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2002–03 Edmonton Oilers season

NHL team season

Field	Value
League	NHL
Season	2002–03
year	2002
Team	Edmonton Oilers
Conference	Western
ConferenceRank	8th
Division	Northwest
DivisionRank	4th
Record	36–26–11–9
HomeRecord	20–12–5–4
RoadRecord	16–14–6–5
GoalsFor	231
GoalsAgainst	230
GeneralManager	Kevin Lowe
Coach	Craig MacTavish
Captain	Jason Smith
AltCaptain	Todd Marchant
Janne Niinimaa (Oct.–Mar.)
Ryan Smyth
Arena	Skyreach Centre
Attendance	16,657 (98.9%)
MinorLeague	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)
Columbus Cottonmouths (ECHL)
GoalsLeader	Ryan Smyth (27)
AssistsLeader	Todd Marchant (40)
PointsLeader	Ryan Smyth (61)
PlusMinusLeader	Marty Reasoner (+19)
PIMLeader	Scott Ferguson (120)
WinsLeader	Tommy Salo (29)
GAALeader	Jussi Markkanen (2.59)

Janne Niinimaa (Oct.–Mar.) Ryan Smyth Columbus Cottonmouths (ECHL)

The 2002–03 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' 24th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a 38–28–12–4 record in 2001–02, earning 92 points, however, they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1996, finishing in 9th place in the Western Conference.

The Oilers got off to a slow start, winning only 1 of their first 7 games, going 1–4–2, however, the club turned around the tough start and move above the .500 mark on November 25 and never go below again for the remainder of the season. As the trade deadline approached in mid-March, and the club comfortably in a playoff position, Edmonton made a couple of deals, trading defenceman Janne Niinimaa and a second-round draft pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft to the New York Islanders in exchange for Brad Isbister and prospect Raffi Torres. The Oilers also traded Anson Carter and Aleš Píša to the New York Rangers for Radek Dvořák and Cory Cross. Edmonton finished the season with a 36–26–11–9 record, earning 92 points, the same amount as the previous season, and clinch the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Offensively, Ryan Smyth led the club with 27 goals and 61 points, while Todd Marchant had a breakout season, earning 40 assists and 60 points. Anson Carter had 25 goals and 55 points in 68 games before being dealt to the New York Rangers. Mike York and Mike Comrie each broke the 20 goal plateau, with 22 and 20 goals respectively. Eric Brewer led the Oilers defense with eight goals and 29 points, while Scott Ferguson had a team high 120 penalty minutes.

In goal, Tommy Salo once again got a majority of the playing time, winning 29 games, while posting a 2.71 goals against average (GAA) and earning four shutouts. Backup Jussi Markkanen had a very solid season, winning seven games, had a team-high 2.59 GAA and posted three shutouts.

The Oilers finished first overall in the NHL in short-handed goals scored, with 13.

After a year of absence, Edmonton returned to the post-season and would face their old rivals, the Dallas Stars, who finished with 111 points in the regular season. This was the sixth playoff meeting between the clubs in the past seven years, with Dallas winning four series in a row. Edmonton started the series on the right note, defeating the Stars 2–1 on the road. Dallas, however, routed the Oilers in Game 2 to even the series as it shifted to Edmonton The Oilers took a 2–1 series lead with a solid 3–2 victory in Game 3, but Dallas rebound in Game 4 to tie the series up at two games apiece. The Stars took control of the series, winning Game 5, 5–2, and end the series in Game 6, beating Edmonton 3–2, thereby eliminating the Oilers for the fifth time in the past six seasons.

