2003–04 Columbus Blue Jackets season

2003–04 Columbus Blue Jackets
Division	4th Central
Conference	14th Western
2003–04 record	25–45–8–4
Home record	17–18–4–2
Road record	8–27–4–2
Goals for	177
Goals against	238
Team information
General Manager	Doug MacLean
Coach	Doug MacLean (Oct-Jan) Gerard Gallant (Jan-Apr)
Captain	Luke Richardson
Arena	Nationwide Arena
Average attendance	17,369
Team leaders
Goals	Rick Nash (41)
Assists	David Vyborny (31)
Points	Rich Nash (57)
Penalties in minutes	Jody Shelley (228)
Wins	Marc Denis (21)
Goals against average	Marc Denis (2.56)
<2002–03 2004–05>

The 2003–04 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the Blue Jackets' fourth season in the NHL, as the team was coming off of a 29–42–8–3 record in the 2002–03 season, earning 69 points to finish in last place in the Western Conference for the second-straight year.

Off-season

Columbus would undergo some changes during the off-season, as leading scorer and team captain Ray Whitney would leave to sign with the Detroit Red Wings. The Blue Jackets would name veteran defenceman Luke Richardson the third captain in franchise history.

Regular season

The Blue Jackets would get off to a solid start in 2003–04, winning three of their first four games, though the club would eventually go on a seven-game losing streak to quickly fall out of playoff contention. Columbus would continue to struggle, and General Manager and Head Coach Doug MacLean announced on January 1, 2004, that he would step down from head coaching duties, naming Blue Jackets assistant coach and former NHL player Gerard Gallant as his replacement. Columbus posted a 9–21–4–3 record under MacLean. While the Blue Jackets would play better hockey with Gallant behind the bench, the team would fail once again to earn a playoff spot, as they finished the season with a 25–45–8–4 record for 62 points—seven fewer than the previous season—and finish 29 points the Nashville Predators for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Columbus, however, climbed out of the basement in the Central Division for the first time in franchise history after finishing ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Rick Nash had a memorable season, finishing in a three-way tie with Ilya Kovalchuk from the Atlanta Thrashers and Jarome Iginla from the Calgary Flames to win the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the League's highest goal-scorer; he scored a club-record 41 goals and finished with a team-best 57 points. David Vyborny led the Blue Jackets with 31 assists and finished second to Nash with 53 points. Rookie Nikolai Zherdev also contributed a solid 34 points in 57 games. On defense, Anders Eriksson led the Jackets with 27 points, while Jaroslav Spacek contributed with 22 points in just 58 games. Jody Shelley provided the team toughness, earning a team-high 228 penalty minutes.

In goal, Marc Denis was the team's number one, playing a team-high 66 games, winning 21 of them, posting a team best 2.56 goals against average (GAA) and earning five shutouts.

The Blue Jackets would finish the season having tied the Dallas Stars for most times shut-out, with 11.^[1]

Season standings

Central Division^[2]

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Detroit Red Wings	82	48	21	11	2	255	189	109
2	7	St. Louis Blues	82	39	30	11	2	191	198	91
3	8	Nashville Predators	82	38	29	11	4	216	217	91
4	14	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	25	45	8	4	177	238	62
5	15	Chicago Blackhawks	82	20	43	11	8	188	259	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.

Western Conference^[3]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	P- Detroit Red Wings	CE	82	48	21	11	2	255	189	109
2	Y- San Jose Sharks	PA	82	43	21	11	2	255	183	104
3	Y- Vancouver Canucks	NW	82	43	24	10	5	235	194	101
4	X- Colorado Avalanche	NW	82	40	22	13	7	236	198	100
5	X- Dallas Stars	PA	82	41	26	13	2	194	175	97
6	X- Calgary Flames	NW	82	42	30	7	3	200	176	94
7	X- St. Louis Blues	CE	82	39	30	11	2	191	198	91
8	X- Nashville Predators	CE	82	38	29	11	4	216	217	91
8.5
9	Edmonton Oilers	NW	82	36	29	12	5	221	208	89
10	Minnesota Wild	NW	82	30	29	20	3	188	183	83
11	Los Angeles Kings	PA	82	28	29	16	9	205	217	81
12	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PA	82	29	35	10	8	184	213	76
13	Phoenix Coyotes	PA	82	22	36	18	6	188	245	68
14	Columbus Blue Jackets	CE	82	25	45	8	4	177	238	62
15	Chicago Blackhawks	CE	82	20	43	11	8	188	259	59

Divisions: CE – Central, PA – Pacific, NW – Northwest

P- Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y- Clinched Division; X- Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

