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2003–04 Detroit Red Wings
Division 1st Central
Conference 1st Western
2003–04 record 48–21–11–2
Home record 30–7–4–0
Road record 18–14–7–2
Goals for 255
Goals against 189
Team information
General manager Ken Holland
Coach Dave Lewis
Captain Steve Yzerman
Alternate captains Nicklas Lidstrom
Brendan Shanahan
Arena Joe Louis Arena
Average attendance 20,066 (100%)
Team leaders
Goals Pavel Datsyuk (30)
Assists Brett Hull (43)
Points Pavel Datsyuk (68)
Penalty minutes Brendan Shanahan (108)
Plus/minus Kirk Maltby (24)
Wins Manny Legace (23)
Goals against average Marc Lamothe (1.45)

The 2003–04 Detroit Red Wings season was the 78th National Hockey League season in Detroit, Michigan. Despite multiple injuries to key players, the Wings found themselves once again winning the Presidents' Trophy for having the best regular season record in the NHL, scoring 109 points. In the postseason, they advanced to the Western Conference Semi-Finals, where they were eliminated by the Calgary Flames in six games.

Two Red Wings were named to the roster for the 2004 All Star Game: defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom and center Pavel Datsyuk. Lidstrom was voted into his eighth appearance at the All-Star game by fans, and Datsyuk was selected to the roster for his first appearance.[1]

The Red Wings sold out all 41 home games in 2003–04 as 20,066 fans packed Joe Louis Arena for every regular season and playoff game played in Detroit.

Goaltending controversy[]

Detroit's early exit from the 2002-03 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. Detroit's General Manager Ken Holland tried to move Joseph to alleviate the situation, but Holland wasn't able to find a trade or give Joseph up via the waiver wire because of his contract (the contract had two years remaining with an annual salary of $8 Million USD and included a no-trade clause, allowing Joseph to control who was traded to.) 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 didn't 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 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 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 3-goal losses.

Joseph took over the starting duties and responded admirably, posting a .3 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 Save Percentage), 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 Wings again because 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 returned to Detroit for what would be his last two seasons as a professional goaltender.

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

Central Division
No. CR GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts
1 1 Detroit Red Wings 82 48 21 11 2 255 189 109
2 7 St. Louis Blues 82 39 30 11 2 191 198 91
3 8 Nashville Predators 82 38 29 11 4 216 217 91
4 14 Columbus Blue Jackets 82 25 45 8 4 177 238 62
5 15 Chicago Blackhawks 82 20 43 11 8 188 259 59

[2]

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.

For complete final standings, see 2003–04 NHL season

Game log[]

October[]

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
1 October 9 Los Angeles 2 – 3 Detroit Hasek 20,066 1–0–0 2
2 October 11 Detroit 3 – 2 Ottawa OT Hasek 18,500 2–0–0 4
3 October 16 Vancouver 2 – 3 Detroit Hasek 20,066 3–0–0 6
4 October 18 Detroit 3 – 4 Pittsburgh Hasek 13,421 3–1–0 6
5 October 20 Detroit 1 – 2 Montreal Hasek 19,407 3–2–0 6
6 October 22 Columbus 1 – 4 Detroit Legace 20,066 4–2–0 8
7 October 24 Dallas 0 – 4 Detroit Hasek 20,066 5–2–0 10
8 October 25 Detroit 1 – 3 NY Rangers Hasek 18,200 5–3–0 10
9 October 29 St. Louis 6 – 5 Detroit Legace 20,066 5–4–0 10
10 October 30 Detroit 3 – 5 Nashville Joseph 12,322 5–5–0 10

November[]

