Francais | English | Espanõl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2003-04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the Calgary Flames. This was the first season since 1969-70 that teams wore their dark jerseys at home.

This was the final season that ABC and ESPN televised NHL games. It was also the final NHL season before the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

Contents 1 Regular season 1.1 Final standings 1.1.1 Eastern Conference 1.1.2 Western Conference 1.2 Scoring leaders 1.3 Leading goaltenders 2 Stanley Cup Playoffs 2.1 Conference Quarterfinals 2.1.1 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals 2.1.2 Western Conference Quarterfinals 2.2 Conference Semifinals 2.2.1 Eastern Conference Semifinals 2.2.2 Western Conference Semifinals 2.3 Conference Finals 2.4 Stanley Cup Finals 2.5 Scoring leaders 3 NHL awards 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Regular season

The 2003-04 season was one overhung by concern over the expiry of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement. It would lead to a shuttering of the league for the entirety of the next season. During the entire season, Commissioner Gary Bettman and Players Association head Bob Goodenow waged a war of words with no agreement being signed.

On September 29, just before the season was to begin, the young Atlanta Thrashers star Dany Heatley crashed his Ferrari in suburban Atlanta. The passenger, Thrashers workhorse Dan Snyder, was killed. Heatley himself was badly injured and eventually charged with vehicular homicide. The entire NHL thus began the season in mourning.

Going into the season the two favourites were the Ottawa Senators in the east, who had won the Presidents' Trophy and come within a goal of the Stanley Cup finals the year before; and the Colorado Avalanche in the west, who despite losing legendary goaltender Patrick Roy to retirement, added both Teemu Selänne and Paul Kariya to an already star-studded lineup. Neither of these teams was as successful as expected with Ottawa finishing fifth in the conference and Colorado finishing fourth, losing the Northwest Division title for the first time in a decade.

The greatest disappointments were the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, who, despite making it to game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals the year before and adding Sergei Fedorov and Vaclav Prospal, failed to make the playoffs. In the East the star-studded New York Rangers again failed to make the playoffs. The Washington Capitals, who were regarded as a contender, also stumbled early and never recovered. The end of the season saw two of the most extensive housecleanings in league history as the Rangers and Capitals traded away most of their stars and entered rebuilding mode. The Capitals traded Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra, Sergei Gonchar, Robert Lang, Steve Konowalchuk, and Anson Carter. The Rangers moved Petr Nedved, Brian Leetch, Anson Carter, and Alexei Kovalev.

The most surprising teams were the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference and San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference. The Lightning, who had a remarkable season with only 20 man-games lost to injury, finished atop the Eastern Conference. The Sharks, who were firmly in rebuilding mode after a disastrous campaign the last season, came second in the Western Conference and won the Pacific Division.

Two others teams that did better than expected were carried by surprising young goaltenders. The Calgary Flames ended an eight-year playoff drought backed by the solid play of Miikka Kiprusoff. The Boston Bruins won the Northeast Division by a whisker over the Toronto Maple Leafs with the help of eventual Calder Trophy winner Andrew Raycroft.

Goaltending was also the story of the Presidents Trophy wining Detroit Red Wings as the return from retirement of legend Dominik Hasek bumped Curtis Joseph to the minor leagues. At the same time long time back up Manny Legace put up better numbers than both veterans and won the starting job in the playoffs.

Of note is the fact that the Nashville Predators made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They put up a valiant effort but were unable to overcome the hall of fame bound roster of the Detroit Red Wings in the first round.

[edit] Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

[edit] Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
Philadelphia Flyers	40	21	15	6	229	186	101
New Jersey Devils	43	25	12	2	213	164	100
New York Islanders	38	29	11	4	237	211	91
New York Rangers	27	40	7	8	206	250	69
Pittsburgh Penguins	23	47	8	4	190	303	58

Northeast Division	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
Boston Bruins	41	19	15	7	209	188	104
Toronto Maple Leafs	45	24	10	3	242	204	103
Ottawa Senators	43	23	10	6	262	189	102
Montreal Canadiens	41	30	7	4	208	192	93
Buffalo Sabres	37	34	7	4	220	221	85

