2003–04 Detroit Red Wings season

The 2003–04 Detroit Red Wings season was the 78th National Hockey League season in Detroit, Michigan. Despite multiple injuries to key players, the Wings found themselves once again winning the Presidents' Trophy for having the best regular season record in the NHL, scoring 109 points. In the post-season, they advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they were eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion Calgary Flames in six games.

2003–04 Detroit Red Wings
Presidents' Trophy winners
Central Division champions
Division	1st Central
Conference	1st Western
2003–04 record	48–21–11–2
Home record	30–7–4–0
Road record	18–14–7–2
Goals for	255
Goals against	189
Team information
General manager	Ken Holland
Coach	Dave Lewis
Captain	Steve Yzerman
Alternate captains	Nicklas Lidstrom Brendan Shanahan
Arena	Joe Louis Arena
Average attendance	20,066 (100%)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Grand Rapids Griffins Toledo Storm
Team leaders
Goals	Pavel Datsyuk (30)
Assists	Brett Hull (43)
Points	Pavel Datsyuk (68)
Penalty minutes	Brendan Shanahan (108)
Plus/minus	Kirk Maltby (24)
Wins	Manny Legace (23)
Goals against average	Marc Lamothe (1.45)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Two Red Wings were named to the roster for the 2004 All-Star Game: defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and center Pavel Datsyuk. Lidstrom was voted into his eighth appearance at the All-Star game by fans, and Datsyuk was selected to the roster for his first appearance.^[1]

The Red Wings sold out all 41 home games in 2003–04 as 20,066 fans packed Joe Louis Arena for every regular season and playoff game played in Detroit.

Goaltending controversy

Detroit's early exit from the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs left Curtis Joseph to be heavily scrutinized by the media as to whether or not he was up to task to start for Detroit. During the subsequent offseason, Dominik Hasek shocked the hockey world when he announced he was coming out of retirement and fulfilling his contractual obligation to the Red Wings. Given their previous success with Hasek, the Red Wings welcomed him back to the team.

With the Wings appearing to favor Hasek as their starting goaltender, Joseph opted to have surgery to repair his ankle prior to the start of the season, resulting with the Red Wings using Hasek and Manny Legace as their goaltending tandem. When Joseph returned from injury and subsequent conditioning assignment in the minors, anger quickly grew on and off the ice between Hasek and Joseph. General Manager Ken Holland attempted to move Joseph to alleviate the situation, but Holland was not able to find a trade partner nor give Joseph up via the waiver wire due to the hefty terms of his contract (the contract had two years remaining with an annual salary of US$8 million and a no-trade clause). Unable to continue holding three goaltenders on roster, Detroit elected to send Joseph to Detroit's minor league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, on a permanent basis following a poor performance against the Washington Capitals.

While Hasek assumed the starting role, he did not do so with ease. Hasek was not conditioned properly to handle the competition at the NHL level and was wrought with inconsistent play and injuries. By December 2003, both Hasek and Legace went down with injuries and Joseph was recalled from the minors, along with Joey MacDonald. While MacDonald was returned to the minors when Legace returned from injury, Joseph remained with the Red Wings as Hasek opted to remain on the injured reserve and did not return for the remainder of the season.

Joseph and Legace would find themselves in a platoon situation until Joseph injured his ankle in a contest against the San Jose Sharks. The Red Wings recalled Marc Lamothe from the Griffins to support Legace. Lamothe would appear in two games during his time with Detroit, making him the fifth goaltender to dress for Detroit and the fourth to play for them that season (MacDonald did not play in any games while on roster). Lamothe was returned to the minors once Joseph returned from injury.

Despite being viewed by many as Detroit's "third" goaltender, Manny Legace ended up the de facto starting goaltender for the season, leading the other goaltenders on the team in games played, wins and shutouts. (At the time, those were also career records for Legace.) Legace also had a better save percentage and goals against average (GAA) than either Hasek or Joseph. Based on his regular season play, Legace was named the starting goaltender going into the playoffs. During the opening round against the Nashville Predators, Legace won the first two games, but was pulled after the fourth game following consecutive three-goal losses.

Joseph took over the starting duties and responded admirably, posting a .300 GAA, .977 save percentage and one shutout for the remainder of the series. While Joseph had a strong performance against Calgary (1.83 GAA and .928 SV%), Detroit suffered an offensive drought and, with the series tied at two games a piece, were shut-out the final two games of the series, eliminating Detroit from the playoffs.

