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2003–04 Edmonton Oilers season

NHL team season

Field	Value
League	NHL
Season	2003–04
year	2003
Team	Edmonton Oilers
Conference	Western
ConferenceRank	9th
Division	Northwest
DivisionRank	4th
Record	36–29–12–5
HomeRecord	22–12–4–3
RoadRecord	14–17–8–2
GoalsFor	221
GoalsAgainst	208
GeneralManager	Kevin Lowe
Coach	Craig MacTavish
Captain	Jason Smith
AltCaptain	Ethan Moreau
Ryan Smyth
Arena	Rexall Place
Commonwealth Stadium ([1 game](2003-heritage-classic))
Attendance	17,677 (105.0%)
MinorLeague	Toronto Roadrunners (AHL)
Columbus Cottonmouths (ECHL)
GoalsLeader	Ryan Smyth (23)
AssistsLeader	Ryan Smyth (36)
PointsLeader	Ryan Smyth (59)
PlusMinusLeader	Igor Ulanov (+19)
PIMLeader	Georges Laraque (99)
WinsLeader	Ty Conklin (17)
Tommy Salo (17)
GAALeader	Ty Conklin (2.42)

Ryan Smyth Commonwealth Stadium (1 game) Columbus Cottonmouths (ECHL) Tommy Salo (17)

The 2003–04 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' 25th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a 36–26–11–9 record in 2002–03, earning 92 points, and returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence. The Oilers were then defeated by the Dallas Stars in six games in the opening round.

During the off-season, the Oilers and Mike Comrie could not come to a contract agreement, and Comrie would not start the season with the team. Comrie would eventually be traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in December for Jeff Woywitka and the Flyers' first-round draft pick in 2004.

The club would start off the season on the right foot, having a record of 10–7–2–0 in the first 19 games. However, Edmonton would go into a slump and have a 10–17–6–1 in their next 34 games, falling to 12th place in the Western Conference. The Oilers would later emerge from the slump and finish the season with a 16–5–4–4 in their remaining 29 games. Despite the season turnaround, the Oilers would finish in ninth in the West, two points behind the eighth-placed Nashville Predators for the final playoff spot, thereby failing to qualify for the post-season for the second time in three seasons.

Offensively, Ryan Smyth would lead the club with 23 goals, 36 assists and 59 points. Radek Dvorak would finish just behind Smyth with 50 points, while Ethan Moreau and Raffi Torres would each score 20 goals. Marc-Andre Bergeron would lead the defense with 9 goals and 26 points, while Eric Brewer would finish just behind him with seven goals and 25 points. Georges Laraque would lead the club in penalty minutes, with 99.

In goal, Tommy Salo would begin the season as the starter. However, he would lose his job and eventually be traded to the Colorado Avalanche before the season was over. He won 17 games and had a 2.58 goals against average (GAA), along with three shutouts, with Edmonton. Ty Conklin took over the starting duties, where he would win 17 games, attain a 2.42 GAA and earn a shutout along the way.

Heritage Classic

The Heritage Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played on November 22, 2003, in Edmonton between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. It was the second NHL outdoor game and the first regular season outdoor game in the history of the NHL, and was modeled after the success of the "cold war" game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in 2001. The first NHL game to be played outdoors was in 1991 when the Los Angeles Kings played the New York Rangers in an exhibition game outside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The event took place in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in front of a crowd of 57,167, the largest number of people to ever watch a live NHL game, despite temperatures of close to −18 °C, −30 °C (−22 °F) with wind chill. It was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers joining the NHL in 1979. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television broadcast also set the record for most viewers of a single NHL game with 2.747 million nationwide. This was the first NHL game broadcast in HDTV on CBC. Montreal won the game 4–3.

Season standings

Schedule and results

|- | 1 || October 9 || San Jose Sharks || 2 – 5 || Edmonton Oilers || || Salo || 16,839 || 1–0–0–0 || 2 || |- | 2 || October 11 || Edmonton Oilers || 0 – 3 || Vancouver Canucks || || Salo || 18,630 || 1–1–0–0 || 2 || |- | 3 || October 14 || Edmonton Oilers || 0 – 1 || Calgary Flames || || Salo || 16,009 || 1–2–0–0 || 2 || |- | 4 || October 16 || Buffalo Sabres || 1 – 4 || Edmonton Oilers || || Conklin || 15,502 || 2–2–0–0 || 4 || |- | 5 || October 18 || Colorado Avalanche || 3 – 6 || Edmonton Oilers || || Salo || 16,839 || 3–2–0–0 || 6 || |- | 6 || October 21 || St. Louis Blues || 6 – 4 || Edmonton Oilers || || Salo || 16,043 || 3–3–0–0 || 6 || |- | 7 || October 23 || Edmonton Oilers || 1 – 6 || Colorado Avalanche || || Conklin || 18,007 || 3–4–0–0 || 6 || |- | 8 || October 25 || Calgary Flames || 4 – 2 || Edmonton Oilers || || Salo || 16,839 || 3–5–0–0 || 6 || |- | 9 || October 30 || Columbus Blue Jackets || 3 – 4 || Edmonton Oilers || OT || Salo || 15,946 || 4–5–0–0 || 8 ||

