The 2003-04 season was one overhung by concern over the expiry of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement. That could lead to a shuttering of the league for the entirety of the next season. During the entire season Commissioner Gary Bettman and Players Association head Bob Goodenow waged a war of words with no agreement being signed.
In August, just before the season was to begin, the young Atlanta Thrashers star Dany Heatley crashed his Ferrari in suburban Atlanta. The passenger, Thrashers workhorse Dan Snyder, was killed. Heatley himself was badly injured and eventually charged with Vehicular homicide. The entire NHL thus began the season in mourning.
Going into the season the two favourites were the Ottawa Senators in the east, who had won the Presidents' Trophy and come within a goal of the Stanley Cup finals the year before; and the Colorado Avalanche in the west, who despite losing legendary GoaltenderPatrick Roy to retirement, added both Teemu Selänne and Paul Kariya to an already star-studded lineup. Neither of these teams was as successful as expected with Ottawa finishing fifth in the conference and Colorado finishing fourth, losing the Northwest Division title for the first time in a decade.
The most surprising teams were the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference and San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference. The Lightning, who had a remarkable season with only 20 man-games lost to injury, finished atop the Eastern Conference. The Sharks, who were firmly in rebuilding mode after a disastrous campaign the last season, came second in the Western Conference and won the Pacific Division.
Two others teams that did better than expected were carried by surprising young goaltenders. The Calgary Flames ended an eight-year playoff drought backed by the surprising play of Miikka Kiprusoff. The Boston Bruins won the Northeast Division by a whisker with the help of Calder Trophy candidate Andrew Raycroft.
Goaltending was also the story of the Presidents Trophy wining Detroit Red Wings as the return from retirement of legend Dominik Hasek bumped Curtis Joseph to the minor leagues. At the same time long time back up Manny Legace put up better numbers than both veterans and won the starting job in the playoffs.
Of note is the fact that the Nashville Predators made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They put up a valiant effort but were unable to overcome the Hall of Fame bound roster of the Detroit Red Wings in the first round.
Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
The 2004 playoffs were considered to be wide open with no clear favourite. All of the top teams had weaknesses. Tampa Bay and Boston were both young teams with no history of recent postseason success. Detroit, Ottawa, Colorado, and Philadelphia all had major questions in goal. New Jersey was marred by injuries to Scott Stevens and Brian Rafalski, while Vancouver was missing the suspended Todd Bertuzzi.
The first round Eastern Conference matchups were notable for the number of heated rivalries. The Ottawa Senators met their Ontario neighbours Toronto Maple Leafs for the fourth time in five years in the always passion-filled Battle of Ontario. The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens met in a resumption of the most common of all NHL playoff series, and one which the Canadiens have thoroughly dominated, including an upset win two years ago. The Philadelphia Flyers played hated division rival the New Jersey Devils. The only non-rivalry was the Tampa Bay-New York Islanders series.
The West saw the resumption of the Vancouver-Calgary rivalry, which had been somewhat dormant as the Flames had missed the playoffs for 8 years in a row. In a less passionate but still interesting matchup, Detroit played division rival Nashville, who they had struggled against during the regular season in Nashville's first ever franchise visit to the playoffs. San Jose met the St. Louis Blues. The always difficult four-five matchup saw Colorado and Dallas meet.
The Calgary Flames, a sixth seed, defeated three straight division champions, the Canucks, the Red Wings and the Sharks to become the first Canadian team to reach the Stanley Cup Finals in ten years when the Canucks lost to the Rangers in the Finals. They faced the Tampa Bay Lightning, who defeated the Islanders in five, swept the Canadiens and defeated the Flyers in seven games.
The Flames and the Lightning battled hard in the Stanley Cup Finals, eventually pushing the series to seven games. By game 5, the Flames took the 3-2 series lead back to Calgary, but the Lightning battled back to win games 6 and 7 to win the Stanley Cup on their home ice. Brad Richards, with a team-high 25 points in the playoffs was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy.
