2003–04 Ottawa Senators season

2003–04 Ottawa Senators
Division	3rd Northeast
Conference	5th Eastern
2003–04 record	43–29–10–6
Home record	23–8–5–5
Road record	20–15–5–1
Goals for	262
Goals against	189
Team information
General manager	John Muckler
Coach	Jacques Martin
Captain	Daniel Alfredsson
Alternate captains	Zdeno Chara Curtis Leschyshyn Wade Redden
Arena	Corel Centre
Average attendance	17,758 (92.7%)
Team leaders
Goals	Marian Hossa (36)
Assists	Daniel Alfredsson (48)
Points	Marian Hossa (82)
Penalty minutes	Chris Neil (194)
Plus/minus	Zdeno Chara (+33)
Wins	Patrick Lalime (25)
Goals against average	Martin Prusek (2.12)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

The 2003–04 Ottawa Senators season was the 12th season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season would see the Senators again finish with over 100 points, finishing with 102, but this was good for only third in the tightly-contested division, as the Boston Bruins would have 104 and the Toronto Maple Leafs 103. Ottawa would meet Toronto in the first-round of the playoffs for the fourth time, where the Maple Leafs would win the series 4–3 to end the Senators' playoff hopes. Ottawa would fire Head Coach Jacques Martin after the playoff round.

Offseason[]

In the off-season, Eugene Melnyk would purchase the club to bring financial stability. Another change was in the general manager position. Marshall Johnston resigned and was replaced by John Muckler on June 3, 2003. Muckler had been a candidate for the positions of Ottawa head coach or GM back in 1992, but had chosen to sign on with the Buffalo Sabres instead.

On June 21, 2003, Assistant Coach Roger Neilson died after four years of battling cancer. The Senators would wear a patch on their jerseys with an illustration of his signature and a necktie. Neilson would often wear distinctive neckties and the necktie became associated with him, and also became the symbol for "Roger's House", a residence for the use of families with a family member fighting cancer while in hospital, established by him and the Senators.

Regular season[]

Marian Hossa lead the club in scoring with 82 points, good enough for sixth overall in the NHL.

Highlights[]

On February 5, 2004, the Senators were playing the Toronto Maple Leafs and were leading 4–0 in the second period. The flu started affecting players on the Senators leading the team to be down to only 15 skaters by the end of the game. The Maple Leafs took full advantage and won the game 5–4 in overtime.^[1]

On March 5, 2004, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a record was set for the most penalty minutes in a game by both teams, at 419 minutes. Five brawls broke out in the last two minutes of the game. It took the officials until 90 minutes after the game was over to sort out the penalties. By the end of the game, Philadelphia had 213 penalty minutes and seven men left on the bench, while Ottawa finished with 206 penalty minutes and six men left.

The Senators finished the regular season first overall in the NHL in scoring (262 goals for), power-play goals scored (80) and power-play percentage (21.62%).^[2]

