Division 4th Northeast 2002–03 record 30–35–8–9 Road record 14–19–3–5 | Conference 9th Eastern Home record 16–16–5–4 Goals for 206 | |
The 2002–03 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 94th season of play. The club struggled through the season, made a coaching change and did not qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Contents
Regular season
Before the start of the season, many predicted a strong showing from the Canadiens due to the team possessing a healthy Saku Koivu as well as 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. For his part, Jose Theodore’s performance is not up to par with his dream season of a year earlier. Despite the 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 as head coach, the team was unable to improve its situation. The Habs 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.
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
P- Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y- Clinched Division; X- Clinched Playoff spot
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 show very 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 improve its collective effort. The Habs 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.
Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goalsMin, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;
Awards and records
Roster
Forwards:
11 - Saku Koivu
14 - Oleg Petrov
17 - Jason Ward
20 - Richard Zednik
21 - Randy McKay
22 - Bill Lindsay
24 - Andreas Dackell
25 - Chad Kilger
26 - Sylvain Blouin
27 - Mariusz Czerkawski
32 - Gordie Dwyer
37 - Niklas Sundstrom
38 - Jan Bulis
71 - Mike Ribeiro
81 - Marcel Hossa
82 - Donald Audette
90 - Joé Juneau
93 - Doug Gilmour
94 - Yanic Perreault
Defencemen:
5 - Stéphane Quintal
8 - Mike Komisarek
28 - Karl Dykhuis
36 - François Beauchemin
43 - Patrice Brisebois
44 - Sheldon Souray
51 - Francis Bouillon
52 - Craig Rivet
54 - Patrick Traverse
65 - Ron Hainsey
79 - Andrei Markov
Goaltenders:
30 - Mathieu Garon
31 - Jeff Hackett
41 - Éric Fichaud
60 - José Théodore