# 2003–04 Eliteserien season

The 2003–04 Eliteserien season ended with Storhamar Dragons claiming their fifth Norwegian title after defeating Vålerenga in double overtime in game 7. Michael Smithurst scored the game winner nearly two minutes into the second extra period in front of 7,405 spectators.

## Regular season
### Final standings

| Rk | Team | Pts | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF–GA |
| 1 | Storhamar Dragons | 94 | 29 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 151–87 |
| 2 | Vålerenga | 92 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 183–89 |
| 3 | Trondheim Black Panthers | 83 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 160–100 |
| 4 | Frisk Tigers | 74 | 20 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 152–118 |
| 5 | Sparta Warriors | 64 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 124–126 |
| 6 | Stavanger Oilers | 63 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 163–152 |
| 7 | Stjernen | 62 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 19 | 152–137 |
| 8 | Bergen Flyers | 43 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 105–173 |
| 9 | Lillehammer | 42 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 101–154 |
| 10 | Manglerud Star | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 80–235 |

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Jari Kesti | Stavanger Oilers | 40 | 26 | 37 | 63 | +31 | 40 |
| Tommy Kiviaho | Frisk Tigers | 41 | 27 | 27 | 54 | +23 | 20 |
| Ilya Dubkov | Trondheim Black Panthers | 42 | 32 | 21 | 53 | +29 | 70 |
| Tomi Suoniemi | Stavanger Oilers | 40 | 20 | 25 | 45 | +17 | 20 |
| Teemu Kohvakka | Stavanger Oilers | 41 | 18 | 27 | 45 | +5 | 80 |
| Tom Erik Olsen | Storhamar Dragons | 40 | 28 | 16 | 44 | +32 | 18 |
| Patric Englund | Vålerenga | 40 | 21 | 23 | 44 | +23 | 20 |
| Lars Erik Spets | Lillehammer | 40 | 28 | 15 | 43 | −10 | 12 |
| Morten Bakkene | Stavanger Oilers | 41 | 23 | 20 | 43 | +19 | 18 |
| Jan Morten Dahl | Trondheim Black Panthers | 40 | 10 | 31 | 41 | +20 | 147 |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

#### Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the conclusion of the regular season.
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
| Jonas Bertil Norgren | Storhamar Dragons | 22 | 1,285:41 | – | – | 34 | 6 | 92.34 | 1.59 |
| Tommy Lund | Vålerenga | 29 | 1,736:29 | – | – | 61 | 5 | 91.13 | 2.11 |
| Henrik Smångs | Sparta Warriors | 29 | 1,807:55 | – | – | 84 | 1 | 90.75 | 2.79 |
| Halvor Hårstad-Evjen | Frisk Tigers | 28 | 1,568:52 | – | – | 61 | 2 | 90.72 | 2.33 |
| Rolf Joakim Wiberg | Trondheim Black Panthers | 41 | 2,428:22 | – | – | 89 | 5 | 90.65 | 2.20 |
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

## Playoffs

After the regular season, the new standard of eight teams qualified for the playoffs. In the first round, the two highest remaining seeds were drawn against the two lowest remaining seeds; in the second round, the highest remaining seed was drawn against one of the two lowest. In each round the higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage, giving them a possible maximum of three home games as opposed to the lower-seeded team's possible maximum of two. Each best-of-five series followed a 1–2–1–1 format: the higher-seeded team played at home for games 2 and 3 (plus 5 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team at home for games 1 and 4 (if necessary).
The final was contested between the Storhamar Dragons and Vålerenga for the second consecutive year. In 2003, the championship had been decided in four straight games when Vålerenga won 4–0 to claim their 22nd title and 18th "double". As in the previous season, the 2004 final was played as a best-of-seven series following a 1–1–1–2–1–1 format. Storhamar, as league champions, were seeded first and played at home for games 2, 4, 5 and 7. They took the lead after winning the first game 2–1 in overtime, but failed to capitalize, losing their first home game 0–4. The third and fourth games were both won by the home side. Game 5 saw Vålerenga achieve an away win in overtime to lead the series 3–2, but Storhamar came back to claim another overtime victory in Oslo and force a seventh, championship deciding game at Hamar OL-Amfi. A record 7,405 spectators turned out for the first game 7 in the history of the Norwegian Championship, in which Storhamar's Michael Smithurst scored the winning goal after 21 minutes and 54 seconds of overtime.

### Bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | | | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | Storhamar Dragons | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Bergen Flyers | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Bergen Flyers | 0 | | | 1 | Storhamar Dragons | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | 6 | Stavanger Oilers | 0 | | | |
| 2 | Vålerenga | 3 | | | 6 | Stavanger Oilers | 0 | | | |
| 7 | Stjernen | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Stjernen | 1 | | | | | | 1 | Storhamar Dragons | 4 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 1 | Storhamar Dragons | 4 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 2 | Vålerenga | 3 |
| 3 | Trondheim Black Panthers | 1 | | | | | | | | | 2 | Vålerenga | 3 |
| 6 | Stavanger Oilers | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Stavanger Oilers | 3 | | | 2 | Vålerenga | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | Sparta Bears | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Sparta Bears | 3 | | | 4 | Sparta Bears | 1 | | | |
| 5 | Frisk Tigers | 2 | | | | | | | | |
Source: hockey.no
* Norwegian Champions 2004
* Storhamar Dragons 5th title

## Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2004–05
### Final standings

| | Team | GP | W | OTW | SOW | OTL | SOL | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | Lillehammer (Q) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 14 | 13 |
| 2 | Comet (Q) | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 15 | 12 |
| 3 | Manglerud Star | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 19 | 11 |
| 4 | Hasle/Løren | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 39 | 0 |
GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime Wins; OTL = Overtime losses; SOW = Shootout Wins; SOL = Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; Q = Qualified Source: speaker.no

### Game log

Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2004–05 Game Log :
Rounds 1–6
Round 1
26 February 2004 18:30 CETHasle/Løren4 – 7 (1–2, 1–2, 2–3)Manglerud StarLøren Ishall, Oslo Attendance: 253Game referenceReferee: Lars Olav Gaden10 minPenalties10 min31Shots30
26 February 2004 18:30 CETLillehammer3 – 4 (OT) (1–1, 0–1, 2–1, 0–1)CometKristins Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 1,101Game referenceReferee: Owe Lüthcke83 minPenalties18 min21Shots27
Round 2
29 February 2004 17:00 CETComet4 – 3 (SO) (1–0, 0–3, 2–0, 1–0, 2/5–1/5)Manglerud StarHalden Ishall, Halden Attendance: 833Game referenceReferee: Yngvar Skau Jensen4 minPenalties2 min25Shots27
29 February 2004 17:00 CETHasle/Løren2 – 4 (1–2, 0–2, 1–0)LillehammerLøren Ishall, Oslo Attendance: 223Game referenceReferee: Kjetil Bøe44 minPenalties20 min26Shots26
Round 3
4 March 2004 18:30 CETComet7 – 2 (3–1, 2–0, 2–1)Hasle/LørenHalden Ishall, Halden Attendance: 750Game referenceReferee: Egil Andre Borge12 minPenalties14 min34Shots27
4 March 2004 18:30 CETManglerud Star1 – 3 (0–1, 1–0, 0–2)LillehammerManglerudhallen, Oslo Attendance: 382Game referenceReferee: Pål Idar Sørensen8 minPenalties6 min23Shots25
Round 4
7 March 2004 17:00 CETComet0 – 2 (0–0, 0–1, 0–1)LillehammerHalden Ishall, Halden Attendance: 1,050Game referenceReferee: Hans Petter Berg12 minPenalties16 min29Shots20
7 March 2004 17:00 CETManglerud Star8 – 2 (2–0, 4–2, 2–0)Hasle/LørenManglerudhallen, Oslo Attendance: 322Game referenceReferee: Per Gustav Solem10 minPenalties14 min37Shots25
Round 5
11 March 2004 18:30 CETLillehammer7 – 2 (2–1, 4–0, 1–1)Hasle/LørenKristins Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 850Game referenceReferee: Tommy Søstumoen2 minPenalties4 min42Shots25
11 March 2004 18:30 CETManglerud Star2 – 3 (OT) (1–1, 1–1, 0–0, 0–1)CometManglerudhallen, Oslo Attendance: 720Game referenceReferee: Yngvar Skau Jensen8 minPenalties8 min35Shots41
Round 6
14 March 2004 17:00 CETHasle/Løren3 – 6 (1–1, 2–1, 0–4)CometLøren Ishall, Oslo Attendance: 500Game referenceReferee: Owe Lüthcke10 minPenalties12 min22Shots40
14 March 2004 17:00 CETLillehammer3 – 5 (2–1, 0–3, 1–1)Manglerud StarKristins Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 1,280Game referenceReferee: Svein-Erik Edvartsen8 minPenalties4 min19Shots25 :