2002–03 Montreal Canadiens season

Regular season

Before the start of the season, many predicted a strong showing from the Canadiens as a result of a healthy Saku Koivu and last season's Hart Memorial Trophy winner, Jose Theodore. The team was .500 for the first two months of the season and showed little improvement in December. Players such as Mariusz Czerkawski, added to the lineup during the summer, and Donald Audette were slow to produce offence for the team, and the two forwards were both sent down for brief stints in the minors. Moreover, Jose Theodore's performances were not up to par with his MVP-winning season of a year earlier. Despite strong seasons from Koivu, Richard Zednik and Yanic Perreault, the Canadiens slid to 11th place in the Eastern Conference in mid-January. This losing streak prompted General Manager Andre Savard to fire head coach Michel Therrien and replace him with Claude Julien, who filled the same role behind the bench of the Habs' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Despite Julien's arrival, the team was unable to improve its situation and saw their playoff hopes evaporate with a nine-game winless streak that ended in early March. Despite Saku Koivu's 71 points and Richard Zednik's 31 goals, the Canadiens missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. The Canadiens ended with a record of 30–35–9–8, and former MVP Theodore had a disappointing season with a record of 20–31–6.

The Canadiens finished the regular season tying the Nashville Predators for the fewest short-handed goals scored, with just two.

Final standings

Schedule and results

|- |1||October 11, 2002||4–1 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (2002–03) ||1–0–0–0||2 || |- |2||October 12, 2002||1–6 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (2002–03) ||1–1–0–0||2 || |- |3||October 15, 2002||2–6 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||1–2–0–0||2 || |- |4||October 17, 2002||3–2 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) ||2–2–0–0||4 || |- |5||October 19, 2002||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||2–2–1–0||5 || |- |6||October 22, 2002||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||2–2–2–0||6 || |- |7||October 24, 2002||2–6 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||2–3–2–0||6 || |- |8||October 26, 2002||5–3 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (2002–03) ||3–3–2–0||8 || |- |9||October 29, 2002||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) ||3–3–3–0||9 ||

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

Goaltending

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

Awards and records

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

The Canadiens 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

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

Notes

References

References

1. (January 17, 2003). "Canadiens fire Therrien".
2. "2002-03 NHL Summary".
3. "2002-03 Montreal Canadiens Schedule".
4. (January 27, 2003). "NHL - Belfour, Leetch, Koivu all pull out of All-Star Game".
5. (January 16, 2003). "NHL - Naslund headlines All-Star additions".
6. (January 18, 2003). "NHL - 2003 YoungStars Rosters".
7. Montreal Canadiens 2014–2015 Media Guide, p.553
8. Montreal Canadiens 2014–2015 Media Guide, p.552
9. "2002-03 NHL Debuts".
10. "Hockey Transactions Search Results".
11. (June 22, 2002). "NHL - Isles trade Czerkawski to Canadiens for muscle".
12. "Draft Day Transactions".
13. (July 1, 2002). "MOVES".
14. (October 31, 2002). "Wild deal Blouin to Habs".
15. (January 23, 2003). "McLaren goes to Sharks in three-team deal".
16. (January 29, 2003). "Habs send Chouinard to Flyers".
17. (March 3, 2003). "Habs ship Petrov to Predators".
18. (March 11, 2003). "Leafs re-acquire Gilmour from Canadiens".
19. (July 5, 2002). "Canadiens ink Randy McKay".
20. (July 4, 2002). "SPORTS TRANSACTIONS FOR THURSDAY, JULY 04+".
21. (September 10, 2002). "Canadiens sign Eric Fichaud".
22. (October 25, 2002). "Habs claim Bouillon off waivers".
23. (February 21, 2003). "Dwyer Claimed Off Waivers by Canadiens".
24. (July 2, 2002). "NHL FREE-AGENT LIST".
25. {{eliteprospects. 18545. Gennady Razin, retrieved November 30, 2022
26. (July 12, 2002). "SPORTS TRANSACTIONS FOR FRIDAY, JULY 12+".
27. (July 5, 2002). "McKay returning home". The Gazette.
28. "Patrick Poulin".
29. (July 25, 2002). "TRANSACTIONS".
30. (August 22, 2002). "Mighty Ducks Agree to Terms with Five Players".
31. (July 1, 2006). "List of Available Free Agents".
32. "VADIM TARASOV".
33. (September 9, 2002). "Stéphane Fiset prend sa retraite".
34. (October 5, 2002). "NO ACTIVITY WHATSOEVER FOR SABRES ON DRAFT DAY".
35. {{hockey-reference. l/landrer01.html. Eric Landry, retrieved November 30, 2022
36. (June 21, 2002). "Canadians sign their captain".
37. (July 15, 2002). "Canadiens re-sign Dackell".
38. (July 19, 2002). "SPORTS TRANSACTIONS FOR FRIDAY, JULY 19+".
39. (July 24, 2002). "Canadiens sign Komisarek to 3-year pact".
40. (July 26, 2002). "+SPORTS TRANSACTIONS FOR FRIDAY, JULY 26+".
41. (August 2, 2002). "Canadiens sign Sheldon Souray, Mathieu Garon and Francis Bouillon".
42. (August 10, 2002). "PLUS: HOCKEY; Gilmour Re-Signs With the Canadiens".
43. (September 5, 2002). "Theodore re-signs with Canadiens".
44. (September 18, 2002). "Canadiens re-sign Zednik".
45. (September 27, 2002). "CANADIENS".
46. (February 28, 2003). "Habs ink back-up Garon to new deal".
47. (April 11, 2003). "Canadiens sign Ward for two seasons".
48. (May 5, 2003). "Canadiens ink Bulis to two-year deal".
49. (May 22, 2003). "Habs sign Higgins to three-year deal".
50. (May 29, 2003). "Canadiens announce trio of signings".
51. "2002 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".