2002–03 Colorado Avalanche season

The 2002–03 Colorado Avalanche season was the Avalanche's eighth season. It involved winning their fifth Northwest Division and a record ninth consecutive division title.

2002–03 Colorado Avalanche
Northwest Division champions
Division	1st Northwest
Conference	3rd Western
2002–03 record	42–19–13–8
Home record	21–9–8–3
Road record	21–10–5–5
Goals for	251
Goals against	194
Team information
General manager	Pierre Lacroix
Coach	Bob Hartley (Oct.–Dec.) Tony Granato (Dec.–Apr.)
Captain	Joe Sakic
Alternate captains	Rob Blake Adam Foote Peter Forsberg Mike Keane
Arena	Pepsi Center
Average attendance	18,007
Minor league affiliate(s)	Hershey Bears
Team leaders
Goals	Milan Hejduk (50)
Assists	Peter Forsberg (77)
Points	Peter Forsberg (106)
Penalty minutes	Adam Foote (88)
Plus/minus	Peter Forsberg (+52) Milan Hejduk (+52)
Wins	Patrick Roy (35)
Goals against average	Patrick Roy (2.18)
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Offseason

Regular season

• Head coach Bob Hartley was fired on December 18 and replaced by assistant coach Tony Granato.^[1]
• January 20, 2003: In a game against the Dallas Stars, Patrick Roy became the first goaltender to appear in 1,000 regular season games. At the end of the game, Marty Turco raised his mask to praise Patrick.^[2] Prior to the game, Rogatien Vachon presented Roy with a silver goalie stick. Jim Gregory, vice-president of operations for the NHL presented Roy with a crystal sculpture.
• April 6, 2003: In a game against the St. Louis Blues, Patrick Roy played the last regular season game of his career. The Avalanche won the game by a score of 5–2. It was Roy's 1,029th game, and his 551st victory.^[3]

Final standings

Northwest Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	3	Colorado Avalanche	82	42	19	13	8	251	194	105
2	4	Vancouver Canucks	82	45	23	13	1	264	208	104
3	6	Minnesota Wild	82	42	29	10	1	198	178	95
4	8	Edmonton Oilers	82	36	26	11	9	231	230	92
5	12	Calgary Flames	82	29	36	13	4	186	228	75

^[4]

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.

Western Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Dallas Stars	PA	82	46	17	15	4	245	169	111
2	Y- Detroit Red Wings	CE	82	48	20	10	4	269	203	110
3	Y- Colorado Avalanche	NW	82	42	19	13	8	251	194	105
4	X- Vancouver Canucks	NW	82	45	23	13	1	264	208	104
5	X- St. Louis Blues	CE	82	41	24	11	6	253	222	99
6	X- Minnesota Wild	NW	82	42	29	10	1	198	178	95
7	X- Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PA	82	40	27	9	6	203	193	95
8	X- Edmonton Oilers	NW	82	36	26	11	9	231	230	92
8.5
9	Chicago Blackhawks	CE	82	30	33	13	6	207	226	79
10	Los Angeles Kings	PA	82	33	37	6	6	203	221	78
11	Phoenix Coyotes	PA	82	31	35	11	5	204	230	78
12	Calgary Flames	NW	82	29	36	13	4	186	228	75
13	Nashville Predators	CE	82	27	35	13	7	183	206	74
14	San Jose Sharks	PA	82	28	37	9	8	214	239	73
15	Columbus Blue Jackets	CE	82	29	42	8	3	213	263	69

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

Z – Clinched conference; Y – Clinched division; X – Clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Schedule and results

