2002–03 Calgary Flames season

Calgary Flames
2002–03 Calgary Flames
Division	5th Northwest
Conference	12th Western
2002–03 record	29–36–13–4
Home record	14–16–10–1
Road record	15–20–3–3
Goals for	186 (27th)
Goals against	228 (18th)
	Team information
General Manager	Craig Button
Coach	Greg Gilbert; Darryl Sutter
Captain	Craig Conroy
Alternate captains	Bob Boughner; Jarome Iginla
Arena	Pengrowth Saddledome
Average attendance	16,239
	Team leaders
Goals	Jarome Iginla (35)
Assists	Craig Conroy (37)
Points	Jarome Iginla (67)
Penalties in minutes	Scott Nichol (149)
Wins	Roman Turek (27)
Goals against average	Roman Turek (2.57)
<2001–02	2003–04>

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.

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
1	3	Colorado Avalanche	82	42	19	13	8	251	194	105
2	4	Vancouver Canucks	82	45	23	13	1	264	208	104
3	6	Minnesota Wild	82	42	29	10	1	198	178	95
4	8	Edmonton Oilers	82	36	26	11	9	231	230	92
5	12	Calgary Flames	82	29	36	13	4	186	228	75

^[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

October: 3–3–2–2 (Home: 1–2–2–1; Road: 2–1–0–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 10	Vancouver	3 – 0	Calgary		Turek	17,409	0–1–0–0	0
2	October 12	Philadelphia	5 – 4	Calgary		Turek	16,750	0–2–0–0	0
3	October 14	Calgary	3 – 2	Vancouver		Turek	18,016	1–2–0–0	2
4	October 17	Boston	3 – 3	Calgary	OT	Turek	15,346	1–2–1–0	3
5	October 19	Calgary	5 – 2	Chicago		Turek	14,034	2–2–1–0	5
6	October 21	Calgary	0 – 4	Detroit		McLennan	20,058	2–3–1–0	5
7	October 22	Calgary	3 – 4	Minnesota	OT	Turek	18,064	2–3–1–1	6
8	October 24	Dallas	3 – 3	Calgary	OT	Turek	14,625	2–3–2–1	7
9	October 26	St. Louis	4 – 3	Calgary	OT	Turek	14,538	2–3–2–2	8
10	October 31	Buffalo	0 – 3	Calgary		Turek	14,822	3–3–2–2	10

November: 3–9–1–1 (Home: 1–4–1–0; Road: 2–5–0–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
11	November 2	Colorado	4 – 4	Calgary	OT	McLennan	17,448	3–3–3–2	11
12	November 4	Calgary	4 – 2	NY Islanders		McLennan	12,316	4–3–3–2	13
13	November 5	Calgary	3 – 2	New Jersey		McLennan	12,315	5–3–3–2	15
14	November 7	Calgary	0 – 1	NY Rangers	OT	McLennan	18,200	5–3–3–3	16
15	November 9	Calgary	0 – 3	Florida		McLennan	14,794	5–4–3–3	16
16	November 11	Calgary	1 – 2	Atlanta		McLennan	10,501	5–5–3–3	16
17	November 14	NY Rangers	2 – 1	Calgary		McLennan	16,386	5–6–3–3	16
18	November 16	St. Louis	1 – 0	Calgary		McLennan	15,505	5–7–3–3	16
19	November 19	Detroit	5 – 0	Calgary		McLennan	10,061	5–8–3–3	16
20	November 21	Edmonton	3 – 1	Calgary		McLennan	17,660	5–9–3–3	16
21	November 23	Chicago	1 – 3	Calgary		Turek	15,826	6–9–3–3	18
22	November 26	Calgary	2 – 7	Boston		Turek	13,582	6–10–3–3	18
23	November 27	Calgary	2 – 4	Washington		Turek	13,532	6–11–3–3	18
24	November 29	Calgary	2 – 7	St. Louis		Turek	19,326	6–12–3–3	18

