2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season

The 2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season was the Ducks' ninth season in franchise history. The club qualified for the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in franchise history.
==Pre-season==
==Regular season==
===Divisional standings===
===Game log===
* Green background indicates win (2 points).
* Red background indicates regulation loss (0 points).
* White background indicates overtime/shootout loss (1 point).
2002–03 Game log	2002–03 Game log	 	 	 	
November
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Opponent 	Score	Location/Attendance	Record
1 	Oct. 10 	@ St. Louis Blues	4-3 	St. Louis 	1-0-0
2 	Oct 11 	@ Dallas Stars 	2-4 	Reunion Arena 	1-1-0
3 	Oct 13 	Detroit Red Wings	2-4 	Honda Center 	1-2-0
4 	Oct 16 	Los Angeles Kings	2-4 	Honda Center 	1-3-0
==Playoffs==
===Conference Quarter-finals===
The series opened at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, and a thrilling triple-overtime battle ensued, with the Ducks taking Game 1, 2–1, on a goal by Paul Kariya 3:18 in. Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere faced 64 shots in Game 1. Game 2 featured another close game, but Anaheim pulled out another close victory, this time by a 3–2 count, scoring two third-period goals to erase a 2–1 deficit. Second-seeded Detroit was in trouble, inexplicably struggling with a seventh-seeded but tough Anaheim team. 
Game 3, at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, was a must-win for the Red Wings, but they dropped another one-goal game, 2–1. The Ducks completed the stunning four-game sweep of the Red Wings, who had missed the top seed in the West by one point, with another one-goal game in Game 4, a 3–2 overtime victory with Steve Rucchin delivering the knockout goal 6:53 into overtime.
Game-by-game 	Game-by-game 	Game-by-game 	Score 	DET goals 	ANA goals
1 	April 10 	3:18, 3OT 	Mighty Ducks 2, at Red Wings 1	Shanahan 	Kariya, Oates
2 	April 12 	 	Mighty Ducks 3, at Red Wings 2	Robitaille, Woolley 	Chistov, Krog, Thomas
3 	April 14 	 	at Mighty Ducks 2, Red Wings 1	Holmstrom 	Chistov, Pahlsson
4 	April 16 	6:53, OT 	at Mighty Ducks 3, Red Wings 2	Fedorov, Zetterberg 	Kariya, Krog, Rucchin
Mighty Ducks win series 4–0	Mighty Ducks win series 4–0	Mighty Ducks win series 4–0	Mighty Ducks win series 4–0 	Mighty Ducks win series 4–0	Mighty Ducks win series 4–0
===Conference semi-finals===
The series opened at American Airlines Center in Dallas, where the heavily-favored Stars and underdog Ducks engaged in an epic battle that took over 140 minutes and four overtimes to decide before Anaheim's Petr Sykora scored the game-winner 47 seconds into the fifth overtime, winning the game for the Ducks, 4–3. Dallas goalie Marty Turco saw 54 shots while Anaheim's goalie, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, saw 63. Game 2 saw another game tied after 60 minutes, but this time, Anaheim needed only 1:44 to win the game in the first overtime, 3–2, on a goal by Mike Leclerc. Dallas, much like Detroit in its first-round series against the Ducks, faced a 2–0 deficit headed to Anaheim.
Game 3 at Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim was a must-win for the Stars, and they came through, winning the game, 2–1, getting two clutch goals from Jere Lehtinen. But the Ducks refused to let the Stars back in the series, winning Game 4, 1–0, behind a 28-save shutout from Giguere. Not wanting to be eliminated in front of their home fans, a motivated Dallas team captured Game 5, 4–1. Unfortunately for the Stars, their bid to take the series to a Game 7 was denied when they were edged in Game 6, 4–3.