Regular season

2002–03 regular season[5]
October: 4–1–3–2 (home: 0–1–3–0; road: 4–0–0–2) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 October 9, 2002 1–1 OT Dallas Stars (2002–03) 0–0–1–0 T 2 October 14, 2002 1–2 Boston Bruins (2002–03) 0–1–1–0 L 3 October 17, 2002 4–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) 1–1–1–0 W 4 October 19, 2002 3–1 @ San Jose Sharks (2002–03) 2–1–1–0 W 5 October 20, 2002 2–3 OT @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) 2–1–1–1 OTL 6 October 22, 2002 3–3 OT Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 2–1–2–1 T 7 October 24, 2002 3–2 @ Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) 3–1–2–1 W 8 October 27, 2002 3–3 OT Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 3–1–3–1 T 9 October 29, 2002 2–3 OT @ Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 3–1–3–2 OTL 10 October 31, 2002 5–1 @ Vancouver Canucks (2002–03) 4–1–3–2 W
November: 4–5–5–1 (home: 2–3–2–1; road: 2–2–3–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 11 November 2, 2002 4–4 OT @ Calgary Flames (2002–03) 4–1–4–2 T 12 November 4, 2002 2–4 Vancouver Canucks (2002–03) 4–2–4–2 L 13 November 6, 2002 2–5 Ottawa Senators (2002–03) 4–3–4–2 L 14 November 8, 2002 2–3 OT Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) 4–3–4–3 OTL 15 November 10, 2002 3–4 Nashville Predators (2002–03) 4–4–4–3 L 16 November 12, 2002 5–4 Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) 5–4–4–3 W 17 November 14, 2002 3–1 @ Nashville Predators (2002–03) 6–4–4–3 W 18 November 15, 2002 2–4 @ Dallas Stars (2002–03) 6–5–4–3 L 19 November 17, 2002 4–4 OT @ Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) 6–5–5–3 T 20 November 21, 2002 1–1 OT Nashville Predators (2002–03) 6–5–6–3 T 21 November 23, 2002 3–1 @ St. Louis Blues (2002–03) 7–5–6–3 W 22 November 25, 2002 1–0 Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) 8–5–6–3 W 23 November 27, 2002 4–4 OT St. Louis Blues (2002–03) 8–5–7–3 T 24 November 29, 2002 2–2 OT @ Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 8–5–8–3 T 25 November 30, 2002 0–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 8–6–8–3 L
December: 6–3–1–2 (home: 5–1–1–1; road: 1–2–0–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 26 December 3, 2002 1–2 Calgary Flames (2002–03) 8–7–8–3 L 27 December 6, 2002 7–6 OT Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) 9–7–8–3 W 28 December 11, 2002 1–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (2002–03) 9–8–8–3 L 29 December 13, 2002 3–4 OT @ Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 9–8–8–4 OTL 30 December 14, 2002 3–1 @ Calgary Flames (2002–03) 10–8–8–4 W 31 December 16, 2002 2–2 OT Washington Capitals (2002–03) 10–8–9–4 T 32 December 19, 2002 2–1 Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 11–8–9–4 W 33 December 21, 2002 4–2 Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 12–8–9–4 W 34 December 23, 2002 5–3 Vancouver Canucks (2002–03) 13–8–9–4 W 35 December 26, 2002 2–3 @ St. Louis Blues (2002–03) 13–9–9–4 L 36 December 27, 2002 1–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) 13–9–9–5 OTL 37 December 29, 2002 6–1 Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) 14–9–9–5 W
