The 2003–04 Washington Capitals season was the Capitals's 30th season of play. The team finished in fifth and last-place in the Southeast Division, and fourteenth overall in the Eastern Conference, to miss the playoffs.
2003–04 Washington Capitals | |
---|---|
Division | 5th Southeast |
Conference | 14th Eastern |
2003–04 record | 23–46–10–3 |
Home record | 13–20–6–2 |
Road record | 10–26–4–1 |
Goals for | 186 |
Goals against | 253 |
Team information | |
General manager | George McPhee |
Coach | Bruce Cassidy (Oct-Dec) Glen Hanlon (Dec-Apr) |
Captain | Steve Konowalchuk (Oct) Vacant (Oct-Apr) |
Alternate captains | Peter Bondra (Oct-Feb) Jaromir Jagr (Oct-Jan) Brendan Witt |
Arena | MCI Center |
Average attendance | 14,720 |
Minor league affiliate(s) | Portland Pirates |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Robert Lang (29) |
Assists | Robert Lang (45) |
Points | Robert Lang (74) |
Penalty minutes | Darcy Verot (135) |
Plus/minus | Robert Lang (+2) |
Wins | Olaf Kolzig (19) |
Goals against average | Olaf Kolzig (2.89) |
Offseason
Regular season
On December 10, 2003, head coach Bruce Cassidy was fired after a disappointing 8–18–1–1 start to the season. Assistant coach Glen Hanlon was named his replacement.[1]
The Capitals were the most penalized team in the League, with 401 power-play opportunities against. They also scored the fewest short-handed goals in the League, with just 4.[2]
Final standings
No. | CR | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PTS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 46 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 245 | 192 | 106 |
2 | 10 | Atlanta Thrashers | 82 | 33 | 37 | 8 | 4 | 214 | 243 | 78 |
3 | 11 | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 28 | 34 | 14 | 6 | 172 | 209 | 76 |
4 | 12 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 28 | 35 | 15 | 4 | 188 | 221 | 75 |
5 | 14 | Washington Capitals | 82 | 23 | 46 | 10 | 3 | 186 | 253 | 59 |
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.
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
2003–04 regular season[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 2–7–1–0 (home: 2–2–0–0; road: 0–5–1–0)
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November: 5–8–0–1 (home: 1–4–0–1; road: 4–4–0–0)
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December: 4–8–2–0 (home: 2–4–1–0; road: 2–4–1–0)
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January: 5–7–2–1 (home: 3–4–2–0; road: 2–3–0–1)
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February: 4–5–3–0 (home: 2–2–2–0; road: 2–3–1–0)
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March: 3–10–1–0 (home: 3–4–1–0; road: 0–6–0–0)
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April: 0–1–1–1 (home: 0–0–0–1; road: 0–1–1–0)
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Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) Overtime loss (1 point) |
Player statistics
Scoring
- Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
- † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
- ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
Goaltending
- † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
Regular season | |||||||||||
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No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
37 | Olaf Kolzig | 63 | 19 | 35 | 9 | 1958 | 180 | 2.89 | .908 | 2 | 3738 |
33 | Maxime Ouellet | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 210 | 19 | 3.12 | .910 | 1 | 365 |
1 | Rastislav Stana | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 100 | 11 | 3.13 | .890 | 0 | 211 |
31 | Matthew Yeats† | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 141 | 13 | 3.02 | .908 | 0 | 258 |
35 | Sebastien Charpentier | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 168 | 21 | 3.41 | .875 | 0 | 369 |
Awards and records
