2003–04 Montreal Canadiens season

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2003–04 Montreal Canadiens
Division4th Northeast
Conference7th Eastern
2003–04 record41–30–7–4
Home record23–13–4–1
Road record18–17–3–3
Goals for208
Goals against192
Team information
General managerBob Gainey
CoachClaude Julien
CaptainSaku Koivu
Alternate captainsCraig Rivet
Sheldon Souray
ArenaBell Centre
Team leaders
GoalsRichard Zednik (26)
AssistsMike Ribeiro (45)
PointsMike Ribeiro (65)
Penalty minutesDarren Langdon (135)
Plus/minusPatrice Brisebois (+17)
WinsJose Theodore (33)
Goals against averageJose Theodore
Mathieu Garon (2.27)

The 2003–04 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 95th season of play, 87th in the National Hockey League. The Canadiens returned to the playoffs this season and made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals after winning the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Boston Bruins, 4–3, before being eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4–0.

Regular season[]

Heritage Classic[]

The Heritage Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played on November 22, 2003, in Edmonton, Alberta, between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. It was the second NHL outdoor game and the first regular season outdoor game in the history of the NHL, and was modeled after the success of the "cold war" game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in 2001.[1]

The first NHL game to be played outdoors was in 1991 when the Los Angeles Kings played the New York Rangers in an exhibition game outside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.[2] The event took place in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in front of a crowd of 57,167, the largest number of people to ever watch a live NHL game, despite temperatures of close to −18 °C, −30 °C (−22 °F) with wind chill. It was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers joining the NHL in 1979.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) television broadcast also set the record for most viewers of a single NHL game with 2.747 million nationwide. This was the first NHL game broadcast in HDTV on CBC.

The Canadiens won the game by a score of 4–3.

Final standings[]

Northeast Division[3]
No. CR GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts
1 2 Boston Bruins 82 41 19 15 7 209 188 104
2 4 Toronto Maple Leafs 82 45 24 10 3 242 204 103
3 5 Ottawa Senators 82 43 23 10 6 262 189 102
4 7 Montreal Canadiens 82 41 30 7 4 208 192 93
5 9 Buffalo Sabres 82 37 34 7 4 220 221 85

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.

Eastern Conference[4]
R Div GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts
1 Z- Tampa Bay Lightning SE 82 46 22 8 6 245 192 106
2 Y- Boston Bruins NE 82 41 19 15 7 209 188 104
3 Y- Philadelphia Flyers AT 82 40 21 15 6 209 188 101
4 X- Toronto Maple Leafs NE 82 45 24 10 3 242 204 103
5 X- Ottawa Senators NE 82 43 23 10 6 262 189 102
6 X- New Jersey Devils AT 82 43 25 12 2 213 164 100
7 X- Montreal Canadiens NE 82 41 30 7 4 208 192 93
8 X- New York Islanders AT 82 38 29 11 4 237 210 91
8.5
9 Buffalo Sabres NE 82 37 34 7 4 220 221 85
10 Atlanta Thrashers SE 82 33 37 8 4 214 243 78
11 Carolina Hurricanes SE 82 28 34 14 6 172 209 76
12 Florida Panthers SE 82 28 35 15 4 188 221 75
13 New York Rangers AT 82 27 40 7 8 206 250 69
14 Washington Capitals SE 82 23 46 10 3 186 253 59
15 Pittsburgh Penguins AT 82 23 47 8 4 190 303 58

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot


Schedule and results[]