January: 6–5–2–0 (home: 1–4–1–0; road: 5–1–1–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 38 January 1, 2003 7–3 @ Nashville Predators (2002–03) 15–9–9–5 W 39 January 2, 2003 1–4 Florida Panthers (2002–03) 15–10–9–5 L 40 January 4, 2003 6–1 @ San Jose Sharks (2002–03) 16–10–9–5 W 41 January 7, 2003 2–4 Calgary Flames (2002–03) 16–11–9–5 L 42 January 9, 2003 3–5 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) 16–12–9–5 L 43 January 11, 2003 3–6 @ Dallas Stars (2002–03) 16–13–9–5 L 44 January 12, 2003 3–2 OT @ Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) 17–13–9–5 W 45 January 16, 2003 2–4 Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) 17–14–9–5 L 46 January 20, 2003 1–1 OT Dallas Stars (2002–03) 17–14–10–5 T 47 January 23, 2003 5–0 Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) 18–14–10–5 W 48 January 25, 2003 3–0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) 19–14–10–5 W 49 January 28, 2003 2–2 OT @ Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) 19–14–11–5 T 50 January 30, 2003 4–3 OT @ New York Rangers (2002–03) 20–14–11–5 W
February: 10–1–0–2 (home: 6–0–0–1; road: 4–1–0–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 51 February 4, 2003 3–2 OT @ Boston Bruins (2002–03) 21–14–11–5 W 52 February 6, 2003 1–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) 22–14–11–5 W 53 February 8, 2003 5–3 Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) 23–14–11–5 W 54 February 9, 2003 4–2 Calgary Flames (2002–03) 24–14–11–5 W 55 February 11, 2003 3–1 New Jersey Devils (2002–03) 25–14–11–5 W 56 February 13, 2003 1–2 OT @ Vancouver Canucks (2002–03) 25–14–11–6 OTL 57 February 15, 2003 3–2 Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 26–14–11–6 W 58 February 17, 2003 5–4 @ Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) 27–14–11–6 W 59 February 20, 2003 5–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) 28–14–11–6 W 60 February 21, 2003 1–4 @ New York Islanders (2002–03) 28–15–11–6 L 61 February 23, 2003 4–1 New York Rangers (2002–03) 29–15–11–6 W 62 February 25, 2003 4–2 Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 30–15–11–6 W 63 February 27, 2003 3–4 OT Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) 30–15–11–7 OTL
March: 10–3–2–1 (home: 6–0–1–0; road: 4–3–1–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 64 March 1, 2003 4–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) 31–15–11–7 W 65 March 2, 2003 3–2 OT @ Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) 32–15–11–7 W 66 March 5, 2003 3–1 @ Florida Panthers (2002–03) 33–15–11–7 W 67 March 7, 2003 3–4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) 33–16–11–7 L 68 March 8, 2003 2–1 OT @ Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) 34–16–11–7 W 69 March 10, 2003 2–2 OT Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) 34–16–12–7 T 70 March 13, 2003 5–1 @ Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) 35–16–12–7 W 71 March 15, 2003 3–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) 35–17–12–7 L 72 March 16, 2003 1–2 @ Washington Capitals (2002–03) 35–18–12–7 L 73 March 20, 2003 2–0 San Jose Sharks (2002–03) 36–18–12–7 W 74 March 22, 2003 8–1 Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) 37–18–12–7 W 75 March 24, 2003 3–4 OT @ Buffalo Sabres (2002–03) 37–18–12–8 OTL 76 March 25, 2003 2–2 OT @ Ottawa Senators (2002–03) 37–18–13–8 T 77 March 27, 2003 3–0 Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) 38–18–13–8 W 78 March 29, 2003 6–1 Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) 39–18–13–8 W 79 March 31, 2003 3–1 San Jose Sharks (2002–03) 40–18–13–8 W
April: 2–1–0–0 (home: 1–0–0–0; road: 1–1–0–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 80 April 2, 2003 3–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) 40–19–13–8 L 81 April 4, 2003 4–3 OT @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) 41–19–13–8 W 82 April 6, 2003 5–2 St. Louis Blues (2002–03) 42–19–13–8 W
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point) OTL Overtime loss (1 point)

