2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season

2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Western Conference champions
Division	2nd Pacific
Conference	7th Western
2002–03 record	40–27–9–6
Home record	22–10–7–2
Road record	18–17–2–4
Goals for	203
Goals against	193
Team information
General manager	Bryan Murray
Coach	Mike Babcock
Captain	Paul Kariya
Alternate captains	Keith Carney Steve Rucchin
Arena	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
Average attendance	13,988 (81.4%) Total: 573,506
Minor league affiliate(s)	Cincinnati Mighty Ducks
Team leaders
Goals	Petr Sykora (34)
Assists	Paul Kariya (56)
Points	Paul Kariya (81)
Penalty minutes	Kevin Sawyer (115)
Plus/minus	Sandis Ozolinsh (+10) Samuel Pahlsson (+10)
Wins	Jean-Sebastien Giguere (34)
Goals against average	Martin Gerber (1.95)

The 2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season was the Ducks' tenth season in franchise history. The club qualified for the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, falling to the New Jersey Devils.

Off season

After missing the play offs for the third time in a row, Anaheim made drastic changes in the summer, off the ice as well on the ice. GM Pierre Gauthier was fired after failing to acquire forwards to provide the necessary goal scoring. Brian Murray was promoted to the position of General Manager and made a lot of changes. He hired their farm teams head coach Mike Babcock who stated in his first ever press conference that his team would work very hard and relentlessly. Murray's first big move at the 2002 Draft was a trade with the New Jersey Devils : he traded defenceman Oleg Tverdovsky and forward Jeff Friesen in exchange for Petr Sykora, rookies Mike Commodore and Jean-Francois Damphousse, who saw some brief action last season as back-up goalie to Martin Brodeur. Additional free agent signings were veterans Adam Oates, Frederik Olausson and Jason Krog. Three rookies got regular roster spots : Kurt Sauer, Stanislav Chistov and Alexei Smirnov. Martin Gerber became the Mighty Ducks new back up goalie, having had a lot of experience as a starter in the Swedish league.

Regular season

On February 12, 2003, Mike Leclerc scored just ten seconds into the overtime period to give the Mighty Ducks a 4–3 home win over the Calgary Flames. It would prove to be the fastest overtime goal scored during the 2002–03 regular season.

Divisional standings

Pacific Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Dallas Stars	82	46	17	15	4	245	169	111
2	7	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	82	40	27	9	6	203	193	95
3	10	Los Angeles Kings	82	33	37	6	6	203	221	78
4	11	Phoenix Coyotes	82	31	35	11	5	204	230	78
5	14	San Jose Sharks	82	28	37	9	8	214	239	73

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Playoffs

Conference Quarterfinals

In what was a very large upset, the seventh-seed Mighty Ducks took a first-round series from the number-two seed and defending Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings. The Mighty Ducks swept the Red Wings in four games to get revenge from 1997 and 1999, where the Mighty Ducks were swept by the Red Wings. In Game 1 of the series, when the game went to overtime, the sellout crowd at Joe Louis Arena thought the Wings had won the game thanks to a Luc Robitaille shot at 9:21. Some of the Detroit players had even left for the dressing room. However, after going to the video review, it was concluded Robitaille's shot ricocheted off the crossbar and the post, and the players were brought back to resume the game. Later, at 3:18 into the third overtime period, Paul Kariya scored the goal that would clinch a 2–1 win for Anaheim and a one-game lead in the series. Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere faced 64 shots in game one. In Game 2, Anaheim came back from a 2–1 deficit by scoring two goals in the third period.

The Mighty Ducks won Game 3 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, 2–1, to push the Red Wings to the brink of elimination. The Mighty Ducks then won Game 4, a 3–2 overtime victory, with Steve Rucchin delivering the decisive goal 6:53 into overtime. The Red Wings became only the second defending Stanley Cup champions to be swept the following year in a four-game opening series.

Conference Semifinals

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 goaltender Marty Turco saw 54 shots while Anaheim's 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.

Conference Finals

In Game 1, Petr Sykora scored at 8:06 into double-overtime in a 1–0 Mighty Ducks victory. It was the Mighty Ducks' second shutout of the playoffs. Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned in a stellar performance in net for Anaheim, stopping all 39 shots he faced. For Game 2, the Wild played Dwayne Roloson instead of Manny Fernandez in net. As in Game 1, it was another shutout for Giguere as the Mighty Ducks won the game 2–0. Both goals were short-handed, and Giguere stopped all 24 shots he faced, making him 63-for-63 in the series. In Game 3, Giguere continued his goal-tending excellence, stopping all 35 shots he faced in a 4–0 Mighty Ducks victory that pushed the Wild to the brink of elimination. Giguere had now stopped the first 98 shots he saw in the series. In Game 4, The Mighty Ducks won the game, 2–1. Both goals came from Adam Oates, and the Mighty Ducks headed to their first Stanley Cup Final. The only good news for the Wild was that they avoided a fourth consecutive shutout, as Andrew Brunette scored the first Minnesota goal of the series. Still, Giguere was 122-for-123 in the series, a robust .992 save percentage.