Regular season results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record Points
1 L October 9, 2003 2–5 @ Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 0–1–0–0 0
2 W October 11, 2003 4–0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 1–1–0–0 2
3 W October 14, 2003 5–1 Washington Capitals (2003–04) 2–1–0–0 4
4 W October 16, 2003 4–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 3–1–0–0 6
5 L October 18, 2003 0–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 3–2–0–0 6
6 W October 20, 2003 2–1 Detroit Red Wings (2003–04) 4–2–0–0 8
7 W October 23, 2003 3–0 New York Islanders (2003–04) 5–2–0–0 10
8 L October 25, 2003 2–6 Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 5–3–0–0 10
9 L October 27, 2003 0–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 5–4–0–0 10
10 L October 28, 2003 0–2 Boston Bruins (2003–04) 5–5–0–0 10
11 W October 30, 2003 1–0 OT @ Boston Bruins (2003–04) 6–5–0–0 12
12 L November 1, 2003 1–5 New York Rangers (2003–04) 6–6–0–0 12
13 L November 4, 2003 2–4 Edmonton Oilers (2003–04) 6–7–0–0 12
14 L November 7, 2003 1–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 6–8–0–0 12
15 W November 8, 2003 3–0 Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 7–8–0–0 14
16 T November 11, 2003 1–1 OT Columbus Blue Jackets (2003–04) 7–8–1–0 15
17 L November 13, 2003 1–3 @ New York Islanders (2003–04) 7–9–1–0 15
18 W November 15, 2003 3–2 @ Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 8–9–1–0 17
19 OTL November 18, 2003 4–5 OT @ Vancouver Canucks (2003–04) 8–9–1–1 18
20 L November 20, 2003 1–2 @ Calgary Flames (2003–04) 8–10–1–1 18
21 W November 22, 2003 4–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (2003–04) 9–10–1–1 20
22 L November 25, 2003 2–5 Vancouver Canucks (2003–04) 9–11–1–1 20
23 W November 28, 2003 5–3 @ Washington Capitals (2003–04) 10–11–1–1 22
24 T November 29, 2003 1–1 OT Florida Panthers (2003–04) 10–11–2–1 23
25 W December 2, 2003 3–2 Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 11–11–2–1 25
26 T December 5, 2003 1–1 OT @ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 11–11–3–1 26
27 W December 6, 2003 3–1 Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 12–11–3–1 28
28 L December 8, 2003 2–3 Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 12–12–3–1 28
29 W December 10, 2003 2–1 @ New York Rangers (2003–04) 13–12–3–1 30
30 L December 12, 2003 2–4 @ Florida Panthers (2003–04) 13–13–3–1 30
31 W December 13, 2003 5–2 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 14–13–3–1 32
32 T December 16, 2003 1–1 OT Boston Bruins (2003–04) 14–13–4–1 33
33 W December 18, 2003 5–4 OT Nashville Predators (2003–04) 15–13–4–1 35
34 L December 20, 2003 2–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 15–14–4–1 35
35 W December 22, 2003 4–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 16–14–4–1 37
36 L December 23, 2003 2–3 @ Washington Capitals (2003–04) 16–15–4–1 37
37 OTL December 27, 2003 1–2 OT @ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 16–15–4–2 38
38 W December 29, 2003 2–1 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 17–15–4–2 40
39 T December 31, 2003 1–1 OT @ Dallas Stars (2003–04) 17–15–5–2 41
40 W January 3, 2004 5–1 Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 18–15–5–2 43
41 W January 4, 2004 4–1 Washington Capitals (2003–04) 19–15–5–2 45
42 W January 6, 2004 3–1 Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 20–15–5–2 47
43 L January 8, 2004 1–4 Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 20–16–5–2 47
44 W January 10, 2004 8–0 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 21–16–5–2 49
45 W January 13, 2004 5–2 St. Louis Blues (2003–04) 22–16–5–2 51
46 W January 14, 2004 2–1 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 23–16–5–2 53
47 T January 17, 2004 2–2 OT New York Rangers (2003–04) 23–16–6–2 54
48 W January 20, 2004 4–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 24–16–6–2 56
49 L January 23, 2004 0–2 @ New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 24–17–6–2 56
50 L January 24, 2004 1–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 24–18–6–2 56
51 L January 27, 2004 1–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 24–19–6–2 56
52 W January 29, 2004 3–2 OT @ Minnesota Wild (2003–04) 25–19–6–2 58
53 L January 31, 2004 0–1 Boston Bruins (2003–04) 25–20–6–2 58
54 W February 1, 2004 6–4 Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04) 26–20–6–2 60
55 W February 3, 2004 4–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04) 27–20–6–2 62
56 W February 5, 2004 2–1 New York Islanders (2003–04) 28–20–6–2 64
57 L February 10, 2004 1–2 @ Florida Panthers (2003–04) 28–21–6–2 64
58 L February 12, 2004 3–5 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04) 28–22–6–2 64
59 L February 14, 2004 2–5 @ Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 28–23–6–2 64
60 L February 17, 2004 1–4 Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04) 28–24–6–2 64
61 W February 19, 2004 4–1 Calgary Flames (2003–04) 29–24–6–2 66
62 L February 21, 2004 4–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 29–25–6–2 66
63 W February 23, 2004 4–1 @ New York Rangers (2003–04) 30–25–6–2 68
64 W February 24, 2004 4–2 Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 31–25–6–2 70
65 W February 26, 2004 3–2 OT @ Boston Bruins (2003–04) 32–25–6–2 72
66 W February 28, 2004 1–0 OT Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04) 33–25–6–2 74
67 W March 1, 2004 2–1 New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 34–25–6–2 76
68 L March 3, 2004 3–4 @ San Jose Sharks (2003–04) 34–26–6–2 76
69 W March 5, 2004 4–3 @ Phoenix Coyotes (2003–04) 35–26–6–2 78
70 W March 6, 2004 4–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (2003–04) 36–26–6–2 80
71 W March 8, 2004 5–2 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04) 37–26–6–2 82
72 OTL March 11, 2004 2–3 OT Florida Panthers (2003–04) 37–26–6–3 83
73 W March 13, 2004 4–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04) 38–26–6–3 85
74 W March 16, 2004 4–2 Colorado Avalanche (2003–04) 39–26–6–3 87
75 T March 19, 2004 1–1 OT @ New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 39–26–7–3 88
76 W March 20, 2004 3–2 New Jersey Devils (2003–04) 40–26–7–3 90
77 L March 24, 2004 1–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 40–27–7–3 90
78 L March 25, 2004 0–4 Ottawa Senators (2003–04) 40–28–7–3 90
79 OTL March 27, 2004 2–3 OT @ Boston Bruins (2003–04) 40–28–7–4 91
80 L March 31, 2004 1–5 @ New York Islanders (2003–04) 40–29–7–4 91
81 L April 1, 2004 0–2 Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04) 40–30–7–4 91
82 W April 3, 2004 6–3 Buffalo Sabres (2003–04) 41–30–7–4 93

