2003–04 New Jersey Devils season

New Jersey Devils

Industry	Professional ice hockey
Founded	1982 (relocated from Colorado)
Headquarters	Newark , United States
Products	Ice hockey team

The 2003–04 New Jersey Devils season represented the 30th campaign for the franchise in the NHL and their 22nd year since moving from Colorado in 1982. The team concluded the season ranked 6th in the Eastern Conference and secured 2nd place within the Atlantic Division, finishing with a 43–25–12–2 record. After an impressive beginning—claiming victory in 17 of their initial 30 contests—the Devils closed out the year with a 24–19–4–1 performance. This led to an early playoff departure in the first round, losing in five games to their divisional opponents, the Philadelphia Flyers. The postseason was notably affected by injuries to crucial defensemen Scott Stevens and Brian Rafalski.

Regular season

Entering as reigning Stanley Cup champions, New Jersey emphasized their defensive strength by conceding only 164 goals—the fewest allowed during an 82-game schedule—and achieved the highest number of shutouts in the league with 14. Their disciplined approach was further highlighted by having the least power-play opportunities against (266) and allowing just 39 power-play goals.

In January, captain Scott Stevens was placed on indefinite injured reserve due to post-concussion syndrome. Consequently, Scott Niedermayer assumed the role of acting captain for the remainder of the campaign.

• On March 23, 2004, goaltender Martin Brodeur reached a significant milestone by earning his 400th career win during an overtime triumph over the Florida Panthers, becoming the youngest goalie to achieve this feat.

(E6) New Jersey Devils vs. (E3) Philadelphia Flyers

The playoff series opened at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center, where the Flyers captured victories in both games one and two with identical scores of 3–2. Returning home to New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena, the Devils responded by winning game three 4–2; however, Philadelphia shut them out 3–0 in game four. The decisive game five took place back in Philadelphia, with the Flyers clinching the series by winning 3–1, concluding the matchup with a 4-1 series result.

Preseason

|- | 1 || September 19 || 1–6 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers || Wachovia Center || 0–1–0 || L |- | 2 || September 23 || 3–0 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers || Sovereign Bank Arena || 1–1–0 || W |- | 3 || September 24 || 1–2 || align="left"| New York Islanders || Continental Airlines Arena || 1–2–0 || L |- | 4 || September 26 || 4–5 (OT) || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers || Wachovia Center || 1–3–0 || L |- | 5 || September 27 || 4–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers || Continental Airlines Arena || 2–3–0 || W |- | 6 || September 30 || 0–1 || align="left"| Boston Bruins || Dunkin' Donuts Center || 2–4–0 || L |- | 7 || October 1 || 4–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers || Madison Square Garden || 3–4–0 || W |- | 8 || October 3 || 0–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers || Continental Airlines Arena || 3–5–0 || L |- | 9 || October 4 || 1–5 || align="left"| New York Islanders || Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum ||3–6–0||L |-

|- | Legend:

Regular season

|- |1||October 8, 2003||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Boston Bruins||0–0–1–0||1|| |- |2||October 11, 2003||2–1|| align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes||1–0–1–0||3|| |- |3||October 16, 2003||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs||1–0–2–0||4|| |- |4||October 18, 2003||2–3|| align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning||1–1–2–0||4|| |- |5||October 22, 2003||1–2|| align="left"| Florida Panthers||1–2–2–0||4|| |- |6||October 24, 2003||2–1|| align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins||2–2–2–0||6|| |- |7||October 25, 2003||2–5|| align="left"| Boston Bruins||2–3–2–0||6|| |- |8||October 28, 2003||4–0|| align="left"| @ New York Islanders||3–3–2–0||8|| |- |9||October 30, 2003||3–2|| align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers||4–3–2–0||10||

|-

|10||November 1, 2003||4-3|| align="left"| Colorado Avalanche||5-3-2-0|||12|| |-

|11||November 5, 2003||(OT) 3-2|||align=left|San Jose Sharks|||6-3-2-0|||14|| |-

|12 |November 7, 2003|(OT)1-1|||align=left|Toronto Maple Leafs|||6-3-3-0|||15|| |-

|13 |November 8, 2003|1-0|||align=left|@ Ottawa Senators|||7-3-3-0|||17|| |-

|14 |November 12, 2003|(OT)2-2|||align=left|@ Buffalo Sabres|||7-3-4-0|||18|| |-

|15 |November 13, 2003|3-1|||align=left|Florida Panthers|||8-3-4-0|||20|| |-

|16 |November 15, 2003|5-0|||align=left|New York Rangers|||9-3-4-0|||22|| |-

|17 |November 19, 2003|4-1|||align=left|Buffalo Sabres|||10-3-4-0|||24|| |-

|18 |November 21, 2003|(OT)2-1|||align=left|Pittsburgh Penguins|||11-3-4-0|||26|| |-

|19 |November 25, 2003|4-0|||align=left|@ Los Angeles Kings|||12-3-4-0|||28|| |-

|20 |November 26, 2003|(OT)3-3|||align=left|@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim|||12-3-5-0|||29|| |-

|21 |November 28, 2003|0-2|||align=left|@ Dallas Stars|||12-4-5-0|||29|| |-

|22 |November 30, 20003|(OT)1-1|||align=left|@ Colorado Avalanche|||12-4-6-0|||30||

|-

23 | December 2, 2003 |1−3 |Phoenix Coyotes |12−5−6−0 |30 | |-

24 | December 4, 2003 |                                                                                                                      ³⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰                                 ³³ | |-