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82
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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	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-
94	LW	82	23	36	59	11	70
20	RW	78	15	35	50	18	26
16	C	61	16	26	42	18	15
10	C	80	15	25	40	0	73
14	LW	80	20	14	34	12	65
83	RW	71	12	22	34	−7	14
18	LW	81	20	12	32	7	96
34	RW	76	16	14	30	14	46
24	D	82	6	22	28	17	86
47	D	54	9	17	26	13	26
2	D	77	7	18	25	−6	67
36	C	68	10	11	21	8	42
23	D	68	7	14	21	9	56
21	D	68	7	12	19	13	98
15	LW	51	10	8	18	−2	54
55	D	42	5	13	18	19	28
77	C	60	2	16	18	0	8
27	RW	66	6	11	17	7	99
93	C	16	5	10	15	1	4
28	LW	60	4	8	12	−1	57
19	C	17	2	6	8	5	10
32	D	52	1	5	6	−5	80
5	D	46	2	3	5	8	32
12	C	14	0	2	2	0	19
33	C	6	1	0	1	2	2
26	D	3	0	1	1	0	0
42	LW	13	0	1	1	−1	4
35	G	44	0	0	0		2
1	G	38	0	0	0		17
44	D	2	0	0	0	0	0
30	G	7	0	0	0		2
22	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0
40	G	1	0	0	0		0

Goaltending

- = 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.	Player	Regular season	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO
1	Ty Conklin	39	17	14	4	959	84	2.42	.912	1	2085
35	Tommy Salo	44	17	18	6	1024	107	2.58	.896	3	2486
30	Jussi Markkanen	7	2	2	2	182	12	1.83	.934	0	393
40	Steve Valiquette	1	0	0	0	7	2	9.23	.714	0	13

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref	League
(in-season)	Team
NHL Defensive Player of the Week	Ty Conklin (November 17)
NHL YoungStars Game selection	Alexei Semenov
Raffi Torres
Community Service Award	Georges Laraque	title=ETHAN MOREAU NAMED OILERS MVP - OILERS ANNOUNCE PLAYER AWARDS	url=http://www.edmontonoilers.com/pressbox/index.php?release=20040406_1547	website=Edmonton Oilers	access-date=August 9, 2022	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040629171948/http://www.edmontonoilers.com/pressbox/index.php?release=20040406_1547	archive-date=June 29, 2004	date=April 6, 2004}}
Defenceman of the Year	Jason Smith
Molson Cup	Ryan Smyth
Most Popular Player	Ryan Smyth
Top Defensive Forward	Shawn Horcoff
Top First Year Oiler	Not awarded
Unsung Hero	Igor Ulanov
Zane Feldman Trophy	Ethan Moreau

Milestones

Igor Ulanov	700th NHL Game	March 30, 2004

Transactions

The Oilers 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

Date	Details	Ref
To [New Jersey Devils](2003-04-new-jersey-devils-season)	To Edmonton Oilers
To [New York Rangers](2003-04-new-york-rangers-season)	To Edmonton Oilers
To [Philadelphia Flyers](2003-04-philadelphia-flyers-season)	To Edmonton Oilers
To [Vancouver Canucks](2003-04-vancouver-canucks-season)	To Edmonton Oilers
To New York Rangers	To Edmonton Oilers
To [Colorado Avalanche](2003-04-colorado-avalanche-season)	To Edmonton Oilers

Players acquired

Date		Player		Former team		Term		Via		Ref
Rocky Thompson
Steve Valiquette
Dan Smith
Jamie Wright
Steve Valiquette
Adam Oates
Igor Ulanov

Players lost

Date		Player		New team		Via		Ref
Daniel Cleary
Todd Marchant
Brian Swanson
Kari Haakana
Brian Leetch
Steve Valiquette
Adam Oates