Joseph never appeared for the Red Wings again, as the last year of his contract was nullified by the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Instead, Joseph signed with the Phoenix Coyotes once the lockout was resolved. Legace went on to assume the starting role for Detroit, but was released after the season following another disappointing playoff exit. Hasek appeared with the Ottawa Senators during the 2005–06 season, but later returned to Detroit for what would be his last two seasons as an NHL goaltender.

Regular season

The Red Wings tied the Tampa Bay Lightning for most short-handed goals scored in the NHL, with 15, and had the best penalty-kill percentage in the League (86.75%).^[2]

Season standings

Central Division^[3]

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^[4]

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	12	6	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

For complete final standings, see 2003–04 NHL season

Playoffs

The Detroit Red Wings ended the 2003–04 regular season as the Western Conference's first seed and played the Nashville Predators in the first round. They defeated Nashville in six games and met the Calgary Flames in the second round. Calgary would go on to defeat Detroit and reach the Stanley Cup Finals, losing in Game 7 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Schedule and results

Regular season

2003–04 regular season^[5]
October: 5–5–0–0 (Home: 4–1–0–0; Road: 1–4–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 9 Los Angeles 2 – 3 Detroit Hasek 20,066 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 11 Detroit 3 – 2 Ottawa OT Hasek 18,500 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 October 16 Vancouver 2 – 3 Detroit Hasek 20,066 3–0–0 6 Recap 4 October 18 Detroit 3 – 4 Pittsburgh Hasek 13,421 3–1–0 6 Recap 5 October 20 Detroit 1 – 2 Montreal Hasek 19,407 3–2–0 6 Recap 6 October 22 Columbus 1 – 4 Detroit Legace 20,066 4–2–0 8 Recap 7 October 24 Dallas 0 – 4 Detroit Hasek 20,066 5–2–0 10 Recap 8 October 25 Detroit 1 – 3 NY Rangers Hasek 18,200 5–3–0 10 Recap 9 October 29 St. Louis 6 – 5 Detroit Legace 20,066 5–4–0 10 Recap 10 October 30 Detroit 3 – 5 Nashville Joseph 12,322 5–5–0 10 Recap
November: 9–4–2–0 (Home: 4–2–0–0; Road: 5–2–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 11 November 1 Detroit 4 – 4 Edmonton OT Legace 16,839 5–5–1–0 11 Recap 12 November 3 Detroit 1 – 5 Vancouver Legace 18,630 5–6–1–0 11 Recap 13 November 4 Detroit 3 – 0 Calgary Joseph 15,259 6–6–1–0 13 Recap 14 November 8 Nashville 4 – 3 Detroit Joseph 20,066 6–7–1–0 13 Recap 15 November 10 Chicago 0 – 3 Detroit Hasek 20,066 7–7–1–0 15 Recap 16 November 12 Detroit 6 – 2 Dallas Hasek 18,532 8–7–1–0 17 Recap 17 November 14 Detroit 4 – 3 Chicago OT Hasek 21,856 9–7–1–0 19 Recap 18 November 15 Detroit 1 – 1 Minnesota OT Hasek 18,568 9–7–2–0 20 Recap 19 November 19 Columbus 1 – 5 Detroit Legace 20,066 10–7–2–0 22 Recap 20 November 20 Detroit 0 – 3 Columbus Legace 18,136 10–8–2–0 22 Recap 21 November 22 Detroit 5 – 2 Minnesota Joseph 18,568 11–8–2–0 24 Recap 22 November 24 Washington 4 – 1 Detroit Joseph 20,066 11–9–2–0 24 Recap 23 November 26 Edmonton 1 – 7 Detroit Legace 20,066 12–9–2–0 26 Recap 24 November 28 NY Islanders 0 – 6 Detroit Legace 20,066 13–9–2–0 28 Recap 25 November 29 Detroit 2 – 1 St. Louis Legace 20,006 14–9–2–0 30 Recap
December: 9–3–2–1 (Home: 7–0–1–0; Road: 2–3–1–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 26 December 3 Anaheim 2 – 7 Detroit Legace 20,066 15–9–2–0 32 Recap 27 December 4 Detroit 4 – 4 St. Louis OT Hasek 18,504 15–9–3–0 33 Recap 28 December 6 Detroit 2 – 5 Toronto Legace 19,470 15–10–3–0 33 Recap 29 December 8 Los Angeles 2 – 3 Detroit OT Hasek 20,066 16–10–3–0 35 Recap 30 December 10 Detroit 7 – 2 Buffalo Joseph 16,283 17–10–3–0 37 Recap 31 December 11 Detroit 3 – 4 Chicago OT Joseph 18,489 17–10–3–1 38 Recap 32 December 13 Detroit 5 – 1 Washington Joseph 18,277 18–10–3–1 40 Recap 33 December 15 Florida 1 – 4 Detroit Joseph 20,066 19–10–3–1 42 Recap 34 December 17 San Jose 2 – 2 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 20–10–3–1 44 Recap 35 December 19 Chicago 2 – 3 Detroit Legace 20,066 21–10–3–1 46 Recap 36 December 20 Detroit 0 – 1 Nashville Joseph 17,113 21–11–3–1 46 Recap 37 December 22 St. Louis 1 – 2 Detroit Joseph 20,066 22–11–3–1 48 Recap 38 December 26 Minnesota 2 – 2 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 22–11–4–1 49 Recap 39 December 28 Detroit 0 – 3 Chicago Legace 21,122 22–12–4–1 49 Recap 40 December 31 Atlanta 5 – 6 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 23–12–4–1 51 Recap