Awards
Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Robert Lang | [6] |
NHL Defensive Player of the Week | Olaf Kolzig (February 23) | [7] | |
NHL Offensive Player of the Month | Robert Lang (November) | [8] | |
NHL Offensive Player of the Week | Robert Lang (November 17) | [9] | |
Robert Lang (December 22) | [7] | ||
Jeff Halpern (April 5) | [7] |
Milestones
Milestone | Player | Date | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
500th game played | Olaf Kolzig | November 22, 2003 | [10] |
Transactions
The Capitals were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2003, the day after the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2004, the day of the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.[11]
Trades
Date | Details | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|
June 22, 2003 | To Montreal Canadiens 4th-round pick in 2003 7th-round pick in 2003 | To Washington Capitals Nashville’s 4th-round pick in 2003 | [12] |
June 22, 2003 | To Ottawa Senators Future considerations[a] | To Washington Capitals Washington’s 9th-round pick in 2003 | [13] |
June 30, 2003 | To Philadelphia Flyers Conditional 7th-round pick in 2004[b] | To Washington Capitals Rights to Dmitri Yushkevich | [14] |
July 14, 2003 | To Nashville Predators Mike Farrell | To Washington Capitals Alexander Riazantsev | [15] |
October 5, 2003 | To Ottawa Senators Denis Hamel | To Washington Capitals Future considerations[a] | [16] |
October 22, 2003 | To Colorado Avalanche Steve Konowalchuk 3rd-round pick in 2004 | To Washington Capitals Bates Battaglia Rights to Jonas Johansson | [17] |
January 23, 2004 | To New York Rangers Jaromir Jagr | To Washington Capitals Anson Carter | [18] |
February 18, 2004 | To Ottawa Senators Peter Bondra | To Washington Capitals Brooks Laich 2nd-round pick in 2005 | [19] |
February 27, 2004 | To Detroit Red Wings Robert Lang | To Washington Capitals Tomas Fleischmann 1st-round pick in 2004 4th-round pick in 2006 | [20] |
March 3, 2004 | To Boston Bruins Sergei Gonchar | To Washington Capitals Shaone Morrisonn 1st-round pick in 2004 2nd-round pick in 2004 | [21] |
March 4, 2004 | To Boston Bruins Michael Nylander | To Washington Capitals 2nd-round pick in 2006 Future considerations[c] | [22] |
March 8, 2004 | To Los Angeles Kings Anson Carter | To Washington Capitals Jared Aulin | [23] |
March 9, 2004 | To Buffalo Sabres Mike Grier | To Washington Capitals Rights to Jakub Klepis | [24] |
Players acquired
Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 14, 2003 | Andrej Podkonicky | Iserlohn Roosters (DEL) | 1-year | Free agency | [25] |
Garret Stroshein | Portland Pirates (AHL) | 2-year | Free agency | [25] | |
July 18, 2003 | John Gruden | Eisbaren Berlin (DEL) | 1-year | Free agency | [26] |
August 18, 2003 | Francois Methot | Buffalo Sabres | 1-year | Free agency | [27] |
September 5, 2003 | Darcy Verot | Calgary Flames | 1-year | Free agency | [28] |
October 3, 2003 | Denis Hamel | Ottawa Senators | Waiver draft | [29] | |
Brian Willsie | Colorado Avalanche | Waiver draft | [29] | ||
November 4, 2003 | Colin Forbes | Portland Pirates (AHL) | Free agency | [30] | |
January 9, 2004 | Todd Rohloff | Columbus Blue Jackets | Waivers | [31] | |
March 4, 2004 | Brad Norton | Los Angeles Kings | Waivers | [32] | |
March 5, 2004 | Craig Johnson | Toronto Maple Leafs | Waivers | [33] | |
March 9, 2004 | Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre | Atlanta Thrashers | Waivers | [34] | |
Bill Lindsay | Atlanta Thrashers | Waivers[d] | [37] | ||
March 19, 2004 | Matthew Yeats | Portland Pirates (AHL) | Free agency | [38] | |
April 3, 2004 | Mel Angelstad | Portland Pirates (AHL) | Free agency | [39] | |
April 26, 2004 | Justin Eddy | Quinnipiac University (AHA) | Free agency | [40] |
Players lost
