, 2002 – June 9, 2003 |
Number of games | 82 |
Number of teams | 30 |
TV partner(s) | CBC, TSN, RDS (Canada) ESPN, ABC (United States |
Draft | |
Top draft pick | Rick Nash |
Picked by | Columbus Blue Jackets |
Regular season | |
Presidents' Trophy | Ottawa Senators |
Season MVP | Peter Forsberg (Avalanche) |
Top scorer | Peter Forsberg (Avalanche) |
Playoffs | |
Playoffs MVP | Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Mighty Ducks) |
Stanley Cup | |
Champions | New Jersey Devils |
Runners-up | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
Regular season
changeFinal standings
changeNote: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Atlantic Division | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Jersey Devils(2) | 46 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 216 | 166 | 108 |
Philadelphia Flyers(4) | 45 | 20 | 13 | 4 | 211 | 166 | 107 |
New York Islanders (8) | 35 | 34 | 11 | 2 | 224 | 231 | 83 |
New York Rangers | 32 | 36 | 10 | 4 | 210 | 231 | 78 |
Pittsburgh Penguins | 27 | 44 | 6 | 5 | 189 | 255 | 65 |
Northeast Division | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ottawa Senators(1) | 52 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 263 | 182 | 113 |
Toronto Maple Leafs(5) | 44 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 236 | 208 | 98 |
Boston Bruins(7) | 36 | 31 | 11 | 4 | 245 | 237 | 87 |
Montreal Canadiens | 30 | 35 | 8 | 9 | 206 | 234 | 77 |
Buffalo Sabres | 27 | 37 | 10 | 8 | 190 | 219 | 72 |
Southeast Division | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tampa Bay Lightning(3) | 36 | 25 | 16 | 5 | 219 | 210 | 93 |
Washington Capitals(6) | 39 | 29 | 8 | 6 | 224 | 220 | 92 |
Atlanta Thrashers | 31 | 39 | 7 | 5 | 226 | 284 | 74 |
Florida Panthers | 24 | 36 | 13 | 9 | 176 | 237 | 70 |
Carolina Hurricanes | 22 | 43 | 11 | 6 | 171 | 240 | 61 |
Central Division | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit Red Wings(2) | 48 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 269 | 203 | 110 |
St. Louis Blues(5) | 41 | 24 | 11 | 6 | 253 | 222 | 99 |
Chicago Blackhawks | 30 | 33 | 13 | 6 | 207 | 226 | 79 |
Nashville Predators | 27 | 35 | 13 | 7 | 183 | 206 | 74 |
Columbus Blue Jackets | 29 | 42 | 8 | 3 | 213 | 263 | 69 |
Northwest Division | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colorado Avalanche(3) | 42 | 19 | 13 | 8 | 251 | 194 | 105 |
Vancouver Canucks(4) | 45 | 23 | 13 | 1 | 264 | 208 | 104 |
Minnesota Wild (6) | 42 | 29 | 10 | 1 | 198 | 178 | 95 |
Edmonton Oilers(8) | 36 | 26 | 11 | 9 | 231 | 230 | 92 |
Calgary Flames | 29 | 36 | 13 | 4 | 186 | 228 | 75 |
Pacific Division | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dallas Stars(1) | 46 | 17 | 15 | 4 | 245 | 169 | 111 |
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim(7) | 40 | 27 | 9 | 6 | 203 | 193 | 95 |
Los Angeles Kings | 33 | 37 | 6 | 6 | 203 | 221 | 78 |
Phoenix Coyotes | 31 | 35 | 11 | 5 | 204 | 230 | 78 |
San Jose Sharks | 28 | 37 | 9 | 8 | 214 | 239 | 73 |
Scoring leaders
changeNote: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peter Forsberg | Colorado | 75 | 29 | 77 | 106 |
Markus Naslund | Vancouver | 82 | 48 | 56 | 104 |
Joe Thornton | Boston | 77 | 36 | 65 | 101 |
Milan Hejduk | Colorado | 82 | 50 | 48 | 98 |
Todd Bertuzzi | Vancouver | 82 | 46 | 51 | 97 |
Pavol Demitra | St. Louis | 78 | 36 | 57 | 93 |
Glen Murray | Boston | 82 | 44 | 48 | 92 |
Mario Lemieux | Pittsburgh | 67 | 28 | 63 | 91 |
Dany Heatley | Atlanta | 77 | 41 | 48 | 89 |
Zigmund Palffy | Los Angeles | 76 | 37 | 48 | 85 |
Stanley Cup Playoffs
changeNote: All dates in 2003.
