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| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Number of games | 82 |
| Number of teams | 30 |
| Regular season | |
| Presidents' Trophy | Detroit Red Wings |
| Season MVP | Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Top scorer | Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Playoffs | |
| Eastern champions | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Eastern runners-up | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Western champions | Calgary Flames |
| Western runners-up | San Jose Sharks |
| Playoffs MVP | Brad Richards, Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Stanley Cup champions | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Runners-up | Calgary Flames |
| NHL seasons | |
| ← 2002–03 |
2004–05 → |
The 2003–04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series four games to three against the Calgary Flames.
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For the fourth time in eight years, the all-time record for total shutouts in a season was shattered, as 192 shutouts were recorded[1]. 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[2][3]. 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, and the final season in which games could end in ties.
The schedule of 82 games was revamped. The thirty teams played 82 games in a revamped format that increased divisional games from 5 to 6 per team (24 total), conference games from 3 to 4 (40 total), and decreased inter-conference games to at least one per team, with three extra games (18 in total).
The alternating of uniforms was changed. For the first season since the 1969–70 season, teams would now wear their dark jerseys at home and light uniforms away.
The Phoenix Coyotes moved to a new arena in Glendale, Arizona after playing their first seven seasons at America West Arena.
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 26, just before the season was to begin, 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 favorites were the Ottawa Senators in the east, who had won the Presidents' Trophy and come within a win 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 Selanne 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 when the Nordiques were still around.
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 dumped 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 28–37–9–8 campaign the last season, came second in the Western Conference 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. The Boston Bruins won the Northeast Division by a whisker over the Toronto Maple Leafs with the help of eventual Calder Memorial Trophy winner 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 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 Hockey Hall of Fame-bound roster of the Red Wings in the first round. Also Todd Bertuzzi did an infamous hit that seriously injured Steve Moore, forcing him to retire.
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.
| No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 40 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 229 | 186 | 101 |
| 2 | 6 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 43 | 25 | 12 | 2 | 213 | 164 | 100 |
| 3 | 8 | New York Islanders | 82 | 38 | 29 | 11 | 4 | 237 | 210 | 91 |
| 4 | 13 | New York Rangers | 82 | 27 | 40 | 7 | 8 | 206 | 250 | 69 |
| 5 | 15 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 23 | 47 | 8 | 4 | 190 | 303 | 58 |
| No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 41 | 19 | 15 | 7 | 209 | 188 | 104 |
| 2 | 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 45 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 242 | 204 | 103 |
| 3 | 5 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 43 | 23 | 10 | 6 | 262 | 189 | 102 |
| 4 | 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 41 | 30 | 7 | 4 | 208 | 192 | 93 |
| 5 | 9 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 37 | 34 | 7 | 4 | 220 | 221 | 85 |
| No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 46 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 245 | 192 | 106 |
| 2 | 10 | Atlanta Thrashers | 82 | 33 | 37 | 8 | 4 | 214 | 243 | 78 |
| 3 | 11 | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 28 | 34 | 14 | 6 | 172 | 209 | 76 |
| 4 | 12 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 28 | 35 | 15 | 4 | 188 | 221 | 75 |
| 5 | 14 | Washington Capitals | 82 | 23 | 46 | 10 | 3 | 186 | 253 | 59 |
| No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 48 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 255 | 189 | 109 |
| 2 | 7 | St. Louis Blues | 82 | 39 | 30 | 11 | 2 | 191 | 198 | 91 |
| 3 | 8 | Nashville Predators | 82 | 38 | 29 | 11 | 4 | 216 | 217 | 91 |
| 4 | 14 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 25 | 45 | 8 | 4 | 177 | 238 | 62 |
| 5 | 15 | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 20 | 43 | 11 | 8 | 188 | 259 | 59 |
| No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 43 | 24 | 10 | 5 | 235 | 194 | 101 |
| 2 | 4 | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 40 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 235 | 198 | 100 |
| 3 | 6 | Calgary Flames | 82 | 42 | 30 | 7 | 3 | 200 | 176 | 94 |
| 4 | 9 | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 36 | 29 | 12 | 5 | 221 | 208 | 89 |
| 5 | 10 | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 30 | 29 | 20 | 3 | 188 | 183 | 83 |
| No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | San Jose Sharks | 82 | 43 | 21 | 12 | 6 | 219 | 183 | 104 |
| 2 | 5 | Dallas Stars | 82 | 41 | 26 | 13 | 2 | 194 | 175 | 97 |
| 3 | 11 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 28 | 29 | 16 | 9 | 205 | 217 | 81 |
| 4 | 12 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | 82 | 29 | 35 | 10 | 8 | 184 | 213 | 76 |
| 5 | 13 | Phoenix Coyotes | 82 | 22 | 36 | 18 | 6 | 188 | 245 | 68 |
[4] Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Note: All dates in 2004.
The 2004 playoffs were considered to be wide open with no clear favorite. 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 made the playoffs for the first time since 1996. 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 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 Lightning beat the Flames in the Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 3. With the Flames having a 3-2 series lead and the series going back to Calgary for Game 6, with the Stanley Cup in the building and with the game tied 2-2 in the third, Martin Gelinas of the Flames (who scored the series winning goals in the Flames three previous series) appeared to have scored the go-ahead goal. Gelinas redirected a pass towards the Tampa net using his skate that was kicked out by Lightning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. It appeared that before Khabibulin kicked the puck out, it had already crossed the goal line.[5] The play was not reviewed. To this day, many Flames fans argue that the puck was in. The game eventually went into double overtime where Lightning winger and former Flame Martin St. Louis scored the overtime winner and broke the hearts of Flames fans everywhere. The Lightning went on to win Game 7 by a score of 2-1 and captured their first championship in franchise history. Brad Richards with 12 goals and 26 points won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
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| Conference Quarter-finals | Conference Semi-finals | Conference Finals | Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tampa Bay | 4 | 1 | Tampa Bay | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 8 | NY Islanders | 1 | 7 | Montreal | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Boston | 3 | Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||
| 7 | Montreal | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tampa Bay | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | New Jersey | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Toronto | 4 | 3 | Philadelphia | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Ottawa | 3 | 4 | Toronto | 2 | |||||||||||||
| E1 | Tampa Bay | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| (Pairings are re-seeded after the first round.) | ||||||||||||||||||
| W6 | Calgary | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Detroit | 4 | 1 | Detroit | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 8 | Nashville | 2 | 6 | Calgary | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | San Jose | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | St. Louis | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | San Jose | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Calgary | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Vancouver | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Calgary | 4 | Western Conference | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Colorado | 4 | 2 | San Jose | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Dallas | 1 | 4 | Colorado | 2 | |||||||||||||
The NHL Awards presentation took place in Toronto.
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 |
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 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 2003–04 (listed with their first team):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 2003–04 (listed with their last team):
†=Due to player death
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