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

• Green background indicates a win.
• Red background indicates a regulation loss.
• Yellow background indicates an overtime loss.
• White background indicates a tie.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Nash, RickRick Nash	LW	80	41	16	57	87	-35	19	0	7
Vyborny, DavidDavid Vyborny	RW	82	22	31	53	40	-26	8	4	2
Zherdev, NikolaiNikolai Zherdev	W	57	13	21	34	54	-11	5	0	1
Marchant, ToddTodd Marchant	C	77	9	25	34	34	-17	4	0	2
Letowski, TrevorTrevor Letowski	RW	73	15	17	32	16	-12	4	0	1
Sanderson, GeoffGeoff Sanderson	LW	67	13	16	29	34	-9	5	0	1
Eriksson, AndersAnders Eriksson	D	66	7	20	27	18	-6	2	0	1
Cassels, AndrewAndrew Cassels	C	58	6	20	26	26	-24	2	0	0
Malhotra, MannyManny Malhotra	C	56	12	13	25	24	-5	1	0	2
Spacek, JaroslavJaroslav Spacek	D	58	5	17	22	45	-13	2	1	2
Wright, TylerTyler Wright	C	68	9	9	18	63	-19	2	0	3
Sydor, DarrylDarryl Sydor	D	49	2	13	15	26	-19	1	0	0
Klesla, RostislavRostislav Klesla	D	47	2	11	13	27	-16	0	0	1
Pirjeta, LasseLasse Pirjeta	C	57	2	8	10	20	-6	0	0	0
Walser, DerrickDerrick Walser	D	27	1	8	9	22	-6	1	0	0
Johnson, AaronAaron Johnson	D	29	2	6	8	32	-2	0	0	1
Svitov, AlexanderAlexander Svitov	C	29	2	6	8	16	-8	0	0	0
Westcott, DuvieDuvie Westcott	D	34	0	7	7	39	-15	0	0	0
Shelley, JodyJody Shelley	LW	76	3	3	6	228	-10	1	0	0
Richardson, LukeLuke Richardson	D	64	1	5	6	48	-11	0	0	1
Hartigan, MarkMark Hartigan	C	9	1	3	4	6	-2	1	0	0
Knutsen, EspenEspen Knutsen	C	14	0	4	4	2	-5	0	0	0
Lachance, ScottScott Lachance	D	77	0	4	4	44	-23	0	0	0
Jackman, TimTim Jackman	RW	19	1	2	3	16	-7	0	0	0
Ling, DavidDavid Ling	RW	50	1	2	3	98	-3	0	0	0
McDonell, KentKent McDonell	RW	29	1	2	3	36	-7	0	0	0
Nedorost, AndrejAndrej Nedorost	LW	9	2	0	2	6	0	0	0	0
Moran, BradBrad Moran	C	2	1	1	2	2	-1	0	0	0
Denis, MarcMarc Denis	G	66	0	2	2	10	0	0	0	0
Rohloff, ToddTodd Rohloff	D	24	0	2	2	8	-12	0	0	0
Fritsche, DanDan Fritsche	C	19	1	0	1	12	-5	0	0	0
Holzinger, BrianBrian Holzinger	C	13	1	0	1	2	-4	0	0	0
MacLean, DonDon MacLean	C	4	1	0	1	0	-1	0	0	0
Reich, JeremyJeremy Reich	LW	9	0	1	1	20	-3	0	0	0
Scoville, DarrelDarrel Scoville	D	8	0	1	1	6	-4	0	0	0
Brathwaite, FredFred Brathwaite	G	21	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Grand-Pierre, Jean-LucJean-Luc Grand-Pierre	D	16	0	0	0	12	-3	0	0	0
Komarniski, ZenithZenith Komarniski	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Leclaire, PascalPascal Leclaire	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mauldin, GregGreg Mauldin	C	6	0	0	0	4	-2	0	0	0
Motzko, JoeJoe Motzko	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pandolfo, MikeMike Pandolfo	LW	3	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Pushor, JamieJamie Pushor	D	7	0	0	0	2	-2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T/OT	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Denis, MarcMarc Denis	3796	66	21	36	7	162	2.56	5	1970	1808	.918
Brathwaite, FredFred Brathwaite	1050	21	4	11	1	59	3.37	0	574	515	.897
Leclaire, PascalPascal Leclaire	119	2	0	2	0	7	3.53	0	69	62	.899
Team:	4965	82	25	49	8	228	2.76	5	2613	2385	.913

^[4]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Draft picks

Columbus' draft picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft:

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	4	Nikolai Zherdev	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
2	46	Dan Fritsche	United States	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
3	71	Dmitri Kosmachev	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
4	103	Kevin Jarman	Canada	Stouffville Spirit (OPJHL)
4	104	Philippe Dupuis	Canada	Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
5	138	Arsi Piispanen	Finland	Jokerit (Finland)
6	168	Marc Methot	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
7	200	Alexander Guskov	Russia	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Russia)
8	233	Mathieu Gravel	Canada	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
9	283	Trevor Hendrikx	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHL)

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

References

1. "2003-04 NHL Schedule and Results | Hockey-Reference.com". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
2. "2003-2004 Division Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
3. "2003–2004 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
4. "2003-04 Columbus Blue Jackets Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-02.

External links

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007