2003–04 New York Rangers season

The 2003–04 New York Rangers season was their 78th in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team finished with one of the worst records in the league despite bringing in future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr midway through the season. The team would eventually trade away most of its major acquisitions, including their long-time defensive stalwart Brian Leetch. This would prove to be the final season for team captain Mark Messier.

2003–04 New York Rangers
Division	4th Atlantic
Conference	13th Eastern
2003–04 record	27–40–7–8
Home record	13–21–3–4
Road record	14–19–4–4
Goals for	206
Goals against	250
Team information
General Manager	Glen Sather
Coach	Glen Sather (interim) Tom Renney
Captain	Mark Messier
Alternate captains	Brian Leetch (Oct-Mar) Jaromir Jagr (Mar-Apr) Eric Lindros
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Average attendance	18,073 (99.3%)
Team leaders
Goals	Bobby Holik (25)
Assists	Bobby Holik (31)
Points	Bobby Holik (56)
Penalty minutes	Matthew Barnaby (120)
Wins	Mike Dunham (16)
Goals against average	Jussi Markkanen (2.56)

Regular season

Final standings

Atlantic Division[1]

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
1	3	Philadelphia Flyers	82	40	21	15	6	229	186	101
2	6	New Jersey Devils	82	43	25	12	2	213	164	100
3	8	New York Islanders	82	38	29	11	4	237	210	91
4	13	New York Rangers	82	27	40	7	8	206	250	69
5	15	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	23	47	8	4	190	303	58

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.

Eastern Conference[2]

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 Game Log
October: 3-3-2-0 (Home: 3-1-2-0; Road: 0-2-0-0) Game October Opponent Score Record 1 10 @ Minnesota Wild 5 – 3 0-1-0-0 2 11 @ Columbus Blue Jackets 5 – 0 0-2-0-0 3 16 Atlanta Thrashers 0 – 0 OT 0-2-1-0 4 18 Carolina Hurricanes 2 – 2 OT 0-2-2-0 5 20 Florida Panthers 3 – 1 1-2-2-0 6 25 Detroit Red Wings 3 – 1 2-2-2-0 7 28 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 3 – 1 2-3-2-0 8 30 Carolina Hurricanes 4 – 1 3-3-2-0
November: 6-5-3-2 (Home: 3-2-0-2; Road: 3-3-3-0) Game November Opponent Score Record 9 1 @ Montreal Canadiens 5 – 1 4-3-2-0 10 2 Colorado Avalanche 3 – 2 OT 4-3-2-1 11 4 Dallas Stars 3 – 0 5-3-2-1 12 6 @ Carolina Hurricanes 6 – 3 5-4-2-1 13 8 Philadelphia Flyers 2 – 1 OT 5-4-2-2 14 10 Edmonton Oilers 5 – 4 5-5-2-2 15 12 Pittsburgh Penguins 6 – 2 6-5-2-2 16 15 @ New Jersey Devils 5 – 0 6-6-2-2 17 16 @ Chicago Blackhawks 2 – 2 OT 6-6-3-2 18 18 @ San Jose Sharks 2 – 2 OT 6-6-4-2 19 20 @ Colorado Avalanche 4 – 3 6-7-4-2 20 23 Ottawa Senators 6 – 2 7-7-4-2 21 25 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – 0 8-7-4-2 22 26 @ Florida Panthers 3 – 3 OT 8-7-5-2 23 28 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4 – 1 9-7-5-2 24 30 Toronto Maple Leafs 4 – 2 9-8-5-2
December: 6-5-0-1 (Home: 2-2-0-1; Road: 4-3-0-0) Game December Opponent Score Record 25 2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 5 – 4 9-9-5-2 26 4 @ New York Islanders 4 – 2 10-9-5-2 27 7 Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – 2 10-10-5-2 28 10 Montreal Canadiens 2 – 1 10-11-5-2 29 12 @ Buffalo Sabres 3 – 1 11-11-5-2 30 13 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 3 – 1 11-12-5-2 31 18 New York Islanders 4 – 3 12-12-5-2 32 20 @ Ottawa Senators 3 – 1 12-13-5-2 33 22 Boston Bruins 4 – 2 13-13-5-2 34 26 Toronto Maple Leafs 6 – 5 OT 13-13-5-3 35 29 @ Phoenix Coyotes 3 – 2 OT 14-13-5-3 36 30 @ Los Angeles Kings 3 – 2 OT 15-13-5-3
January: 4-10-2-1 (Home: 2-5-1-1; Road: 2-5-1-0) Game January Opponent Score Record 37 1 @ St. Louis Blues 5 – 4 15-14-5-3 38 3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4 – 1 16-14-5-3 39 5 Calgary Flames 5 – 0 16-15-5-3 40 8 @ Carolina Hurricanes 3 – 2 16-16-5-3 41 10 @ New York Islanders 3 – 2 17-16-5-3 42 11 Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – 1 OT 17-16-5-4 43 13 New York Islanders 4 – 1 18-16-5-4 44 15 New Jersey Devils 3 – 3 OT 18-16-6-4 45 17 @ Montreal Canadiens 2 – 2 OT 18-16-7-4 46 19 @ Boston Bruins 5 – 2 18-17-7-4 47 20 Boston Bruins 4 – 1 18-18-7-4 48 22 Philadelphia Flyers 4 – 2 18-19-7-4 49 24 @ Ottawa Senators 9 – 1 18-20-7-4 50 26 Florida Panthers 5 – 2 19-20-7-4 51 28 Washington Capitals 2 – 1 19-21-7-4 52 30 Buffalo Sabres 3 – 1 19-22-7-4 53 31 @ Buffalo Sabres 3 – 1 19-23-7-4
February: 4-7-0-1 (Home: 2-5-0-0; Road: 2-2-0-1) Game February Opponent Score Record 54 2 Vancouver Canucks 4 – 3 20-23-7-4 55 4 Minnesota Wild 4 – 3 20-24-7-4 56 11 @ New Jersey Devils 3 – 1 21-24-7-4 57 12 Philadelphia Flyers 2 – 1 21-25-7-4 58 14 @ Philadelphia Flyers 6 – 2 21-26-7-4 59 16 Ottawa Senators 4 – 1 21-27-7-4 60 19 New York Islanders 6 – 2 22-27-7-4 61 21 New Jersey Devils 7 – 3 22-28-7-4 62 23 Montreal Canadiens 4 – 1 22-29-7-4 63 26 @ New York Islanders 6 – 3 23-29-7-4 64 28 @ Nashville Predators 2 – 1 OT 23-29-7-5 65 29 @ Atlanta Thrashers 3 – 2 23-30-7-5
March: 3-10-0-3 (Home: 1-6-0-0; Road: 2-4-0-3) Game March Opponent Score Record 66 2 Atlanta Thrashers 4 – 3 23-31-7-5 67 4 @ Boston Bruins 3 – 1 23-32-7-5 68 5 Washington Capitals 3 – 2 24-32-7-5 69 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 7 – 4 24-33-7-5 70 9 @ Atlanta Thrashers 2 – 0 25-33-7-5 71 12 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – 2 25-34-7-5 72 13 @ Florida Panthers 3 – 2 OT 25-34-7-6 73 15 New Jersey Devils 3 – 1 25-35-7-6 74 18 @ Washington Capitals 4 – 3 OT 25-35-7-7 75 20 @ Philadelphia Flyers 3 – 0 25-36-7-7 76 21 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4 – 3 OT 25-36-7-8 77 23 Pittsburgh Penguins 5 – 2 25-37-7-8 78 25 Nashville Predators 4 – 2 25-38-7-8 79 27 @ Philadelphia Flyers 3 – 1 26-38-7-8 80 30 @ New Jersey Devils 5 – 0 26-39-7-8 81 31 Buffalo Sabres 4 – 3 26-40-7-8
April: 1-0-0-0 (Home: 0-0-0-0; Road: 1-0-0-0) Game April Opponent Score Record 82 3 @ Washington Capitals 3 – 2 OT 27-40-7-8