Date | Player | New team | Via[e] | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 1, 2003 | Krys Barch[f] | Contract expiration (UFA) | [41] | |
Nathan Forster[g] | Contract expiration (UFA) | [41] | ||
July 17, 2003 | Chris Ferraro | Phoenix Coyotes | Free agency (VI) | [44] |
Peter Ferraro | Phoenix Coyotes | Free agency (UFA) | [44] | |
Josh Green | Calgary Flames | Free agency (UFA) | [44] | |
July 24, 2003 | Mark Murphy | Philadelphia Flyers | Free agency (VI) | [45] |
August 7, 2003 | Calle Johansson | Retirement (III)[h] | [47] | |
Andreas Salomonsson | Modo Hockey (SHL) | Free agency (II)[i] | [49] | |
September 5, 2003 | Todd Rohloff | Columbus Blue Jackets | Free agency (VI) | [50] |
September 27, 2003 | Ken Klee | Toronto Maple Leafs | Free agency (III) | [51] |
N/A | Ryan VanBuskirk | Lowell Lock Monsters (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) | [52] |
October 3, 2003 | Glen Metropolit | Ottawa Senators | Waiver draft | [29] |
October 9, 2003 | Alex Henry | Minnesota Wild | Waivers | [53] |
October 14, 2003 | Colin Forbes | Portland Pirates (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) | [54] |
November 11, 2003 | Dmitri Yushkevich | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (RSL) | Free agency (III) | [55] |
December 11, 2003 | Sergei Berezin | HC CSKA Moscow (RSL) | Free agency (III) | [56] |
May 2, 2004 | Andrej Podkonicky | HC Liberec (ELH) | Free agency | [57] |
May 26, 2004 | Rastislav Stana | Sodertalje SK (SHL) | Free agency[j] | [59] |
Signings
Date | Player | Term | Contract type | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 26, 2003 | Peter Bondra | 1-year | Option exercised | [60] |
Jeff Halpern | 1-year | Option exercised | [61] | |
July 3, 2003 | Boyd Gordon | 3-year | Entry-level | [62] |
Petr Sykora | 1-year[k] | Re-signing | [63] | |
July 15, 2003 | Jean-Francois Fortin | 1-year | Re-signing | [64] |
Chris Hajt | 1-year | Re-signing | [64] | |
July 16, 2003 | Alexander Semin | 3-year | Entry-level | [65] |
July 17, 2003 | Jason Doig | 1-year | Re-signing | [66] |
July 21, 2003 | Trent Whitfield | 1-year | Re-signing | [67] |
July 22, 2003 | Stephen Peat | 1-year | Re-signing | [68] |
July 24, 2003 | Mike Grier | 1-year | Re-signing | [69] |
July 25, 2003 | Rick Berry | 1-year | Re-signing | [70] |
July 28, 2003 | Matt Pettinger | 1-year | Re-signing | [71] |
July 31, 2003 | Alex Henry | 1-year | Re-signing | [72] |
August 10, 2003 | Michael Nylander | 1-year | Re-signing | [73] |
August 19, 2003 | Rastislav Stana | 1-year | Re-signing | [74] |
September 5, 2003 | Ivan Ciernik | 1-year | Re-signing | [28] |
September 11, 2003 | Joel Kwiatkowski | 1-year | Re-signing | [75] |
May 27, 2004 | Maxime Daigneault | 3-year | Entry-level | [76] |
June 1, 2004 | Tomas Fleischmann | 3-year | Entry-level | [77] |
Jonas Johansson | 3-year | Entry-level | [77] |
Draft picks
Washington's draft picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.[78]
Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 18 | Eric Fehr | ![]() | Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) |
3 | 83 | Stephen Werner | ![]() | University of Massachusetts (NCAA) |
4 | 109 | Andreas Valdix | ![]() | Malmo Redhawks (Sweden) |
5 | 155 | Josh Robertson | ![]() | Proctor High School (USHS-MN) |
8 | 249 | Andrew Joudrey | ![]() | Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL) |
9 | 279 | Mark Olafson | ![]() | Kelowna Rockets (WHL) |
Farm teams
The Capitals main American Hockey League affiliate was the Portland Pirates. Though they had no direct ECHL affiliate, players were sent from time to time between the Dayton Bombers and Reading Royals.
See also
Notes
References
- "Washington Capitals 2003–04 roster and statistics". The Internet Hockey Database. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- "2003–04 Washington Capitals Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 8, 2022.