Season standings

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- | 1 || October 10 || Philadelphia Flyers || 2–2 || Edmonton Oilers || OT || Salo || 16,839 || 0–0–1–0 || 1 || |- | 2 || October 12 || Edmonton Oilers || 3–2 || Nashville Predators || || Salo || 17,113 || 1–0–1–0 || 3 || |- | 3 || October 15 || Edmonton Oilers || 0–3 || Dallas Stars || || Salo || 18,532 || 1–1–1–0 || 3 || |- | 4 || October 17 || Edmonton Oilers || 3–4 || San Jose Sharks || || Salo || 17,017 || 1–2–1–0 || 3 || |- | 5 || October 19 || Boston Bruins || 4–3 || Edmonton Oilers || || Salo || 16,839 || 1–3–1–0 || 3 || |- | 6 || October 22 || Edmonton Oilers || 3–3 || Colorado Avalanche || OT || Salo || 18,007 || 1–3–2–0 || 4 || |- | 7 || October 24 || St. Louis Blues || 2–1 || Edmonton Oilers || || Markkanen || 16,033 || 1–4–2–0 || 4 || |- | 8 || October 26 || Mighty Ducks of Anaheim || 3–4 || Edmonton Oilers || || Markkanen || 16,357 || 2–4–2–0 || 6 || |- | 9 || October 28 || Dallas Stars || 4–3 || Edmonton Oilers || OT || Markkanen || 16,260 || 2–4–2–1 || 7 ||

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| Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 9 || Edmonton Oilers || 2–1 || Dallas Stars || || Salo || 18,532 || 1–0 || |- | 2 || April 11 || Edmonton Oilers || 1–6 || Dallas Stars || || Salo || 18,532 || 1–1 || |- | 3 || April 13 || Dallas Stars || 2–3 || Edmonton Oilers || || Salo || 16,839 || 2–1 || |- | 4 || April 15 || Dallas Stars || 3–1 || Edmonton Oilers || || Salo || 16,839 || 2–2 || |- | 5 || April 17 || Edmonton Oilers || 2–5 || Dallas Stars || || Salo || 18,532 || 2–3 || |- | 6 || April 19 || Dallas Stars || 3–2 || Edmonton Oilers || || Salo || 16,839 || 2–4 ||

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| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; 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 Oilers only.*
- = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Oilers only.*

No.	Pos	Regular season	Playoffs	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts
94	LW	66	27	34	61	5	67	6	2	0	2	−1	16
26	LW	77	20	40	60	13	48	6	0	2	2	−1	2
22	C	68	25	30	55	−11	20
16	C	71	22	29	51	−8	10	6	0	2	2	2	2
89	C	69	20	31	51	−18	90	6	1	0	1	−1	10
10	C	78	12	21	33	10	55	6	3	1	4	1	6
18	LW	78	14	17	31	−7	112	6	0	1	1	−4	16
19	C	70	11	20	31	19	28	6	1	0	1	−2	2
83	RW	59	6	24	30	5	14	6	0	0	0	−5	0
2	D	80	8	21	29	−11	45	6	1	3	4	1	6
44	D	63	4	24	28	−7	66
24	RW	76	5	21	26	13	96	6	0	0	0	0	4
28	LW	66	14	9	23	−2	36	2	0	2	2	2	0
7	RW	57	4	13	17	5	31
34	RW	35	8	5	13	9	10	6	1	0	1	−2	2
27	LW	64	6	7	13	−4	110	6	1	3	4	2	4
21	D	68	4	8	12	5	64	6	0	0	0	−2	19
37	C	44	2	10	12	−7	10
20	RW	12	4	4	8	−3	14	4	1	0	1	0	0
32	D	78	3	5	8	11	120	5	0	0	0	0	8
5	D	46	1	6	7	−7	58	6	0	0	0	−1	0
33	C	21	1	5	6	−4	11
15	LW	13	3	2	5	0	9	6	0	1	1	−1	12
23	D	11	2	3	5	3	8	6	0	1	1	−3	20
14	LW	12	3	1	4	2	0
8	D	48	1	3	4	11	24
47	D	5	1	1	2	2	9	1	0	1	1	−1	0
12	C	20	0	2	2	−3	12
36	C	4	0	1	1	−3	0
30	G	22	0	1	1		2	1	0	0	0		0
12	D	1	0	0	0	0	0
55	D	3	0	0	0	−1	0
29	D	13	0	0	0	−2	4
35	G	65	0	0	0		4	6	0	1	1		0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season	Playoffs	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
35	Tommy Salo	65	29	27	8	1708	172	2.71	.899	4	3814	6	2	4	161	18	3.15	.888	0	343
30	Jussi Markkanen	22	7	8	3	533	51	2.59	.904	3	1180	1	0	0	12	1	4.30	.917	0	14

