2003–04 Eliteserien season

2003–04 Eliteserien season
League Eliteserien
Sport Ice hockey
Number of teams 10
Regular-season winner Storhamar Dragons
Champions Storhamar Dragons

The 2003–04 Eliteserien season ended with Storhamar Dragons claiming their fifth Norwegian title after defeating Vålerenga in double overtime in game 7. Michael Smithurst scored the game winner nearly two minutes into the second extra period in front of 7,405 spectators.[1]

Regular season

Final standings

Rk Team Pts W OTW OTL L GF-GA
1 Storhamar Dragons 94 29 2 3 8 151-87
2 Vålerenga 92 28 3 2 9 183-89
3 Trondheim Black Panthers 83 25 3 2 12 160-100
4 Frisk Tigers 74 20 5 4 13 152-118
5 Sparta Warriors 64 19 2 3 18 124-126
6 Stavanger Oilers 63 19 1 4 18 163-152
7 Stjernen 62 16 6 2 19 152-137
8 Bergen Flyers 43 11 3 4 24 105-173
9 Lillehammer 42 12 2 2 26 101-154
10 Manglerud Star 13 4 0 1 37 80-235

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.[2]

Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM
Finland Jari Kesti Stavanger Oilers 40 26 37 63 +31 40
Finland Tommy Kiviaho Frisk Tigers 41 27 27 54 +23 20
Russia Ilya Dubkov Trondheim Black Panthers 42 32 21 53 +29 70
Finland Tomi Suoniemi Stavanger Oilers 40 20 25 45 +17 20
Finland Teemu Kohvakka Stavanger Oilers 41 18 27 45 +5 80
Norway Tom Erik Olsen Storhamar Dragons 40 28 16 44 +32 18
Sweden Patric Englund Vålerenga 40 21 23 44 +23 20
Norway Lars Erik Spets Lillehammer 40 28 15 43 −10 12
Norway Morten Bakkene Stavanger Oilers 41 23 20 43 +19 18
Norway Jan Morten Dahl Trondheim Black Panthers 40 10 31 41 +20 147

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the conclusion of the regular season.[3]

Player Team GP TOI W L GA SO Sv% GAA
Norway Jonas Bertil Norgren Storhamar Dragons 22 1,285:41 - - 34 6 92.34 1.59
Norway Tommy Lund Vålerenga 29 1,736:29 - - 61 5 91.13 2.11
Sweden Henrik Smångs Sparta Warriors 29 1,807:55 - - 84 1 90.75 2.79
Norway Halvor Hårstad-Evjen Frisk Tigers 28 1,568:52 - - 61 2 90.72 2.33
Norway Rolf Joakim Wiberg Trondheim Black Panthers 41 2,428:22 - - 89 5 90.65 2.20

GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average

Playoffs

After the regular season, the new standard of eight teams qualified for the playoffs. In the first round, the two highest remaining seeds were drawn against the two lowest remaining seeds; in the second round, the highest remaining seed was drawn against one of the two lowest. In each round the higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage, giving them a possible maximum of three home games as opposed to the lower-seeded team's possible maximum of two. Each best-of-five series followed a 1–2–1–1 format: the higher-seeded team played at home for games 2 and 3 (plus 5 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team at home for games 1 and 4 (if necessary).[4]

The final was contested between the Storhamar Dragons and Vålerenga for the second consecutive year. In 2003, the championship had been decided in four straight games when Vålerenga won 4–0 to claim their 22nd title and 18th "double". As in the previous season, the 2004 final was played as a best-of-seven series following a 1–1–1–2–1–1 format. Storhamar, as league champions, were seeded first and played at home for games 2, 4, 5 and 7.[4] They took the lead after winning the first game 2–1 in overtime, but failed to capitalize, losing their first home game 0–4. The third and fourth games were both won by the home side. Game 5 saw Vålerenga achieve an away win in overtime to lead the series 3–2, but Storhamar came back to claim another overtime victory in Oslo and force a seventh, championship deciding game at Hamar OL-Amfi. A record 7,405 spectators turned out for the first game 7 in the history of the Norwegian Championship, in which Storhamar's Michael Smithurst scored the winning goal after 21 minutes and 54 seconds of overtime.[5][6]

Bracket

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
                           
  1  Storhamar Dragons 3  
8  Bergen Flyers 0  
  1  Storhamar Dragons 3  
  6  Stavanger Oilers 0  
2  Vålerenga 3
  7  Stjernen 1  
(Pairings are re-seeded after the first round)   1  Storhamar Dragons 4
  2  Vålerenga 3
  3  Trondheim Black Panthers 1  
6  Stavanger Oilers 3  
  2  Vålerenga 3
  4  Sparta Bears 1  
4  Sparta Bears 3
  5  Frisk Tigers 2  

Source: hockey.no

Norwegian Champions
2004
Storhamar Dragons
5th title

Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2004–05

Final standings

Team GP W OTW SOW OTL SOL L GF GA Pts
1Lillehammer (Q)6400101221413
2Comet (Q)6221001241512
3Manglerud Star6301114261911
4Hasle/Løren600000615390

GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime Wins; OTL = Overtime Losses; SOW = Shootout Wins; SOL = Shootout Losses; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; Pts = Points; Q = Qualified
Source: speaker.no

Game log

Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2004–05 Game Log

References

  1. ↑ http://www.dragons.no/statistikk/content.asp?menuItem=11&docID=12480&elmID=9145 Boxscore Game 7 03-04 Finals
  2. ↑ "Scoring Leaders - Eliteserien 03/04". Norwegian Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  3. ↑ "Leading Goaltenders - Eliteserien 03/04". Norwegian Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Sluttspill om Norgesmesterskapet menn 2003/2004". Norwegian Ice Hockey Association (in Norwegian). 2004-03-28. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
  5. ↑ "Smithurst fikset festen". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 2004-03-28. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
  6. ↑ "Boxscore Game 7: Storhamar – Vålerenga". Norwegian Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 2010-03-23.

External links