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
11 November 1 Detroit 4 – 4 Edmonton OT Legace 16,839 5–5–1–0 11
12 November 3 Detroit 1 – 5 Vancouver Legace 18,630 5–6–1–0 11
13 November 4 Detroit 3 – 0 Calgary Joseph 15,259 6–6–1–0 13
14 November 8 Nashville 4 – 3 Detroit Joseph 20,066 6–7–1–0 13
15 November 10 Chicago 0 – 3 Detroit Hasek 20,066 7–7–1–0 15
16 November 12 Detroit 6 – 2 Dallas Hasek 18,532 8–7–1–0 17
17 November 14 Detroit 4 – 3 Chicago OT Hasek 21,856 9–7–1–0 19
18 November 15 Detroit 1 – 1 Minnesota OT Hasek 18,568 9–7–2–0 20
19 November 19 Columbus 1 – 5 Detroit Legace 20,066 10–7–2–0 22
20 November 20 Detroit 0 – 3 Columbus Legace 18,136 10–8–2–0 22
21 November 22 Detroit 5 – 2 Minnesota Joseph 18,568 11–8–2–0 24
22 November 24 Washington 4 – 1 Detroit Joseph 20,066 11–9–2–0 24
23 November 26 Edmonton 1 – 7 Detroit Legace 20,066 12–9–2–0 26
24 November 28 NY Islanders 0 – 6 Detroit Legace 20,066 13–9–2–0 28
25 November 29 Detroit 2 – 1 St. Louis Legace 20,006 14–9–2–0 30

December[]

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
26 December 3 Anaheim 2 – 7 Detroit Legace 20,066 15–9–2–0 32
27 December 4 Detroit 4 – 4 St. Louis OT Hasek 18,504 15–9–3–0 33
28 December 6 Detroit 2 – 5 Toronto Legace 19,470 15–10–3–0 33
29 December 8 Los Angeles 2 – 3 Detroit OT Hasek 20,066 16–10–3–0 35
30 December 10 Detroit 7 – 2 Buffalo Joseph 16,283 17–10–3–0 37
31 December 11 Detroit 3 – 4 Chicago OT Joseph 18,489 17–10–3–1 38
32 December 13 Detroit 5 – 1 Washington Joseph 18,277 18–10–3–1 40
33 December 15 Florida 1 – 4 Detroit Joseph 20,066 19–10–3–1 42
34 December 17 San Jose 2 – 2 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 20–10–3–1 44
35 December 19 Chicago 2 – 3 Detroit Legace 20,066 21–10–3–1 46
36 December 20 Detroit 0 – 1 Nashville Joseph 17,113 21–11–3–1 46
37 December 22 St. Louis 1 – 2 Detroit Joseph 20,066 22–11–3–1 48
38 December 26 Minnesota 2 – 2 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 22–11–4–1 49
39 December 28 Detroit 0 – 3 Chicago Legace 21,122 22–12–4–1 49
40 December 31 Atlanta 5 – 6 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 23–12–4–1 51

January[]

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
41 January 2 Detroit 4 – 1 Carolina Joseph 17,053 24–12–4–1 53
42 January 3 Anaheim 1 – 3 Detroit Legace 20,066 25–12–4–1 55
43 January 5 Nashville 0 – 6 Detroit Joseph 20,066 26–12–4–1 57
44 January 7 Boston 3 – 0 Detroit Joseph 20,066 26–13–4–1 57
45 January 10 Detroit 1 – 2 Boston OT Joseph 17,565 26–13–4–2 58
46 January 14 Chicago 2 – 4 Detroit Legace 20,066 27–13–4–2 60
47 January 16 Phoenix 3 – 3 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 27–13–5–2 61
48 January 19 Detroit 1 – 2 San Jose Joseph 17,361 27–14–5–2 61
49 January 21 Detroit 2 – 2 Anaheim OT Legace 17,174 27–14–6–2 62
50 January 22 Detroit 5 – 4 Los Angeles Joseph 18,118 28–14–6–2 64
51 January 24 Detroit 2 – 5 Phoenix Joseph 19,019 28–15–6–2 64
52 January 26 Detroit 2 – 2 Dallas OT Legace 18,532 28–15–7–2 65
53 January 29 New Jersey 2 – 5 Detroit Joseph 20,066 29–15–7–2 67
54 January 31 Carolina 4 – 4 Detroit OT Legace 20,066 30–15–8–2 68

February[]

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
55 February 3 Detroit 4 – 1 Nashville Legace 15,134 30–15–8–2 70
56 February 5 Detroit 3 – 2 Colorado OT Joseph 18,007 31–15–8–2 72
57 February 11 San Jose 2 – 4 Detroit Legace 20,066 32–15–8–2 74
58 February 14 Colorado 5 – 2 Detroit Legace 20,066 32–16–8–2 74
59 February 16 Edmonton 1 – 2 Detroit Legace 20,066 33–16–8–2 76
60 February 18 Phoenix 2 – 5 Detroit Legace 20,066 34–16–8–2 78
61 February 20 St. Louis 1 – 5 Detroit Legace 20,066 35–16–8–2 80
62 February 23 Detroit 1 – 1 Edmonton OT Lamothe 16,839 35–16–9–2 81
63 February 24 Detroit 2 – 4 Vancouver Legace 18,630 35–17–9–2 81
64 February 26 Detroit 2 – 1 Calgary Legace 17,862 36–17–9–2 83
65 February 29 Philadelphia 2 – 4 Detroit Legace 20,066 37–17–9–2 85

