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2002–03 Atlanta Thrashers season

National Hockey League team season

Field	Value
League	NHL
Season	2002–03
year	2002
Team	Atlanta Thrashers
Record	31–39–7–5
HomeRecord	15–19–4–3
RoadRecord	16–20–3–2
Division	Southeast
DivisionRank	3rd
Conference	Eastern
ConferenceRank	11th
GoalsFor	226
GoalsAgainst	284
GeneralManager	Don Waddell
Coach	Curt Fraser (Oct-Dec)
Don Waddell (Dec-Jan)
Bob Hartley (Jan-Apr)
Captain	Rotating (Oct-Jan)
Shawn McEachern (Jan-Apr)
AltCaptain	Dany Heatley (Jan-Apr)
Tony Hrkac (Jan-Apr)
Vyacheslav Kozlov (Jan-Apr)
Jeff Odgers (Jan-Apr)
Arena	Philips Arena
Attendance	13,476
MinorLeague	Chicago Wolves
Greenville Grrrowl
GoalsLeader	Dany Heatley (41)
AssistsLeader	Vyacheslav Kozlov (49)
PointsLeader	Dany Heatley (89)
PIMLeader	Jeff Odgers (171)
PlusMinusLeader	Lubos Bartecko (+3)
WinsLeader	Pasi Nurminen (21)
GAALeader	Pasi Nurminen (2.88)

Don Waddell (Dec-Jan) Bob Hartley (Jan-Apr) Shawn McEachern (Jan-Apr) Tony Hrkac (Jan-Apr) Vyacheslav Kozlov (Jan-Apr) Jeff Odgers (Jan-Apr) Greenville Grrrowl The 2002–03 Atlanta Thrashers season was the Thrashers' fourth season. The Thrashers placed third in the Southeast, and eleventh in the East to miss the playoffs.

Offseason

The Thrashers initially rotated the team captaincy among four players — Vyacheslav Kozlov, Uwe Krupp, Shawn McEachern, and Jeff Odgers.

Regular season

After a poor start to the season saw the Thrashers with the worst record in the league, head coach Curt Fraser was fired on December 26. Recently fired Colorado Avalanche head coach Bob Hartley was named his replacement on January 15. The rotating captaincy was discontinued two days later when McEachern was named permanent captain.

The Thrashers struggled defensively, allowing the most goals (284) and the most short-handed goals (14) of any team in the league.

Final standings

Schedule and results

|- |1||October 11, 2002||3–5 || align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) ||0–1–0–0 || |- |2||October 12, 2002||4–5 OT|| align="left"| Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||0–1–0–1 || |- |3||October 16, 2002||2–3 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||0–2–0–1 || |- |4||October 18, 2002||5–8 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) ||0–3–0–1 || |- |5||October 19, 2002||4–5 || align="left"| New York Islanders (2002–03) ||0–4–0–1 || |- |6||October 21, 2002||2–3 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||0–5–0–1 || |- |7||October 23, 2002||1–2 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (2002–03) ||0–6–0–1 || |- |8||October 26, 2002||3–4 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||0–7–0–1 || |- |9||October 29, 2002||0–4 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) ||0–8–0–1 || |- |10||October 31, 2002||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||0–8–1–1 ||

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| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
- = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Thrashers only.*
- = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Thrashers only.*

No.	Pos	Regular season	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-
15	LW	77	41	48	89	−8	58
13	LW	79	21	49	70	−10	66
17	LW	81	38	29	67	−24	57
9	C	57	16	31	47	−11	77
27	C	71	13	21	34	−10	12
38	D	75	8	22	30	−27	32
19	RW	46	10	16	26	−27	28
12	C	80	9	17	26	−16	14
8	D	79	7	19	26	−19	32
25	D	53	3	18	21	−8	114
23	LW	37	7	9	16	3	8
36	D	75	3	12	15	−20	26
37	C	36	10	4	14	−4	34
18	RW	35	10	4	14	2	23
26	C	56	4	9	13	−8	24
42	D	43	2	9	11	−4	16
4	D	72	1	9	10	−10	118
16	LW	66	3	5	8	−15	115
39	C	62	1	7	8	−11	8
3	C	23	5	2	7	−8	6
20	RW	74	2	4	6	−13	171
7	C	27	4	1	5	−11	7
22	C	3	3	2	5	4	2
43	D	40	0	5	5	−5	20
29	D	32	2	2	4	−10	14
31	G	52	0	3	3		4
10	LW	16	2	0	2	−5	8
50	D	3	1	1	2	3	0
2	D	15	0	2	2	0	41
14	LW	5	0	2	2	−2	4
6	RW	18	0	2	2	1	61
45	LW	10	0	1	1	0	9
49	LW	4	0	0	0	−1	0
35	G	2	0	0	0		0
34	G	17	0	0	0		0
28	RW	3	0	0	0	−1	0
47	D	2	0	0	0	−2	0
41	C	2	0	0	0	−1	2
33	G	21	0	0	0		2
44	D	4	0	0	0	−2	10
11	RW	13	0	0	0	−13	4