January: 6–3–4–1 (Home: 4–1–2–0; Road: 2–2–2–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 41 January 2 Detroit 4 – 1 Carolina Joseph 17,053 24–12–4–1 53 Recap 42 January 3 Anaheim 1 – 3 Detroit Legace 20,066 25–12–4–1 55 Recap 43 January 5 Nashville 0 – 6 Detroit Joseph 20,066 26–12–4–1 57 Recap 44 January 7 Boston 3 – 0 Detroit Joseph 20,066 26–13–4–1 57 Recap 45 January 10 Detroit 1 – 2 Boston OT Joseph 17,565 26–13–4–2 58 Recap 46 January 14 Chicago 2 – 4 Detroit Legace 20,066 27–13–4–2 60 Recap 47 January 16 Phoenix 3 – 3 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 27–13–5–2 61 Recap 48 January 19 Detroit 1 – 2 San Jose Joseph 17,361 27–14–5–2 61 Recap 49 January 21 Detroit 2 – 2 Anaheim OT Legace 17,174 27–14–6–2 62 Recap 50 January 22 Detroit 5 – 4 Los Angeles Joseph 18,118 28–14–6–2 64 Recap 51 January 24 Detroit 2 – 5 Phoenix Joseph 19,019 28–15–6–2 64 Recap 52 January 26 Detroit 2 – 2 Dallas OT Legace 18,532 28–15–7–2 65 Recap 53 January 29 New Jersey 2 – 5 Detroit Joseph 20,066 29–15–7–2 67 Recap 54 January 31 Carolina 4 – 4 Detroit OT Legace 20,066 30–15–8–2 68 Recap
February: 8–2–1–0 (Home: 5–1–0–0; Road: 3–1–1–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 55 February 3 Detroit 4 – 1 Nashville Legace 15,134 30–15–8–2 70 Recap 56 February 5 Detroit 3 – 2 Colorado OT Joseph 18,007 31–15–8–2 72 Recap 57 February 11 San Jose 2 – 4 Detroit Legace 20,066 32–15–8–2 74 Recap 58 February 14 Colorado 5 – 2 Detroit Legace 20,066 32–16–8–2 74 Recap 59 February 16 Edmonton 1 – 2 Detroit Legace 20,066 33–16–8–2 76 Recap 60 February 18 Phoenix 2 – 5 Detroit Legace 20,066 34–16–8–2 78 Recap 61 February 20 St. Louis 1 – 5 Detroit Legace 20,066 35–16–8–2 80 Recap 62 February 23 Detroit 1 – 1 Edmonton OT Lamothe 16,839 35–16–9–2 81 Recap 63 February 24 Detroit 2 – 4 Vancouver Legace 18,630 35–17–9–2 81 Recap 64 February 26 Detroit 2 – 1 Calgary Legace 17,862 36–17–9–2 83 Recap 65 February 29 Philadelphia 2 – 4 Detroit Legace 20,066 37–17–9–2 85 Recap
March: 10–3–2–0 (Home: 6–1–1–0; Road: 4–2–1–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 66 March 3 Calgary 1 – 2 Detroit Legace 20,066 38–17–9–2 87 Recap 67 March 5 Vancouver 1 – 3 Detroit Legace 20,066 39–17–9–2 89 Recap 68 March 8 Tampa Bay 1 – 1 Detroit OT Legace 20,066 39–17–10–2 90 Recap 69 March 11 Detroit 4 – 2 Columbus Joseph 18,136 40–17–10–2 92 Recap 70 March 13 Dallas 0 – 3 Detroit Legace 20,066 41–17–10–2 94 Recap 71 March 14 Nashville 2 – 3 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 42–17–10–2 96 Recap 72 March 16 Calgary 4 – 1 Detroit Legace 20,066 42–18–10–2 96 Recap 73 March 18 Detroit 1 – 1 Phoenix OT Joseph 18,704 42–18–11–2 97 Recap 74 March 20 Detroit 4 – 2 Los Angeles Joseph 18,118 43–18–11–2 99 Recap 75 March 21 Detroit 6 – 8 Anaheim Joseph 17,174 43–19–11–2 99 Recap 76 March 23 Detroit 2 – 5 San Jose Legace 17,496 43–20–11–2 99 Recap 77 March 25 Detroit 3 – 1 Colorado Legace 18,007 44–20–11–2 101 Recap 78 March 27 Colorado 0 – 2 Detroit Legace 20,066 45–20–11–2 103 Recap 79 March 29 Minnesota 3 – 5 Detroit Legace 20,066 46–20–11–2 105 Recap 80 March 31 Detroit 3 – 2 Columbus Legace 18,136 47–20–11–2 107 Recap
April: 1–1–0–0 (Home: 0–1–0–0; Road: 1–0–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 81 April 1 Detroit 3 – 2 St. Louis Lamothe 20,018 48–20–11–2 109 Recap 82 April 3 Columbus 4 – 1 Detroit Legace 20,066 48–21–11–2 109 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)   Overtime loss (1 point)