Game-by-game 	Game-by-game 	Game-by-game 	Score 	DAL goals 	ANA goals
1 	April 24 	0:47, 5OT 	Mighty Ducks 4, at Stars 3 	Arnott, Hatcher, Morrow 	Krog, R. Niedermayer, Rucchin, Sykora
2 	April 26 	1:44, OT 	Mighty Ducks 3, at Stars 2 	Modano, Morrow 	Leclerc, Niedermayer, Oates
3 	April 28 	 	Stars 2, at Mighty Ducks 1 	Lehtinen 2 	Rucchin
4 	April 30 	 	at Mighty Ducks 1, Stars 0 	none (Giguere shutout) 	Leclerc
5 	May 3 	 	at Stars 4, Mighty Ducks 1 	Kapanen 2, Barnes, DiMaio 	Kariya
6 	May 5 	 	at Mighty Ducks 4, Stars 3 	Kapanen, Morrow, Muller 	Chistov, Ozolinsh, Salei, Thomas
Mighty Ducks win series 4–2	Mighty Ducks win series 4–2	Mighty Ducks win series 4–2	Mighty Ducks win series 4–2	Mighty Ducks win series 4–2	Mighty Ducks win series 4–2
===Conference finals===
The series opened at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota, and both teams ground it out down to the game-winning score, which came from Petr Sykora 8:06 into double-overtime in a 1–0 Mighty Ducks victory. Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned in a stellar performance in net for Anaheim, stopping all 39 shots he faced. With Dwayne Roloson replacing Manny Fernandez in net for the Wild, Game 2 was just as close, but the Ducks pulled out a 2–0 victory, both goals short-handed, as Giguere stopped all 24 shots he faced, making him 63-for-63 in the series. Minnesota was in trouble; not only were they down in the series, 2–0, headed to Anaheim, but they had yet to score a goal.
Out at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim for Game 3, Giguere continued his goaltending excellency, stopping all 35 shots he faced in a 4–0 Mighty Ducks victory that pushed the Wild to the brink. Giguere had now stopped the first 98 shots he saw in the series. In Game 3, Paul Kariya tallied two goals to help the Anaheim attack. Minnesota, demoralized at their offensive impotence, lost Game 4, 2–1, but at least they avoided a fourth consecutive shutout, as Andrew Brunette scored the first Minnesota goal of the series 4:37 into the game. Still, Giguere was 122-for-123 in the series, a robust .992 save percentage. Adam Oates scored both Anaheim goals, the decisive one coming midway through the second period.
Game-by-game 	Game-by-game 	Game-by-game 	Score 	MIN goals 	ANA goals
1 	May 10 	8:06, 2OT 	Mighty Ducks 1, at Wild 0 	none (Giguere shutout) 	Sykora
2 	May 12 	 	Mighty Ducks 2, at Wild 0 	none (Giguere shutout) 	R. Niedermayer, Sauer
3 	May 14 	 	at Mighty Ducks 4, Wild 0 	none (Giguere shutout) 	Kariya 2, Chistov, Rucchin
4 	May 16 	 	at Mighty Ducks 2, Wild 1 	Brunette 	Oates 2
Mighty Ducks win series 4–0	Mighty Ducks win series 4–0	Mighty Ducks win series 4–0	Mighty Ducks win series 4–0	Mighty Ducks win series 4–0	Mighty Ducks win series 4–0
===Stanley Cup finals===
Anaheim vs. New Jersey 	Anaheim vs. New Jersey 	Anaheim vs. New Jersey 	Anaheim vs. New Jersey
Date 	Away 	Home 	
May 27 	Anaheim 0 	3 New Jersey 	
May 29 	Anaheim 0 	3 New Jersey 	
May 31 	New Jersey 2 	3 Anaheim 	OT
June 2 	New Jersey 0 	1 Anaheim 	OT
June 5 	Anaheim 3 	6 New Jersey 	
June 7 	New Jersey 2 	5 Anaheim 	
June 9 	Anaheim 0 	3 New Jersey 	
New Jersey wins series4–3 and Stanley Cup 	New Jersey wins series4–3 and Stanley Cup 	New Jersey wins series4–3 and Stanley Cup 	New Jersey wins series4–3 and Stanley Cup