December: 5–6–3–0 (Home: 1–3–2–0; Road: 4–3–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
25	December 1	Calgary	2 – 4	Detroit		Turek	20,058	6–13–3–3	18
26	December 3	Calgary	2 – 1	Colorado		Turek	18,007	7–13–3–3	20
27	December 5	Minnesota	1 – 1	Calgary	OT	Turek	14,118	7–13–4–3	21
28	December 9	Calgary	2 – 1	Vancouver		Turek	18,422	8–13–4–3	23
29	December 12	Carolina	4 – 3	Calgary		Turek	14,528	8–14–4–3	23
30	December 14	Colorado	3 – 1	Calgary		Turek	17,192	8–15–4–3	23
31	December 15	Calgary	3 – 3	Vancouver	OT	Turek	18,422	8–15–5–3	24
32	December 17	Calgary	3 – 0	Nashville		Turek	10,216	9–15–5–3	26
33	December 19	Calgary	0 – 3	Columbus		Turek	17,230	9–16–5–3	26
34	December 21	Calgary	0 – 2	Pittsburgh		Turek	12,571	9–17–5–3	26
35	December 23	Calgary	3 – 2	Minnesota		Turek	18,568	10–17–5–3	28
36	December 27	Toronto	4 – 3	Calgary		Turek	18,014	10–18–5–3	28
37	December 29	Anaheim	2 – 4	Calgary		Turek	16,922	11–18–5–3	30
38	December 31	Montreal	1 – 1	Calgary	OT	Turek	18,159	11–18–6–3	31

January: 6–7–1–0 (Home: 5–3–1–0; Road: 1–4–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
39	January 2	Tampa Bay	1 – 4	Calgary		Turek	14,881	12–18–6–3	33
40	January 4	Minnesota	2 – 3	Calgary		Turek	15,974	13–18–6–3	35
41	January 7	Calgary	4 – 2	Colorado		Turek	18,007	14–18–6–3	37
42	January 9	Ottawa	1 – 0	Calgary		Turek	16,058	14–19–6–3	37
43	January 11	Columbus	7 – 2	Calgary		Turek	14,827	14–20–6–3	37
44	January 13	Calgary	2 – 4	Montreal		Turek	20,630	14–21–6–3	37
45	January 14	Calgary	2 – 3	Toronto		Turek	19,290	14–22–6–3	37
46	January 16	Nashville	2 – 2	Calgary	OT	McLennan	14,621	14–22–7–3	38
47	January 18	Los Angeles	1 – 2	Calgary	OT	Turek	16,675	15–22–7–3	40
48	January 20	Edmonton	3 – 4	Calgary		Turek	17,832	16–22–7–3	42
49	January 23	Phoenix	7 – 1	Calgary		Turek	14,865	16–23–7–3	42
50	January 25	Detroit	1 – 4	Calgary		Turek	18,028	17–23–7–3	44
51	January 28	Calgary	3 – 4	Phoenix		Turek	14,619	17–24–7–3	44
52	January 29	Calgary	1 – 4	Dallas		Turek	18,532	17–25–7–3	44

February: 2–6–3–1 (Home: 0–1–2–0; Road: 2–5–1–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
53	February 4	Anaheim	3 – 2	Calgary		Turek	14,110	17–26–7–3	44
54	February 6	Chicago	2 – 2	Calgary	OT	McLennan	16,027	17–26–8–3	45
55	February 7	Calgary	4 – 3	Edmonton		Turek	16,839	18–26–8–3	47
56	February 9	Calgary	2 – 4	Colorado		Turek	18,007	18–27–8–3	47
57	February 12	Calgary	3 – 4	Anaheim	OT	McLennan	11,612	18–27–8–4	48
58	February 13	Calgary	2 – 4	Los Angeles		Turek	17,539	18–28–8–4	48
59	February 15	Vancouver	2 – 2	Calgary	OT	Turek	18,252	18–28–9–4	49
60	February 17	Calgary	3 – 5	St. Louis		Turek	19,522	18–29–9–4	49
61	February 19	Calgary	1 – 1	Dallas	OT	Turek	18,532	18–29–10–4	50
62	February 20	Calgary	1 – 4	Nashville		McLennan	10,842	18–30–10–4	50
63	February 23	Calgary	4 – 2	Phoenix		Turek	14,241	19–30–10–4	52
64	February 24	Calgary	2 – 5	San Jose		Turek	17,311	19–31–10–4	52