Goaltending

- = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Thrashers only.*

No.	Player	Regular season	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO
31	Pasi Nurminen	52	21	19	5	1452	137	2.88	.906	2	2856
34	Byron Dafoe	17	5	11	1	472	65	4.36	.862	0	895
33	Milan Hnilicka	21	4	13	1	605	65	3.56	.893	0	1097
35	Frederic Cassivi	2	1	1	0	58	11	5.37	.810	0	123

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref	League
(in-season)	Team
[NHL All-Star Game](2003-national-hockey-league-all-star-game) selection	Dany Heatley
NHL Player of the Week	Dany Heatley (March 31)
Community Service Award	Chris Tamer
Players' Player Award	Jeff Odgers	title=Thrashers Forward Dany Heatley Wins Bud Light 3 Stars Award And Chevrolet MVP Award	url=http://www.atlantathrashers.com/View.aspx?CID01=4b4b0e76-a8ea-4d3a-87a0-56db0239b4ac	website=Atlanta Thrashers	access-date=December 22, 2022	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060325165257/http://www.atlantathrashers.com/View.aspx?CID01=4b4b0e76-a8ea-4d3a-87a0-56db0239b4ac	archive-date=March 25, 2006	date=April 6, 2003}}
Team MVP	Dany Heatley
Three Stars of the Game Award	Dany Heatley

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref	First game
Simon Gamache	March 7, 2003
Garnet Exelby	March 11, 2003
Zdenek Blatny	March 19, 2003
Kurtis Foster	March 31, 2003
Joe DiPenta	April 2, 2003

Transactions

The Thrashers were involved in the following transactions from June 14, 2002, the day after the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 9, 2003, the day of the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Date	Details	Ref
To Atlanta Thrashers	To [Florida Panthers](2002-03-florida-panthers-season)	title=THRASHERS PICK UP 10 PLAYERS IN DRAFT; ACQUIRE KOZLOV	url=http://www.atlantathrashers.com/View/0,8874,7%7c0%7c0%5e8302,00.html	website=Atlanta Thrashers	access-date=December 1, 2022	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021004082815/http://www.atlantathrashers.com/View/0,8874,7%7c0%7c0%5e8302,00.html	archive-date=October 4, 2002	date=June 23, 2002}}
To Atlanta Thrashers	To [Buffalo Sabres](2002-03-buffalo-sabres-season)
To Atlanta Thrashers	To [Columbus Blue Jackets](2002-03-columbus-blue-jackets-season)
To Atlanta Thrashers	To [San Jose Sharks](2002-03-san-jose-sharks-season)
To Atlanta Thrashers	To [Ottawa Senators](2002-03-ottawa-senators-season)
To Atlanta Thrashers	To [Dallas Stars](2002-03-dallas-stars-season)
To Atlanta Thrashers	To [Calgary Flames](2002-03-calgary-flames-season)
To Atlanta Thrashers	To [Columbus Blue Jackets](2002-03-columbus-blue-jackets-season)
To Atlanta Thrashers	To [Vancouver Canucks](2002-03-vancouver-canucks-season)
To Atlanta Thrashers	To [New Jersey Devils](2002-03-new-jersey-devils-season)
To Atlanta Thrashers	To New Jersey Devils
To Atlanta Thrashers	To Dallas Stars

Players acquired

Date		Player		Former team		Term		Via		Ref
Richard Smehlik
Uwe Krupp
Dallas Eakins
Chris Herperger
Stephane Robidas
Byron Dafoe
Brian Maloney

Players lost

Date		Player		New team		Via		Ref	N/A
Damian Rhodes
Todd Reirden	Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Bryan Adams	Detroit Red Wings
Scott Fankhouser	Reading Royals (ECHL)
Adam Burt
Jeff Dessner	Iserlohn Roosters (DEL)
Uwe Krupp
Norm Maracle	Metallurg Magnitogorsk (RSL)

Signings

Date		Player		Term		Contract type		Ref
Jeff Cowan
Andy Sutton
Pauli Levokari
Pascal Rheaume
Brad Tapper
Mike Weaver
Paul Flache
Michael Garnett
Patrik Stefan
Tomi Kallio
Vyacheslav Kozlov
Ben Simon
Yannick Tremblay
Mark Hartigan
Francis Lessard
Dan Snyder
Daniel Tjarnqvist
Yuri Butsayev
Milan Hnilicka
Shawn McEachern
Kari Lehtonen

Draft picks

Atlanta's draft picks at the 2002 NHL entry draft held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

Round	#	Player	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	2	Kari Lehtonen	Jokerit (Finland)
1	30	Jim Slater	Michigan State University (CCHA)
4	116	Patrick Dwyer	Western Michigan University (CCHA)
4	124	Lane Manson	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
5	144	Paul Flache	Brampton Battalion (OHL)
6	167	Brad Schell	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
7	198	Nathan Oystrick	Northern Michigan University (CCHA)
8	230	Colton Fretter	Chatham Maroons (WOHL)
8	236	Tyler Boldt	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
8	257	Pauli Levokari	HIFK (Finland)