Playoffs

2004 Stanley Cup playoffs^[5]
Western Conference Quarterfinals: vs. (8) Nashville Predators — Detroit wins 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 7 Nashville 1–3 Detroit Legace 20,066 Red Wings lead 1–0 Recap 2 April 10 Nashville 1–2 Detroit Legace 20,066 Red Wings lead 2–0 Recap 3 April 11 Detroit 1–3 Nashville Legace 17,113 Red Wings lead 2–1 Recap 4 April 13 Detroit 0–3 Nashville Legace 17,113 Series tied 2–2 Recap 5 April 15 Nashville 1–4 Detroit Joseph 20,066 Red Wings lead 3–2 Recap 6 April 17 Detroit 2–0 Nashville Joseph 17,329 Red Wings win 4–2 Recap
Western Conference Semifinals: vs. (6) Calgary Flames — Calgary wins 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 22 Calgary 2–1 Detroit OT Joseph 20,066 Flames lead 1–0 Recap 2 April 24 Calgary 2–5 Detroit Joseph 20,066 Series tied 1–1 Recap 3 April 27 Detroit 2–3 Calgary Joseph 19,289 Flames lead 2–1 Recap 4 April 29 Detroit 4–2 Calgary Joseph 19,289 Series tied 2–2 Recap 5 May 1 Calgary 1–0 Detroit Joseph 20,066 Flames lead 3–2 Recap 6 May 3 Detroit 0–1 Calgary OT Joseph 19,289 Flames win 4–2 Recap
Legend:   Win   Loss

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 Red Wings only.