March: 8–5–2–0 (Home: 5–3–1–0; Road: 3–2–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
65	March 1	San Jose	3 – 4	Calgary		Turek	17,575	20–31–10–4	54
66	March 5	New Jersey	4 – 5	Calgary	OT	Turek	16,106	21–31–10–4	56
67	March 7	Calgary	2 – 0	Chicago		Turek	14,702	22–31–10–4	58
68	March 8	Calgary	3 – 2	Columbus	OT	Turek	18,136	23–31–10–4	60
69	March 11	Edmonton	5 – 2	Calgary		Turek	17,714	23–32–10–4	60
70	March 13	Toronto	3 – 4	Calgary	OT	Turek	18,064	24–32–10–4	62
71	March 15	Calgary	2 – 3	San Jose		Turek	17,496	24–33–10–4	62
72	March 16	Calgary	2 – 2	Anaheim	OT	McLennan	16,726	24–33–11–4	63
73	March 18	Calgary	4 – 1	Los Angeles		Turek	17,470	25–33–11–4	65
74	March 20	Washington	4 – 1	Calgary		Turek	15,827	25–34–11–4	65
75	March 22	Nashville	1 – 1	Calgary	OT	Turek	16,628	25–34–12–4	66
76	March 24	Phoenix	0 – 2	Calgary		Turek	16,685	26–34–12–4	68
77	March 27	Dallas	1 – 2	Calgary	OT	Turek	16,533	27–34–12–4	70
78	March 29	Columbus	6 – 4	Calgary		Turek	16,007	27–35–12–4	70
79	March 31	Calgary	0 – 3	Minnesota		McLennan	18,568	27–36–12–4	70

April: 2–0–1–0 (Home: 1–0–1–0; Road: 1–0–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
80	April 2	San Jose	2 – 2	Calgary	OT	Turek	14,207	27–36–13–4	71
81	April 4	Los Angeles	1 – 2	Calgary	OT	Turek	17,003	28–36–13–4	73
82	April 5	Calgary	4 – 1	Edmonton		Turek	16,839	29–36–13–4	75

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 Iginla	12	75	35	32	67	49	-	-	-	-	-
Craig Conroy	22	79	22	37	59	36	-	-	-	-	-
Chris Drury	18/37	80	23	30	53	33	-	-	-	-	-
Martin Gelinas	23	81	21	31	52	51	-	-	-	-	-
Toni Lydman	32	81	6	20	26	28	-	-	-	-	-
Stephane Yelle	11	82	10	15	25	50	-	-	-	-	-
Oleg Saprykin	19	52	8	15	23	46	-	-	-	-	-
Chris Clark	17	81	10	12	22	126	-	-	-	-	-
Dave Lowry	10	34	5	14	19	22	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Boughner	6	69	3	14	17	126	-	-	-	-	-
Jordan Leopold	4	58	4	10	14	12	-	-	-	-	-
Denis Gauthier	3	72	1	11	12	99	-	-	-	-	-
Robyn Regehr	28	76	0	12	12	87	-	-	-	-	-
Scott Nichol	40	68	5	5	10	149	-	-	-	-	-
Blake Sloan	24	67	2	8	10	28	-	-	-	-	-
Petr Buzek	8	44	3	5	8	14	-	-	-	-	-
Chuck Kobasew	7	23	4	2	6	8	-	-	-	-	-
Craig Berube	16/27	55	2	4	6	100	-	-	-	-	-
Steve Begin	26	50	3	1	4	51	-	-	-	-	-
Blair Betts	15	9	1	3	4	0	-	-	-	-	-
Andrew Ference^†	21	16	0	4	4	6	-	-	-	-	-
Shean Donovan^†	16	13	1	2	3	7	-	-	-	-	-
Steve Montador	5	50	1	1	2	114	-	-	-	-	-
Mike Commodore	2	6	0	1	1	19	-	-	-	-	-
Ladislav Kohn	43	3	0	1	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
Mike Mottau	36	4	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Rick Mrozik	51	2	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Robert Dome	38	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
All traded players	--	16	21	37	78	-	-	-	-	-

