| 2002–03 NHL season | |
| League: | National Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | October 9, 2002 – June 9, 2003 |
| Draft: | Draft |
| Draft Link: | 2002 NHL Entry Draft |
| Top Pick Link: | List of first overall NHL draft picks |
| Picked By: | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champ Name: | Presidents' Trophy |
| Season Champs: | Ottawa Senators |
| Mvp: | Peter Forsberg (Avalanche) |
| Mvp Link: | Hart Memorial Trophy |
| Top Scorer: | Peter Forsberg (Avalanche) |
| Top Scorer Link: | Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy |
| Playoffs: | Playoffs |
| Playoffs Link: | 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs |
| Finals: | Stanley Cup |
| Finals Link: | 2003 Stanley Cup Finals |
| Finals Champ: | New Jersey Devils |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
| Playoffs Mvp: | Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Mighty Ducks) |
| Playoffs Mvp Link: | Conn Smythe Trophy |
| Nextseason Year: | 2003–04 |
| Prevseason Year: | 2001–02 |
| No Of Games: | 82 |
| No Of Teams: | 30 |
| Tv: | CBC, TSN, RDS (Canada) ESPN, ABC (United States |
The 2002–03 NHL season was the 86th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the New Jersey Devils, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Rick Nash was selected first overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The league approved the following rule changes:[1] [2]
The All-Star Game was played on February 2, 2003, at Office Depot Center in Sunrise, the home of the Florida Panthers. The game returned to a Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format.
The regular season saw several surprises. The San Jose Sharks, who many felt would be one of the elite teams in the West, stumbled early and badly disassembled much of the team. The two-year-old Minnesota Wild, on the other hand, got out to an early start and held onto their first-ever playoff berth throughout the season, winning coach Jacques Lemaire the Jack Adams Award.
The most surprising team was probably the Tampa Bay Lightning, which many had predicted to finish last, winning their first Southeast Division title and making the playoffs for the first time in seven years. The most disappointing teams, other than the Sharks, were the New York Rangers, who finished out of the playoffs again despite bearing the league's leading payroll, and the Carolina Hurricanes, who finished last overall after a surprise run to the Stanley Cup Finals the year before. On January 8, 2003, Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Michael Leighton gained a shutout in his NHL debut in a 0–0 tie versus the Phoenix Coyotes. Coyotes goaltender Zac Bierk earned his first career shutout, although it was not his NHL debut. It was the first—and with the abolition of ties two years later, the only—time that two goalies in the same game both earned their first career shutouts.[3]
At the midpoint of the season, the Canucks led the Western Conference and Ottawa led the East. Vancouver stumbled somewhat over the stretch and lost the Northwest Division title to Colorado and the Western Conference to Dallas. Ottawa continued to dominate, having the best season in franchise history and winning both the Eastern Conference and the Presidents' Trophy.
The season was also marred by financial difficulties. Despite their success, the Ottawa Senators were in bankruptcy protection for almost all of 2003, and at one point could not pay the players. Owner Rod Bryden tried a variety of innovative financing strategies, but these all failed and the team was purchased after the season by billionaire Eugene Melnyk. The Buffalo Sabres also entered bankruptcy protection before being bought by New York businessman Tom Golisano. The financial struggles of the Pittsburgh Penguins continued as the team continued to unload its most expensive players.
The season was marked by a great number of coaches being fired, from Bob Hartley in Colorado to Darryl Sutter in San Jose and Bryan Trottier of the New York Rangers.
Worries over the decline in scoring and the neutral zone trap continued. The season began with an attempted crack down on obstruction and interference, but by the midpoint of the season this effort had petered out.
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Source: Book: NHL Official Guide and Record Book 2009 . 2009 . NHL . 156 . McCarthy, Dave.
See main article: 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs.
In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winners seeded 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8.
The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.
The NHL Awards presentation took place in Toronto.
