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2002–03 Ottawa Senators season

NHL hockey team season

Field	Value
League	NHL
Season	2002–03
year	2002
Team	Ottawa Senators
Conference	Eastern
ConferenceRank	1st
Division	Northeast
DivisionRank	1st
Record	52–21–8–1
HomeRecord	28–9–3–1
RoadRecord	24–12–5–0
GoalsFor	263
GoalsAgainst	182
GeneralManager	John Muckler
Coach	Jacques Martin
Captain	Daniel Alfredsson
AltCaptain	Zdeno Chara
Curtis Leschyshyn
Wade Redden
Arena	Corel Centre
Attendance	17,198 (93.0% capacity)
MinorLeague	Binghamton Senators
GoalsLeader	Marian Hossa (45)
AssistsLeader	Daniel Alfredsson (51)
PointsLeader	Marian Hossa (80)
PlusMinusLeader	Zdeno Chara (+29)
PIMLeader	Chris Neil (147)
WinsLeader	Patrick Lalime (39)
GAALeader	Patrick Lalime (2.16)
PresidentsTrophy	Yes
DivisionWin	Yes

Curtis Leschyshyn Wade Redden

The 2002–03 Ottawa Senators season was the 11th season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season saw the Senators reach the highest point in the playoffs until the 2006–07 season. They were eliminated in the Eastern Conference final by the New Jersey Devils, the eventual Stanley Cup winning team. On top of their larger success, with their total 113 points they won the Presidents' Trophy, the Northeast Division title and the Eastern Conference title.

After their long history of debt problems, the Senators filed for bankruptcy on January 9, 2003. They continued regular season play after receiving emergency financing from the NHL. Despite the off-ice problems, they had a successful year, compared to their early day woes. The Presidents' Trophy awarded to the Senators made them the first Canadian team to win it since the Calgary Flames in their championship season of , and the first Eastern Conference team to win it since the New York Rangers' title in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. In the playoffs, they defeated their former teammate Alexei Yashin and his New York Islanders, then beat the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, before coming within one game of making it into the Finals, falling to the New Jersey Devils.

Offseason

General manager Marshall Johnston resigned and was replaced by John Muckler on July 1, 2002. Muckler had been a candidate for the positions of Ottawa head coach or GM back in 1992, but had chosen to sign on with the Buffalo Sabres instead.

Regular season

Right winger Marian Hossa led Ottawa in scoring, just eclipsing Yashin's previous record of 44 goals. Without the goaltending issues that had plagued Senators teams of the past, Patrick Lalime showed one of his best seasons, with career bests in goals against average (GAA) and wins.

After a slow start to the season after an even .500 ratio, the Senators turned around their game with a ten-game unbeaten streak. Fans were concerned whether their start was due to off-ice problems. These worries, however, were soon irrelevant to fans when the Senators again clinched a playoff berth. Before the playoffs, the Senators addressed toughness concerns through separate trades to the Buffalo Sabres for grinders Vaclav Varada and Rob Ray respectively, plus two-way forward Bryan Smolinski from the Los Angeles Kings.

Division standings

Playoffs

In the first round of the playoffs, the team played the New York Islanders, facing former team captain Alexei Yashin for the first time in the playoffs. Yashin played well in the first game and the Islanders won the first game at the Corel Centre 3–0. The loss by the Senators was attributed to paying too much attention to stopping Yashin and not enough on the rest of the Islanders. The Senators adjusted their play for the next game winning it and the next three games in a row to win the series 4–1.

In the second round, the team faced the Philadelphia Flyers who had defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. The Senators won the series on the basis of their strong defence, holding the Flyers to only ten goals in the six games, advancing to the Eastern Conference final series against the New Jersey Devils to decide the Prince of Wales Trophy.

The first two games of the series were in Ottawa and the wins were split between the Senators and Devils. In New Jersey, the Devils won both games to put the Senators at the brink of elimination. However, the Senators came back, winning the fifth game at home and the sixth game in New Jersey to force a seventh and deciding game at home.