Southeast Division	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
Tampa Bay Lightning	46	22	8	6	245	192	106
Atlanta Thrashers	33	37	8	4	214	243	78
Carolina Hurricanes	28	34	14	6	172	209	76
Florida Panthers	28	35	15	4	188	221	75
Washington Capitals	23	46	10	3	186	253	59

[edit] Western Conference

Central Division	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
Detroit Red Wings	48	21	11	2	255	189	109
St. Louis Blues	39	30	11	2	191	198	91
Nashville Predators	38	29	11	4	216	217	91
Columbus Blue Jackets	25	45	8	4	177	238	62
Chicago Blackhawks	20	43	11	8	188	259	59

Northwest Division	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
Vancouver Canucks	43	24	10	5	235	194	101
Colorado Avalanche	40	22	13	7	236	198	100
Calgary Flames	42	30	7	3	200	176	94
Edmonton Oilers	36	29	12	5	221	208	89
Minnesota Wild	30	29	20	3	188	183	83

Pacific Division	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
San Jose Sharks	43	21	12	6	219	183	104
Dallas Stars	41	26	13	2	194	175	97
Los Angeles Kings	28	29	16	9	205	217	81
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	29	35	10	8	184	213	76
Phoenix Coyotes	22	36	18	6	188	245	68

[edit] Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Martin St. Louis	Tampa Bay	82	38	56	94
Ilya Kovalchuk	Atlanta	81	41	46	87
Joe Sakic	Colorado	81	33	54	87
Markus Näslund	Vancouver	78	35	49	84
Marian Hossa	Ottawa	81	36	46	82
Patrick Elias	New Jersey	82	38	43	81
Daniel Alfredsson	Ottawa	77	32	48	80
Cory Stillman	Tampa Bay	81	25	55	80
Robert Lang	Washington / Detroit	69	30	49	79
Brad Richards	Tampa Bay	82	26	53	79

[edit] Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; Mins = Minutes Played; W = Wins; L = Losses: OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against Average

Player	Team	GP	Mins	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV	GAA
Martin Brodeur	New Jersey	75	4554	38	26	11	154	11	.917	2.03
Marty Turco	Dallas	73	4359	37	21	13	144	9	.913	1.98
Ed Belfour	Toronto	59	3444	34	19	6	122	10	.918	2.13
Tomas Vokoun	Nashville	73	4221	34	29	10	178	3	.909	2.53
Dan Cloutier	Vancouver	60	3539	33	21	6	134	5	.914	2.27

[edit] Stanley Cup Playoffs

Note: All dates in 2004.

The 2004 playoffs were considered to be wide open with no clear favourite. All of the top teams had weaknesses. Tampa Bay and Boston were both young teams with no history of recent postseason success. Detroit, Ottawa, Colorado, and Philadelphia all had major questions in goal. New Jersey was marred by injuries to Scott Stevens and Brian Rafalski, while Vancouver was missing the suspended Todd Bertuzzi.

The first-round Eastern Conference matchups were notable for the number of heated rivalries. The Ottawa Senators met the Toronto Maple Leafs for the fourth time in five years in the always passion-filled Battle of Ontario. The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens met in a resumption of the most common of all NHL playoff series, and one which the Canadiens have thoroughly dominated, including an upset win two years prior. The Philadelphia Flyers also played a hated division rival in the New Jersey Devils. The only non-rivalry was the Tampa Bay-New York Islanders series.

The West saw the resumption of the Vancouver-Calgary rivalry, which had been somewhat dormant as the Flames had missed the playoffs for seven years in a row. In a less passionate but still interesting matchup, Detroit played division rival Nashville, whom they had struggled against during the regular season in Nashville's first ever franchise visit to the playoffs. San Jose met the St. Louis Blues, while the always difficult four-five matchup saw Colorado and Dallas meet.

The Calgary Flames, a sixth seed, defeated three straight division champions, the Canucks, the Red Wings and the Sharks to become the first Canadian team to reach the Stanley Cup Finals in ten years, since the Canucks lost to the Rangers in the Finals in 1994. They faced the Tampa Bay Lightning, who defeated the Islanders in five, swept the Canadiens and defeated the Flyers in seven games.