March[]

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
66 March 3 Calgary 1 – 2 Detroit Legace 20,066 38–17–9–2 87
67 March 5 Vancouver 1 – 3 Detroit Legace 20,066 39–17–9–2 89
68 March 8 Tampa Bay 1 – 1 Detroit OT Legace 20,066 39–17–10–2 90
69 March 11 Detroit 4 – 2 Columbus Joseph 18,136 40–17–10–2 92
70 March 13 Dallas 0 – 3 Detroit Legace 20,066 41–17–10–2 94
71 March 14 Nashville 2 – 3 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 42–17–10–2 96
72 March 16 Calgary 4 – 1 Detroit Legace 20,066 42–18–10–2 96
73 March 18 Detroit 1 – 1 Phoenix OT Joseph 18,704 42–18–11–2 97
74 March 20 Detroit 4 – 2 Los Angeles Joseph 18,118 43–18–11–2 99
75 March 21 Detroit 6 – 8 Anaheim Joseph 17,174 43–19–11–2 99
76 March 23 Detroit 2 – 5 San Jose Legace 17,496 43–20–11–2 99
77 March 25 Detroit 3 – 1 Colorado Legace 18,007 44–20–11–2 101
78 March 27 Colorado 0 – 2 Detroit Legace 20,066 45–20–11–2 103
79 March 29 Minnesota 3 – 5 Detroit Legace 20,066 46–20–11–2 105
80 March 31 Detroit 3 – 2 Columbus Legace 18,136 47–20–11–2 107

April[]

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

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
81 April 1 Detroit 3 – 2 St. Louis Lamothe 20,018 48–20–11–2 109
82 April 3 Columbus 4 – 1 Detroit Legace 20,066 48–21–11–2 109
  • Green background indicates win.
  • Red background indicates regulation loss.
  • Yellow background indicates tie.
  • White background indicates overtime loss.

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

Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series
1 April 7 Nashville 1 – 3 Detroit Legace 20,066 1 – 0
2 April 10 Nashville 1 – 2 Detroit Legace 20,066 2 – 0
3 April 11 Detroit 1 – 3 Nashville Legace 17,113 2 – 1
4 April 13 Detroit 0 – 3 Nashville Legace 17,113 2 – 2
5 April 15 Nashville 1 – 4 Detroit Joseph 20,066 3 – 2
6 April 17 Detroit 2 – 0 Nashville Joseph 17,329 4 – 2

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

Calgary Flames win series 4–2

Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series
1 April 22 Calgary 2 – 1 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 0 – 1
2 April 24 Calgary 2 – 5 Detroit Joseph 20,066 1 – 1
3 April 27 Detroit 2 – 3 Calgary Joseph 19,289 1 – 2
4 April 29 Detroit 4 – 2 Calgary Joseph 19,289 2 – 2
5 May 1 Calgary 1 – 0 Detroit Joseph 20,066 2 – 3
6 May 3 Detroit 0 – 1 Calgary OT Joseph 19,289 2 – 4
  • Green background indicates win.
  • Red background indicates loss.

Player stats[]

Skaters[]