In the seventh game, Ottawa got out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Magnus Arvedson. The Devils would score the next two on goals in the second period by Jamie Langenbrunner. Going into the third down 2-1 the Sens tied it on a goal by Radek Bonk and dominated play in the third, when with two minutes remaining, Devils' forward Jeff Friesen deked out Patrick Lalime and shot over his leg pad, into the net, to score the series-winning goal.

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- |1||October 10, 2002||1–2 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (2002–03) ||0–1–0–0||16,865 || |- |2||October 12, 2002||2–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||1–1–0–0||19,198 || |- |3||October 15, 2002||2–1 || align="left"| Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) ||2–1–0–0||13,816 || |- |4||October 23, 2002||4–1 || align="left"| Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) ||3–1–0–0||14,847 || |- |5||October 24, 2002||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||3–1–1–0||17,565 || |- |6||October 26, 2002||3–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) ||3–2–1–0||20,812 || |- |7||October 29, 2002||1–2 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||3–3–1–0||19,077 || |- |8||October 30, 2002||1–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||3–4–1–0||17,987 ||

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| Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 9, 2003 || 0–3 || align="left"| New York Islanders || Islanders lead 1–0 || 18,273 || |- | 2 || April 12, 2003 || 3–0 || align="left"| New York Islanders || Series tied 1–1 || 18,500 || |- | 3 || April 14, 2003 || 3–2 2OT || align="left"| @ New York Islanders || Senators lead 2–1 || 16,234 || |- | 4 || April 16, 2003 || 3–1 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders || Senators lead 3–1 || 16,234 || |- | 5 || April 17, 2003 || 4–1 || align="left"| New York Islanders || Senators win 4–1 || 18,500 ||

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

No.	Pos	Regular season	Playoffs	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts
18	RW	80	45	35	80	8	34	18	5	11	16	−1	6
11	RW	78	27	51	78	15	42	18	4	4	8	−3	12
28	C	80	25	35	60	19	28	18	5	1	6	−1	6
9	RW	67	24	35	59	20	30	18	5	6	11	4	14
14	C	70	22	32	54	6	36	18	6	5	11	2	10
6	D	76	10	35	45	23	70	18	1	8	9	1	10
3	D	74	9	30	39	29	116	18	1	6	7	3	14
12	C	74	18	20	38	13	54	18	2	2	4	−1	16
20	LW	80	16	21	37	13	48	18	1	5	6	−4	16
22	C	78	12	20	32	17	66	18	1	1	2	−1	12
23	D	58	4	25	29	23	30	17	1	3	4	−5	14
15	LW	75	6	17	23	11	32	16	2	3	5	3	6
39	C	33	7	14	21	−3	8	3	1	1	2	1	0
19	LW	33	9	10	19	3	4
4	D	78	3	16	19	7	71	18	2	4	6	3	12
24	D	57	3	13	16	−4	40	17	1	1	2	3	4
16	RW	70	3	8	11	−3	14	2	0	0	0	0	0
25	RW	68	6	4	10	8	147	15	1	0	1	1	24
21	C	10	3	5	8	1	2	18	2	7	9	4	6
26	RW	11	2	6	8	3	8	18	2	4	6	4	18
34	D	67	0	8	8	−1	130	1	0	0	0	0	0
7	D	54	1	6	7	11	18	18	0	1	1	0	10
2	D	14	2	4	6	11	6	1	0	0	0	0	2
21	C	14	2	3	5	3	10
38	RW	12	3	1	4	−2	15
29	D	20	0	2	2	2	6
10	RW	12	1	0	1	−1	0
40	G	67	0	1	1		6	18	0	0	0		0
33	RW	12	0	1	1	2	4
27	RW	12	0	0	0	−1	29
1	G	3	0	0	0		0
31	G	18	0	0	0		0
32	RW	5	0	0	0	0	4
36	RW	2	0	0	0	0	5

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season	Playoffs	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%
40	Patrick Lalime	67	39	20	7	1591	142	2.16	.911	8	3943	18	11	7	449	34	1.82	.924	1	1122
31	Martin Prusek	18	12	2	1	415	37	2.37	.911	0	935	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Ray Emery	3	1	0	0	26	2	1.41	.923	0	85	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

