2002–03 Calgary Flames season

The 2002–03 Calgary Flames season was the 23rd National Hockey League season in Calgary. A relatively successful start to the season quickly gave way to disaster as the Flames lost 11 of 12 games in a November stretch dropping the Flames out of contention, ultimately failing to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

2002–03 Calgary Flames
Division5th Northwest
Conference12th Western
2002–03 record29–36–13–4
Home record14–16–10–1
Road record15–20–3–3
Goals for186 (27th)
Goals against228 (18th)
Team information
General ManagerCraig Button
CoachGreg Gilbert
Darryl Sutter
CaptainCraig Conroy
Alternate captainsBob Boughner
Jarome Iginla
ArenaPengrowth Saddledome
Average attendance16,239
Team leaders
GoalsJarome Iginla (35)
AssistsCraig Conroy (37)
PointsJarome Iginla (67)
Penalty minutesScott Nichol (149)
WinsRoman Turek (27)
Goals against averageRoman Turek (2.57)

The season began as the last had ended: with forward Marc Savard and head coach Greg Gilbert in bitter, public feud. After arguing in the media for nearly a year, the Flames finally granted the disgruntled players request, trading Savard to the Atlanta Thrashers.[1] Gilbert himself would not last much longer with the Flames, as he would be fired by the club barely two weeks after Savard was dealt.[2]

The Flames would quickly find a replacement for Gilbert, announcing they had hired Darryl Sutter shortly before the new year.[3] Sutter immediately began shaping the Flames to his own style, and the Flames finished 19–16–8–1 under their new bench boss.

Following the season, the Flames announced that they would not renew General Manager Craig Button's contract. Sutter took over as GM, carrying the dual roles until the end of the 2005–06 season.[4]

Flames mascot, Harvey the Hound, gained widespread publicity in January 2003 following an incident with Edmonton Oilers head coach, Craig MacTavish. With the Flames leading 4–0, Harvey was taunting the Oilers behind their bench. The frustrated coach reached up and ripped Harvey's signature red tongue out of his mouth, tossing it into the crowd. The incident would seem to spark the Oilers, who scored three goals shortly after. The Flames would hold on to win 4–3, however.[5] The incident made headlines throughout North America, and led to many jokes, including having many other NHL team mascots arrive at the 2003 All-Star Game with their tongues hanging out.[6]

Regular season

The Flames struggled offensively and were shut out a league-high 10 times, tied with the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins.[7]

Northwest Division
No. CR GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts
13Colorado Avalanche824219138251194105
24Vancouver Canucks824523131264208104
36Minnesota Wild82422910119817895
48Edmonton Oilers82362611923123092
512Calgary Flames82293613418622875

[8]

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.

Schedule and results

2002–03 Game Log

Playoffs

Calgary finished 12th in the Western Conference, 17 points behind the 8th place Edmonton Oilers. The Flames missed the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
Jarome Iginla127535326749-----
Craig Conroy227922375936-----
Chris Drury18/378023305333-----
Martin Gelinas238121315251-----
Toni Lydman32816202628-----
Stephane Yelle118210152550-----
Oleg Saprykin19528152346-----
Chris Clark1781101222126-----
Dave Lowry10345141922-----
Bob Boughner66931417126-----
Jordan Leopold4584101412-----
Denis Gauthier3721111299-----
Robyn Regehr28760121287-----
Scott Nichol40685510149-----
Blake Sloan2467281028-----
Petr Buzek84435814-----
Chuck Kobasew7234268-----
Craig Berube16/2755246100-----
Steve Begin265031451-----
Blair Betts1591340-----
Andrew Ference21160446-----
Shean Donovan16131237-----
Steve Montador550112114-----
Mike Commodore2601119-----
Ladislav Kohn4330112-----
Mike Mottau3640000-----
Rick Mrozik5120000-----
Robert Dome3810000-----
All traded players--16213778-----

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Calgary. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP Min W L T GA SO Sv% GAA GP Min W L GA SO SV% GAA
Roman Turek1653822272991644.9022.57--------
Jamie McLennan332211652114580.8922.99--------