The Flames and the Lightning battled hard in the Stanley Cup Finals, eventually pushing the series to seven games. By game 5, the Flames took the 3-2 series lead back to Calgary, but the Lightning battled back to win games 6 and 7 to win the Stanley Cup on their home ice. Brad Richards, with a team-high 25 points in the playoffs, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy.

[edit] Conference Quarterfinals

[edit] Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

Tampa Bay vs. NY Islanders Date Away Home   April 8 NY Islanders 0 3 Tampa Bay   April 10 NY Islanders 3 0 Tampa Bay   April 12 Tampa Bay 3 0 NY Islanders   April 14 Tampa Bay 3 0 NY Islanders   April 16 NY Islanders 2 3 Tampa Bay OT Tampa Bay wins series 4–1	Philadelphia vs. New Jersey Date Away Home April 8 New Jersey 2 3 Philadelphia April 10 New Jersey 2 3 Philadelphia April 12 Philadelphia 2 4 New Jersey April 14 Philadelphia 3 0 New Jersey April 17 New Jersey 1 3 Philadelphia Philadelphia wins series 4–1
Boston vs. Montreal Date Away Home   April 7 Montreal 0 3 Boston   April 9 Montreal 1 2 Boston OT April 11 Boston 2 3 Montreal   April 13 Boston 4 3 Montreal 2OT April 15 Montreal 5 1 Boston   April 17 Boston 2 5 Montreal   April 19 Montreal 2 0 Boston   Montreal wins series 4–3	Toronto vs. Ottawa Date Away Home   April 8 Ottawa 4 2 Toronto   April 10 Ottawa 0 2 Toronto   April 12 Toronto 2 0 Ottawa   April 14 Toronto 1 4 Ottawa   April 16 Ottawa 0 2 Toronto   April 18 Toronto 1 2 Ottawa 2OT April 20 Ottawa 1 4 Toronto   Toronto wins series 4–3

[edit] Western Conference Quarterfinals

Colorado vs. Dallas Date Away Home   April 7 Dallas 1 3 Colorado   April 9 Dallas 2 5 Colorado   April 12 Colorado 3 4 Dallas OT April 14 Colorado 3 2 Dallas 2OT April 17 Dallas 1 5 Colorado   Colorado wins series 4–1	San Jose vs. St. Louis Date Away Home   April 8 St. Louis 0 1 San Jose OT April 10 St. Louis 1 3 San Jose   April 12 San Jose 1 4 St. Louis   April 13 San Jose 4 3 St. Louis   April 15 St. Louis 1 3 San Jose   San Jose wins series 4–1
Vancouver vs. Calgary Date Away Home   April 7 Calgary 3 5 Vancouver   April 9 Calgary 2 1 Vancouver   April 11 Vancouver 2 1 Calgary   April 13 Vancouver 0 4 Calgary   April 15 Calgary 2 1 Vancouver   April 17 Vancouver 5 4 Calgary 3OT April 19 Calgary 3 2 Vancouver OT Calgary wins series 4–3	Detroit vs. Nashville Date Away Home April 7 Nashville 1 3 Detroit April 10 Nashville 1 2 Detroit April 11 Detroit 1 3 Nashville April 13 Detroit 0 3 Nashville April 15 Nashville 1 4 Detroit April 17 Detroit 2 0 Nashville Detroit wins series 4–2

[edit] Conference Semifinals

[edit] Eastern Conference Semifinals

Tampa Bay vs. Montreal Date Away Home   April 23 Montreal 0 4 Tampa Bay   April 25 Montreal 1 3 Tampa Bay   April 27 Tampa Bay 4 3 Montreal OT April 29 Tampa Bay 3 1 Montreal   Tampa Bay wins series 4–0

Philadelphia vs. Toronto Date Away Home   April 22 Toronto 1 3 Philadelphia   April 25 Toronto 1 2 Philadelphia   April 28 Philadelphia 1 4 Toronto   April 30 Philadelphia 1 3 Toronto   May 2 Toronto 2 7 Philadelphia   May 4 Philadelphia 3 2 Toronto OT Philadelphia wins series 4–2

[edit] Western Conference Semifinals

Detroit vs. Calgary Date Away Home   April 22 Calgary 2 1 Detroit OT April 24 Calgary 2 5 Detroit   April 27 Detroit 2 3 Calgary   April 29 Detroit 4 2 Calgary   May 1 Calgary 1 0 Detroit   May 3 Detroit 0 1 Calgary OT Calgary wins series 4–2 </center>