Playoffs[]

Montreal Canadiens -vs- Boston Bruins

  • April 7 - Game 1 - Canadiens 0, Bruins 3
  • April 9 - Game 2 - Canadiens 1, Bruins 2 (OT)
  • April 11 - Game 3 - Canadiens 3, Bruins 2
  • April 13 - Game 4 - Canadiens 3, Bruins 4 (2OT)
  • April 15 - Game 5 - Canadiens 5, Bruins 1
  • April 17 - Game 6 - Canadiens 5, Bruins 2
  • April 19 - Game 7 - Canadiens 2, Bruins 0

Montreal wins series 4–3

Montreal Canadiens -vs- Tampa Bay Lightning

  • April 23 - Game 1 - Canadiens 0, Lightning 4
  • April 25 - Game 2 - Canadiens 1, Lightning 3
  • April 27 - Game 3 - Canadiens 3, Lightning 4 (OT)
  • April 29 - Game 4 - Canadiens 1, Lightning 3

Tampa Bay wins series 4–0

Player statistics[]

Regular season[]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Mike Ribeiro C 81 20 45 65 34 15 7 0 5
Michael Ryder RW 81 25 38 63 26 10 10 0 4
Saku Koivu C 68 14 41 55 52 -5 5 0 3
Richard Zednik RW 81 26 24 50 63 5 7 0 9
Sheldon Souray D 63 15 20 35 104 4 6 1 3
Yanic Perreault C 69 16 15 31 40 -10 5 0 3
Patrice Brisebois D 71 4 27 31 22 17 2 0 0
Jan Bulis C 72 13 17 30 30 -8 1 1 4
Andrei Markov D 69 6 22 28 20 -2 2 0 0
Pierre Dagenais RW 50 17 10 27 24 15 4 0 3
Niklas Sundstrom RW 66 8 12 20 18 3 0 0 2
Francis Bouillon D 73 2 16 18 70 1 0 0 0
Steve Begin C 52 10 5 15 41 6 0 1 1
Joe Juneau C 70 5 10 15 20 -4 2 1 1
Jason Ward RW 53 5 7 12 21 3 2 0 1
Andreas Dackell RW 60 4 8 12 10 8 0 0 0
Craig Rivet D 80 4 8 12 98 -1 2 0 1
Donald Audette RW 23 3 5 8 16 -4 0 0 0
Stephane Quintal D 73 3 5 8 82 10 0 0 0
Jim Dowd C 14 3 2 5 6 6 0 1 0
Chad Kilger LW 36 2 2 4 14 2 0 0 0
Mike Komisarek D 46 0 4 4 34 4 0 0 0
Alexei Kovalev RW 12 1 2 3 12 -4 0 0 1
Darren Langdon LW 64 0 3 3 135 -2 0 0 0
Jose Theodore G 67 0 3 3 4 0 0 0 0
Ron Hainsey D 11 1 1 2 4 3 0 0 0
Marcel Hossa LW 15 1 1 2 8 -3 0 0 0
Benoit Gratton C 4 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0
Jozef Balej RW 4 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Gordie Dwyer LW 2 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0
Karl Dykhuis D 9 0 0 0 2 -2 0 0 0
Mathieu Garon G 19 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Chris Higgins C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tomas Plekanec LW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T/OT GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Jose Theodore 3961 67 33 28 5 150 2.27 6 1860 1710 .919
Mathieu Garon 1003 19 8 6 2 38 2.27 0 480 442 .921
Team: 4964 82 41 34 7 188 2.27 6 2340 2152 .920