J. S. Giguere (Anaheim)wins Conn Smythe Trophy	J. S. Giguere (Anaheim)wins Conn Smythe Trophy	J. S. Giguere (Anaheim)wins Conn Smythe Trophy	J. S. Giguere (Anaheim)wins Conn Smythe Trophy
==Player stats==
===Regular season===
;Scoring
Player	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
 	82	25	56	81 	48
 	82	34	25	59 	24
 	82	20	38	58 	12
 	67	9 	36	45 	16
 	82	11	22	33 	30
 	79	12	18	30 	54
 	57	9 	19	28 	34
 	67	10	15	25 	12
 	81	4 	18	22 	65
 	46	10	11	21 	14
 	50	7 	14	21 	12
 	76	8 	11	19 	16
 	31	5 	13	18 	16
 	34	4 	11	15 	18
 	12	10	3 	13 	2
 	61	4 	8 	12 	78
 	24	3 	6 	9 	6
 	44	2 	6 	8 	22
 	80	2 	6 	8 	76
 	70	3 	4 	7 	40
 	44	3 	2 	5 	18
 	39	1 	4 	5 	12
 	12	2 	2 	4 	15
 	31	2 	1 	3 	115
 	80	1 	2 	3 	74
 	16	1 	1 	2 	44
 	10	1 	0 	1 	2
 	22	0 	1 	1 	0
 	2 	0 	1 	1 	0
 	29	0 	1 	1 	43
 	65	0 	0 	0 	8
 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	8
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SA 	SV 	SV% 	SO
 	3775	65	34	22	6	145	2.30	1820	1675	.920	8
 	1203	22	6 	11	3	39 	1.95	548 	509 	.929	1
Team: 	4978	82	40	33	9	184	2.22	2368	2184	.922	9
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
 	21	4	9	13 	6
 	21	4	9	13 	12
 	21	6	6	12 	6
 	21	2	9	11 	12
 	21	7	3	10 	2
 	21	3	7	10 	18
 	21	4	4	8 	8
 	21	2	6	8 	10
 	21	4	2	6 	8
 	21	2	4	6 	12
 	21	2	3	5 	26
 	21	3	1	4 	4
 	21	0	4	4 	16
 	21	0	4	4 	2
 	21	1	1	2 	6
 	15	1	0	1 	0
 	11	0	1	1 	2
 	21	0	1	1 	0
 	21	0	1	1 	6
 	2 	0	0	0 	0
 	10	0	0	0 	0
 	1 	0	0	0 	0
 	1 	0	0	0 	0
 	4 	0	0	0 	2
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L	T	GA	GAA 	SA 	SV 	SV% 	SO
 	1407	21	15	6	 	38	1.62	697	659	.945	5
 	20 	2 	0 	0	 	1 	3.00	6 	5 	.833	0
Team: 	1427	21	15	6	 	39	1.64	703	664	.945	5
==Awards and records==
* Clarence S. Campbell Bowl
* Paul Kariya, left wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
* Jean Sebastien Giguere, Conn Smythe Trophy Winner
===Records===
===Milestones===
Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season
Player 	Milestone 	Reached 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==Transactions==
===Trades===
===Free agents===
{|class="wikitable"	 	
Player	Former team	Contract terms
===Claimed from waivers===
{|class="wikitable"	 	
Player	Former team	Date claimed off waivers
==Draft picks==
The Ducks picks at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft in Toronto, Ontario. 
Round	# 	Player 	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	7 	Joffrey Lupul	Forward 	 	Medicine Hat Tigers
2 	37. 	Tim Brent 	Forward 	 	Toronto St. Michael's Majors
3 	71. 	Brian Lee 	Defense 	 	Erie Otters
4 	103.	Joonas Vihko 	 	 	HIFK
==Roster==
						
Goaltenders
* 
*		
Defensemen
* 
* 
*		
Wingers
* - C
*
* 
*		
Centers
* 
* 
* 
*GM: 
*Coach: Mike Babcock
==See also==
*2002–03 NHL season
==Farm teams==
* The Mighty Ducks farm team was the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League.Cincinnati Mighty Ducks - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio Historical Society The team finished third in the Central Division with a record of 26-35-13-6.
==References==
* Mighty Ducks on Hockey Database
* Ducks on Database Hockey
Category:Anaheim Ducks seasons
Anaheim Ducks season, 2002–03
Anaheim Ducks season, 2002–03