Transactions

The Flames were involved in the following transactions during the 2002–03 season:[9][10]

Trades

Offseason To Calgary Flames
Jamie McLennan
To Minnesota Wild
2002 9th round pick
October 1, 2002 To Calgary Flames
Chris Drury
Stephane Yelle
To Colorado Avalanche
Derek Morris
Jeff Shantz
Dean McAmmond
November 15, 2002 To Calgary Flames
Ruslan Zainullin
To Atlanta Thrashers
Marc Savard
February 10, 2003 To Calgary Flames
Andrew Ference
To Pittsburgh Penguins
Conditional draft pick
March 11, 2003 To Calgary Flames
Shean Donovan
To Pittsburgh Penguins
Mattias Johansson
Micki DuPont

Free agents

Player signedFormer team
Martin GelinasCarolina Hurricanes
Robert DomePittsburgh Penguins
Player lostNew team
Clarke WilmNashville Predators
Jason BotterillBuffalo Sabres
Dallas EakinsAtlanta Thrashers
Alan LetangNew York Islanders

Draft picks

Calgary's picks at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft in Toronto, Ontario.[11] The Flames had the 9th overall pick, however opted to drop down one spot to 10th via a trade with the Florida Panthers.

Rnd Pick Player Nationality Position Team (league) NHL statistics
GPGAPtsPIM
110Eric Nystrom United StatesLWUniversity of Michigan (CCHA)5476848116381
239Brian McConnell United StatesFBoston University (HE)
390Matthew Lombardi CanadaCVictoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)536101161262293
4112Yuri Artyomenkov RussiaRWKrylja
5141Jiri Cetkovsky Czech RepublicRWZlin (Czech Jr.)
5142Emanuel Peter  SwitzerlandCKloten (Swiss Jr.)
5146Viktor Bobrov RussiaFHC CSKA (RSL)
5159Kristofer Persson SwedenRWModo Jr.
6176Curtis McElhinney CanadaGColorado College (WCHA)12941–51–7, 2.95GAA
7202David Van der Gulik CanadaRWChilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)492111310
7203Pierre Johnsson SwedenRWFarjestad Jr.
8238Jyri Marttinen FinlandDJyvaskyla
Statistics are updated to the end of the 2014–15 NHL season. denotes player was on an NHL roster in 2014–15.

Farm teams

Saint John Flames

The 2002–03 season would be the tenth, and last, season in New Brunswick, as the Flames bought out the local ownership's share of the team following the season and suspended operations. The "Baby Flames" finished 32–41–6–1, last in the Canadian Division, and out of the playoffs. Robert Dome led the team with 27 goals and 56 points. Dany Sabourin and Levente Szuper split goaltending duties for the Flames.

Johnstown Chiefs

The Chiefs finished the 2002–03 season with a record of 28–33–11, finishing fifth in the Northwest Division, failing to qualify for the playoffs.

Following the season, the Flames announced they were switching affiliations to a new expansion team, the Las Vegas Wranglers.

See also

References

  1. Flames ship Savard to Thrashers, cbc sports, November 15, 2002, accessed December 7, 2006.
  2. Flames face Avs minus Gilbert, cbc sports, December 3, 2002, accessed December 7, 2006.
  3. Flames find their man, cbc sports, December 29, 2002, accessed December 7, 2006.
  4. Calgary Flames Executive Archived 2007-01-17 at the Wayback Machine, calgaryflames.com, accessed December 7, 2006.
  5. Pyette, Ryan, MacTavish leaves Harvey the Hound speechless Archived 2007-11-04 at Archive.today, London Free Press, January 23, 2003.
  6. Francis, Eric, The uncivil war, Calgary Sun, September 21, 2003.
  7. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2003_games.html
  8. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2009). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2010. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 162.
  9. Off-season trades and signings, cbc sports, July 17, 2002, accessed December 6, 2006.
  10. 2002–03 Calgary Flames preview, Sports Illustrated, Accessed January 10, 2007.
  11. 2002 NHL Entry Draft results Archived 2006-05-02 at the Wayback Machine, nhl.com, accessed December 6, 2006.
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