2002–03 Carolina Hurricanes season

The 2002–03 Carolina Hurricanes season was the franchise's 24th season in the National Hockey League and sixth as the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes missed the playoffs, despite being the defending Eastern Conference champions, making a Cinderella run to the 2002 Stanley Cup Final the previous year against the Detroit Red Wings, and losing in five games. The team finished the season with an NHL-worst record of 22–43–11–6 (61 points).

Regular season The Hurricanes finished 30th in scoring, with just 171 goals for. They also had the most power-play opportunities of all 30 teams, with 420.

Final standings

Schedule and results

|1||October 9, 2002||1–4 || align="left"| New York Rangers (2002–03) ||0–1–0–0 || 18,730 ||

|2||October 11, 2002||5–3 || align="left"| Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) ||1–1–0–0 || 13,962 ||

|3||October 12, 2002||1–5 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) ||1–2–0–0 || 19,814 ||

|4||October 15, 2002||1–2 OT|| align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (2002–03) ||1–2–0–1 || 13,222 ||

|5||October 17, 2002||1–2 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (2002–03) ||1–3–0–1 || 10,597 ||

|6||October 19, 2002||3–1 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (2002–03) ||2–3–0–1 || 15,518 ||

|7||October 22, 2002||4–1 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (2002–03) ||3–3–0–1 || 13,514 ||

|8||October 23, 2002||1–4 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (2002–03) ||3–4–0–1 || 14,847 ||

|9||October 26, 2002||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) ||3–4–1–1 || 15,613 ||

|10||October 29, 2002||2–1 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (2002–03) ||4–4–1–1 || 10,328 ||

|11||October 30, 2002||4–2 || align="left"| New York Islanders (2002–03) ||5–4–1–1 || 12,495 ||

|12||November 1, 2002||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) ||5–4–2–1 || 15,357 ||

|13||November 5, 2002||1–2 OT|| align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||5–4–2–2 || 15,501 ||

|14||November 7, 2002||2–0 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (2002–03) ||6–4–2–2 || 11,588 ||

|15||November 9, 2002||3–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||7–4–2–2 || 18,730 ||

|16||November 12, 2002||3–2 || align="left"| Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) ||8–4–2–2 || 10,707 ||

|17||November 15, 2002||1–1 OT|| align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||8–4–3–2 || 17,480 ||

|18||November 17, 2002||1–2 OT|| align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) ||8–4–3–3 || 13,970 ||

|19||November 19, 2002||4–4 OT|| align="left"| Ottawa Senators (2002–03) ||8–4–4–3 || 11,044 ||

|20||November 21, 2002||1–3 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||8–5–4–3 || 10,667 ||

|21||November 23, 2002||7–3 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) ||9–5–4–3 || 20,420 ||

|22||November 25, 2002||1–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (2002–03) ||9–6–4–3 || 18,200 ||

|23||November 27, 2002||2–3 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (2002–03) ||9–7–4–3 || 14,943 ||

|24||November 29, 2002||6–4 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) ||10–7–4–3 || 18,730 ||

|25||November 30, 2002||4–2 || align="left"| @ Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) ||11–7–4–3 || 18,136 ||

|26||December 3, 2002||2–1 || align="left"| @ Nashville Predators (2002–03) ||12–7–4–3 || 10,258 ||

|27||December 4, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||12–8–4–3 || 10,944 ||

|28||December 6, 2002||0–2 || align="left"| Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||12–9–4–3 || 17,006 ||

|29||December 7, 2002||2–5 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (2002–03) ||12–10–4–3 || 15,328 ||

|30||December 11, 2002||1–4 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) ||12–11–4–3 || 16,091 ||

|31||December 12, 2002||4–3 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (2002–03) ||13–11–4–3 || 14,528 ||

|32||December 15, 2002||1–2 || align="left"| @ Minnesota Wild (2002–03) ||13–12–4–3 || 18,568 ||

|33||December 18, 2002||1–1 OT|| align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) ||13–12–5–3 || 15,236 ||

|34||December 20, 2002||3–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) ||14–12–5–3 || 12,831 ||

|35||December 22, 2002||1–0 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (2002–03) ||15–12–5–3 || 17,127 ||

