2002–03 Edmonton Oilers season

2002–03 Edmonton Oilers
Division	4th Northwest
Conference	8th Western
2002–03 record	36–26–11–9
Home record	20–12–5–4
Road record	16–14–6–5
Goals for	231 (9th)
Goals against	230 (T-19th)
Team information
General manager	Kevin Lowe
Coach	Craig MacTavish
Captain	Jason Smith
Alternate captains	Todd Marchant Janne Niinimaa (Oct-Mar) Ryan Smyth
Arena	Skyreach Centre
Average attendance	16,658 (98.9%)
Team leaders
Goals	Ryan Smyth (27)
Assists	Todd Marchant (40)
Points	Ryan Smyth (61)
Penalty minutes	Scott Ferguson (120)
Plus/minus	Marty Reasoner (+19)
Wins	Tommy Salo (29)
Goals against average	Jussi Markkanen (2.59)

The 2002–03 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' 24th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a 38–28–12–4 record in 2001–02, earning 92 points, however, they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1996, finishing in 9th place in the Western Conference.

The Oilers would get off to a slow start, winning only 1 of their first 7 games, going 1–4–2, however, the club would turn around the tough start and move above the .500 mark on November 25, and never go below again for the remainder of the season. As the trade deadline approached in mid-March, and the club comfortably in a playoff position, Edmonton would make a couple of deals, trading defenceman Janne Niinimaa and a 2nd round draft pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft to the New York Islanders in exchange for Brad Isbister and prospect Raffi Torres. The Oilers would also trade Anson Carter and Ales Pisa to the New York Rangers for Radek Dvorak and Cory Cross. Edmonton would finish the season with a 36–26–11–9 record, earning 92 points, the same amount as the previous season, and clinch the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Offensively, Ryan Smyth would lead the club with 27 goals and 61 points, while Todd Marchant had a breakout season, earning 40 assists and 60 points. Anson Carter had 25 goals and 55 points in 68 games before being dealt to the New York Rangers. Mike York and Mike Comrie each broke the 20 goal plateau, with 22 and 20 goals respectively. Eric Brewer led the Oilers defense with 8 goals and 29 points, while Scott Ferguson had a team high 120 penalty minutes.

In goal, Tommy Salo would once again get a majority of the playing time, winning 29 games, while posting a 2.71 GAA and earning 4 shutouts. Backup Jussi Markkanen had a very solid season, winning 7 games, had a team best 2.59 GAA, and 3 shutouts.

After a year absence, Edmonton would return to the post-season, and would face their old nemesis, the Dallas Stars, who finished with 111 points in the regular season. This would be the 6th playoff meeting between the clubs in the past 7 years, with Dallas winning 4 series in a row. Edmonton would start the series on the right note, defeating the Stars 2–1 on the road, however, Dallas would rout the Oilers in the 2nd game to even up the series as it shifted to Edmonton. The Oilers would take a 2–1 series lead with a solid 3–2 victory in the 3rd game, but Dallas would rebound in the 4th game to tie the series up at 2 games each. The Stars would then take control of the series, winning the 5th game by a 5–2 score, and end the series in game 6, beating Edmonton 3–2, and eliminate the Oilers for the 5th time in the past 6 seasons.

Season 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

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.