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	Zdeno Chara
Marian Hossa
Patrick Lalime
Jacques Martin (coach)
NHL Player of the Month	Todd White (December)
NHL YoungStars Game	Anton Volchenkov
Molson Cup	Daniel Alfredsson

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref	First game	25th shutout	750th game coached
Anton Volchenkov	October 10, 2002
Jason Spezza	October 24, 2002
Ray Emery	January 8, 2003
Patrick Lalime	January 14, 2003
Jacques Martin	February 20, 2003

Transactions

The Senators 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 [New York Rangers](2002-03-new-york-rangers-season)	To Ottawa Senators
To [Tampa Bay Lightning](2002-03-tampa-bay-lightning-season)	To Ottawa Senators
To [Atlanta Thrashers](2002-03-atlanta-thrashers-season)	To Ottawa Senators
To [Vancouver Canucks](2002-03-vancouver-canucks-season)	To Ottawa Senators	title=SENATORS ACQUIRE SCHAEFER IN A TRADE FOR SALO	url=http://www.ottawasenators.com/news/press/2002/nr0921.aro	website=Ottawa Senators	access-date=November 30, 2022	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040325203230/http://www.ottawasenators.com/news/press/2002/nr0921.aro	archive-date=March 25, 2004	date=September 21, 2002}}
To [Florida Panthers](2002-03-florida-panthers-season)	To Ottawa Senators
To [Washington Capitals](2002-03-washington-capitals-season)	To Ottawa Senators
To Washington Capitals	To Ottawa Senators
To [Buffalo Sabres](2002-03-buffalo-sabres-season)	To Ottawa Senators
To Florida Panthers	To Ottawa Senators
To Buffalo Sabres	To Ottawa Senators
To [Nashville Predators](2002-03-nashville-predators-season)	To Ottawa Senators
To [Los Angeles Kings](2002-03-los-angeles-kings-season)	To Ottawa Senators

Players acquired

Date		Player		Former team		Term		Via		Ref
Shaun Van Allen
Brad Smyth
Dennis Bonvie
Brian McGrattan

Players lost

Date		Player		New team		Via		Ref
Bill Muckalt
Chris Herperger
Travis Richards
Ricard Persson
Jason Doig
Kevin Grimes
Benoit Brunet
Steve Martins

Signings

Date		Player		Term		Contract type		Ref
Joel Kwiatkowski
Daniel Alfredsson
Christoph Schubert
Anton Volchenkov
Josh Langfeld
Sami Salo
Jeff Ulmer
Josef Boumedienne
Steve Martins
Petr Schastlivy
Radek Bonk
Chris Phillips
Jody Hull
Brian Pothier
Mike Fisher
Chris Neil
Peter Schaefer
Karel Rachunek
Billy Thompson
Brooks Laich
Jan Platil
Greg Watson
Shaun Van Allen

Draft picks

Ottawa's draft picks from the 2002 NHL entry draft held on June 22 and June 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	16	Jakub Klepis	Czech Republic	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
2	47	Alexei Kaigorodov	Russia	Metallurg Magnitogorsk (RSL)
3	75	Arttu Luttinen	Finland	HIFK (SM-liiga)
4	113	Scott Dobben	Canada	Erie Otters (OHL)
4	125	Johan Bjork	Sweden	Malmö IF (Elitserien)
5	150	Brock Hooton	Canada	Quesnel Millionaires (BCHL)
8	246	Josef Vavra	Czech Republic	HC Vsetín (Czech Extraliga)
9	276	Vitaly Atyushov	Russia	Molot-Prikamye Perm (RSL)

Farm teams

Binghamton Senators (American Hockey League)