| First team | Position | Second team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils | align=center | G | Marty Turco, Dallas Stars | |
| Al MacInnis, St. Louis Blues | align=center | D | Sergei Gonchar, Washington Capitals | |
| Nicklas Lidström, Detroit Red Wings | align=center | D | Derian Hatcher, Dallas Stars | |
| Peter Forsberg, Colorado Avalanche | align=center | C | Joe Thornton, Boston Bruins | |
| Todd Bertuzzi, Vancouver Canucks | align=center | RW | Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche | |
| Markus Näslund, Vancouver Canucks | align=center | LW | Paul Kariya, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 75 | 29 | 77 | 106 | ||
| Vancouver | 82 | 48 | 56 | 104 | ||
| Boston | 77 | 36 | 65 | 101 | ||
| Colorado | 82 | 50 | 48 | 98 | ||
| Vancouver | 82 | 46 | 51 | 97 | ||
| St. Louis | 78 | 36 | 57 | 93 | ||
| Boston | 82 | 44 | 48 | 92 | ||
| Pittsburgh | 67 | 28 | 63 | 91 | ||
| Atlanta | 77 | 41 | 48 | 89 | ||
| Los Angeles | 76 | 37 | 48 | 85 | ||
| Dallas | 79 | 28 | 57 | 85 | ||
| Detroit | 80 | 36 | 47 | 83 |
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | MIN | GA | GAA | W | L | T | SO | SV% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Stars | 55 | 3203 | 92 | 1.72 | 31 | 10 | 10 | 7 | .932 | ||
| Philadelphia Flyers | 58 | 3350 | 102 | 1.83 | 33 | 15 | 10 | 6 | .925 | ||
| Minnesota Wild | 50 | 2945 | 98 | 2.00 | 23 | 16 | 8 | 4 | .927 | ||
| New Jersey Devils | 73 | 4374 | 147 | 2.02 | 41 | 23 | 9 | 9 | .914 | ||
| Ottawa Senators | 67 | 3943 | 142 | 2.16 | 39 | 20 | 7 | 8 | .911 | ||
| Colorado Avalanche | 63 | 3769 | 137 | 2.18 | 35 | 15 | 13 | 5 | .920 | ||
| Detroit Red Wings | 25 | 1406 | 51 | 2.18 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 0 | .925 | ||
| Nashville Predators | 69 | 3974 | 146 | 2.20 | 25 | 31 | 11 | 3 | .918 | ||
| Philadelphia Flyers | 30 | 1638 | 60 | 2.20 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 2 | .907 | ||
| Minnesota Wild | 35 | 1979 | 75 | 2.24 | 19 | 13 | 2 | 2 | .924 |
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey Devils | 24 | 11 | 7 | 18 | ||
| New Jersey Devils | 24 | 2 | 16 | 18 | ||
| Minnesota Wild | 18 | 9 | 8 | 17 | ||
| New Jersey Devils | 24 | 6 | 10 | 16 | ||
| Ottawa Senators | 18 | 5 | 11 | 16 | ||
| Dallas Stars | 12 | 5 | 10 | 15 | ||
| New Jersey Devils | 24 | 10 | 4 | 14 | ||
| Vancouver Canucks | 14 | 5 | 9 | 14 | ||
| Dallas Stars | 12 | 4 | 10 | 14 | ||
| Minnesota Wild | 18 | 7 | 6 | 13 | ||
| Minnesota Wild | 18 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 2002–03 (listed with their first team):
The following is a list of players of note who played their last NHL game in 2002–03, listed with their team:
| Player | Team | Notability | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Barrasso[4] | 2-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Olympic silver medalist, 3-time NHL All-Star, Calder Memorial Trophy winner, Vezina Trophy winner, William M. Jennings Trophy winner. | ||
| Craig Berube[5] | Over 1000 games played. | ||
| Pavel Bure[6] | Olympic silver and bronze medalist, 7-time NHL All-Star, 2-time Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner, Calder Memorial Trophy winner. | ||
| Sylvain Cote[7] | Over 1100 games played. | ||
| Ken Daneyko[8] | 3-time Stanley Cup champion with the Devils, Bill Masterton Trophy winner, over 1200 games played. | ||
| Adam Deadmarsh[9] | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche, Olympic silver medalist. | ||
| Kevin Dineen[10] | Over 1100 games played. | ||
| 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Calgary Flames, Olympic gold medalist, 7-time NHL All-Star, over 1000 games played. | |||
| Doug Gilmour[11] | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Calgary Flames, 2-time NHL All-Star, Frank J. Selke Trophy winner, over 1400 games played. | ||
| Adam Graves[12] | 2-time Stanley Cup champion with the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers, Bill Masterton Trophy winner, King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner, over 1100 games played. | ||
| Phil Housley[13] | Olympic silver medalist, 7-time NHL All-Star, over 1400 games played. | ||
| Uwe Krupp[14] | 2-time Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avanlanche and Detroit Red Wings, 2-time NHL All-Star. | ||
| Kirk Muller[15] | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Montreal Canadiens, over 1300 games played. | ||
| Shjon Podein[16] | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche, King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner. | ||
| Paul Ranheim[17] | Over 1000 games played. | ||
| Mike Richter[18] | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Rangers, 2-time Olympic silver medalist, 2-time NHL All-Star. | ||
| Patrick Roy[19] | 4-time Stanley Cup champion with the Montreal Canadiens and Avalanche, 11-time NHL All-Star, 5-time William M. Jennings Trophy winner, 3-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner, 3-time Vezina Trophy winner, over 1000 games played. | ||
| Richard Smehlik[20] | 1-time Stanley Cup champion with the Devils, Olympic gold and bronze medalist. |
See also: 2002–03 NHL transactions. Trading deadline: March 11, 2003.[21] Here is a list of major trades for the 2002–03 NHL trade deadline:
This was the first season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with CBC and TSN. CBC continued to air Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada regular season games, while TSN's coverage included Wednesday Night Hockey and other selected weeknights. Stanley Cup playoff coverage on cable expanded beyond the first round, with TSN allowed to televise all-U.S. games up to the Conference Finals. CBC still aired all playoff games involving Canadian teams, as well as exclusive coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals.
This was the fourth year of the league's five-year U.S. national broadcast rights deal with ESPN and ABC. ESPN and ESPN2 aired weeknight games throughout the regular season. ABC's coverage included the All-Star Game and five weeks worth of regional games on Saturday afternoons between January and March. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected games, while ABC had Saturday regional telecasts. Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster produced local coverage of first and second round games (except for those games on ABC). ABC's weekend telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the third round games. ESPN then aired the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals before the rest of the series shifted to ABC.