Playoffs[]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Saku Koivu C 11 3 8 11 10 2 0 0
Alexei Kovalev RW 11 6 4 10 8 1 0 1
Richard Zednik RW 11 3 3 6 2 0 0 1
Andrei Markov D 11 1 4 5 8 0 0 1
Craig Rivet D 11 1 4 5 2 1 0 0
Yanic Perreault C 9 2 2 4 0 0 0 1
Patrice Brisebois D 11 2 1 3 4 1 0 0
Mike Ribeiro C 11 2 1 3 18 0 0 0
Michael Ryder RW 11 1 2 3 4 0 0 0
Jan Bulis C 11 1 1 2 4 0 0 0
Jim Dowd C 11 0 2 2 2 0 0 0
Sheldon Souray D 11 0 2 2 39 0 0 0
Jose Theodore G 11 0 2 2 0 0 0 0
Jason Ward RW 5 0 2 2 2 0 0 0
Darren Langdon LW 9 1 0 1 6 0 0 0
Niklas Sundstrom RW 4 1 0 1 2 0 0 0
Steve Begin C 9 0 1 1 10 0 0 0
Pierre Dagenais RW 8 0 1 1 6 0 0 0
Joe Juneau C 11 0 1 1 4 0 0 0
Francis Bouillon D 11 0 0 0 7 0 0 0
Mathieu Garon G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Komisarek D 7 0 0 0 8 0 0 0
Stephane Quintal D 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Jose Theodore 678 11 4 7 27 2.39 1 333 306 .919
Mathieu Garon 12 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 6 6 1.000
Team: 690 11 4 7 27 2.35 1 339 312 .920

[5]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records[]

Transactions[]

Roster[]

Forwards:
11 - Saku Koivu
15 - Darren Langdon
17 - Jason Ward
20 - Richard Zednik
22 - Steve Begin
24 - Andreas Dackell
25 - Chad Kilger
26 - Pierre Dagenais
27 - Alexei Kovalev
32 - Gordie Dwyer
34 - Jim Dowd
35 - Tomas Plekanec
37 - Niklas Sundstrom
38 - Jan Bulis
46 - Benoit Gratton
71 - Mike Ribeiro
73 - Michael Ryder
76 - Jozef Balej
81 - Marcel Hossa
82 - Donald Audette
88 - Chris Higgins
90 - Joe Juneau
94 - Yanic Perreault

Defencemen:
5 - Stephane Quintal
8 - Mike Komisarek
28 - Karl Dykhuis
43 - Patrice Brisebois
44 - Sheldon Souray
51 - Francis Bouillon
52 - Craig Rivet
65 - Ron Hainsey
79 - Andrei Markov

Goaltenders:
30 - Mathieu Garon
60 - Jose Theodore


Draft picks[]

Round # Player Nationality College/junior/club team
1 10 Andrei Kostitsyn (RW)  Belarus CSKA Moscow (RSL)
2 40 Cory Urquhart (C)  Canada Montreal Rocket (QMJHL)
2 61 Maxim Lapierre (C)  Canada Montreal Rocket (QMJHL)
3 79 Ryan O'Byrne (D)  Canada Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
4 113 Corey Locke (C)  Canada Ottawa 67's (OHL)
4 123 Danny Stewart (LW)  Canada Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)
6 177 Christopher Heino-Lindberg (G)  Sweden Hammarby IF (Sweden)
6 188 Mark Flood (D)  Canada Peterborough Petes (OHL)
7 217 Oskari Korpikari (D)  Finland Oulun Kärpät (Finland)
8 241 Jimmy Bonneau (LW)  Canada Montreal Rocket (QMJHL)
9 271 Jaroslav Halak (G)  Slovakia Slovan Bratislava Jr. (Slovakia)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Edmonton Oilers Heritage Website - Heritage Classic". Archived from the original on 2007-12-04. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
  2. ^ "Not exactly the first time". CBC News. Archived from the original on 15 November 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
  3. ^ "2003-2004 Division Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
  4. ^ "2003–2004 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
  5. ^ "2003-04 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
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