Division 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 schedule

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Attendance
1	W	October 9, 2003	5–2	Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	1–0–0–0	18,500
2	OTL	October 11, 2003	2–3 OT	Detroit Red Wings (2003–04)	1–0–0–1	18,500
3	L	October 15, 2003	3–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (2003–04)	1–1–0–1	18,180
4	W	October 17, 2003	3–0	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04)	2–1–0–1	13,885
5	W	October 18, 2003	4–1	@ San Jose Sharks (2003–04)	3–1–0–1	14,807
6	W	October 23, 2003	5–1	Washington Capitals (2003–04)	4–1–0–1	18,188
7	W	October 25, 2003	6–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	5–1–0–1	21,273
8	L	October 30, 2003	2–3	Florida Panthers (2003–04)	5–2–0–1	17,086
9	T	November 1, 2003	1–1 OT	Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)	5–2–1–1	15,445
10	L	November 3, 2003	3–6	@ New York Islanders (2003–04)	5–3–1–1	10,957
11	T	November 6, 2003	3–3 OT	Edmonton Oilers (2003–04)	5–3–2–1	15,216
12	L	November 8, 2003	0–1	New Jersey Devils (2003–04)	5–4–2–1	18,359
13	W	November 11, 2003	5–3	@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	6–4–2–1	13,547
14	W	November 13, 2003	5–2	Columbus Blue Jackets (2003–04)	7–4–2–1	15,297
15	L	November 15, 2003	2–3	Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	7–5–2–1	18,337
16	L	November 17, 2003	1–2	Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)	7–6–2–1	15,744
17	W	November 20, 2003	6–1	Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	8–6–2–1	17,159
18	OTL	November 22, 2003	1–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	8–6–2–2	11,233
19	L	November 23, 2003	2–6	@ New York Rangers (2003–04)	8–7–2–2	18,200
20	W	November 25, 2003	6–3	@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	9–7–2–2	11,937
21	OTL	November 27, 2003	2–3 OT	Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)	9–7–2–3	18,500
22	L	November 29, 2003	1–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	9–8–2–3	18,500
23	W	December 1, 2003	4–1	Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	10–8–2–3	16,289
24	W	December 3, 2003	4–0	@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)	11–8–2–3	11,520
25	W	December 4, 2003	4–1	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	12–8–2–3	15,221
26	L	December 6, 2003	1–2	New Jersey Devils (2003–04)	12–9–2–3	17,931
27	T	December 8, 2003	2–2 OT	@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)	12–9–3–3	10,662
28	W	December 11, 2003	3–2	Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	13–9–3–3	17,256
29	L	December 13, 2003	2–3	Boston Bruins (2003–04)	13–10–3–3	17,671
30	W	December 18, 2003	6–1	Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04)	14–10–3–3	16,420
31	W	December 20, 2003	3–1	New York Rangers (2003–04)	15–10–3–3	18,037
32	W	December 22, 2003	3–2 OT	Florida Panthers (2003–04)	16–10–3–3	17,189
33	T	December 23, 2003	2–2 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)	16–10–4–3	15,317
34	T	December 26, 2003	3–3 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	16–10–5–3	18,316
35	W	December 28, 2003	5–2	Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	17–10–5–3	18,500
36	W	December 30, 2003	3–0	@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)	18–10–5–3	16,388
37	W	January 1, 2004	1–0	New York Islanders (2003–04)	19–10–5–3	18,500
38	W	January 3, 2004	5–2	Washington Capitals (2003–04)	20–10–5–3	17,695
39	W	January 6, 2004	5–2	Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	21–10–5–3	16,890
40	W	January 8, 2004	7–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	22–10–5–3	19,395
