The 2003–04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup champions were the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series four games to three against the Calgary Flames.
For the fourth time in eight years, the all-time record for total shutouts in a season was shattered, as 192 shutouts were recorded. The 2003–04 regular season was also the first one (excluding the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season) since 1967–68 in which there was neither a 50-goal scorer, nor a 100-point scorer. It was also the final NHL season before the 2004–05 NHL lockout with games resuming in the fall of 2005 as part of the 2005–06 season, and the final season in which games could end in ties.
League business Collective bargaining agreement The existing NHL collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the players was set to expire in September 2004. During the entire 2003–04 season, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) head Bob Goodenow waged a war of words with no CBA being signed. The dispute eventually led to the 2004–05 NHL lockout and the cancellation of the 2004–05 season.
New scheduling formula The schedule of 82 games was revamped. The new format increased divisional games from five to six per team (24 total), and decreased inter-conference games to at least one per team, with three extra games (18 in total).
Entry draft The 2003 NHL entry draft was held on June 21–22, 2003 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Marc-Andre Fleury was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Preseason games in Europe As part of the NHL Challenge, the Toronto Maple Leafs played a three-preseason-game series in Europe against Finnish team Jokerit Helsinki and the Swedish teams Djurgården Stockholm and Färjestad Karlstad.
Uniform changes The alternating of jerseys was changed. For the first season since the 1969–70 season, teams would now wear their colored jerseys at home and white jerseys away.
Arena changes The Edmonton Oilers' home arena, Skyreach Centre, was renamed Rexall Place as part of a new naming rights agreement with Rexall that was signed on November 20, 2003. The Philadelphia Flyers's home arena, the First Union Center, was renamed the Wachovia Center after First Union merged with Wachovia. The Phoenix Coyotes moved from America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona to Glendale Arena in Glendale, Arizona on December 27, 2003.
Regular season First regular season outdoor game The Heritage Classic, the first NHL regular season game to be played outdoors, was held on November 22, 2003, at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 4–3.
All-Star Game The All-Star Game was played on February 8, 2004, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the home of the Minnesota Wild.
Highlights On September 26, just before the season was to begin, young Atlanta Thrashers star Dany Heatley crashed his Ferrari in suburban Atlanta. The passenger, Thrashers teammate Dan Snyder, was killed. Heatley himself was badly injured and eventually charged with vehicular homicide.
Entering the season, the two Stanley Cup favorites were the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference, who had won the Presidents' Trophy and come within a win of the Stanley Cup Final the year before, and the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference, who, despite losing legendary goaltender Patrick Roy to retirement, added both Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya to an already star-studded lineup. Neither of these teams, however, were as successful as expected, with Ottawa finishing fifth in their conference and Colorado finishing fourth, losing the Northwest Division title for the first time in a decade when the franchise was still known as the Quebec Nordiques.
The greatest disappointments were the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, who, despite making it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final the year prior and adding both Sergei Fedorov and Vaclav Prospal, failed to make the playoffs. The Los Angeles Kings failed to make the playoffs in large part due to a season-ending 11-game losing streak. 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 in the season 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 many of their stars and entered "rebuilding mode." The Capitals traded away Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra, Sergei Gonchar, Robert Lang and Anson Carter, while the Rangers moved Petr Nedved, Brian Leetch, Anson Carter and Alexei Kovalev to other NHL teams.
The most surprising teams were the Tampa Bay Lightning in the East and the San Jose Sharks in the West. The Lightning, who had a remarkable season with only 20 man-games lost to injury, finished atop the Eastern Conference, while the Sharks, who were firmly in rebuilding mode after a disastrous 28–37–9–8 campaign the last season, came second in the West and won the Pacific Division.
Two other teams that did better than expected were carried by surprising young goaltenders. The Calgary Flames ended a seven-year playoff drought backed by the solid play of Miikka Kiprusoff, and the Boston Bruins won the Northeast Division by a whisker over the Toronto Maple Leafs with the help of eventual Calder Memorial Trophy-winning goaltender Andrew Raycroft.
Goaltending was also the story of the Presidents' Trophy-winning 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 recorded 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, though they were dispatched by a star-studded Detroit Red Wings team in the first round.
The regular season ended controversially, when in March 2004, the Vancouver Canucks' Todd Bertuzzi infamously attacked and severely injured the Colorado Avalanche's Steve Moore, forcing the latter eventually to retire.
Standings
Detroit Red Wings won the Presidents' Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
For rankings in conference, division leaders are automatically ranked 1–3. These three, plus the next five teams in the conference standings, earn playoff berths at the end of the season.
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
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 Final, 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: Detroit Red Wings Prince of Wales Trophy: (Eastern Conference playoff champion) Tampa Bay Lightning Clarence S. Campbell Bowl: (Western Conference playoff champion) Calgary Flames Art Ross 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 Lightning 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 Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy: Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames;Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets;Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers NHL Foundation Player Award: Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames NHL Plus-Minus Award: Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning;Marek Malik, Vancouver Canucks NHL/Sheraton Road Performer Award: Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche 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
All-Star teams First team Position Second teamMartin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils GRoberto Luongo, Florida PanthersScott Niedermayer, New Jersey Devils DChris Pronger, St. Louis BluesZdeno Chara, Ottawa Senators DBryan McCabe, Toronto Maple Leafs Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche CMats Sundin, Toronto Maple LeafsMartin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning RWJarome Iginla, Calgary Flames Markus Naslund, Vancouver Canucks LWIlya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers
Player statistics
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 Naslund Vancouver 78 35 49 84 Marian Hossa Ottawa 81 36 46 82 Patrik 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 Alex Tanguay Colorado 69 25 54 79
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 Miikka KiprusoffCalgary38230024104654.9331.70 Dwayne RolosonMinnesota482846191811895.9331.88 Marty TurcoDallas7343593721131449.9131.98 Martin BrodeurNew Jersey75455438261115411.9172.03 Robert EschePhiladelphia40232221117793.9152.04 Andrew RaycroftBoston573420291891173.9262.05 David AebischerColorado623702321991294.9242.09 Manny LegaceDetroit41370223105823.9202.12 Ed BelfourToronto5934443419612210.9182.13 Evgeni NabokovSan Jose593455311981279.9212.21
Coaches Eastern Conference Atlanta Thrashers: Bob Hartley Boston Bruins: Mike Sullivan Buffalo Sabres: Lindy Ruff Carolina Hurricanes: Peter Laviolette Florida Panthers: Rick Dudley and John Torchetti Montreal Canadiens: Claude Julien New Jersey Devils: Pat Burns New York Islanders: Steve Stirling New York Rangers: Glen Sather Ottawa Senators: Jacques Martin Philadelphia Flyers: Ken Hitchcock Pittsburgh Penguins: Ed Olczyk Tampa Bay Lightning: John Tortorella Toronto Maple Leafs: Pat Quinn Washington Capitals: Glen Hanlon
Western Conference Mighty Ducks of Anaheim: Mike Babcock Calgary Flames: Darryl Sutter Chicago Blackhawks: Brian Sutter Colorado Avalanche: Tony Granato Columbus Blue Jackets: 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 and Rick Bowness San Jose Sharks: 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 2003–04 (listed with their first team): Chris Kunitz, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins