2003–04 Ottawa Senators season

Offseason

On June 21, 2003, assistant coach Roger Neilson died after four years of battling cancer. The Senators would wear a patch on their jerseys with an illustration of his signature and a necktie. Neilson would often wear distinctive neckties and the necktie became associated with him, and also became the symbol for "Roger's House", a residence for the use of families with a family member fighting cancer while in hospital, established by him and the Senators.

On August 26, 2003, Eugene Melnyk purchased the club to bring financial stability.

Regular season

Marian Hossa lead the club in scoring with 82 points, good enough for sixth overall in the NHL.

Highlights

On February 5, 2004, the Senators were playing the Toronto Maple Leafs and were leading 4–0 in the second period. The flu started affecting players on the Senators leading the team to be down to only 15 skaters by the end of the game. The Maple Leafs took full advantage and won the game 5–4 in overtime.

On March 5, 2004, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a record was set for the most penalty minutes in a game by both teams, at 419 minutes. Five brawls broke out in the last two minutes of the game. It took the officials until 90 minutes after the game was over to sort out the penalties. By the end of the game, Philadelphia had 213 penalty minutes and seven men left on the bench, while Ottawa finished with 206 penalty minutes and six men left.

The Senators finished the regular season first overall in the NHL in scoring (262 goals for), power-play goals scored (80) and power-play percentage (21.62%).

Final standings

Playoffs

In the first round of the 2004 playoffs, the Senators would lose again to the Maple Leafs for the fourth straight time. By now, Ottawa had developed a strong rivalry with their Ontario cousins and there was a great deal of pressure on the team to finally defeat the Leafs. Two days after the Senators' loss, head coach Jacques Martin was fired, and goaltender Patrick Lalime was later traded to the St. Louis Blues.

Martin had been coach of the Senators for eight-and-a-half years. He was well respected, earned a 341–255–96 regular season record with the Senators, had led the team to eight consecutive playoff appearances and was widely credited with changing the team into an elite NHL franchise. He also won the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year in 1999. However, after losing eight of 12 playoff series, including all four series in five years against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs, Senators ownership felt that a new coach was required for playoff success.

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- |1||October 9, 2003||5–2 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (2003–04) ||1–0–0–0||18,500 || |- |2||October 11, 2003||2–3 OT|| align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (2003–04) ||1–0–0–1||18,500 || |- |3||October 15, 2003||3–4 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (2003–04) ||1–1–0–1||18,180 || |- |4||October 17, 2003||3–0 || align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04) ||2–1–0–1||13,885 || |- |5||October 18, 2003||4–1 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (2003–04) ||3–1–0–1||14,807 || |- |6||October 23, 2003||5–1 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (2003–04) ||4–1–0–1||18,188 || |- |7||October 25, 2003||6–2 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04) ||5–1–0–1||21,273 || |- |8||October 30, 2003||2–3 || align="left"| Florida Panthers (2003–04) ||5–2–0–1||17,086 ||

| Legend:

Playoffs

|- |1|| April 8 || Ottawa || 4–2 || Toronto || || 19,535 || Senators lead 1–0 || |- |2|| April 10 || Ottawa || 0–2 || Toronto || || 19,529 || Series tied 1–1 || |- |3|| April 12 || Toronto || 2–0 || Ottawa || || 18,500 || Maple Leafs lead 2–1 || |- |4|| April 14 || Toronto || 1–4 || Ottawa || || 18,500 || Series tied 2–2 || |- |5|| April 16 || Ottawa || 0–2 || Toronto || || 19,584 || Maple Leafs lead 3–2 || |- |6|| April 18 || Toronto || 1–2 || Ottawa || 2OT || 18,500 || Series tied 3–3 || |- |7|| April 20 || Ottawa || 1–4 || Toronto || || 19,646 || Maple Leafs win 4–3 ||

| 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.*

Goaltending

Awards and records

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

The Senators 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

Ottawa's draft picks from the 2003 NHL entry draft held on June 21 and June 22, 2003 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Farm teams

• Binghamton Senators (American Hockey League)