San Jose vs. Colorado Date Away Home   April 22 Colorado 2 5 San Jose   April 24 Colorado 1 4 San Jose   April 26 San Jose 1 0 Colorado   April 28 San Jose 0 1 Colorado OT May 1 Colorado 2 1 San Jose OT May 4 San Jose 3 1 Colorado   San Jose wins series 4–2

[edit] Conference Finals

Eastern Conference Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia Date Away Home   May 8 Philadelphia 1 3 Tampa Bay   May 10 Philadelphia 6 2 Tampa Bay   May 12 Tampa Bay 4 1 Philadelphia   May 15 Tampa Bay 2 3 Philadelphia   May 18 Philadelphia 2 4 Tampa Bay   May 20 Tampa Bay 4 5 Philadelphia OT May 22 Philadelphia 1 2 Tampa Bay   Tampa Bay wins series 4–3 and Prince of Wales Trophy

Western Conference San Jose vs. Calgary Date Away Home   May 9 Calgary 4 3 San Jose OT May 11 Calgary 4 1 San Jose   May 13 San Jose 3 0 Calgary   May 15 San Jose 4 2 Calgary   May 17 Calgary 3 0 San Jose   May 19 San Jose 1 3 Calgary   Calgary wins series 4–2 and Clarence S. Campbell Bowl

[edit] Stanley Cup Finals

Tampa Bay vs. Calgary
Date	Away	Home
May 25	Calgary 4	1 Tampa Bay
May 27	Calgary 1	4 Tampa Bay
May 29	Tampa Bay 0	3 Calgary
May 31	Tampa Bay 1	0 Calgary
June 3	Calgary 3	2 Tampa Bay	OT
June 5	Tampa Bay 3	2 Calgary	2OT
June 7	Calgary 1	2 Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay wins series 4–3 and Stanley Cup
Brad Richards (Tampa Bay) wins Conn Smythe Trophy

[edit] Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Brad Richards	Tampa Bay	23	12	13	25
Martin St. Louis	Tampa Bay	23	9	15	24
Jarome Iginla	Calgary	26	13	9	22
Fredrik Modin	Tampa Bay	23	8	11	19
Craig Conroy	Calgary	26	6	11	17
Vincent Lecavalier	Tampa Bay	23	9	7	16
Keith Primeau	Philadelphia	18	9	7	16
Martin Gelinas	Calgary	26	8	6	14
Vincent Damphousse	San Jose	17	7	7	14
Alexei Zhamnov	Philadelphia	18	4	10	14

[edit] NHL awards

The NHL Awards presentation took place in Toronto.

Presidents' Trophy:	Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Tampa Bay Lightning
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:	Calgary Flames
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:	Bryan Berard, Chicago Blackhawks
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Andrew Raycroft, Boston Bruins
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Brad Richards, Tampa Bay Lighting
Frank J. Selke Trophy:	Kris Draper, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
Jack Adams Award:	John Tortorella, Tampa Bay Lightning
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Scott Niedermayer, New Jersey Devils
King Clancy Memorial Trophy:	Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Brad Richards, Tampa Bay Lightning
Lester B. Pearson Award:	Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
Lester Patrick Trophy:	Mike Emrick, John Davidson, Ray Miron
Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy:	Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames; Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers; Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets
NHL Plus/Minus Award:	Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning; Marek Malik, Vancouver Canucks
Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award:	Dwayne Roloson, Minnesota Wild
Vezina Trophy:	Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
William M. Jennings Trophy:	Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils

[edit] See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 2003 NHL Entry Draft
• 54th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• 2003-04 NHL transactions
• NHL All-Star Game
• NHL All-Rookie Team
• 2003 in sports
• 2004 in sports
• Red Mile

[edit] References

• Hockey Database
• NHL Official Website

NHL seasons
1999-00 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08

bg:НХЛ сезон 2003/04

de:NHL 2003/04 fr:Saison LNH 2003-04 pl:Sezon NHL 2003-2004 sv:NHL-säsongen 2003/2004 ru:НХЛ в сезоне 2003/2004