2003–04 NHL season
National Hockey League season / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2003–04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. The thirty teams played 82 games in a new format that increased divisional games from 5 to 6 per team (30 total), conference games from 3 to 4 (32 total), and decreased inter-conference games to at least one per team, with three extra games (18 in total).
2003–04 NHL season | |
---|---|
League | National Hockey League |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Duration | October 8, 2003 – June 7, 2004 |
Number of games | 82 |
Number of teams | 30 |
TV partner(s) | CBC, TSN, RDS (Canada) ESPN, ABC (United States) |
Draft | |
Top draft pick | Marc-Andre Fleury |
Picked by | Pittsburgh Penguins |
Regular season | |
Presidents' Trophy | Detroit Red Wings |
Season MVP | Martin St. Louis (Lightning) |
Top scorer | Martin St. Louis (Lightning) |
Playoffs | |
Playoffs MVP | Brad Richards (Lightning) |
Stanley Cup | |
Champions | Tampa Bay Lightning |
Runners-up | Calgary Flames |
Seasons | |
← 2002–03 2004–05 → |
The Stanley Cup winners were the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the Calgary Flames. This was the first season since the 1969–70 season that teams would wear their dark jerseys at home. For the fourth time in eight years, the all-time record for total shutouts in a season was shattered, as 192 shutouts were recorded. The 2003–04 regular season was also the first one (excluding the lockout-shortened regular season of 1994–95) since 1967–68 in which there was neither a 50-goal scorer, nor a 100-point scorer.
This was the final season that ABC and ESPN televised NHL games. It was also the final NHL season before the 2004–05 NHL lockout, and the final season in which games could end in ties.