Notes

References

References

1. (June 21, 2003). "Hall of Fame coach Neilson dead at 69 - UPI.com".
2. Panzeri, Allen. (February 6, 2004). "Senators sick over loss". National Post.
3. "2003-04 NHL Summary".
4. (April 22, 2004). "Ottawa Senators fire Jacques Martin - UPI.com".
5. "2003–04 Ottawa Senators Games". Hockey-reference.com.
6. "Postseason All-Star Teams".
7. "2004 NHL All-Star Game Rosters".
8. (February 7, 2004). "Hossa, Redden to miss NHL all-star game".
9. (February 2, 2004). "Bruins, Redden, St. Louis get awards".
10. (January 20, 2004). "Havlat chosen as player of week".
11. Ottawa Senators 2014–15 Media Guide, p.162–82
12. "2003-04 NHL Debuts".
13. "Hockey Transactions Search Results".
14. "2003 NHL Entry Draft: Ottawa Senators picks".
15. (June 26, 2003). "SENATORS ACQUIRE SMREK IN A THREE-WAY DEAL WITH NASHVILLE AND MINNESOTA".
16. (September 10, 2003). "SENATORS ACQUIRE SERGE PAYER FROM FLORIDA PANTHERS".
17. (October 5, 2003). "SENATORS RE-ACQUIRE DENIS HAMEL FROM WASHINGTON".
18. (January 6, 2004). "SENATORS ACQUIRE TAPPER FROM ATLANTA ORGANIZATION FOR CORSO".
19. (January 23, 2004). "SENATORS ACQUIRE CHARLIE STEPHENS FROM COLORADO FOR DENNIS BONVIE".
20. (February 4, 2004). "SENATORS ACQUIRE SIMPSON FROM ANAHEIM FOR SCHASTLIVY".
21. (February 18, 2004). "SENATORS ACQUIRE PETER BONDRA FROM CAPITALS".
22. (March 9, 2004). "SENATORS ACQUIRE 2004 THIRD ROUND PICK FROM NASHVILLE FOR SHANE HNIDY".
23. (March 9, 2004). "SENATORS ACQUIRE DEFENCEMAN GREG de VRIES FROM NEW YORK RANGERS".
24. (July 5, 2003). "SENATORS SIGN DENIS HAMEL".
25. (September 2, 2003). "SENATORS SIGN DANIEL CORSO AND ANDREW ALLEN".
26. (October 3, 2003). "Players claimed in 2003-04 NHL Waiver Draft".
27. (June 19, 2006). "Bulletin: Ottawa Senators sign Brian McGrattan and Andy Hedlund".
28. (December 19, 2003). "SENATORS RE-ASSIGN EMERY AND CLAIM BROOKBANK OFF WAIVERS".
29. (April 30, 2004). "SENATORS SIGN DANIEL BOIS".
30. (May 11, 2004). "SENATORS SIGN GOALTENDER KELLY GUARD".
31. (July 1, 2003). "2003 NHL free agent list".
32. (July 2, 2003). "HURRICANES SIGN JOEY TETARENKO TO ONE-YEAR DEAL".
33. (July 7, 2003). "Monday roundup: Kings sign 'solid' forward Klatt".
34. "PANTHER NEWS-ARCHIV".
35. (July 1, 2006). "List of Available Free Agents".
36. (July 31, 2003). "Lukko- news in English".
37. (July 25, 2003). "B-Sens' Murphy headed overseas". Press & Sun-Bulletin.
38. (September 11, 2003). "Arvedson adds to Vancouver's Swedish content".
39. (September 15, 2003). "Dahlman vahvistamaan Ilveksen hyökkäystä".
40. (October 1, 2003). "Brad Smyth mukana Ilves-pelissä".
41. {{eliteprospects. 112804. David Hymovitz, retrieved May 27, 2022
42. (October 9, 2003). "Ice-hockey: Ulmer a coup for Devils".
43. {{hockey-reference. m/melande01. Dean Melanson, retrieved May 27, 2022
44. (July 1, 2008). "2008 NHL Free Agent List".
45. {{hockey-reference. v/vauclju01. Julien Vauclair, retrieved May 27, 2022
46. (June 11, 2003). "SENATORS RE-SIGN SHANE HNIDY TO ONE-YEAR DEAL".
47. (June 21, 2003). "SENATORS RE-SIGN BRYAN SMOLINSKI TO A MULTI-YEAR DEAL".
48. (June 26, 2003). "SENATORS EXERCISE OPTION ON BRIAN POTHIER".
49. (July 3, 2003). "SENATORS RE-SIGN VETERAN JODY HULL".
50. (July 15, 2003). "SENATORS RE-SIGN GOALTENDER MARTIN PRUSEK".
51. (July 16, 2003). "SENATORS RE-SIGN WADE REDDEN".
52. (July 24, 2003). "SENATORS RE-SIGN JOSH LANGFELD AND WADE BROOKBANK".
53. (August 28, 2003). "SENATORS SIGN FORWARD DENNIS BONVIE".
54. (October 11, 2003). "SENATORS RE-SIGN FORWARD MARTIN HAVLAT".
55. (February 13, 2004). "SENATORS SIGN FREE AGENT ROB RAY".
56. (April 1, 2004). "SENATORS SIGN NEIL KOMADOSKI".
57. (April 6, 2004). "SENATORS SIGN GRANT POTULNY".
58. "2003 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".