Game log

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 10	Philadelphia Flyers	2–2	Edmonton Oilers	0–0–1–0	1
2	October 12	Edmonton Oilers	3–2	Nashville Predators	1–0–1–0	3
3	October 15	Edmonton Oilers	0–3	Dallas Stars	1–1–1–0	3
4	October 17	Edmonton Oilers	3–4	San Jose Sharks	1–2–1–0	3
5	October 19	Boston Bruins	4–3	Edmonton Oilers	1–3–1–0	3
6	October 22	Edmonton Oilers	3–3	Colorado Avalanche	1–3–2–0	4
7	October 24	St. Louis Blues	2–1	Edmonton Oilers	1–4–2–0	4
8	October 26	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	2–4–2–0	6
9	October 28	Dallas Stars	4–3	Edmonton Oilers	2–4–2–1	7
10	November 1	Buffalo Sabres	1–1	Edmonton Oilers	2–4–3–1	8
11	November 3	Edmonton Oilers	4–1	Chicago Blackhawks	3–4–3–1	10
12	November 5	Edmonton Oilers	2–5	New York Rangers	3–5–3–1	10
13	November 8	Edmonton Oilers	2–4	New York Islanders	3–6–3–1	10
14	November 9	Edmonton Oilers	6–3	New Jersey Devils	4–6–3–1	12
15	November 11	Edmonton Oilers	1–6	Boston Bruins	4–7–3–1	12
16	November 12	Edmonton Oilers	3–2	Minnesota Wild	5–7–3–1	14
17	November 15	St. Louis Blues	0–5	Edmonton Oilers	6–7–3–1	16
18	November 16	Los Angeles Kings	4–1	Edmonton Oilers	6–8–3–1	16
19	November 19	Chicago Blackhawks	1–3	Edmonton Oilers	7–8–3–1	18
20	November 21	Edmonton Oilers	3–1	Calgary Flames	8–8–3–1	20
21	November 23	Detroit Red Wings	1–1	Edmonton Oilers	8–8–4–1	21
22	November 25	Edmonton Oilers	5–4	Detroit Red Wings	9–8–4–1	23
23	November 27	Edmonton Oilers	3–1	Columbus Blue Jackets	10–8–4–1	25
24	November 30	Colorado Avalanche	0–1	Edmonton Oilers	11–8–4–1	27
25	December 3	Minnesota Wild	1–3	Edmonton Oilers	12–8–4–1	29
26	December 5	Edmonton Oilers	2–3	Tampa Bay Lightning	12–9–4–1	29
27	December 7	Edmonton Oilers	4–0	Florida Panthers	13–9–4–1	31
28	December 8	Edmonton Oilers	3–0	Atlanta Thrashers	14–9–4–1	33
29	December 11	Carolina Hurricanes	1–4	Edmonton Oilers	15–9–4–1	35
30	December 13	Colorado Avalanche	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	16–9–4–1	37
31	December 14	Vancouver Canucks	6–3	Edmonton Oilers	16–10–4–1	37
32	December 17	Edmonton Oilers	3–4	Minnesota Wild	16–10–4–2	38
33	December 19	Edmonton Oilers	1–2	Colorado Avalanche	16–11–4–2	38
34	December 21	Edmonton Oilers	3–4	Vancouver Canucks	16–11–4–3	39
35	December 26	Vancouver Canucks	4–2	Edmonton Oilers	16–12–4–3	39
36	December 28	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–3	Edmonton Oilers	17–12–4–3	41
37	December 30	Edmonton Oilers	3–4	Phoenix Coyotes	17–12–4–4	42
38	December 31	Edmonton Oilers	1–4	Dallas Stars	17–13–4–4	42
39	January 2	Minnesota Wild	2–1	Edmonton Oilers	17–13–4–5	43
40	January 4	Montreal Canadiens	4–5	Edmonton Oilers	18–13–4–5	45
41	January 6	Edmonton Oilers	5–5	San Jose Sharks	18–13–5–5	46
42	January 8	Edmonton Oilers	1–0	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	19–13–5–5	48
43	January 9	Edmonton Oilers	5–4	Los Angeles Kings	20–13–5–5	50
44	January 11	Ottawa Senators	2–0	Edmonton Oilers	20–14–5–5	50
45	January 13	Columbus Blue Jackets	5–8	Edmonton Oilers	21–14–5–5	52
46	January 16	Los Angeles Kings	0–2	Edmonton Oilers	22–14–5–5	54
47	January 18	Nashville Predators	3–2	Edmonton Oilers	22–14–5–6	55
48	January 20	Edmonton Oilers	3–4	Calgary Flames	22–15–5–6	55
49	January 22	Detroit Red Wings	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	23–15–5–6	57
50	January 24	Phoenix Coyotes	5–1	Edmonton Oilers	23–16–5–6	57
51	January 29	Minnesota Wild	1–5	Edmonton Oilers	24–16–5–6	59
52	January 30	Edmonton Oilers	3–3	Vancouver Canucks	24–16–6–6	60
53	February 5	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	1–2	Edmonton Oilers	25–16–6–6	62
54	February 7	Calgary Flames	4–3	Edmonton Oilers	25–17–6–6	62
55	February 8	Chicago Blackhawks	3–0	Edmonton Oilers	25–18–6–6	62
56	February 11	Edmonton Oilers	5–4	Toronto Maple Leafs	26–18–6–6	64
57	February 13	Edmonton Oilers	0–2	Ottawa Senators	26–19–6–6	64
58	February 15	Edmonton Oilers	2–3	Montreal Canadiens	26–20–6–6	64
59	February 18	Edmonton Oilers	3–4	Pittsburgh Penguins	26–20–6–7	65
60	February 20	Edmonton Oilers	2–6	Detroit Red Wings	26–21–6–7	65
61	February 22	Vancouver Canucks	3–2	Edmonton Oilers	26–21–6–8	66
62	February 23	Atlanta Thrashers	3–3	Edmonton Oilers	26–21–7–8	67
63	February 25	Edmonton Oilers	2–4	Colorado Avalanche	26–22–7–8	67
64	February 27	Edmonton Oilers	1–4	St. Louis Blues	26–23–7–8	67
65	March 1	Edmonton Oilers	3–3	Columbus Blue Jackets	26–23–8–8	68
66	March 4	San Jose Sharks	1–2	Edmonton Oilers	27–23–8–8	70
67	March 6	Edmonton Oilers	2–1	Los Angeles Kings	28–23–8–8	72
68	March 7	Edmonton Oilers	4–1	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	29–23–8–8	74
69	March 10	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–2	Edmonton Oilers	29–24–8–8	74
70	March 11	Edmonton Oilers	5–2	Calgary Flames	30–24–8–8	76
71	March 13	New York Islanders	5–2	Edmonton Oilers	30–25–8–8	76
72	March 15	Dallas Stars	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	31–25–8–8	78
73	March 17	Edmonton Oilers	5–3	Nashville Predators	32–25–8–8	80
74	March 20	Edmonton Oilers	2–3	Phoenix Coyotes	32–25–8–9	81
75	March 22	Washington Capitals	3–5	Edmonton Oilers	33–25–8–9	83
76	March 23	Nashville Predators	2–3	Edmonton Oilers	34–25–8–9	85
77	March 26	Phoenix Coyotes	3–4	Edmonton Oilers	35–25–8–9	87
78	March 28	Columbus Blue Jackets	0–4	Edmonton Oilers	36–25–8–9	89
79	March 30	Edmonton Oilers	4–4	Chicago Blackhawks	36–25–9–9	90
80	March 31	Edmonton Oilers	5–5	St. Louis Blues	36–25–10–9	91
81	April 3	San Jose Sharks	3–3	Edmonton Oilers	36–25–11–9	92
82	April 5	Calgary Flames	4–1	Edmonton Oilers	36–26–11–9	92

