2003–04 Chicago Blackhawks season

Regular season

General manager Mike Smith was fired on October 24, 2003. Bob Pulford replaced Smith on an interim basis until a replacement could be found.

On December 11, 2003, Mark Bell scored just 15 seconds into the overtime period to give the Blackhawks a 4–3 home win over the Detroit Red Wings. The Sabres' Derek Roy would match that mark in the overtime period on March 17, 2004, in a 4–3 Buffalo road win over the Atlanta Thrashers. Both goals would prove to be the fastest overtime goals scored during the 2003–04 NHL regular season. In February, team captain Alexei Zhamnov was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. The team chose not to name a replacement for the rest of the season.

Final standings

Schedule and results

|- |1||October 8, 2003||1–0 || align="left"| Minnesota Wild (2003–04) ||1–0–0–0 || |- |2||October 10, 2003||0–5 || align="left"| @ Colorado Avalanche (2003–04) ||1–1–0–0 || |- |3||October 12, 2003||2–4 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (2003–04) ||1–2–0–0 || |- |4||October 16, 2003||1–2 || align="left"| @ Columbus Blue Jackets (2003–04) ||1–3–0–0 || |- |5||October 18, 2003||2–7 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) ||1–4–0–0 || |- |6||October 19, 2003||3–1 || align="left"| Nashville Predators (2003–04) ||2–4–0–0 || |- |7||October 23, 2003||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (2003–04) ||2–4–1–0 || |- |8||October 25, 2003||3–2 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (2003–04) ||3–4–1–0 || |- |9||October 26, 2003||1–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04) ||3–4–2–0 || |- |10||October 28, 2003||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes (2003–04) ||3–4–3–0 || |- |11||October 30, 2003||0–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) ||3–5–3–0 ||

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

Goaltending

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

Awards and records

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

The Blackhawks were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2003, the day after the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2004, the day of the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Signings

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the 2003 NHL entry draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Notes

References

References

1. (August 18, 2003). "Blackhawks Announce Affiliation Agreement With ECHL's Florence".
2. (September 12, 2003). "Blackhawks Sign Affiliation Agreement With Indianapolis Ice".
3. (October 24, 2003). "Blackhawks Relieve Mike Smith Of General Manager Duties".
4. (12 December 2003). "Archives".
5. (18 March 2004). "Archives".
6. "2003-04 NHL Schedule and Results".
7. "2003–04 Chicago Blackhawks Games". Hockey-reference.com.
8. (December 22, 2003). "Moment of silence for Magnuson".
9. "Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy".
10. (December 31, 2003). "Walker, Leighton, named NHL Players of the Week".
11. (April 2, 2004). "Ruutu Named NHL Rookie of the Month".
12. (January 24, 2004). "2004 YoungStars Game rosters".
13. "2003-04 NHL Debuts".
14. "Hockey Transactions Search Results".
15. (June 22, 2003). "Table Trading".
16. (November 17, 2003). "Blackhawks Acquire Stephane Robidas".
17. (February 16, 2004). "Blackhawks Trade Sullivan To Nashville For Two 2nd Round Picks".
18. (February 19, 2004). "Blackhawks Trade Alex Zhamnov To Flyers".
19. (February 24, 2004). "Blackhawks Trade Ville Nieminen To Calgary".
20. (March 2, 2004). "Blackhawks Trade Ty Jones To Florida For Future Considerations".
21. (March 2, 2004). "Blackhawks Trade Nathan Dempsey To Kings".
22. (March 9, 2004). "Blackhawks Trade Karpovtsev To Islanders".
23. (July 1, 2003). "Blackhawks Sign C Scott Nichol".
24. (July 29, 2003). "Blackhawks Sign Ville Nieminen".
25. (August 5, 2003). "Blackhawks Sign D Deron Quint".
26. (October 31, 2003). "Blackhawks Sign Defenseman Bryan Berard".
27. (May 30, 2003). "Hawks Let Munro Go; Gain 2nd Round Pick".
28. "2003 NHL Entry Draft Pick Transactions".
29. (February 18, 2004). "Blackhawks Sign G Adam Munro".
30. (February 24, 2004). "Blackhawks Claim Eric Nickulas From Blues".
31. (March 4, 2004). "Blackhawks Sign G Matt Underhill".
32. (March 31, 2004). "Blackhawks Sign UMass D Nick Kuiper".
33. (July 1, 2003). "2003 NHL free agent list".
34. {{hockey-reference. h/hendema01. Matt Henderson, retrieved May 14, 2022
35. (July 25, 2003). "ACTIVITY".
36. (July 25, 2003). "Ducks Sign Mottau, Hankinson and Burnett".
37. (July 25, 2003). "Simon signs with Rangers".
38. (July 31, 2003). "C Lemieux to return, Pens agree to terms with five others".
39. {{hockey-reference. h/helensa01. Sami Helenius, retrieved May 14, 2022
40. (August 14, 2003). "Panthers Sign LW Craig MacDonald and D Kent Huskins".
41. (August 20, 2003). "Wednesday roundup: After career year, Boyle re-signs with Tampa".
42. "BOB PROBERT".
43. (October 27, 2003). "Pride Add Two, Another Called Up".
44. (December 29, 2003). "SHUTOUT GETS TO MCGILL".
45. (July 1, 2003). "Blackhawks Re-Sign Shawn Thornton".
46. (July 2, 2003). "Blackhawks Re-Sign Jason Strudwick".
47. (July 15, 2003). "Blackhawks Sign Four Prospects".
48. (July 29, 2003). "Blackhawks Re-Sign Mark Bell".
49. (August 1, 2003). "Blackhawks Re-Sign Steve McCarthy".
50. "AJAY BAINES".
51. (August 27, 2003). "Blackhawks Re-Sign Tyler Arnason".
52. (August 27, 2003). "Blackhawks Sign Matt Ellison".
53. (August 28, 2003). "Blackhawks Sign Tuomo Ruutu".
54. (October 8, 2003). "Blackhawks Sign Duncan Keith".
55. (March 22, 2004). "Blackhawks Sign D James Wisniewski and G Michael Brodeur".
56. "2003 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".