41	L	January 9, 2004	2–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)	22–11–5–3	18,690
42	T	January 11, 2004	2–2 OT	@ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	22–11–6–3	9,350
43	W	January 13, 2004	4–0	@ New Jersey Devils (2003–04)	23–11–6–3	11,456
44	T	January 15, 2004	4–4 OT	New York Islanders (2003–04)	23–11–7–3	17,197
45	W	January 17, 2004	4–0	Boston Bruins (2003–04)	24–11–7–3	18,500
46	L	January 19, 2004	2–5	@ New York Islanders (2003–04)	24–12–7–3	14,213
47	W	January 20, 2004	3–1	@ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	25–12–7–3	8,810
48	W	January 22, 2004	6–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	26–12–7–3	16,777
49	W	January 24, 2004	9–1	New York Rangers (2003–04)	27–12–7–3	18,500
50	L	January 28, 2004	3–5	@ Dallas Stars (2003–04)	27–13–7–3	18,006
51	W	January 29, 2004	4–1	@ Phoenix Coyotes (2003–04)	28–13–7–3	13,387
52	L	January 31, 2004	1–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	28–14–7–3	19,419
53	L	February 3, 2004	1–2	@ New Jersey Devils (2003–04)	28–15–7–3	12,304
54	OTL	February 5, 2004	4–5 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	28–15–7–4	18,500
55	W	February 10, 2004	3–1	St. Louis Blues (2003–04)	29–15–7–4	18,238
56	W	February 12, 2004	3–2 OT	Boston Bruins (2003–04)	30–15–7–4	18,364
57	W	February 14, 2004	5–2	Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	31–15–7–4	18,500
58	W	February 16, 2004	4–1	@ New York Rangers (2003–04)	32–15–7–4	18,200
59	T	February 17, 2004	1–1 OT	@ Washington Capitals (2003–04)	32–15–8–4	13,901
60	OTL	February 19, 2004	2–3 OT	Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	32–15–8–5	18,500
61	W	February 21, 2004	2–1	Calgary Flames (2003–04)	33–15–8–5	18,500
62	W	February 22, 2004	6–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	34–15–8–5	11,780
63	L	February 24, 2004	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	34–16–8–5	21,273
64	T	February 26, 2004	1–1 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	34–16–9–5	18,500
65	W	February 28, 2004	7–1	Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)	35–16–9–5	18,500
66	L	March 3, 2004	3–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)	35–17–9–5	11,956
67	L	March 5, 2004	3–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	35–18–9–5	19,539
68	W	March 6, 2004	4–2	Nashville Predators (2003–04)	36–18–9–5	18,500
69	W	March 8, 2004	4–1	@ Washington Capitals (2003–04)	37–18–9–5	17,776
70	L	March 11, 2004	2–4	@ Calgary Flames (2003–04)	37–19–9–5	17,869
71	W	March 13, 2004	2–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)	38–19–9–5	18,630
72	L	March 14, 2004	1–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (2003–04)	38–20–9–5	16,839
73	L	March 16, 2004	2–5	@ Minnesota Wild (2003–04)	38–21–9–5	18,568
74	W	March 18, 2004	2–0	Colorado Avalanche (2003–04)	39–21–9–5	18,500
75	OTL	March 20, 2004	2–3 OT	Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	39–21–9–6	18,500
76	L	March 23, 2004	2–4	@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)	39–22–9–6	15,887
77	W	March 25, 2004	4–0	@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	40–22–9–6	21,273
78	T	March 27, 2004	2–2 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	40–22–10–6	19,480
79	W	March 29, 2004	5–4 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	41–22–10–6	19,844
80	W	March 31, 2004	5–4	@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)	42–22–10–6	15,876
81	W	April 2, 2004	3–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	43–22–10–6	19,776
82	L	April 3, 2004	0–6	Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	43–23–10–6	18,500

