2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season

Off season

After missing the play offs for the third time in a row, Anaheim made drastic changes in the summer, off the ice as well on the ice. GM Pierre Gauthier was fired after failing to acquire forwards to provide the necessary goal scoring. Brian Murray was promoted to the position of general manager and made a lot of changes. He hired their farm team's head coach Mike Babcock who stated in his first ever press conference that his team would work very hard and relentlessly. Murray's first big move at the 2002 draft was a trade with the New Jersey Devils : he traded defenceman Oleg Tverdovsky and forward Jeff Friesen in exchange for Petr Sykora, rookies Mike Commodore and Jean-Francois Damphousse, who saw some brief action last season as back-up goalie to Martin Brodeur. Additional free agent signings were veterans Adam Oates, Frederik Olausson and Jason Krog. Three rookies got regular roster spots : Kurt Sauer, Stanislav Chistov and Alexei Smirnov. Martin Gerber became the Mighty Ducks new back up goalie, having had a lot of experience as a starter in the Swedish league.

Regular season

On February 12, 2003, Mike Leclerc scored just ten seconds into the overtime period to give the Mighty Ducks a 4–3 home win over the Calgary Flames. It would prove to be the fastest overtime goal scored during the 2002–03 regular season.

Final standings

Playoffs

Conference Quarterfinals

In what was a very large upset, the seventh-seed Mighty Ducks took a first-round series from the number-two seed and defending Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings. The Mighty Ducks swept the Red Wings in four games to get revenge from 1997 and 1999, where the Mighty Ducks were swept by the Red Wings. In Game 1 of the series, when the game went to overtime, the sellout crowd at Joe Louis Arena thought the Wings had won the game thanks to a Luc Robitaille shot at 9:21. Some of the Detroit players had even left for the dressing room. However, after going to the video review, it was concluded Robitaille's shot ricocheted off the crossbar and the post, and the players were brought back to resume the game. Later, at 3:18 into the third overtime period, Paul Kariya scored the goal that would clinch a 2–1 win for Anaheim and a one-game lead in the series. Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere faced 64 shots in game one. In Game 2, Anaheim came back from a 2–1 deficit by scoring two goals in the third period.

The Mighty Ducks won Game 3 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, 2–1, to push the Red Wings to the brink of elimination. The Mighty Ducks then won Game 4, a 3–2 overtime victory, with Steve Rucchin delivering the decisive goal 6:53 into overtime. The Red Wings became only the second defending Stanley Cup champions to be swept the following year in a four-game opening series.

Conference semifinals

The series opened at American Airlines Center in Dallas, where the heavily favored Stars and underdog Ducks engaged in an epic battle that took over 140 minutes and four overtimes to decide before Anaheim's Petr Sykora scored the game-winner 47 seconds into the fifth overtime, winning the game for the Ducks, 4–3. Dallas goaltender Marty Turco saw 54 shots while Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere saw 63. Game 2 saw another game tied after 60 minutes, but this time, Anaheim needed only 1:44 to win the game in the first overtime, 3–2, on a goal by Mike Leclerc. Dallas, much like Detroit in its first-round series against the Ducks, faced a 2–0 deficit headed to Anaheim.

Game 3 at Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim was a must-win for the Stars, and they came through, winning the game, 2–1, getting two clutch goals from Jere Lehtinen. But the Ducks refused to let the Stars back in the series, winning Game 4, 1–0, behind a 28-save shutout from Giguere. Not wanting to be eliminated in front of their home fans, a motivated Dallas team captured Game 5, 4–1. Unfortunately for the Stars, their bid to take the series to a Game 7 was denied when they were edged in Game 6, 4–3.

Conference finals

In Game 1, Petr Sykora scored at 8:06 into double-overtime in a 1–0 Mighty Ducks victory. It was the Mighty Ducks' second shutout of the playoffs. Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned in a stellar performance in net for Anaheim, stopping all 39 shots he faced. For Game 2, the Wild played Dwayne Roloson instead of Manny Fernandez in net. As in Game 1, it was another shutout for Giguere as the Mighty Ducks won the game 2–0. Both goals were short-handed, and Giguere stopped all 24 shots he faced, making him 63-for-63 in the series. In Game 3, Giguere continued his goal-tending excellence, stopping all 35 shots he faced in a 4–0 Mighty Ducks victory that pushed the Wild to the brink of elimination. Giguere had now stopped the first 98 shots he saw in the series. In Game 4, The Mighty Ducks won the game, 2–1. Both goals came from Adam Oates, and the Mighty Ducks headed to their first Stanley Cup Finals. The only good news for the Wild was that they avoided a fourth consecutive shutout, as Andrew Brunette scored the first Minnesota goal of the series. Still, Giguere was 122-for-123 in the series, a robust .992 save percentage.

