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.
League business Entry draft 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.
Rule changes The league approved the following rule changes:
Following the death of Brittanie Cecil during the previous season, netting at both ends of the rink became mandatory, and the minimum height of the glass around the entire rink was raised to . "Hurry-up" faceoff and line-change rules were implemented, similar to ones used by the American Hockey League. Except during the final two minutes of a game and after a goal is scored, the visiting team has five seconds to complete a line change during stoppages, and the home team has eight seconds. The linesman will then blow his whistle and drop the puck within five seconds, regardless if one or both teams' centres are lined up at the faceoff dot. If a centre is offside before getting properly lined up by the five seconds, he will get a warning before getting subsequent delay of game penalties.
Arena changes The Carolina Hurricanes' home arena, Raleigh Sports and Entertainment Arena, was renamed RBC Center as part of a new naming rights agreement with RBC Bank. The Florida Panthers' home arena, National Car Rental Center, was renamed Office Depot Center as part of a new naming rights agreement with Office Depot. The Montreal Canadiens' home arena, Molson Centre, was renamed Bell Centre as part of a new naming rights agreement with Bell Canada. The San Jose Sharks' home arena, the Compaq Center, was renamed the HP Pavilion, in recognition of Compaq's parent company Hewlett-Packard (HP) retiring the Compaq brand. The Tampa Bay Lightning's home arena, the Ice Palace, was renamed the St. Pete Times Forum as part of a new naming rights agreement with the St. Petersburg Times newspaper.
Regular season All-Star Game 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 an Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format.
Highlights 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.Hockey's Book of Firsts, p.19, James Duplacey, JG Press,
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.
Standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Source:
Playoffs
Bracket 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.
Awards The NHL Awards presentation took place in Toronto. Presidents' Trophy: Ottawa Senators Prince of Wales Trophy: (Eastern Conference playoff champion) New Jersey Devils Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: (Western Conference playoff champion) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Art Ross Trophy: Peter Forsberg, Colorado Avalanche Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings Calder Memorial Trophy: Barret Jackman, St. Louis Blues Conn Smythe Trophy: Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Frank J. Selke Trophy: Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars Hart Memorial Trophy: Peter Forsberg, Colorado Avalanche Jack Adams Award: Jacques Lemaire, Minnesota Wild James Norris Memorial Trophy: Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Brendan Shanahan, Detroit Red Wings Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Alexander Mogilny, Toronto Maple Leafs Lester B. Pearson Award: Markus Naslund, Vancouver Canucks Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy: Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche NHL Foundation Player Award: Darren McCarty, Detroit Red Wings NHL Plus-Minus Award: Peter Forsberg & Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award: Marty Turco, Dallas Stars Vezina Trophy: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils William M. Jennings Trophy: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils; Roman Cechmanek and Robert Esche, Philadelphia Flyers
All-Star teams First team Position Second teamMartin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils GMarty Turco, Dallas StarsAl MacInnis, St. Louis Blues DSergei Gonchar, Washington CapitalsNicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings DDerian Hatcher, Dallas StarsPeter Forsberg, Colorado Avalanche CJoe Thornton, Boston BruinsTodd Bertuzzi, Vancouver Canucks RWMilan Hejduk, Colorado AvalancheMarkus Naslund, Vancouver Canucks LWPaul Kariya, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Player statistics
Regular season
Scoring leaders Note: 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 Mike Modano Dallas 79 28 57 85 Sergei Fedorov Detroit 80 36 47 83 Source: NHL.
Leading goaltenders
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%Marty Turco Dallas Stars 55 3203 92 1.72 31 10 10 7 .932Roman Cechmanek Philadelphia Flyers 58 3350 102 1.83 33 15 10 6 .925Dwayne Roloson Minnesota Wild 50 2945 98 2.00 23 16 8 4 .927Martin Brodeur New Jersey Devils 73 4374 147 2.02 41 23 9 9 .914Patrick Lalime Ottawa Senators 67 3943 142 2.16 39 20 7 8 .911Patrick Roy Colorado Avalanche 63 3769 137 2.18 35 15 13 5 .920Tomas Vokoun Nashville Predators 69 3974 146 2.20 25 31 11 3 .918Manny Fernandez Minnesota Wild 35 1979 75 2.24 19 13 2 2 .924Ed Belfour Toronto Maple Leafs 62 3737 141 2.26 37 20 5 7 .922Jean-Sebastien Giguere Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 65 3775 145 2.30 34 22 6 8 .920
Playoffs
Scoring leaders Note: 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
Coaches
Eastern Conference Atlanta Thrashers: Curt Fraser, Don Waddell and Bob Hartley Boston Bruins: Robbie Ftorek and Mike O'Connell Buffalo Sabres: Lindy Ruff Carolina Hurricanes: Paul Maurice Florida Panthers: Mike Keenan Montreal Canadiens: Michel Therrien and Claude Julien New Jersey Devils: Pat Burns New York Islanders: Peter Laviolette New York Rangers: Bryan Trottier and Glen Sather Ottawa Senators: Jacques Martin Philadelphia Flyers: Ken Hitchcock Pittsburgh Penguins: Rick Kehoe Tampa Bay Lightning: John Tortorella Toronto Maple Leafs: Pat Quinn Washington Capitals: Bruce Cassidy
Western Conference Mighty Ducks of Anaheim: Mike Babcock Calgary Flames: Greg Gilbert, Al MacNeil and Darryl Sutter Chicago Blackhawks: Brian Sutter Colorado Avalanche: Bob Hartley and Tony Granato Columbus Blue Jackets: Dave King and Doug MacLean Dallas Stars: Dave Tippett Detroit Red Wings: Dave Lewis Edmonton Oilers: Craig MacTavish Los Angeles Kings: Andy Murray Minnesota Wild: Jacques Lemaire Nashville Predators: Barry Trotz Phoenix Coyotes: Bobby Francis San Jose Sharks: Darryl Sutter, Cap Raeder and Ron Wilson St. Louis Blues: Joel Quenneville Vancouver Canucks: Marc Crawford
Milestones
Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 2002–03 (listed with their first team):
Patrick Sharp, Philadelphia Flyers 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 Jarret Stoll, 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 Anton Volchenkov, Ottawa Senators Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators Ray Emery, Ottawa Senators