|36||December 27, 2002||3–5 || align="left"| Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) ||15–13–5–3 || 18,730 ||

|37||December 28, 2002||0–3 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (2002–03) ||15–14–5–3 || 15,559 ||

|38||December 31, 2002||0–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (2002–03) ||15–15–5–3 || 18,730 ||

|39||January 3, 2003||3–6 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (2002–03) ||15–16–5–3 || 13,757 ||

|40||January 4, 2003||4–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||16–16–5–3 || 16,407 ||

|41||January 7, 2003||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) ||16–16–6–3 || 9,061 ||

|42||January 8, 2003||1–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (2002–03) ||16–17–6–3 || 18,200 ||

|43||January 10, 2003||1–4 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (2002–03) ||16–18–6–3 || 16,553 ||

|44||January 12, 2003||2–3 OT|| align="left"| Colorado Avalanche (2002–03) ||16–18–6–4 || 18,730 ||

|45||January 15, 2003||0–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||16–19–6–4 || 15,265 ||

|46||January 17, 2003||1–2 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (2002–03) ||16–20–6–4 || 18,730 ||

|47||January 18, 2003||2–5 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (2002–03) ||16–21–6–4 || 17,574 ||

|48||January 20, 2003||3–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (2002–03) ||16–22–6–4 || 14,654 ||

|49||January 22, 2003||3–5 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (2002–03) ||16–23–6–4 || 12,954 ||

|50||January 24, 2003||3–1 || align="left"| Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||17–23–6–4 || 15,346 ||

|51||January 25, 2003||2–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||17–23–6–5 || 16,122 ||

|52||January 29, 2003||2–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||17–24–6–5 || 18,094 ||

|53||January 30, 2003||1–3 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) ||17–25–6–5 || 13,541 ||

|54||February 5, 2003||2–6 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (2002–03) ||17–26–6–5 || 17,108 ||

|55||February 7, 2003||2–8 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) ||17–27–6–5 || 18,118 ||

|56||February 9, 2003||1–2 || align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) ||17–28–6–5 || 15,599 ||

|57||February 11, 2003||1–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (2002–03) ||17–28–6–6 || 18,532 ||

|58||February 14, 2003||3–1 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (2002–03) ||18–28–6–6 || 17,003 ||

|59||February 15, 2003||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||18–28–7–6 || 19,408 ||

|60||February 18, 2003||3–4 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||18–29–7–6 || 19,365 ||

|61||February 19, 2003||1–1 OT|| align="left"| Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||18–29–8–6 || 16,194 ||

|62||February 21, 2003||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) ||18–29–9–6 || 16,732 ||

|63||February 23, 2003||0–4 || align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) ||18–30–9–6 || 15,053 ||

|64||February 26, 2003||2–4 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) ||18–31–9–6 || 12,168 ||

|65||March 1, 2003||1–4 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||18–32–9–6 || 19,362 ||

|66||March 2, 2003||0–2 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (2002–03) ||18–33–9–6 || 16,198 ||

|67||March 4, 2003||2–4 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||18–34–9–6 || 14,973 ||

|68||March 6, 2003||4–0 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||19–34–9–6 || 14,812 ||

|69||March 7, 2003||1–0 || align="left"| Minnesota Wild (2002–03) ||20–34–9–6 || 13,224 ||

|70||March 10, 2003||6–5 || align="left"| Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) ||21–34–9–6 || 13,066 ||

|71||March 12, 2003||3–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (2002–03) ||22–34–9–6 || 15,425 ||

|72||March 13, 2003||3–5 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||22–35–9–6 || 19,399 ||

|73||March 15, 2003||0–0 OT|| align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) ||22–35–10–6 || 16,017 ||

|74||March 18, 2003||5–6 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (2002–03) ||22–36–10–6 || 16,531 ||

|75||March 22, 2003||3–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) ||22–37–10–6 || 21,273 ||

|76||March 25, 2003||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||22–37–11–6 || 16,262 ||

|77||March 26, 2003||1–5 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) ||22–38–11–6 || 9,994 ||

|78||March 29, 2003||1–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (2002–03) ||22–39–11–6 || 17,677 ||

|79||March 31, 2003||0–4 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) ||22–40–11–6 || 14,157 ||

|80||April 2, 2003||2–3 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||22–41–11–6 || 15,718 ||

|81||April 4, 2003||1–4 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||22–42–11–6 || 16,544 ||

|82||April 6, 2003||1–2 || align="left"| New York Islanders (2002–03) ||22–43–11–6 || 16,918 ||