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honour	Recipient	Ref	League
(in-season)	Team
[NHL All-Star Game](2003-national-hockey-league-all-star-game) selection	Eric Brewer
NHL Player of the Week	Tommy Salo (March 10)
NHL Rookie of the Month	Ales Hemsky (March)
NHL YoungStars Game selection	Ales Hemsky
Shawn Horcoff
Community Service Award	Georges Laraque
Defenceman of the Year	Steve Staios
Molson Cup	Tommy Salo
Most Popular Player	Ryan Smyth
Top Defensive Forward	Todd Marchant
Top First Year Oiler	Ales Hemsky
Unsung Hero	Ethan Moreau
Zane Feldman Trophy	Todd Marchant
Tommy Salo

Milestones

Jussi Markkanen	1st NHL assist
1st NHL point	TBD

Marc-Andre Bergeron	1st NHL game
1st NHL assist
1st NHL point	April 19, 2003

Transactions

The Oilers 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 [Philadelphia Flyers](2002-03-philadelphia-flyers-season)	To Edmonton Oilers
To [Montreal Canadiens](2002-03-montreal-canadiens-season)	To Edmonton Oilers	title=Draft Day Transactions	url=http://tsn.ca/nhl/2002draft/draft_trades.asp	website=TSN.ca	access-date=November 28, 2022	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020808073541/http://tsn.ca/nhl/2002draft/draft_trades.asp	archive-date=August 8, 2002}}
To [Buffalo Sabres](2002-03-buffalo-sabres-season)	To Edmonton Oilers
To [New York Rangers](2002-03-new-york-rangers-season)	To Edmonton Oilers
To [Washington Capitals](2002-03-washington-capitals-season)	To Edmonton Oilers
To New York Rangers	To Edmonton Oilers
To Montreal Canadiens	To Edmonton Oilers
To [New York Islanders](2002-03-new-york-islanders-season)	To Edmonton Oilers
To New York Rangers	To Edmonton Oilers

Players acquired

Date		Player		Former team		Term		Via		Ref
J. J. Hunter

Players lost

Date		Player		New team		Via		Ref
Mike Richter
Sven Butenschon
Alexander Fomichev
Chris Hajt
Greg Leeb
Domenic Pittis
Marc Lamothe
Kevin McDonald
Alain Nasreddine
Peter Sarno
Alex Henry
Jiri Dopita

Signings

Date		Player		Term		Contract type		Ref
Kristian Antila
Kari Haakana
Todd Marchant
Ales Pisa
Scott Ferguson
Mike Grier
Alex Henry
Jason Chimera
Josh Green
Anson Carter
Jason Smith
Mike Morrison
Jarret Stoll
Fernando Pisani
Mike York
Eric Brewer
Ales Hemsky
Dan Baum
Doug Lynch

Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 2002 NHL entry draft at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. The Oilers selection of Robin Kovar at 123rd overall in the fourth round was ruled invalid since Kovar wasn’t eligible for the draft.