Playoffs

Dallas Stars 4, Edmonton Oilers 2

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 9	Edmonton Oilers	2–1	Dallas Stars	1–0
2	April 11	Edmonton Oilers	1–6	Dallas Stars	1–1
3	April 13	Dallas Stars	2–3	Edmonton Oilers	2–1
4	April 15	Dallas Stars	3–1	Edmonton Oilers	2–2
5	April 17	Edmonton Oilers	2–5	Dallas Stars	2–3
6	April 19	Dallas Stars	3–2	Edmonton Oilers	2–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Ryan Smyth	66	27	34	61	67
Todd Marchant	77	20	40	60	48
Anson Carter	68	25	30	55	20
Mike York	71	22	29	51	10
Mike Comrie	69	20	31	51	90

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	Save %	GAA
Jussi Markkanen	22	1180	7	8	3	51	3	.904	2.59
Tommy Salo	65	3814	29	27	8	172	4	.899	2.71

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Shawn Horcoff	6	3	1	4	6
Georges Laraque	6	1	3	4	4
Eric Brewer	6	1	3	4	6
Ryan Smyth	6	2	0	2	16
Todd Marchant	6	0	2	2	6

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	Save %	GAA
Tommy Salo	6	343	2	4	18	0	.888	3.15

Transactions

Trades

June 18, 2002	To Philadelphia Flyers 3rd round pick in 2003 - Ryan Potulny	To Edmonton Oilers Jiri Dopita
June 22, 2002	To Buffalo Sabres Jochen Hecht	To Edmonton Oilers 2nd round pick in 2002 - Jeff Deslauriers 2nd round pick in 2002 - Jarret Stoll
June 22, 2002	To Montreal Canadiens 1st round pick in 2002 - Chris Higgins	To Edmonton Oilers 1st round pick in 2002 - Jesse Niinimaki 8th round pick in 2002 - Tomas Micka
June 30, 2002	To New York Rangers 4th round pick in 2003 - Corey Potter	To Edmonton Oilers Mike Richter
October 7, 2002	To Washington Capitals Mike Grier	To Edmonton Oilers *2nd round pick in 2003 - Evgeny Tunik 3rd round pick in 2003 - Zach Stortini
January 15, 2003	To New York Rangers Josh Green	To Edmonton Oilers Future considerations
March 11, 2003	To New York Islanders Janne Niinimaa 2nd round pick in 2003 - Evgeny Tunik	To Edmonton Oilers Brad Isbister Raffi Torres
March 11, 2003	To New York Rangers Anson Carter Ales Pisa	To Edmonton Oilers Radek Dvorak Cory Cross

*Later traded to the New York Islanders

Free agents

Player New Team G Mike Richter New York Rangers D Sven Butenschon Florida Panthers D Chris Hajt Washington Capitals F Domenic Pittis Nashville Predators G Marc Lamothe Detroit Red Wings D Alain Nasreddine New York Islanders

Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	15	Jesse Niinimaki	Finland	Ilves (Finland)
2	31	Jeff Deslauriers	Canada	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
2	36	Jarret Stoll	Canada	Kootenay Ice (WHL)
2	44	Matt Greene	United States	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)
3	79	Brock Radunske	Canada	Michigan State Spartans (NCAA)
4	106	Ivan Koltsov	Russia	Cherepovets (Russia)
4	111	Jonas Almtorp	Sweden	Modo Hockey (Sweden)
4	123	Robin Kovar	Czech Republic	HC Vsetin (Czech.)
5	148	Glenn Fisher	Canada	Fort Saskatchewan Traders (AJHL)
6	181	Mikko Luoma	Finland	Tappara (Finland)
7	205	Jean-Francois Dufort	Canada	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
7	211	Patrick Murphy	Canada	Newmarket Hurricanes (OPJHL)
8	244	Dwight Helminen	United States	Michigan Wolverines (NCAA)
8	245	Tomas Micka	Czech Republic	HC Slavia Praha (Czech.)
9	274	Fredrik Johansson	Sweden	Frolunda (Sweden)

References

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

Notes