			Regular season						Playoffs
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
13	Pavel Datsyuk	C	75	30	38	68	−2	35	12	0	6	6	1	2
17	Brett Hull	RW	81	25	43	68	−4	12	12	3	2	5	0	4
14	Brendan Shanahan	LW	82	25	28	53	15	117	12	1	5	6	4	20
19	Steve Yzerman	C	75	18	33	51	10	46	11	3	2	5	−1	0
23	Mathieu Schneider	D	78	14	32	46	22	56	12	1	2	3	2	8
40	Henrik Zetterberg	LW	61	15	28	43	15	14	12	2	2	4	0	4
41	Ray Whitney	LW	67	14	29	43	7	22	12	1	3	4	−4	4
33	Kris Draper	C	67	24	16	40	22	31	12	1	3	4	1	6
5	Nicklas Lidstrom	D	81	10	28	38	19	18	12	2	5	7	4	4
18	Kirk Maltby	LW	79	14	19	33	24	80	12	1	3	4	2	11
96	Tomas Holmstrom	LW	67	15	15	30	8	38	12	2	2	4	0	10
32	Steve Thomas	RW	44	10	12	22	8	25	6	0	1	1	1	2
24	Chris Chelios	D	69	2	19	21	12	61	8	0	1	1	1	4
8	Jiri Fischer	D	81	4	15	19	0	75	11	1	0	1	−2	16
15	Jason Woolley	D	55	4	15	19	19	28	6	0	1	1	−4	6
21	Boyd Devereaux	C	61	6	9	15	−1	20	4	0	0	0	−1	0
29	Jason Williams	C	49	6	7	13	1	15	3	0	0	0	0	2
11	Mathieu Dandenault	D	65	3	9	12	9	40	12	1	1	2	−1	6
25	Darren McCarty	RW	43	6	5	11	2	50	12	0	1	1	0	7
44^[a]	Mark Mowers	RW	52	3	8	11	3	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	Jamie Rivers	D	50	3	4	7	9	41	2	0	0	0	0	2
55	Niklas Kronwall	D	20	1	4	5	5	16	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	Robert Lang	C	6	1	4	5	2	0	12	4	5	9	−1	6
2	Derian Hatcher	D	15	0	4	4	4	8	12	0	1	1	0	15
26	Jiri Hudler	C	12	1	2	3	−1	10	—	—	—	—	—	—
28	Kevin Miller	C	4	0	2	2	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
27	Darryl Bootland	RW	22	1	1	2	−3	74	—	—	—	—	—	—
39	Dominik Hasek	G	14	0	2	2		2	—	—	—	—	—	—
22	Anders Myrvold	D	8	0	1	1	−1	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
34	Manny Legace	G	41	0	0	0		0	4	0	1	1		0
31	Curtis Joseph	G	31	0	0	0		2	9	0	0	0		2
38	Nathan Robinson	LW	5	0	0	0	−1	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
52	Ryan Barnes	LW	2	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	Marc Lamothe	G	2	0	0	0		0	—	—	—	—	—	—

Goaltending

		Regular season										Playoffs
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
34	Manny Legace	41	23	10	5	1019	82	2.12	.920	3	2325	4	2	2	84	8	2.18	.905	0	220
31	Curtis Joseph	31	16	10	3	744	68	2.39	.909	2	1708	9	4	4	197	12	1.39	.939	1	518
39	Dominik Hasek	14	8	3	2	324	30	2.20	.907	2	817	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	Marc Lamothe	2	1	0	1	58	3	1.45	.948	0	125	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Frank J. Selke Trophy	Kris Draper	^[6]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Pavel Datsyuk	^[7]
		Dave Lewis (Coach)
		Nicklas Lidstrom^[b]
	NHL Offensive Player of the Month	Pavel Datsyuk (December)	^[9]
	NHL Offensive Player of the Week	Pavel Datsyuk (December 15)	^[10]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
1,000th game played	Nicklas Lidstrom	February 29, 2004	^[11]