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

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player Pos GP G A Pts +/- PIM GP G A Pts +/- PIM
Pavel Datsyuk C 75 30 38 68 -2 35 12 0 6 6 +1 2
Brett Hull RW 81 25 43 68 -4 12 12 3 2 5 0 4
Brendan Shanahan LW 82 25 28 53 +15 117 12 1 5 6 +4 20
Steve Yzerman C 75 18 33 51 +10 46 11 3 2 5 -1 0
Mathieu Schneider D 78 14 32 46 +22 56 12 1 2 3 +2 8
Henrik Zetterberg LW 61 15 28 43 +15 14 12 2 2 4 0 4
Ray Whitney LW 67 14 29 43 +7 22 12 1 3 4 -4 4
Kris Draper C 67 24 16 40 +22 31 12 1 3 4 +1 6
Nicklas Lidstrom D 81 10 28 38 +19 18 12 2 5 7 +4 4
Kirk Maltby LW 79 14 19 33 +24 80 12 1 3 4 +2 11
Tomas Holmstrom LW 67 15 15 30 +8 38 12 2 2 4 0 10
Steve Thomas RW 44 10 12 22 +8 25 6 0 1 1 +1 2
Chris Chelios D 69 2 19 21 +12 61 8 0 1 1 +1 4
Jiri Fischer D 81 4 15 19 0 75 11 1 0 1 -2 16
Jason Woolley D 55 4 15 19 +19 28 6 0 1 1 -4 6
Boyd Devereaux C 61 6 9 15 -1 20 4 0 0 0 -1 0
Jason Williams C 49 6 7 13 +1 15 3 0 0 0 0 2
Mathieu Dandenault D 65 3 9 12 +9 40 12 1 1 2 -1 6
Darren McCarty RW 43 6 5 11 +2 50 12 0 1 1 0 7
Mark Mowers RW 52 3 8 11 +3 4 -- -- -- -- -- --
Jamie Rivers D 50 3 4 7 +9 41 2 0 0 0 0 2
Niklas Kronwall D 20 1 4 5 +5 16 -- -- -- -- -- --
Robert Lang* C 6 1 4 5 +2 0 12 4 5 9 -1 6
Derian Hatcher D 15 0 4 4 +4 8 -- -- -- -- -- --
Jiri Hudler C 12 1 2 3 -1 10 -- -- -- -- -- --
Kevin Miller C 4 0 2 2 +2 0 -- -- -- -- -- --
Darryl Bootland RW 22 1 1 2 -3 74 -- -- -- -- -- --
Anders Myrvold D 8 0 1 1 -1 2 -- -- -- -- -- --
Nathan Robinson LW 5 0 0 0 -1 2 -- -- -- -- -- --
Ryan Barnes LW 2 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- --

*Stats reflect games played with Detroit only.

Goaltending[]

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L T GA SO SV% GAA GP TOI W L GA SO SV% GAA
Manny Legace 41 2325 23 10 5 82 3 .920 2.12 4 220 2 2 8 0 .905 2.18
Curtis Joseph 31 1708 16 10 3 68 2 .909 2.39 9 518 4 4 12 1 .939 1.39
Dominik Hasek 14 817 8 3 2 30 2 .907 2.20 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Marc Lamothe 2 125 1 0 1 3 0 .948 1.45 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Awards and records[]

Trophies and awards[]

Records[]

Milestones[]

Transactions[]

The Red Wings were involved in the following transactions during the 2003–04 season.[3]

Trades[]

February 27, 2004 To Detroit Red Wings
Robert Lang
To Washington Capitals
Tomas Fleischmann
First-round pick in 2004 Draft
Fourth-round pick in 2006 Draft

Free agents[]

Player signed Former team
G Dominik Hasek Return from Retirement
D Derian Hatcher Dallas Stars
D Jamie Rivers Florida Panthers
D Ray Whitney Columbus Blue Jackets
RW Kevin Miller Playing in Switzerland
Player lost New team
D Dmitry Bykov Playing in Europe
D Jesse Wallin Calgary Flames
D Patrick Boileau Pittsburgh Penguins
LW Luc Robitaille Los Angeles Kings
C Igor Larionov New Jersey Devils
C Sergei Fedorov Anaheim Mighty Ducks

Draft picks[]

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

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
2 64 Jimmy Howard (G) Flag of the United States United States University of Maine (NCAA)
4 132 Kyle Quincey (D) Flag of Canada Canada London Knights (OHL)
5 164 Ryan Oulahen (C) Flag of Canada Canada Brampton Battalion (OHL)
6 170 Andreas Sundin (LW) Flag of Sweden Sweden Linköpings HC (SWE)
6 194 Stefan Blom (D) Flag of Sweden Sweden Hammarby IF Hockey (SWE)
9 289 Mikael Johansson (C) Flag of Sweden Sweden Arvika (SWE)

Farm teams[]

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.

See also[]

References[]

  1. Perreault, Selanne among all-stars, tsn.ca, September 6, 2007
  2. (2009) in Dinger, Ralph: The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2010. Dan Diamond & Associates, 162. 
  3. 2003 Who's In, Who's Out: NHL Roster Changes In The Summer of 2003, proicehockey.about.com, accessed September 4, 2007


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