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 2003 Stanley Cup Finals

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- |1||October 10, 2002||4–3 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues ||1–0–0–0 || |- |2||October 11, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars ||1–1–0–0 || |- |3||October 13, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings ||1–2–0–0 || |- |4||October 16, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings ||1–3–0–0 || |- |5||October 18, 2002||2–2 OT || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks ||1–3–1–0 || |- |6||October 20, 2002||3–2 OT || align="left"| Colorado Avalanche ||2–3–1–0 || |- |7||October 24, 2002||2–2 OT || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks ||2–3–2–0 || |- |8||October 26, 2002||3–4 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers ||2–4–2–0 || |- |9||October 28, 2002||2–5 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs ||2–5–2–0 || |- |10||October 29, 2002||2–2 OT || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens ||2–5–3–0 || |- |11||October 31, 2002||4–1 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins ||3–5–3–0 ||

| Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 10, 2003 || 2–1 3OT || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings || Mighty Ducks lead 1–0 || |- | 2 || April 12, 2003 || 3–2 || align="left"|@ Detroit Red Wings || Mighty Ducks lead 2–0 || |- | 3 || April 14, 2003 || 2–1 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings || Mighty Ducks lead 3–0 || |- | 4 || April 16, 2003 || 3–2 OT || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings || Mighty Ducks win 4–0 ||

| 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 Mighty Ducks only.*
• • = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Mighty Ducks only.*

Goaltending

Awards and records

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

The Mighty Ducks 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

Players acquired

Players lost

Signings

Draft picks

Anaheim's picks at the 2002 NHL entry draft in Toronto, Ontario.

Farm teams

• The Mighty Ducks farm team was the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League. The team finished third in the Central Division with a record of 26-35-13-6.

Notes

References

References

1. "Archives".
2. "2002-03 NHL Schedule and Results".
3. "2002-03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Schedule".
4. "Conn Smythe Trophy".
5. "Postseason All-Star Teams".
6. "2003 NHL All-Star Game Rosters".
7. (December 16, 2002). "Giguere named player of the week".
8. (December 24, 2002). "Ducks' Kariya named player of the week".
9. (January 18, 2003). "NHL - 2003 YoungStars Rosters".
10. "2002-03 NHL Debuts".
11. (December 12, 2002). "Capitals vs. Mighty Ducks - NHL Game Recap - December 11, 2002".
12. "Hockey Transactions Search Results".
13. "Draft Day Transactions".
14. (June 25, 2002). "Ducks Acquire 2003 3rd Rnd Pick For Shields".
15. (July 6, 2002). "Ducks Make Big Trade With New Jersey".
16. (October 23, 2002). "Ducks Trade Jason York To Nashville".
17. (January 30, 2003). "Ducks Acquire Seven Time All Star Sandis Ozolinsh".
18. (March 11, 2003). "Ducks Acquire Steve Thomas and Rob Niedermayer".
19. (June 30, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Adam Oates".
20. (July 8, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Cory Pecker".
21. (July 12, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Defenseman Olausson".
22. (July 18, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Reirden and Krog".
23. (July 24, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Valicevic and Damphousse".
24. (August 22, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Several Players".
25. (October 11, 2002). "Ducks Claim LW Mike Brown Off Waivers".
26. (April 1, 2003). "Ducks Sign Hobey Baker Finalist Chris Kunitz".
27. (July 2, 2002). "NHL FREE-AGENT LIST".
28. {{hockey-reference. k/krivose01. Sergei Krivokrasov, retrieved December 9, 2022
29. (August 10, 2002). "TRANSACTIONS".
30. (July 1, 2007). "NHL Releases Free Agent List".
31. (August 13, 2002). "Hentunen ja Niemi vahvistavat jokeripakkaa".
32. {{hockey-reference. w/whitebr01. Brian White, retrieved December 9, 2022
33. (November 20, 2002). "Nailers Trade Cummings to Augusta for Moore".
34. (October 11, 2002). "Drew Bannister Kärppiin".
35. {{hockey-reference. l/lambede01. Denny Lambert, retrieved December 9, 2022
36. "Denny Lambert: Transactions & Injuries".
37. "German Titov: Transactions & Injuries".
38. (January 24, 2003). "Veteran Goaltender Naumenko Signs".
39. {{hockey-reference. k/kjellpa01. Patric Kjellberg, retrieved December 9, 2022
40. (June 19, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Smirnov".
41. (June 26, 2002). "Ducks Exercise Options on Chouinard and Sawyer".
42. (July 2, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Vishnevski".
43. (July 14, 2002). "Ducks Sign Gerber, Tabacek & Martensson".
44. (July 15, 2002). "Mighty Ducks Sign Stanislav Chistov".
45. (July 19, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Pavel Trnka".
46. (July 22, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Pahlsson and O'Sullivan".
47. (July 31, 2002). "Ducks Agree To One Year Extension With Paul Kariya".
48. (August 1, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Two Year Contract With McDonald".
49. (August 3, 2002). "Mighty Ducks Sign Matt Cullen To Two Year Contract".
50. (August 6, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Ruslan Salei".
51. (August 26, 2002). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Steve Rucchin".
52. (November 13, 2002). "Mighty Ducks Sign Right Wing Joffrey Lupul".
53. (December 26, 2002). "Ducks Sign Joel Perreault".
54. (April 29, 2003). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Center Mikael Holmqvist".
55. (May 6, 2003). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Right Wing George Davis".
56. (May 22, 2003). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Pierre Parenteau".
57. (June 1, 2003). "Ducks Agree To Terms With Centers Pohanka & Stepp".
58. "2002 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".
59. [http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2428 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks – Ohio History Central – A product of the Ohio Historical Society]