^†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 Turek	1	65	3822	27	29	9	164	4	.902	2.57	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jamie McLennan	33	22	1165	2	11	4	58	0	.892	2.99	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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 signed	Former team
Martin Gelinas	Carolina Hurricanes
Robert Dome	Pittsburgh Penguins

Player lost	New team
Clarke Wilm	Nashville Predators
Jason Botterill	Buffalo Sabres
Dallas Eakins	Atlanta Thrashers
Alan Letang	New York Islanders

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

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
Rnd	Pick	Player	Nationality	Position	Team (league)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	10	Eric Nystrom^†	United States	LW	University of Michigan (CCHA)	547	68	48	116	381
2	39	Brian McConnell	United States	F	Boston University (HE)
3	90	Matthew Lombardi	Canada	C	Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)	536	101	161	262	293
4	112	Yuri Artemenkov	Russia	RW	Krylja
5	141	Jiri Cetkovsky	Czech Republic	RW	Zlin (Czech Jr.)
5	142	Emanuel Peter	Switzerland	C	Kloten (Swiss Jr.)
5	146	Victor Bobrov	Russia	F	HC CSKA (RSL)
5	159	Kristofer Persson	Sweden	RW	Modo Jr.
6	176	Curtis McElhinney^†	Canada	G	Colorado College (WCHA)	129	41–51–7, 2.95GAA
7	202	David Van Der Gulik^†	Canada	RW	Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)	49	2	11	13	10
7	203	Pierre Johnsson	Sweden	RW	Farjestad Jr.
8	238	Jyri Marttinen	Finland	D	Jyvaskyla

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 ownershi'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.

References

Player stats: 2006–07 Calgary Flames Media Guide - 2002–03 stats, pg. 109.
Game log: 2002–03 Calgary Flames game log on espn.com
Team standings: 2002–03 NHL standings at hockeydb.com

↑ Flames ship Savard to Thrashers, cbc sports, November 15, 2002, accessed December 7, 2006.
↑ Flames face Avs minus Gilbert, cbc sports, December 3, 2002, accessed December 7, 2006.
↑ Flames find their man, cbc sports, December 29, 2002, accessed December 7, 2006.
↑ Calgary Flames Executive, calgaryflames.com, accessed December 7, 2006.
↑ Pyette, Ryan, MacTavish leaves Harvey the Hound speechless , London Free Press, January 23, 2003.
↑ Francis, Eric, The uncivil war, Calgary Sun, September 21, 2003.
↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2003_games.html
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Off-season trades and signings, cbc sports, July 17, 2002, accessed December 6, 2006.
↑ 2002–03 Calgary Flames preview, Sports Illustrated, Accessed January 10, 2007.
↑ 2002 NHL Entry Draft results, nhl.com, accessed December 6, 2006.

[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, calgaryflames.com, accessed December 7, 2006.

[5] Pyette, Ryan, MacTavish leaves Harvey the Hound speechless , London Free Press, January 23, 2003.

[6] Francis, Eric, The uncivil war, Calgary Sun, September 21, 2003.

[7] ttp://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2003_games.html

[8] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[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, nhl.com, accessed December 6, 2006.

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v t e Calgary Flames seasons
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v t e 2002–03 NHL season
Atlantic	New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh
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See also	Entry Draft All-Star Game Playoffs Final

2002–03 Calgary Flames season

Contents

Regular season

Schedule and results

Playoffs

Player statistics

Skaters

Goaltenders

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Draft picks

Farm teams

Saint John Flames

Johnstown Chiefs

See also

References

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