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 postseason , they advanced to the Western Conference Semi - Finals , where they were eliminated by the Calgary Flames in six games . Two Red Wings were named to the roster for the 2004 All Star Game : defenceman 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 . 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 2002 - 03 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 . Detroit ' s General Manager Ken Holland tried to move Joseph to alleviate the situation , but Holland wasn ' t able to find a trade or give Joseph up via the waiver wire because of his contract ( the contract had two years remaining with an annual salary of $ 8 Million USD and included a no - trade clause , allowing Joseph to control who was traded to . ) 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 didn ' t 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 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 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 3 - goal losses . Joseph took over the starting duties and responded admirably , posting a . 3 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 Save Percentage ) , 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 Wings again because 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 returned to Detroit for what would be his last two seasons as a professional goaltender . Regular season . Season standings . " For complete final standings , see 2003 – 04 NHL season " Game log . October . Record : 5 – 5 – 0 – 0 ; Home : 4 – 1 – 0 – 0 ; Road : 1 – 4 – 0 – 0 November . Record : 9 – 4 – 2 – 0 ; Home : 4 – 2 – 0 – 0 ; Road : 5 – 2 – 2 – 0 December . Record : 9 – 3 – 2 – 1 ; Home : 7 – 0 – 1 – 0 ; Road : 2 – 3 – 1 – 1 January . Record : 6 – 3 – 4 – 1 ; Home : 4 – 1 – 2 – 0 ; Road : 2 – 2 – 2 – 1 February . Record : 8 – 2 – 1 – 0 ; Home : 5 – 1 – 0 – 0 ; Road : 3 – 1 – 1 – 0 March . Record : 10 – 3 – 2 – 0 ; Home : 6 – 1 – 1 – 0 ; Road : 4 – 2 – 1 – 0 April . Record : 1 – 1 – 0 – 0 ; Home : 0 – 1 – 0 – 0 ; Road : 1 – 0 – 0 – 0 Playoffs . The Detroit Red Wings ended the 2003 – 04 regular season as the Western Conference ' s first seed and played Nashville in the first round . They defeated Nashville in six games and met Calgary 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 . Western Conference Quarter - finals : vs . ( 8 ) Nashville Predators . Detroit wins series 4 – 2 Western Conference Semi - finals : vs . ( 6 ) Calgary Flames . Calgary Flames win series 4 – 2 Player stats . Skaters . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; + / - = Plus / minus ; PIM = Penalty minutes " Goaltending . " Note : GP = Games played ; TOI = Time on ice ( minutes ) ; W = Wins ; L = Losses ; OTL = Overtime losses ; GA = Goals against ; SO = Shutouts ; SV % = Save percentage ; GAA = Goals against average " Transactions . The Red Wings were involved in the following transactions during the 2003 – 04 season . Draft picks . Detroit ' s picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft in Nashville , Tennessee . The Red Wings were slated to pick 27th overall but traded their first pick to the Los Angeles Kings . 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 .