Legend:

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 Hurricanes only. = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Hurricanes only. Player Regular season 92 LW 82 30 31 61 −21 38 10 C 82 22 35 57 −22 30 17 C 48 14 23 37 −9 37 22 D 82 5 24 29 4 141 26 RW 53 14 13 27 1 72 20 LW 52 9 15 24 −9 22 63 C 57 10 10 20 −19 33 13 LW 70 5 14 19 −17 90 14 C 77 9 9 18 −8 57 27 RW 81 6 12 18 −11 71 24 RW 43 6 12 18 −17 12 6 D 72 3 14 17 −24 75 47 LW 25 4 10 14 −5 16 62 LW 48 3 11 14 −5 32 21 D 68 3 10 13 −27 24 7 D 77 2 8 10 −19 71 4 D 77 3 6 9 −23 90 2 D 63 1 7 8 −5 40 25 D 18 2 5 7 −3 12 19 LW 10 5 0 5 −7 2 37 LW 14 3 2 5 1 2 12 LW 35 1 3 4 −3 20 11 C 59 0 4 4 −9 8 39 LW 9 3 0 3 −2 2 42 RW 10 3 0 3 −2 2 36 RW 48 2 1 3 −2 108 46 C 19 2 1 3 −4 0 71 D 41 0 2 2 −5 43 5 D 10 0 2 2 −3 16 52 C 1 1 0 1 0 0 55 LW 8 0 1 1 −3 2 15 C 14 0 1 1 −1 2 30 G 2 0 0 0 0 28 D 6 0 0 0 1 0 1 G 34 0 0 0 4 20 LW 9 0 0 0 0 16 29 LW 5 0 0 0 −1 0 80 G 51 0 0 0 2 16 RW 3 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltending = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Hurricanes only. Player Regular season 80 Kevin Weekes 51 14 24 9 1438 126 2.50 0.912 5 2965 1 Arturs Irbe 34 7 24 2 816 100 3.18 0.877 0 1884 30 Patrick DesRochers 2 1 1 0 71 7 3.41 0.901 0 122

Awards and records

Awards TypeAward/honorRecipientRef League(in-season) NHL All-Star Game selection Jeff O'Neill NHL YoungStars Game selection Erik Cole Team Good Guy Award Kevyn Adams Most Valuable Player Ron Francis Steve Chiasson Award Kevyn Adams

Milestones MilestonePlayerDateRef 1,000th game played Rod Brind'Amour November 15, 2002 First game Tomas Malec December 15, 2002 Jeff Heerema January 17, 2003 Ryan Bayda February 14, 2003 Tomas Kurka February 26, 2003 Michael Zigomanis Brad DeFauw March 10, 2003 Damian Surma March 18, 2003

Transactions The Hurricanes were involved in the following transactions from June 14, 2002, the day after the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Final, through June 9, 2003, the day of the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Final.

Trades Date Details Ref To Carolina Hurricanes To Philadelphia Flyers To Carolina Hurricanes To Tampa Bay Lightning To Carolina Hurricanes To Vancouver Canucks To Carolina Hurricanes To Phoenix Coyotes To Carolina Hurricanes To Philadelphia Flyers To Carolina Hurricanes To Toronto Maple Leafs To Carolina Hurricanes To Colorado Avalanche To Carolina Hurricanes To Toronto Maple Leafs

Players acquired Date Player Former team Term Via Ref Ryan Bast Lowell Lock Monsters (AHL) 1-year Free agency Ed Hill Lowell Lock Monsters (AHL) 3-year Free agency Steven Halko St. Louis Blues Free agency Mike Watt Philadelphia Flyers 1-year Free agency Harold Druken Toronto Maple Leafs Waivers

Players lost