Playoffs

2003 Stanley Cup playoffs[5]
Western Conference Quarterfinals vs. (6) Minnesota Wild – Wild win 4–3 Game Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 April 10, 2003 2–4 Minnesota Wild Wild lead 1–0 L 2 April 12, 2003 3–2 Minnesota Wild Series tied 1–1 W 3 April 14, 2003 3–0 @ Minnesota Wild Avalanche lead 2–1 W 4 April 16, 2003 3–1 @ Minnesota Wild Avalanche lead 3–1 W 5 April 19, 2003 2–3 Minnesota Wild Avalanche lead 3–2 L 6 April 21, 2003 2–3 OT @ Minnesota Wild Series tied 3–3 L 7 April 22, 2003 2–3 OT Minnesota Wild Wild win 4–3 L
Legend: W Win L Loss

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

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
21	Peter Forsberg	C	75	29	77	106	52	70	7	2	6	8	3	6
23	Milan Hejduk	RW	82	50	48	98	52	32	7	2	2	4	4	2
40	Alex Tanguay	LW	82	26	41	67	34	36	7	1	2	3	−2	4
19	Joe Sakic	C	58	26	32	58	4	24	7	6	3	9	1	2
28	Steve Reinprecht	C	77	18	33	51	−6	18	7	1	2	3	1	0
53	Derek Morris	D	75	11	37	48	16	68	7	0	3	3	2	6
4	Rob Blake	D	79	17	28	45	20	57	7	1	2	3	2	8
7	Greg de Vries	D	82	6	26	32	15	70	7	2	0	2	2	0
52	Adam Foote	D	78	11	20	31	30	88	6	0	1	1	2	8
17	Radim Vrbata‡	RW	66	11	19	30	0	16	—	—	—	—	—	—
41	Martin Skoula	D	81	4	21	25	11	68	7	0	1	1	−1	4
37	Dean McAmmond‡	C	41	10	8	18	1	10	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Eric Messier	LW	72	4	10	14	−2	16	5	0	0	0	0	0
13	Dan Hinote	RW	60	6	4	10	4	49	7	1	2	3	0	2
12	Mike Keane	RW	65	5	5	10	0	34	6	0	0	0	0	2
10	Serge Aubin	LW	66	4	6	10	−2	64	5	0	0	0	1	4
22	Vaclav Nedorost	C	42	4	5	9	8	20	—	—	—	—	—	—
11	Jeff Shantz	C	74	3	6	9	−12	35	6	0	0	0	1	4
32	Riku Hahl	C	42	3	4	7	3	12	6	0	2	2	2	2
44	Bates Battaglia†	LW	13	1	5	6	−2	10	7	0	2	2	1	4
27	Scott Parker	RW	43	1	3	4	6	82	1	0	0	0	0	2
9	Brad Larsen	LW	6	0	3	3	3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	Bryan Marchment†	D	14	0	3	3	4	33	7	0	0	0	1	4
2	Bryan Muir	D	32	0	2	2	3	19	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	D. J. Smith	D	34	1	0	1	2	55	—	—	—	—	—	—
24	Chris McAllister†	D	14	0	1	1	6	26	1	0	0	0	0	0
50	Brian Willsie	RW	12	0	1	1	0	15	6	1	0	1	1	2
1	David Aebischer	G	22	0	0	0		4	—	—	—	—	—	—
45	Steve Brule	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
36	Steve Moore	C	4	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
39	Jeff Paul	D	2	0	0	0	0	7	—	—	—	—	—	—
33	Patrick Roy	G	63	0	0	0		20	7	0	0	0		0
38	Charlie Stephens	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season										Playoffs
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
33	Patrick Roy	63	35	15	13	1723	137	2.18	.920	5	3769	7	3	4	177	16	2.27	.910	1	423
1	David Aebischer	22	7	12	0	593	50	2.43	.916	1	1235	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Art Ross Trophy	Peter Forsberg	[6]
	Hart Memorial Trophy	Peter Forsberg	[7]
	Lester Patrick Trophy	Ray Bourque	[8]
	Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy	Milan Hejduk	[9]
	NHL First All-Star Team	Peter Forsberg (Center)	[10]
	NHL Second All-Star Team	Milan Hejduk (Right wing)	[10]
	NHL Plus-Minus Award	Peter Forsberg	[11]
		Milan Hejduk
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Rob Blake[a]	[13]
		Peter Forsberg
		Patrick Roy[a]
	NHL Player of the Month	Peter Forsberg (February)	[14]
	NHL Player of the Week	Joe Sakic (November 4)	[15]
		Patrick Roy (January 27)	[16]
		Patrick Roy (February 10)	[17]
		Milan Hejduk (April 7)[b]	[18]
	NHL YoungStars Game selection	David Aebischer	[19]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Jeff Paul	October 9, 2002	[20]
	Charlie Stephens	December 27, 2002
1,000th game played	Patrick Roy	January 20, 2003	[21]