Notes

References

(October 10, 2002). "Thrashers to Rotate Team Captaincy Among Four Players".
(December 26, 2002). "Thrashers fire Fraser".
(January 15, 2003). "In Sports from United Press International".
(January 17, 2003). "Atlanta Thrashers Name Shawn McEachern Team Captain Jeff Odgers, Dany Heatley, Yyacheslav Kozlov and Tony Hrkac Named Assistant Captains".
"2002-03 NHL Summary".
"2002-03 Atlanta Thrashers Schedule".
(February 2, 2003). "Heatley Steals The Show At NHL All-Star Game".
"2003 NHL All-Star Game Rosters".
(March 31, 2003). "Dany Heatley Named NHL Player Of The Week".
(March 28, 2003). "Thrashers Present Gilner-Reeves Community Service Award to Defenseman Chris Tamer".
(April 6, 2003). "Thrashers Forward Dany Heatley Wins Bud Light 3 Stars Award And Chevrolet MVP Award".
"2002-03 NHL Debuts".
"Hockey Transactions Search Results".
(June 23, 2002). "THRASHERS PICK UP 10 PLAYERS IN DRAFT; ACQUIRE KOZLOV".
(June 29, 2002). "McEachern traded to Thrashers".
(October 4, 2002). "+SPORTS TRANSACTIONS FOR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4+".
(November 15, 2002). "Thrashers Acquire Forward Marc Savard from Calgary in Exchange for Forward Ruslan Zainullen".
(December 2, 2002). "Thrashers Acquire Chris Nielsen and Petteri Nummelin from Columbus in Exchange for Tomi Kallio and Pauli Levokari".
(January 20, 2003). "Thrashers Acquire Forward Jeff Farkas from Vancouver in Exchange for Forwards Chris Herperger, Chris Nielsen".
(February 24, 2003). "Thrashers Trade Forward Pascal Rheaume to New Jersey in Exchange for a 2004 Conditional Draft Pick".
(March 10, 2003). "Thrashers Trade Smehlik and a 2004 Draft Pick to New Jersey for Fourth-Round Selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft; Reassign Gamache to Chicago (AHL)".
(March 11, 2003). "Thrashers Acquire Forward Anthony Aquino From Dallas".
(July 10, 2002). "Thrashers pick up Smehlik".
(July 19, 2002). "Atlanta Thrashers Sign Unrestricted Free Agent Defenseman Uwe Krupp".
(July 23, 2002). "Thrashers Agree to Terms with Michael Garnett, Paul Flache and Dallas Eakins".
(August 1, 2002). "Thrashers agree to terms with Kozlov, Kallio, Simon and unrestricted free agent Herperger".
(October 5, 2002). "NO ACTIVITY WHATSOEVER FOR SABRES ON DRAFT DAY".
(November 22, 2002). "Thrashers Sign Unrestricted Free Agent Goaltender Byron Dafoe".
(March 28, 2003). "Thrashers Agree to Terms with Michigan State University Forward Brian Maloney".
(July 2, 2002). "NHL FREE-AGENT LIST".
"Damian Rhodes: News, Stats, Game Logs {{!}} RotoWire".
(December 14, 2002). "LOCK MONSTERS LOANED GOALTENDER DAMIAN RHODES".
(February 20, 2003). "Veteran Goaltender Damian Rhodes Assigned To Greenville Grrrowl".
(July 4, 2002). "Thrashers buy out Damian Rhodes".
(July 18, 2002). "SPORTS TRANSACTIONS FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 17+".
(August 6, 2002). "Sports transactions".
(August 21, 2002). "Royals Sign Goaltender".
{{hockey-reference. b/burtad01. Adam Burt, retrieved December 1, 2002
{{eliteprospects. 86875. Jeff Dessner, retrieved December 1, 2022
{{hockey-reference. k/kruppuw01. Uwe Krupp, retrieved December 1, 2002
(June 8, 2003). "Новости / Пресса • ХК Металлург Магнитогорск".
(June 27, 2002). "Thrashers re-sign Cowan, Sutton".
(July 11, 2002). "+SPORTS TRANSACTIONS FOR THURSDAY, JULY 11+".
(July 18, 2002). "Thrashers re-sign Rheaume, 2 others".
(July 25, 2002). "Thrashers re-sign restricted free agent forward Patrik Stefan".
(August 8, 2002). "Thrashers Agree To Terms With Defenseman Tremblay".
(August 10, 2002). "+SPORTS TRANSACTIONS FOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 9+".
(August 19, 2002). "+SPORTS TRANSACTIONS FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 19+".
(August 27, 2002). "Thrashers sign two".
(September 10, 2002). "Thrashers Agree to Terms with Restricted Free Agent Forward Yuri Butsayev".
(September 11, 2002). "Thrashers Re-Sign Restricted Free Agent Goaltender Milan Hnilicka".
(March 11, 2003). "Thrashers Agree to Terms With Forward Shawn McEachern".
(June 4, 2003). "Thrashers Agree To Terms With Goaltender Kari Lehtonen".
"2002 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".

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