^[5]

Playoffs[]

In the first round of the 2004 playoffs, the Senators would lose again to the Maple Leafs for the fourth straight time. By now, Ottawa had developed a strong rivalry with their Ontario cousins and there was a great deal of pressure on the team to finally defeat the Leafs. Two days after the Senators' loss, Head Coach Jacques Martin was fired, and goaltender Patrick Lalime was later traded to the St. Louis Blues.

Martin had been coach of the Senators for eight-and-a-half years. He was well respected, earned a 341–255–96 regular season record with the Senators, had led the team to eight consecutive playoff appearances and was widely credited with changing the team into an elite NHL franchise. He also won the Jack Adams Trophy as Coach of the Year in 1999. However, after losing eight of 12 playoff series, including all four series in five years against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs, Senators ownership felt that a new coach was required for playoff success.

On June 8, 2004, Bryan Murray of nearby town Shawville, Quebec, became the team's fifth head coach, leaving the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. where he had previously been general manager.

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes	Attendance
April 8	Ottawa	4	Toronto	2		19,535
April 10	Ottawa	0	Toronto	2		19,529
April 12	Toronto	2	Ottawa	0		18,500
April 14	Toronto	1	Ottawa	4		18,500
April 16	Ottawa	0	Toronto	2		19,584
April 18	Toronto	1	Ottawa	2	2OT	18,500
April 20	Ottawa	1	Toronto	4		19,646
Toronto wins series 4–3

Player statistics[]

Regular season[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Marian Hossa	RW	81	36	46	82	46	4	14	1	5
Daniel Alfredsson	RW	77	32	48	80	24	12	9	0	5
Martin Havlat	RW	68	31	37	68	46	12	13	0	7
Jason Spezza	C	78	22	33	55	71	22	5	0	3
Bryan Smolinski	C	80	19	27	46	49	22	4	0	3
Radek Bonk	C	66	12	32	44	66	2	6	0	1
Wade Redden	D	81	17	26	43	65	21	12	0	3
Zdeno Chara	D	79	16	25	41	147	33	7	0	3
Peter Schaefer	LW	81	15	24	39	26	22	2	2	3
Todd White	C	53	9	20	29	22	12	1	1	2
Chris Phillips	D	82	7	16	23	46	15	0	0	1
Josh Langfeld	RW	38	7	10	17	16	6	2	0	2
Karel Rachunek	D	60	1	16	17	29	17	0	0	0
Chris Neil	RW	82	8	8	16	194	13	0	0	1
Antoine Vermette	C	57	7	7	14	16	5	0	1	0
Peter Bondra	RW	23	5	9	14	16	1	2	0	1
Shaun Van Allen	C	73	2	10	12	80	6	0	1	0
Vaclav Varada	RW	30	5	5	10	26	2	0	0	1
Mike Fisher	C	24	4	6	10	39	-3	1	0	0
Brian Pothier	D	55	2	6	8	24	6	1	0	1
Petr Schastlivy	LW	43	2	4	6	14	-1	1	0	1
Curtis Leschyshyn	D	56	1	4	5	16	13	0	0	0
Shane Hnidy	D	37	0	5	5	72	2	0	0	0
Anton Volchenkov	D	19	1	2	3	8	1	0	0	0
Patrick Lalime	G	57	0	2	2	17	0	0	0	0
Rob Ray	RW	6	1	0	1	14	0	0	0	0
Greg de Vries	D	13	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0
Serge Payer	C	5	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	0
Martin Prusek	G	29	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Todd Simpson	D	16	0	1	1	47	-1	0	0	0
Ray Emery	G	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Denis Hamel	LW	5	0	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0
Jody Hull	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Kelly	C/LW	4	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Brooks Laich	C	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Julien Vauclair	D	1	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T/OT	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Patrick Lalime	3324	57	25	23	7	127	2.29	5	1334	1207	.905
Martin Prusek	1528	29	16	6	3	54	2.12	3	651	597	.917
Ray Emery	126	3	2	0	0	5	2.38	0	52	47	.904
Team:	4978	82	43	29	10	186	2.24	8	2037	1851	.909

Playoffs[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Marian Hossa	RW	7	3	1	4	0	2	1	0	2
Daniel Alfredsson	RW	7	1	2	3	2	0	0	0	0
Martin Havlat	RW	7	0	3	3	2	-1	0	0	0
Zdeno Chara	D	7	1	1	2	8	3	0	0	0
Bryan Smolinski	C	7	1	1	2	4	-2	0	0	0
Vaclav Varada	RW	7	1	1	2	4	0	0	0	0
Radek Bonk	C	7	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	0
Peter Schaefer	LW	7	0	2	2	4	1	0	0	0
Mike Fisher	C	7	1	0	1	4	0	0	0	1
Chris Phillips	D	7	1	0	1	12	2	1	0	0
Wade Redden	D	7	1	0	1	2	-5	1	0	0
Todd White	C	7	1	0	1	4	-1	0	0	0
Greg de Vries	D	7	0	1	1	8	-2	0	0	0
Chris Neil	RW	7	0	1	1	19	0	0	0	0
Antoine Vermette	C	4	0	1	1	4	-1	0	0	0
Peter Bondra	RW	7	0	0	0	6	-4	0	0	0
Patrick Lalime	G	7	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Curtis Leschyshyn	D	2	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Brian Pothier	D	7	0	0	0	6	-2	0	0	0
Martin Prusek	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Spezza	C	3	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Anton Volchenkov	D	5	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Patrick Lalime	398	7	3	4	13	1.96	0	139	126	.906
Martin Prusek	40	1	0	0	1	1.50	0	15	14	.933
Team:	438	7	3	4	14	1.92	0	154	140	.909

