2003–04 Detroit Red Wings season

Goaltending controversy

Detroit's early exit from the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs left Curtis Joseph to be heavily scrutinized by the media as to whether or not he was up to task to start for Detroit. During the subsequent offseason, Dominik Hasek shocked the hockey world when he announced he was coming out of retirement and fulfilling his contractual obligation to the Red Wings. Given their previous success with Hasek, the Red Wings welcomed him back to the team.

With the Wings appearing to favor Hasek as their starting goaltender, Joseph opted to have surgery to repair his ankle prior to the start of the season, resulting with the Red Wings using Hasek and Manny Legace as their goaltending tandem. When Joseph returned from injury and subsequent conditioning assignment in the minors, anger quickly grew on and off the ice between Hasek and Joseph. General Manager Ken Holland attempted to move Joseph to alleviate the situation, but Holland was not able to find a trade partner nor give Joseph up via the waiver wire due to the hefty terms of his contract (the contract had two years remaining with an annual salary of US$8 million and a no-trade clause). Unable to continue holding three goaltenders on roster, Detroit elected to send Joseph to Detroit's minor league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, on a permanent basis following a poor performance against the Washington Capitals.

While Hasek assumed the starting role, he did not do so with ease. Hasek was not conditioned properly to handle the competition at the NHL level and was wrought with inconsistent play and injuries. By December 2003, both Hasek and Legace went down with injuries and Joseph was recalled from the minors, along with Joey MacDonald. While MacDonald was returned to the minors when Legace returned from injury, Joseph remained with the Red Wings as Hasek opted to remain on the injured reserve and did not return for the remainder of the season.

Joseph and Legace would find themselves in a platoon situation until Joseph injured his ankle in a contest against the San Jose Sharks. The Red Wings recalled Marc Lamothe from the Griffins to support Legace. Lamothe would appear in two games during his time with Detroit, making him the fifth goaltender to dress for Detroit and the fourth to play for them that season (MacDonald did not play in any games while on roster). Lamothe was returned to the minors once Joseph returned from injury.

Despite being viewed by many as Detroit's "third" goaltender, Manny Legace ended up the de facto starting goaltender for the season, leading the other goaltenders on the team in games played, wins and shutouts. (At the time, those were also career records for Legace.) Legace also had a better save percentage and goals against average (GAA) than either Hasek or Joseph. Based on his regular season play, Legace was named the starting goaltender going into the playoffs. During the opening round against the Nashville Predators, Legace won the first two games, but was pulled after the fourth game following consecutive three-goal losses.

Joseph took over the starting duties and responded admirably, posting a .300 GAA, .977 save percentage and one shutout for the remainder of the series. While Joseph had a strong performance against Calgary (1.83 GAA and .928 SV%), Detroit suffered an offensive drought and, with the series tied at two games a piece, were shut-out the final two games of the series, eliminating Detroit from the playoffs.

Joseph never appeared for the Red Wings again, as the last year of his contract was nullified by the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Instead, Joseph signed with the Phoenix Coyotes once the lockout was resolved. Legace went on to assume the starting role for Detroit, but was released after the season following another disappointing playoff exit. Hasek appeared with the Ottawa Senators during the 2005–06 season, but later returned to Detroit for what would be his last two seasons as a professional goaltender.

Regular season

The Red Wings tied the Tampa Bay Lightning for most short-handed goals scored in the NHL, with 15, and had the best penalty-kill percentage in the League (86.75%).

Season standings

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: CE – Central, PA – Pacific, NW – Northwest

P- Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y- Clinched Division; X- Clinched Playoff spot

For complete final standings, see 2003–04 NHL season

October

Record: 5–5–0–0; Home: 4–1–0–0; Road: 1–4–0–0

November

Record: 9–4–2–0; Home: 4–2–0–0; Road: 5–2–2–0

December

Record: 9–3–2–1; Home: 7–0–1–0; Road: 2–3–1–1

January

Record: 6–3–4–1; Home: 4–1–2–0; Road: 2–2–2–1

February

Record: 8–2–1–0; Home: 5–1–0–0; Road: 3–1–1–0

March

Record: 10–3–2–0; Home: 6–1–1–0; Road: 4–2–1–0

April

Record: 1–1–0–0; Home: 0–1–0–0; Road: 1–0–0–0

Playoffs

The Detroit Red Wings ended the 2003–04 regular season as the Western Conference's first seed and played Nashville in the first round. They defeated Nashville in six games and met Calgary in the second round. Calgary would go on to defeat Detroit and reach the Stanley Cup Finals, losing in Game 7 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Western Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (8) Nashville Predators

Detroit wins series 4–2

Western Conference Semi-finals: vs. (6) Calgary Flames

Calgary Flames win series 4–2

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

*Stats reflect games played with Detroit only.

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Trophies and awards

Transactions

The Red Wings were involved in the following transactions during the 2003–04 season.

Draft picks

Detroit's picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft in Nasvhille. The Red Wings were slated to pick 27th overall but traded their first pick to the Los Angeles Kings.

Grand Rapids Griffins

The Griffins were Detroit's top affiliate in the American Hockey League in 2003–04.

Toledo Storm

The Storm were the Red Wings' ECHL affiliate for the 2003–04 season.