Playoff bracket
changeConference Quarterfinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||
1 | Ottawa | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
8 | NY Islanders | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Ottawa | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Philadelphia | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Philadelphia | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Toronto | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Ottawa | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
2 | New Jersey | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | New Jersey | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
7 | Boston | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | New Jersey | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Tampa Bay | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Tampa Bay | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Washington | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
E2 | New Jersey | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
W7 | Anaheim | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Vancouver | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | St. Louis | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Vancouver | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Minnesota | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Colorado | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Minnesota | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Minnesota | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
Western Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
7 | Anaheim | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Dallas | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
8 | Edmonton | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Dallas | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
7 | Anaheim | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
2 | Detroit | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
7 | Anaheim | 4 |
Conference Quarterfinals
changeEastern Conference Quarterfinals
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1As of 2008, this playoff game is the 19th longest NHL overtime game ever. 53 minutes and 34 seconds of overtime were played before Mark Recchi scored the game-winning goal.
Western Conference Quarterfinals
change
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Conference Semifinals
changeEastern Conference Semifinals
change
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Western Conference Semifinals
change
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2As of 2006, this playoff game is the 4th longest NHL overtime game. 80 minutes and 48 seconds of overtime were played before Petr Sykora scored the game-winning goal.
Conference Finals
change
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Finals
changeAnaheim vs. New Jersey | |||
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Date | Away | Home | |
May 27 | Anaheim 0 | 3 New Jersey | |
May 29 | Anaheim 0 | 3 New Jersey | |
May 31 | New Jersey 2 | 3 Anaheim | OT |
June 2 | New Jersey 0 | 1 Anaheim | OT |
June 5 | Anaheim 3 | 6 New Jersey | |
June 7 | New Jersey 2 | 5 Anaheim | |
June 9 | Anaheim 0 | 3 New Jersey | |
New Jersey wins series 4–3 and Stanley Cup | |||
J.S. Giguère (Anaheim) wins Conn Smythe Trophy |
Scoring leaders
changeNote: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jamie Langenbrunner | New Jersey Devils | 24 | 11 | 7 | 18 |
Scott Niedermayer | New Jersey Devils | 24 | 2 | 16 | 18 |
Marian Gaborik | Minnesota Wild | 18 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
John Madden | New Jersey Devils | 24 | 6 | 10 | 16 |
Marian Hossa | Ottawa Senators | 18 | 5 | 11 | 16 |
Mike Modano | Dallas Stars | 12 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
Jeff Friesen | New Jersey Devils | 24 | 10 | 4 | 14 |
Markus Naslund | Vancouver Canucks | 14 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
Sergei Zubov | Dallas Stars | 12 | 4 | 10 | 14 |
Andrew Brunette | Minnesota Wild | 18 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
Wes Walz | Minnesota Wild | 18 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
NHL awards
changeThe NHL Awards presentation took place in Toronto.
All-Star teams
changeFirst games
changeThe following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 2002–03 (listed with their first team):
- Martin Gerber, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
- Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins
- Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres
- Jordan Leopold, Calgary Flames
- Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets
- Steve Ott, Dallas Stars
- Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
- Ales Hemsky, Edmonton Oilers
- Fernando Pisani, Edmonton Oilers
- Jarret Stoll, Edmonton Oilers
- Marc-Andre Bergeron, Edmonton Oilers
- Jay Bouwmeester, Florida Panthers
- Alexander Frolov, Los Angeles Kings
- Cristobal Huet, Los Angeles Kings
- Joe Corvo, Los Angeles Kings
- Mike Cammalleri, Los Angeles Kings
- Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Minnesota Wild
- Francois Beauchemin, Montreal Canadiens
- Vernon Fiddler, Nashville Predators
- Anton Volchenkov, Ottawa Senators
- Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators
- Ray Emery, Ottawa Senators
- Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose Sharks
- Christian Backman, St. Louis Blues
- Petr Cajanek, St. Louis Blues
Last games
changeThe following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 2002–03 (listed with their last team):
- Theoren Fleury, Chicago Blackhawks
- Claude Lemieux, Dallas Stars
- Mike Richter, New York Rangers
- Pavel Bure, New York Rangers
- Adam Graves, San Jose Sharks
- Phil Housley, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Doug Gilmour, Toronto Maple Leafs