Round	#	Player	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	15	Jesse Niinimaki	Ilves (SM-liiga)
2	31	Jeff Deslauriers	Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
2	36	Jarret Stoll	Kootenay Ice (WHL)
2	44	Matt Greene	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)
3	79	Brock Radunske	Michigan State University (NCAA)
4	106	Ivan Koltsov	Severstal Cherepovets (RSL)
4	111	Jonas Almtorp	Modo Hockey (Elitserien)
4	123	Robin Kovar	HC Vsetin (Czech Extraliga)
5	148	Glenn Fisher	Fort Saskatchewan Traders (AJHL)
6	181	Mikko Luoma	Tappara (SM-liiga)
7	205	Jean-Francois Dufort	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
7	211	Patrick Murphy	Newmarket Hurricanes (OPJHL)
8	244	Dwight Helminen	University of Michigan (NCAA)
8	245	Tomas Micka	Slavia Praha (Czech Extraliga)
9	274	Fredrik Johansson	Frolunda HC (Elitserien)

Notes

References

National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

References

"2002-03 NHL Summary".
"2002-03 Edmonton Oilers Schedule".
"2003 NHL All-Star Game Rosters".
(March 10, 2003). "Oilers' Salo earns NHL weekly honor".
(April 1, 2003). "Hemsky named Rookie of the Month".
(January 18, 2003). "NHL - 2003 YoungStars Rosters".
2014–15 Edmonton Oilers Media Guide, p.173
"Hockey Transactions Search Results".
(June 19, 2002). "Flyers send Dopita to Edmonton for third-round pick".
(June 18, 2002). "Oilers acquire Dopita from Flyers".
"Draft Day Transactions".
(June 22, 2002). "Oilers send Hecht to Buffalo".
(June 30, 2002). "Rangers Trade Richter's Rights to Edmonton".
(October 7, 2002). "OILERS SEND GRIER TO WASHINGTON".
(December 12, 2002). "GREEN DEALT TO NY RANGERS".
(January 17, 2003). "GEOFF WARD NAMED INTERIM HAMILTON BENCH BOSS".
(March 11, 2003). "ISLANDERS ACQUIRE JANNE NIINIMAA AND 2ND ROUND PICK FOR ISBISTER, TORRES".
(March 11, 2003). "OILERS OBTAIN RADEK DVORAK AND CORY CROSS FROM NEW YORK RANGERS".
(August 19, 2002). "OILERS INK TWO PROSPECTS".
(July 2, 2002). "NHL FREE-AGENT LIST".
(July 5, 2002). "RICHTER SIGNS WITH RANGERS".
(July 9, 2002). "SPORTS TRANSACTIONS FOR TUESDAY, JULY 9+".
"ALEXANDRE FOMITCHEV".
(July 23, 2002). "Capitals re-sign Ciernik, Whitfield".
"GREG LEEB".
(July 24, 2002). "Predators sign two free agents".
(August 22, 2002). "Wolf Pack Add Grit, Toughness".
{{hockey-reference. n/nasreal01. Alain Nasreddine, retrieved November 26, 2022
(September 2, 2003). "Oilers sign Sarno, Wright".
(October 11, 2002). "Peter Sarno Bluesiin".
(October 24, 2002). "ALEX HENRY CLAIMED BY WASHINGTON".
"JIRI DOPITA".
(December 28, 2002). "DOPITA TO LEAVE OILERS".
(July 15, 2002). "Oilers sign three prospects".
(July 15, 2002). "Oilers sign Marchant for a year".
"SCOTT FERGUSON".
(July 31, 2002). "ACTIVITY".
(August 2, 2002). "ALBERTANS INK DEALS WITH OILERS".
(August 5, 2002). "CARTER SIGNS ONE-YEAR DEAL".
(August 12, 2002). "Oilers' Smith awarded $2.3 million".
(September 3, 2002). "STOLL ON BOARD".
(September 4, 2002). "PISANI SIGNS WITH OILERS".
(September 9, 2002). "MIKE YORK SIGNS THREE YEAR CONTRACT".
(September 12, 2002). "BREW JOINS THE CREW".
(September 25, 2002). "OILERS SIGN ALES HEMSKY".
(May 28, 2003). "OILERS SIGN TWO PROSPECTS".
"2002 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".
(June 23, 2002). "Glitch costs Oilers draft pick".

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