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
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)
Penalty minutes	Scott Nichol (149)
Wins	Roman Turek (27)
Goals against average	Roman 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
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

Main article: List of Calgary Flames 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
						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 Artyomenkov	Russia	RW	Krylja
5	141	Jiri Cetkovsky	Czech Republic	RW	Zlin (Czech Jr.)
5	142	Emanuel Peter	Switzerland	C	Kloten (Swiss Jr.)
5	146	Viktor 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 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

• 2002–03 NHL season

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

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.