Notes

References

(June 12, 2002). "Muckler hired as Senators GM".
"Ottawa Senators". Chris Robinson.
"2002-03 Ottawa Senators Schedule".
"2003 NHL All-Star Game Rosters".
(January 27, 2003). "NHL - Belfour, Leetch, Koivu all pull out of All-Star Game".
(January 2, 2003). "TODD WHITE NAMED NHL PLAYER OF THE MONTH".
(January 18, 2003). "NHL - 2003 YoungStars Rosters".
Ottawa Senators 2014–15 Media Guide, p.162–82
"2002-03 NHL Debuts".
(January 15, 2003). "Lightning vs. Senators - NHL Game Recap - January 14, 2003".
(February 21, 2003). "Panthers vs. Senators - NHL Game Recap - February 20, 2003".
"Hockey Transactions Search Results".
(June 22, 2002). "Rangers 'Size Up' Day One of the Draft".
(June 23, 2002). "SENATORS ACQUIRE BOUMEDIENNE FROM LIGHTNING".
(June 29, 2002). "SENATORS ACQUIRE POTHIER FROM ATLANTA FOR McEACHERN AND DRAFT PICK".
(September 21, 2002). "SENATORS ACQUIRE SCHAEFER IN A TRADE FOR SALO".
(October 1, 2002). "SENATORS ACQUIRE WATSON AND THOMPSON FROM FLORIDA FOR HURME".
(December 16, 2002). "SENATORS ACQUIRE MELANSON FROM WASHINGTON FOR BOUMEDIENNE".
(January 15, 2003). "SENATORS ACQUIRE DRAFT PICK FROM WASHINGTON FOR KWIATKOWSKI".
(February 25, 2002). "SENATORS ACQUIRE VACLAV VARADA FROM BUFFALO".
(March 4, 2003). "SENATORS ACQUIRE JOEY TETARENKO FROM FLORIDA".
(March 10, 2003). "SENATORS ACQUIRE ROB RAY FROM BUFFALO FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS".
(March 10, 2002). "SENATORS ACQUIRE BOB WREN FROM NASHVILLE FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS".
(March 11, 2003). "SENATORS ACQUIRE BRYAN SMOLINSKI FROM LOS ANGELES FOR TIM GLEASON".
(July 24, 2002). "SENATORS SIGN SHAUN VAN ALLEN".
(August 1, 2002). "SENATORS SIGN BRAD SMYTH".
(August 26, 2002). "SENATORS SIGN BRIAN POTHIER AND DENNIS BONVIE".
(June 2, 2003). "SENATORS SIGN BRIAN McGRATTAN".
(July 2, 2002). "NHL FREE-AGENT LIST".
(July 3, 2002). "Wild signs Bill Muckalt".
(August 1, 2002). "Thrashers sign Kozlov, 3 others".
(August 1, 2002). ""Mr. Griffin" Returns for Seventh Season".
"EHC - News: Archiv - Index".
(September 14, 2002). "Caps' holdouts not budging yet".
(October 2, 2002). "Bandits: Roster to boast experience". Clarion-Ledger.
{{hockey-reference. b/brunebe01. Benoit Brunet, retrieved November 30, 2022
(January 15, 2003). "Blues claim Martins off waivers".
(June 27, 2002). "SENATORS SIGN DEFENSEMAN JOEL KWIATKOWSKI".
(July 15, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN DANIEL ALFREDSSON".
(July 15, 2002). "SENATORS SIGN DEFENCEMAN SCHUBERT".
(July 15, 2002). "SENATORS SIGN DEFENCEMAN VOLCHENKOV".
(July 31, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN JOSH LANGFELD".
(July 31, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN SAMI SALO".
(July 31, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN JEFF ULMER".
(August 1, 2002). "SENATORS SIGN JOSEF BOUMEDIENNE".
(August 1, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN STEVE MARTINS".
(August 1, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN PETR SCHASTLIVY".
(August 8, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN RADEK BONK".
(August 8, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN CHRIS PHILLIPS".
(August 21, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN JODY HULL".
(September 14, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN MIKE FISHER & CHRIS NEIL".
(November 8, 2002). "SENATORS RE-SIGN KAREL RACHUNEK".
(November 27, 2002). "SENATORS SIGN GOALTENDER BILLY THOMPSON TO A MULTI-YEAR DEAL".
(June 2, 2003). "SENATORS SIGN THREE JUNIOR PLAYERS".
(June 6, 2003). "SENATORS EXERCISE OPTION ON VAN ALLEN".
"2002 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".

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