2002-03 NHL season
| 2002–03 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 9, 2002 – June 9, 2003 |
| Number of games | 82 |
| Number of teams | 30 |
| Regular season | |
| Presidents' Trophy | Ottawa Senators |
| Season MVP | Peter Forsberg (Avalanche) |
| Top scorer | Peter Forsberg (Avalanche) |
| Playoffs | |
| Eastern champions | New Jersey Devils |
| Eastern runners-up | Ottawa Senators |
| Western champions | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
| Western runners-up | Minnesota Wild |
| Playoffs MVP | Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Mighty Ducks) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | New Jersey Devils |
| Runners-up | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
The 2002–03 NHL season was the 86th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the New Jersey Devils, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
As always, the regular season saw several surprises. The San Jose Sharks, who many felt would be one of the elite teams in the West, stumbled early and badly disassembled much of the team. The two-year-old Minnesota Wild, on the other hand, got out to an early start and held onto their first-ever playoff berth throughout the season, winning coach Jacques Lemaire the Jack Adams Award.
The elite teams of previous years such as the Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils, were joined by two younger Canadian teams, the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks. The Dallas Stars, which had missed the playoffs the year before, returned as a major power, backed by the record-setting goaltending of Marty Turco.
The most surprising team was probably the Tampa Bay Lightning, which many had predicted to finish last, winning their first Southeast Division title and making the playoffs for the first time in seven years. The most disappointing teams, other than the Sharks, were the New York Rangers, who finished out of the playoffs again despite bearing the league's leading payroll, and the Carolina Hurricanes, who finished last overall after a surprise run to the Stanley Cup Final the year before. On January 8, 2003, Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Michael Leighton gained a shutout in his NHL debut in a 0–0 tie versus the Phoenix Coyotes. Coyotes goaltender Zac Bierk earned his first career shutout, although it was not his NHL debut. It was the first—and with the abolition of ties two years later, the only—time that two goalies in the same game both earned their first career shutouts.
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