Transactions

The Avalanche were involved in the following transactions from June 14, 2002, the day after the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 9, 2003, the day of the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals.^[22]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
October 1, 2002 (2002-10-01)	To Colorado Avalanche Dean McAmmond Derek Morris Jeff Shantz	To Calgary Flames Chris Drury Stephane Yelle	[23]
December 5, 2002 (2002-12-05)	To Colorado Avalanche Dale Clarke	To St. Louis Blues Conditional draft pick	[24]
February 5, 2003 (2003-02-05)	To Colorado Avalanche Chris McAllister	To Philadelphia Flyers 6th-round pick in 2003	[25]
March 8, 2003 (2003-03-08)	To Colorado Avalanche Bryan Marchment	To San Jose Sharks 3rd-round pick in 2003 5th-round pick in 2003	[26]
March 11, 2003 (2003-03-11)	To Colorado Avalanche Bates Battaglia	To Carolina Hurricanes Radim Vrbata	[27]
	To Colorado Avalanche 5th-round pick in 2003 or 2004	To Calgary Flames Dean McAmmond	[28]
	To Colorado Avalanche 7th-round pick in 2003	To Nashville Predators Alexander Riazantsev	[28]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
July 22, 2002 (2002-07-22)	Steve Brule	Detroit Red Wings	1-year	Free agency	[29]
August 27, 2002 (2002-08-27)	Serge Aubin	Columbus Blue Jackets		Free agency	[30]
	Lance Pitlick	Florida Panthers		Free agency	[30]
June 3, 2003 (2003-06-03)	Tom Lawson	Fort Wayne Komets (UHL)		Free agency	[31]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[c]	Ref
July 1, 2002 (2002-07-01)	Matt Scorsune[d]		Contract expiration (UFA)	[32]
July 2, 2002 (2002-07-02)	Darius Kasparaitis	New York Rangers	Free agency (V)	[34]
July 9, 2002 (2002-07-09)	Yuri Babenko	HC Dynamo Moscow (RSL)	Free agency (UFA)	[35]
July 10, 2002 (2002-07-10)	Jaroslav Obsut	Vancouver Canucks	Free agency (VI)	[36]
July 12, 2002 (2002-07-12)	Sanny Lindstrom	Timra IK (SHL)	Free agency (II)[e]	[38]
July 16, 2002 (2002-07-16)	Pascal Trepanier	Nashville Predators	Free agency (UFA)	[39]
July 27, 2002 (2002-07-27)	Kelly Fairchild	Eisbaren Berlin (DEL)	Free agency (VI)	[40]
August 24, 2002 (2002-08-24)	Jeff Daw	Lowell Lock Monsters (AHL)	Free agency (VI)	[41]
September 30, 2002 (2002-09-30)	Lance Pitlick		Retirement	[42]
May 28, 2003 (2003-05-28)	Patrick Roy		Retirement	[43]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
July 23, 2002 (2002-07-23)	Peter Budaj		Entry-level	[44]
	Dan Hinote		Re-signing	[44]
	Sergei Klyazmin		Entry-level	[44]
	Brad Larsen		Re-signing	[44]
	Bryan Muir		Re-signing	[44]
	Agris Saviels		Entry-level	[44]
	D. J. Smith		Re-signing	[44]
	Charlie Stephens		Entry-level	[44]
September 5, 2002 (2002-09-05)	Martin Skoula	3-year	Re-signing	[45]
September 9, 2002 (2002-09-09)	Alex Tanguay	1-year	Re-signing	[46]
March 14, 2003 (2003-03-14)	Johnny Boychuk	multi-year	Entry-level	[47]
March 29, 2003 (2003-03-29)	John-Michael Liles	multi-year	Entry-level	[48]
June 3, 2003 (2003-06-03)	Cody McCormick		Entry-level	[31]

Draft picks

Colorado's draft picks at the 2002 NHL entry draft held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.^[49]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	28	Jonas Johansson	Sweden	HV71 (Sweden)
2	61	Johnny Boychuk	Canada	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
3	94	Eric Lundberg	United States	Providence College (Hockey East)
4	107	Mikko Kalteva	Finland	Jokerit Jr. (Finland)
4	129	Tom Gilbert	United States	Chicago Steel (USHL)
5	164	Tyler Weiman	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
6	195	Taylor Christie	Canada	Bowling Green State University (WCHA)
7	227	Ryan Steeves	Canada	Yale University (ECAC)
8	258	Sergei Shemetov	Russia	Elemash Elektrostal (Russia)
9	289	Sean Collins	United States	University of New Hampshire (Hockey East)

See also

• 2002–03 NHL season

Notes

1. Blake and Roy were voted to the starting lineup.^[12]
2. Co-winner with Marty Turco of the Dallas Stars.
3. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on July 1 if applicable.^[32]
4. Scorsune retired.^[33]
5. Colorado retained Lindstrom’s NHL rights through the 2007–08 season.^[37]