25 | December 6, 20003 |                                @ Ottawa Senators |14−5−6−00 |33 | |-

26 | December 10, 20003 |¹−00 OT |New York Islanders |15−5−6−00 |35 | |-

27 | December 12, 20003 |³−³ OT |Philadelphia Flyers |15−5−7−00 |36 | |-

28 | December 13, 20003 |²−00 @ Philadelphia Flyers |16−5−7−00 |38 | |-

29 | December 16, 20003 |4−5 @ New York Islanders

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 8, 2004 || 2–3 || align="left"| at Philadelphia Flyers || 19,608 || Flyers lead series 1–0 || |- | 2 || April 10, 2004 || 2–3 || align="left"| at Philadelphia Flyers || 19,779 || Flyers lead series 2–0 || |- | 3 || April 12, 2004 || 4–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers || 18,023 || Flyers lead series 2–1 || |- | 4 || April 14, 2004 || 0–3 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers || 19,040 || Flyers lead series 3–1 || |- | 5 || April 17, 2004 || 1–3 || align="left"| at Philadelphia Flyers || 19,778 || Flyers win series 4–1 || |-

|- | Key:

Scoring

• Abbreviations for positions: C = Center; D = Defenseman; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
• † = Acquired by the team during the season. Statistics shown are only from time with Devils.
• Template:Double-dagger = Departed the team during the season. Statistics shown are only from time with Devils.

... [table continues with the same format and concise detail]

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
26	Template:Sortname	LW	82	38	43	81	26	44	5	3	2	5	−3	2
23	Template:Sortname	C	80	14	56	70	18	70	5	0	6	6	−2	0
27	Template:Sortname	D	81	14	40	54	20	44	5	1	0	1	−5	6
12	Template:Sortname	LW	81	17	20	37	8	26	5	0	0	0	−2	4
28	Template:Sortname	D	69	6	30	36	6	24	5	0	1	1	0	0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season										Playoffs
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI

|- |30||align=left|||Martin Brodeur||75||38||26||11||1845||154||2.03||.917||11||4555||5||1||4||133||13||2.62||.902||0||298 |- |40||align=left|||Scott Clemmensen||4||3||1||0||84||4||1.01||.952||2||238|||||||||||||| |- 35||align=left|||Corey Schwab||3||2||0||1||68||2||0.64||.971||1||187|||||||||||||| |}

Achievements

Martin Brodeur earned a finalist position for the Hart Memorial Trophy, while John Madden finished as the runner-up for the Frank J. Selke Trophy.

Category	Award/Honor	Recipient
League (annual)	James Norris Memorial Trophy	Scott Niedermayer
	Lester Patrick Trophy	Mike Emrick
	NHL First All-Star Team	Martin Brodeur (Goaltender)
		Scott Niedermayer (Defense)
	Vezina Trophy	Martin Brodeur
	William M. Jennings Trophy	Martin Brodeur
League (during season)	2004 National Hockey League All-Star Game	Martin Brodeur
		}
		Brian Rafalski
		Scott Stevens{{efn|}
	NHL Defensive Player of the Month	Martin Brodeur (November)
	NHL Defensive Player of the Week	Martin Brodeur (December 15)
	NHL Offensive Player of the Month	Scott Gomez (March)
	NHL Offensive Player of the Week	Patrik Eliáš (March 29)
	NHL YoungStars Game#2004 National Hockey League All-Star Game selection	Paul Martin
Team	List of New Jersey Devils award winners#Devils' Players' Player	Turner Stevenson
	List of New Jersey Devils award winners#Hugh Delano Unsung Hero	Brian Gionta
	List of New Jersey Devils award winners#Most Valuable Devil	Scott Niedermayer
	List of New Jersey Devils award winners#Three-Star Award	Patrik Elias

Key Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date
Debut game	David Hale	October 8, 2003
	Paul Martin
	Rob Skrlac	December 13, 2003
	Tuomas Pihlman	January 1, 2004
	Alexander Suglobov	January 5, 2004
500th coaching victory	Pat Burns	March 30, 2004

Roster Moves

Between June 10, 2003—immediately after the conclusion of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals—and June 7, 2004, which marked the end of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, the Devils executed several roster changes.