Signings

Date		Player		Term		Contract type		Ref
Cory Cross
Jan Horacek
Mikko Luoma
Mathieu Roy
Chad Hinz
Jason Smith
Brad Isbister
Marty Reasoner
Raffi Torres
Bobby Allen
Michael Henrich
Shawn Horcoff
Ryan Smyth
Fernando Pisani
Peter Sarno
Joe Cullen
Georges Laraque
Ethan Moreau
Brad Winchester
Ethan Moreau
Steve Staios
Jeff Deslauriers

Draft picks

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

Round	#	Player	College/junior/club team (league)
1	22	Marc-Antoine Pouliot	Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)
2	51	Colin McDonald	New England Jr. Coyotes (EJHL)
2	68	Jean-François Jacques	Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
3	72	Mikhail Zhukov	Arboga (Sweden)
3	94	Zack Stortini	Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
5	147	Kalle Olsson	Frolunda HC (Elitserien)
5	154	David Rohlfs	Detroit Compuware Ambassadors (NAHL)
6	184	Dragan Umicevic	Sodertalje SK (SEL)
7	214	Kyle Brodziak	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
7	215	Mathieu Roy	Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
8	248	Josef Hrabal	HC Vsetin (Czech Extraliga)
9	278	Troy Bodie	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)

Notes

References

National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

References

"Heritage Website".
"Not exactly the first time". CBC News.
"2003-04 Edmonton Oilers Schedule and Results".
(November 18, 2003). "Ty time in Edmonton".
(January 24, 2004). "2004 YoungStars Game rosters".
(April 6, 2004). "ETHAN MOREAU NAMED OILERS MVP - OILERS ANNOUNCE PLAYER AWARDS".
2014–15 Edmonton Oilers Media Guide, p.173
"Hockey Transactions Search Results".
(June 21, 2003). "Oilers trade down, select Pouliot 22nd".
(July 30, 2003). "Leetch returns to Rangers".
(June 30, 2003). "OILERS ACQUIRE RIGHTS TO BRIAN LEETCH".
(December 16, 2003). "OILERS OBTAIN JEFF WOYWITKA FROM PHILADELPHIA".
(February 16, 2004). "OILERS ADD GOALTENDING DEPTH".
(March 3, 2004). "OILERS ACQUIRE NEDVED AND MARKKANEN".
(March 9, 2004). "OILERS OBTAIN TOM GILBERT FROM COLORADO".
(July 15, 2003). "ROCKY THOMPSON and STEPHEN VALIQUETTE AGREE TO CONTRACTS WITH OILERS".
"DAN SMITH".
(September 2, 2003). "Oilers sign Sarno, Wright".
(October 8, 2003). "OILERS RECLAIM VALIQUETTE".
(November 17, 2003). "NHL'S 15TH ALL-TIME SCORER JOINS OILERS".
(January 5, 2004). "OILERS SIGN IGOR ULANOV".
(July 1, 2003). "2003 NHL free agent list".
(July 15, 2003). "Tuesday roundup: Coyotes sign free agent Cleary".
(June 30, 2003). "OILERS SIGN CORY CROSS".
(July 3, 2003). "Blue Jackets sign Marchant".
(July 24, 2003). "Thrashers Agree to Terms with Free Agent Forwards Kamil Piros, Brian Swanson".
(July 1, 2006). "List of Available Free Agents".
(July 28, 2003). "Kari Haakana klar för MODO Hockey".
(October 3, 2003). "20 chosen in NHL waiver draft".
(April 4, 2004). "Oilers center Oates retires after 19 seasons".
(July 3, 2003). "OILERS INK TRIO OF BLUELINERS".
(July 28, 2003). "OILERS INK SMITH TO A ONE-YEAR DEAL; HINZ RE-SIGN".
(July 29, 2003). "ISBISTER ACCEPTS NEW DEAL".
(August 1, 2003). "OILERS SIGN PAIR".
(August 5, 2003). "OILERS CONTINUE TO BOLSTER LINEUP".
(August 14, 2003). "SMYTTY AND OILERS HAVE TWO-YEAR DEAL".
"FERNANDO PISANI".
(September 11, 2003). "Oilers re-sign Laraque, Moreau".
(September 30, 2003). "Moreau re-signs with Oilers".
(November 19, 2003). "STAIOS INKS LONG TERM AGREEMENT".
(May 31, 2004). "OILERS SIGN GOALTENDER DESLAURIERS".
"2003 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".

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