^[6]

Awards and records[]

• Molson Cup – Daniel Alfredsson
• First NHL All-Star Team – Zdeno Chara

Transactions[]

Trades[]

September 10, 2003	To Florida Panthers 2004 draft ninth-round pick	To Ottawa Senators Serge Payer
October 5, 2003	To Washington Capitals future considerations	To Ottawa Senators LW Denis Hamel
December 29, 2003	To Florida Panthers D Wade Brookbank	To Ottawa Senators future considerations
January 6, 2004	To Atlanta Thrashers C Daniel Corso	To Ottawa Senators RW Brad Tapper
January 23, 2004	To Colorado Avalanche RW Dennis Bonvie	To Ottawa Senators C/RW Charlie Stephens
February 4, 2004	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim LW Petr Schastlivy	To Ottawa Senators D Todd Simpson
February 18, 2004	To Washington Capitals C Brooks Laich Second-round draft choice, 2005 draft future considerations	To Ottawa Senators RW Peter Bondra
March 9, 2004	To Nashville Predators D Shane Hnidy	To Ottawa Senators Colorado Avalanche third-round pick in 2004 draft (Peter Regin)

Waivers[]

October 3, 2003	To Nashville Predators Wade Brookbank
October 3, 2003	To Washington Capitals Denis Hamel
December 19, 2003	From Vancouver Canucks Wade Brookbank

Source: Ottawa Senators 2008–09 Media Guide. Ottawa Senators. 2008. pp. 189–190.

Roster[]

2003-04 Ottawa Senators
Goaltenders 1 – Ray Emery  31 – Martin Prusek  40 – Patrick Lalime		Defencemen 2 – Brian Pothier  3 – Zdeno Chara  – A 4 – Chris Phillips  5 – Greg de Vries  6 – Wade Redden  – A 7 – Curtis Leschyshyn  – A 23 – Karel Rachunek  24 – Anton Volchenkov  27 – Todd Simpson  34 – Shane Hnidy  42 – Julien Vauclair	Wingers 9 – Martin Havlat  10 – Peter Bondra  11 – Daniel Alfredsson  – C 15 – Peter Schaefer  16 – Jody Hull  18 – Marian Hossa  19 – Petr Schastlivy  25 – Chris Neil  26 – Vaclav Varada  32 – Rob Ray  33 – Josh Langfeld  45 – Denis Hamel		Centres 12 – Mike Fisher  14 – Radek Bonk  20 – Antoine Vermette  21 – Bryan Smolinski  22 – Shaun Van Allen  28 – Todd White  29 – Brooks Laich  39 – Jason Spezza  43 – Serge Payer  49 – Chris Kelly  GM: John Muckler Coach: Jacques Martin

Sources:

• "NHL.com – Player Search". NHL. Retrieved 2010-02-08.

Draft picks[]

Ottawa's draft picks from the 2003 NHL Entry Draft held on June 21 and June 22, 2003 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team (League)
1	29	Patrick Eaves	United States	Boston College (Hockey East)
2	67	Igor Mirnov	Russia	Dynamo Moscow (RSL)
3	100	Philippe Seydoux	Switzerland	Kloten Flyers (NLA)
4	135	Matt Karlsson	Sweden	Brynäs IF (Elitserien)
5	142	Tim Cook	United States	River City Lancers (USHL)
5	166	Sergei Gimayev	Russia	Severstal Cherepovets (RSL)
7	228	Will Colbert	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
8	269	Ossi Louhivaara	Finland	(Finland)
9	291	Brian Elliott	Canada	University of Wisconsin–Madison (Big Ten)

Farm teams[]

• Binghamton Senators (American Hockey League)

See also[]

• 2003–04 NHL season

References[]

• National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2005. Dan Diamond & Associates. 2004.