2003–04 Edmonton Oilers season

NHLTeamSeason
Season=2003–04
Team=Edmonton Oilers
Conference=Western
ConferenceRank=9th
Division=Northwest
DivisionRank=4th
Record=36–29–12–5
HomeRecord=22–12–4–3
RoadRecord=14–17–8–2
GoalsFor=221 (9th)
GoalsAgainst=208 (16th)
GeneralManager=Kevin Lowe
Coach=Craig MacTavish
Captain=Jason Smith
AltCaptain=Ethan Moreau
Ryan Smyth
Arena=Rexall Place (renamed from Skyreach Centre in January)
Attendance=17,678
GoalsLeader=Ryan Smyth (23)
AssistsLeader=Ryan Smyth (36)
PointsLeader=Ryan Smyth (59)
PlusMinusLeader=Igor Ulanov (+19)
PIMLeader=Georges Laraque (99)
WinsLeader=Ty Conklin and Tommy Salo (17)
GAALeader=Ty Conklin (2.42)
DivisionWin=
ConferenceWin=
StanleyCup=

The 2003–04 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' 25th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a 36–26–11–9 record in 2002–03, earning 92 points, and returned to the playoffs after a 1 year absence. The Oilers were then defeated by the Dallas Stars in 6 games in the opening round.

During the off-season, the Oilers and Mike Comrie could not come to a contract agreement, and Comrie would not start the season with the team. Comrie would eventually be traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in December for Jeff Woywitka and the Flyers 1st round draft pick in 2004.

The club would start off the season on the right foot, having a record of 10–7–2–0 in the first 19 games, however, Edmonton would go into a slump and have a 10–17–6–1 in their next 34 games, and sitting in 12th place in the Western Conference. The Oilers would come out of their slump, and finish the season with a 16–5–4–4 in their remaining 29 games, but it wouldn't be enough, as the Oilers would finish in 9th spot in the West, 2 points behind the 8th place Nashville Predators, and fail to qualify for the post-season for the 2nd time in 3 seasons.

Offensively, Ryan Smyth would lead the club with 23 goals, 36 assists and 59 points. Radek Dvorak would finish just behind Smyth with 50 points, while Ethan Moreau and Raffi Torres would each score 20 goals. Marc-Andre Bergeron would lead the defense with 9 goals and 26 points, while Eric Brewer would finish just behind him with 7 goals and 25 points. Georges Laraque would lead the club in penalty minutes with 99.

In goal, Tommy Salo would begin the season as the starter, however, he would lose his job and eventually be traded to the Colorado Avalanche before the season was over. He won 17 games and had a 2.58 GAA, along with 3 shutouts, with Edmonton. Ty Conklin took over the starting duties, and he would also win 17 games, have a 2.42 GAA and earn a shutout along the way.

Heritage Classic

The Heritage Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played on November 22, 2003 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 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 National Hockey League, and was modeled after the success of the "cold war" game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in 2001. [ [http://www.oilersheritage.com/history/transformation_events_hertiage_classic.html Edmonton Oilers Heritage Website - Heritage Classic ] ] 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. [http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/heritageclassic/features/notfirsttime.html] 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 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.

eason standings

Goaltending

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Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft

References

* [http://www.shrpsports.com SHRP Sports]
* [http://www.hockeydb.com The Internet Hockey Database]
*National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007