Playoffs

The Rangers failed to qualify for the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs, missing the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM Bobby Holik 82 25 31 56 4 96 Mark Messier 76 18 25 43 3 42 Alexei Kovalev^‡ 66 13 29 42 -5 54 Martin Rucinsky^‡ 69 13 29 42 13 62 Brian Leetch^‡ 57 13 23 36 -5 24 Matthew Barnaby^‡ 69 12 20 32 15 120 Eric Lindros 39 10 22 32 7 60 Petr Nedved^‡ 65 14 17 31 -9 42 Jaromir Jagr^† 31 15 14 29 -1 12 Jan Hlavac 72 5 21 26 -8 16 Tom Poti 67 10 14 24 -1 47 Chris Simon^‡ 65 14 9 23 14 225 Vladimir Malakhov^‡ 56 3 15 18 -5 53 Anson Carter^‡ 43 10 7 17 -12 14 Boris Mironov 75 3 13 16 1 86 Greg de Vries^‡ 53 3 12 15 12 37 Darius Kasparaitis 44 1 9 10 11 48 Jamie Lundmark 56 2 8 10 -8 33 Joel Bouchard 28 1 7 8 2 10 Dan LaCouture 59 5 2 7 -13 82 Fedor Tyutin 25 2 5 7 -4 14 Jed Ortmeyer 58 2 4 6 -10 16 Josh Green^† 14 3 2 5 0 8 Jozef Balej^† 13 1 4 5 0 4 Karel Rachunek^† 12 1 3 4 -9 4 Thomas Pock 6 2 2 4 -4 0 Dominic Moore 5 0 3 3 0 0 Dale Purinton 40 1 1 2 -9 117 Sandy McCarthy^† 13 1 0 1 -8 2 Chris McAllister^† 12 0 1 1 -4 12 Cory Larose 7 0 1 1 -2 4 Chad Wiseman 4 1 0 1 -1 0 Garth Murray 20 1 0 1 -5 24 Jamie Pushor^† 7 0 0 0 -3 0 Pascal Rheaume^‡ 17 0 0 0 -3 5 Paul Healey 4 0 0 0 0 0 Richard Scott 5 0 0 0 0 23 Ken Gernander 2 0 0 0 -1 2 Benoit Dusablon 3 0 0 0 -1 2 Bryce Lampman 8 0 0 0 -4 0 Mike Siklenka 1 0 0 0 0 0 Lawrence Nycholat 9 0 0 0 -2 6 Jason MacDonald 4 0 0 0 -1 19 Layne Ulmer 1 0 0 0 -1 0