Transactions

The Red Wings 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.^[12]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
February 27, 2004	To Detroit Red Wings Robert Lang	To Washington Capitals Tomas Fleischmann 1st-round pick in 2004 4th-round pick in 2006	^[13]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03)	Derian Hatcher	Dallas Stars	5-year	Free agency	^[14]
July 29, 2003 (2003-07-29)	Jamie Rivers	Florida Panthers	1-year	Free agency	^[15]
	Ray Whitney	Columbus Blue Jackets	3-year^[c]	Free agency	^[16]
August 27, 2003 (2003-08-27)	Kevin Miller	HC Davos (NLA)	1-year	Free agency	^[17]
September 1, 2003 (2003-09-01)	Anders Myrvold	Adler Mannheim (DEL)		Free agency	^[18]
November 5, 2003 (2003-11-05)	Steve Thomas	Anaheim Mighty Ducks	1-year	Free agency	^[19]
December 1, 2003 (2003-12-01)	Blake Sloan	Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL)	1-year	Free agency	^[20]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via^[d]	Ref
June 18, 2003 (2003-06-18)	Dmitri Bykov	Ak Bars Kazan (RSL)	Free agency (II)^[e]	^[23]
July 19, 2003 (2003-07-19)	Sergei Fedorov	Anaheim Mighty Ducks	Free agency (III)	^[24]
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)	Luc Robitaille	Los Angeles Kings	Free agency (III)	^[25]
July 31, 2003 (2003-07-31)	Ed Campbell	Boston Bruins	Free agency (VI)	^[26]
	Jesse Wallin	Calgary Flames	Free agency (VI)	^[27]
August 8, 2003 (2003-08-08)	Bryan Adams	Iserlohn Roosters (DEL)	Free agency (VI)	^[28]
August 28, 2003 (2003-08-28)	Patrick Boileau	Pittsburgh Penguins	Free agency (VI)	^[29]
September 10, 2003 (2003-09-10)	Igor Larionov	New Jersey Devils	Free agency (III)	^[30]
N/A	Tim Verbeek	Utah Grizzlies (AHL)	Free agency (UFA)	^[31]
December 3, 2003 (2003-12-03)	Blake Sloan	Dallas Stars	Waivers	^[32]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 26, 2003 (2003-06-26)	Pavel Datsyuk	1-year^[f]	Re-signing	^[33]
June 30, 2003 (2003-06-30)	Dominik Hasek^[g]	1-year	Option exercised	^[35]
	Darren McCarty	4-year	Re-signing	^[35]
	Jason Woolley	2-year	Re-signing	^[35]
July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01)	Marc Lamothe	1-year	Re-signing	^[36]
July 7, 2003 (2003-07-07)	Jiri Hudler	3-year	Entry-level	^[37]
July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15)	Mathieu Dandenault	1-year	Re-signing	^[38]
	Niklas Kronwall	2-year	Entry-level	^[39]
July 16, 2003 (2003-07-16)	Mark Mowers	1-year	Re-signing	^[40]
August 20, 2003 (2003-08-20)	Ryan Barnes	1-year	Re-signing	^[41]
August 25, 2003 (2003-08-25)	Steve Yzerman	1-year	Re-signing	^[42]
September 15, 2003 (2003-09-15)	Jason Williams	1-year	Re-signing	^[43]
April 2, 2004 (2004-04-02)	Tomas Holmstrom	3-year	Extension	^[44]
April 3, 2004 (2004-04-03)	Nicklas Lidstrom	2-year	Extension	^[45]
June 2, 2004 (2004-06-02)	Todd Jackson	2-year	Entry-level	^[46]
	Logan Koopmans	3-year	Entry-level	^[46]
	Derek Meech	3-year	Entry-level	^[46]

Draft picks

Detroit's draft picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.^[47] The Red Wings were slated to pick 27th overall but traded their first pick to the Los Angeles Kings at the 2003 trade deadline.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	64	Jimmy Howard (G)	United States	University of Maine (Hockey East)
4	132	Kyle Quincey (D)	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
5	164	Ryan Oulahen (C)	Canada	Brampton Battalion (OHL)
6	170	Andreas Sundin (LW)	Sweden	Linkopings HC (SWE)
6	194	Stefan Blom (D)	Sweden	Hammarby IF (SWE)
7	226	Tomas Kollar	Sweden	Hammarby IF (SWE)
8	258	Vladimir Kutny	Slovakia	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
9	289	Mikael Johansson (C)	Sweden	Arvika (SWE)

Farm teams

Grand Rapids Griffins

The Griffins were Detroit's top affiliate in the American Hockey League in 2003–04.

Toledo Storm

The Storm were the Red Wings' ECHL affiliate for the 2003–04 season.

See also

• 2003–04 NHL season

Notes

1. Mowers originally wore number 20 prior to Lang being acquired.
2. Lidstrom was voted to the starting lineup.^[8]
3. Club option for a fourth year.
4. In parenthesis is the player's free agency group on July 1 if applicable.^[21]
5. Detroit retained Bykov’s NHL rights through the 2005–06 season.^[22]
6. Club option for a second year.
7. Hasek announced he was coming out of retirement on July 8.^[34]

References

• Player stats: Detroit Red Wings player stats on espn.com
• "Detroit Red Wings 2003–04 roster and statistics". The Internet Hockey Database. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
• "2003–04 Detroit Red Wings Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 8, 2022.

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