Player Trades

Date	Transaction Details
June 21, 2003 (2003-06-21)	Sent to Edmonton Oilers Template:Blist	Acquired from Edmonton Oilers Template:Blist
	Sent to St. Louis Blues Template:Blist	Acquired from St. Louis Blues Template:Blist
March 1, 2003 (2003-03-01)	Sent to 2003–04 Florida Panthers season#Florida Panthers Template:Blist	Received from Florida Panthers Template:Blist
March 5, 2003 (2003-03-05)	Traded to 2003–04 Phoenix Coyotes season#Phoenix Coyotes Template:Blist	Acquired from Phoenix Coyotes Template:Blist

Players acquired

Date	Player	Previous team	Contract length	Acquisition method
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)	Sean Brown	Boston Bruins		Signed as free agent
July 25, 2003 (2003-07-25)	Erik Rasmussen	Los Angeles Kings		Signed as free agent
July 30, 2003 (2003-07-30)	Ryan Murphy	Carolina Hurricanes		Signed as free agent
September 9, 2003 (2003-09-09)	Greg Crozier	Minnesota Wild		Signed as free agent
September 10, 2003 (2003-09-10)	Igor Larionov	Detroit Red Wings		Signed as free agent

Players lost

Date	Player	Destination team	Departure method
July 11, 2003 (2003-07-11)	Max Birbraer	Florida Panthers	Signed as free agent
	Ken Daneyko		Announced retirement
July 22, 2003 (2003-07-22)	Jim McKenzie	Nashville Predators	Signed as free agent
August 23, 2003 (2003-08-23)	Oleg Tverdovsky	Avangard Omsk (RSL)	Signed as free agent
September 9, 2003 (2003-09-09)	Joe Nieuwendyk	Toronto Maple Leafs	Signed as free agent
September 17, 2003 (2003-09-17)	Richard Smehlik		Announced retirement
N/A	Daryl Andrews	San Antonio Rampage (AHL)	Signed as free agent
October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03)	Dave Roche	Toronto Roadrunners (AHL)	Signed as free agent
October 5, 2003 (2003-10-05)	Jason Lehoux	Manitoba Moose (AHL)	Signed as free agent
October 22, 2003 (2003-10-22)	Pascal Rheaume	New York Rangers	Signed as free agent
April 19, 2004 (2004-04-19)	Igor Larionov		Announced retirement
April 22, 2004 (2004-04-22)	Steve Guolla	Kloten Flyers (NLA)	Signed as free agent

Signings

Date	Player	Contract duration	Contract type	Reference
July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15)	Matt DeMarchi		Entry-level contract
	Ahren Nittel		Entry-level contract
	Tuomas Pihlman		Entry-level contract
	Ilkka Pikkarainen		Entry-level contract
	Aleksander Suglobov		Entry-level contract
	Colin White	Multi-year agreement	Re-signed
August 8, 2003 (2003-08-08)	Paul Martin		Entry-level contract
August 9, 2003 (2003-08-09)	Jeff Friesen	One-year deal	Re-signed
October 15, 2003 (2003-10-15)	Tommy Albelin		Re-signed
March 24, 2004 (2004-03-24)	Aaron Voros		Entry-level contract
March 29, 2004 (2004-03-29)	Zach Parise		Entry-level contract
May 21, 2004 (2004-05-21)	Petr Vrana		Entry-level contract

Draft picks

The Devils made the following selections during the 2003 NHL entry draft, which took place at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee:

Round	Overall Pick	Player Name	Nationality	Position	Previous Team (League)	Remarks
1	17	Zach Parise	United States	Center	University of North Dakota (WCHA)	Obtained from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for the first-round pick originally belonging to St. Louis and New Jersey’s second-round selection.
2	42	Petr Vrana	Template:Flagcountry	Center	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
3	93	Ivan Khomutov	Russia	Center	Elektrostal Elemash (Vysshaya Liga)	Acquired through a transaction with the St. Louis Blues involving Mike Danton.
4	136	No selection in the fourth round				Rights traded to the Atlanta Thrashers in return for Richard Smehlik and a conditional draft choice in 2004.
5	167	Zach Tarkir	United States	Defenseman	Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)
6	197	Jason Smith	Canada	Goaltender	Lennoxville Cougars (LHJAAAQ)
7	229	No seventh-round pick selected				This pick was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward Stephane Richer.
8	261	Joey Tenute	Canada	Center	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
9	292	Arseny Bondarev	Russia	Left Wing	(Yaroslavl Juniors, Russia)

Media

Broadcast rights for television coverage continued with Fox Sports Net New York, featuring commentators Mike Emrick and Chico Resch, alongside studio host Matt Loughlin. On radio, games were aired on WABC 770, with John Hennessy handling play-by-play duties and Randy Velischek providing color commentary.

See also

• 2003–04 NHL season