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
Mike Dunham	57	3148	16	30	5	159	3.03	1522	.896	2
Jussi Markkanen^‡	26	1244	8	12	1	53	2.56	611	.913	2
Jamie McLennan^†	4	243	1	3	0	12	2.96	97	.876	0
Jason LaBarbera	4	198	1	2	0	16	4.85	91	.824	0
Steve Valiquette^†	2	119	1	1	0	6	3.00	71	.915	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

[3]

Awards and records

• Lester Patrick Trophy: John Davidson

Transactions

Trades

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.[4]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	12	Hugh Jessiman	RW	United States	Dartmouth College (ECAC)
2	50^[a]	Ivan Baranka	D	Slovakia	Spartak Dubnica Jr. (Slovakia Jr.)
3	75^[b]	Ken Roche	C	United States	St. Sebastian's School (USHS–MA)
4	122^[c]	Corey Potter	D	United States	Michigan State University (CCHA)
5	149	Nigel Dawes	LW	Canada	Kootenay Ice (WHL)
6	176^[d]	Ivan Dornic	C	Slovakia	Slovan Bratislava (Slovak Extraliga)
6	179^[e]	Philippe Furrer	D	Switzerland	SC Bern (NLA)
6	180^[f]	Chris Holt	G	Canada	US National Team Development Program (USA)
7	209	Dylan Reese	D	United States	Pittsburgh Forge (NAHL)
8	243	Jan Marek	F	Czech Republic	Oceláři Třinec (Czech Extraliga)

Draft notes[5]

• The New York Rangers' second-round pick went to the San Jose Sharks as the result of a June 21, 2003 trade that sent a 2003 second-round pick and a 2003 third-round pick to the Rangers in exchange for this pick.
• ^a The San Jose Sharks' second-round pick went to the New York Rangers as a result of a June 21, 2003 trade that sent a 2003 second round pick to the Sharks in exchange for a 2003 third-round pick and this pick.
• ^b The San Jose Sharks' third-round pick went to the New York Rangers as a result of a June 21, 2003 trade that sent a 2003 second round pick to the Sharks in exchange for a 2003 second-round pick and this pick.
• The New York Rangers' third-round pick went to the Philadelphia Flyers as the result of an August 20, 2001 trade that sent Eric Lindros to the Rangers in exchange for Kim Johnsson, Pavel Brendl, Jan Hlavac and this pick.
• The New York Rangers' fourth-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a March 18, 2002 trade that sent Pavel Bure and a 2002 second-round pick to the Rangers in exchange for Igor Ulanov, Filip Novak, a 2002 first round pick, a 2002 second round pick and this pick.
• ^c The Edmonton Oilers' fourth-round pick went to the New York Rangers as a result of a June 30, 2002 trade that sent Mike Richter to the Oilers in exchange for this pick.
• ^d The Calgary Flames' sixth-round pick went to the New York Rangers as a result of a January 22, 2003 trade that sent Mike Mottau to the Flames in exchange for a 2004 sixth-round pick and this pick.
• ^e The San Jose Sharks' sixth-round pick (originally New York Rangers) went to the New York Rangers as a result of a June 22, 2003 trade that sent previous considerations to the Sharks in exchange for this pick.
• ^f The Los Angeles Kings' sixth-round pick went to the New York Rangers as a result of a July 16, 2002 trade that sent Derek Armstrong to the Kings in exchange for this conditional pick.
• The New York Rangers' ninth-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as the result of a June 23, 2002 trade that sent Krysztof Oliwa to the Rangers in exchange for future considerations (this pick).

References

1. "2003-2004 Division Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
2. "2003–2004 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
3. "2003-04 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
4. "NHL Entry Draft Year by Year Results". NHL.com. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
5. "2003 NHL Entry Draft Pick Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved June 25, 2012.

• "New York Rangers game log". ESPN. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
• "2003-04 Team Standings". ESPN. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
• "2003-04 Player Statistics". hockeyDB. Archived from the original on 9 January 2008. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
• "NHL attendance". ESPN. Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-02.