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 2003 Stanley Cup Finals

Schedule and results

Regular season

2002–03 regular season
October: 3–5–3–0 (Home: 1–2–1–0; Road: 2–3–2–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 W October 10, 2002 4–3 @ St. Louis Blues 1–0–0–0 Recap 2 L October 11, 2002 2–4 @ Dallas Stars 1–1–0–0 Recap 3 L October 13, 2002 2–4 Detroit Red Wings 1–2–0–0 Recap 4 L October 16, 2002 2–4 Los Angeles Kings 1–3–0–0 Recap 5 T October 18, 2002 2–2 OT Vancouver Canucks 1–3–1–0 Recap 6 W October 20, 2002 3–2 OT Colorado Avalanche 2–3–1–0 Recap 7 T October 24, 2002 2–2 OT @ Vancouver Canucks 2–3–2–0 Recap 8 L October 26, 2002 3–4 @ Edmonton Oilers 2–4–2–0 Recap 9 L October 28, 2002 2–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 2–5–2–0 Recap 10 T October 29, 2002 2–2 OT @ Montreal Canadiens 2–5–3–0 Recap 11 W October 31, 2002 4–1 @ Boston Bruins 3–5–3–0 Recap
November: 5–2–3–3 (Home: 2–2–3–0; Road: 3–0–0–3) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 12 L November 3, 2002 3–4 San Jose Sharks 3–6–3–0 Recap 13 W November 6, 2002 2–1 Nashville Predators 4–6–3–0 Recap 14 W November 8, 2002 3–2 OT @ Colorado Avalanche 5–6–3–0 Recap 15 W November 10, 2002 1–0 Minnesota Wild 6–6–3–0 Recap 16 OTL November 12, 2002 2–3 OT @ New Jersey Devils 6–6–3–1 Recap 17 W November 14, 2002 3–2 @ Columbus Blue Jackets 7–6–3–1 Recap 18 OTL November 15, 2002 1–2 OT @ Detroit Red Wings 7–6–3–2 Recap 19 W November 17, 2002 5–1 @ Atlanta Thrashers 8–6–3–2 Recap 20 OTL November 19, 2002 2–3 OT @ New York Rangers 8–6–3–3 Recap 21 L November 22, 2002 0–4 Dallas Stars 8–7–3–3 Recap 22 T November 24, 2002 4–4 OT Florida Panthers 8–7–4–3 Recap 23 T November 27, 2002 2–2 OT Phoenix Coyotes 8–7–5–3 Recap 24 T November 29, 2002 2–2 OT Los Angeles Kings 8–7–6–3 Recap
December: 7–7–0–0 (Home: 6–0–0–0; Road: 1–7–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 25 W December 1, 2002 3–2 Chicago Blackhawks 9–7–6–3 Recap 26 L December 3, 2002 1–2 @ Detroit Red Wings 9–8–6–3 Recap 27 L December 4, 2002 0–4 @ Buffalo Sabres 9–9–6–3 Recap 28 W December 6, 2002 4–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks 10–9–6–3 Recap 29 W December 8, 2002 3–0 Nashville Predators 11–9–6–3 Recap 30 W December 11, 2002 3–0 Washington Capitals 12–9–6–3 Recap 31 W December 15, 2002 5–0 Pittsburgh Penguins 13–9–6–3 Recap 32 W December 18, 2002 5–2 St. Louis Blues 14–9–6–3 Recap 33 L December 19, 2002 4–5 @ Los Angeles Kings 14–10–6–3 Recap 34 W December 22, 2002 4–0 Phoenix Coyotes 15–10–6–3 Recap 35 L December 26, 2002 1–4 @ San Jose Sharks 15–11–6–3 Recap 36 L December 28, 2002 3–7 @ Vancouver Canucks 15–12–6–3 Recap 37 L December 29, 2002 2–4 @ Calgary Flames 15–13–6–3 Recap 38 L December 31, 2002 1–4 @ Minnesota Wild 15–14–6–3 Recap
January: 7–4–1–1 (Home: 3–3–1–1; Road: 4–1–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 39 L January 3, 2003 0–1 Philadelphia Flyers 15–15–6–3 Recap 40 T January 5, 2003 1–1 OT Dallas Stars 15–15–7–3 Recap 41 L January 8, 2003 0–1 Edmonton Oilers 15–16–7–3 Recap 42 W January 9, 2003 5–3 @ Colorado Avalanche 16–16–7–3 Recap 43 W January 12, 2003 2–1 St. Louis Blues 17–16–7–3 Recap 44 W January 15, 2003 4–3 @ Columbus Blue Jackets 18–16–7–3 Recap 45 L January 16, 2003 1–3 @ Ottawa Senators 18–17–7–3 Recap 46 W January 18, 2003 1–0 @ Minnesota Wild 19–17–7–3 Recap 47 OTL January 20, 2003 1–2 OT Minnesota Wild 19–17–7–4 Recap 48 W January 22, 2003 6–5 Los Angeles Kings 20–17–7–4 Recap 49 L January 24, 2003 1–3 New Jersey Devils 20–18–7–4 Recap 50 W January 29, 2003 3–2 Ottawa Senators 21–18–7–4 Recap 51 W January 30, 2003 4–3 @ San Jose Sharks 22–18–7–4 Recap
February: 8–5–1–0 (Home: 4–1–1–0; Road: 4–4–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 52 W February 4, 2003 3–2 @ Calgary Flames 23–18–7–4 Recap 53 L February 5, 2003 1–2 @ Edmonton Oilers 23–19–7–4 Recap 54 W February 7, 2003 3–2 Phoenix Coyotes 24–19–7–4 Recap 55 W February 9, 2003 2–1 Carolina Hurricanes 25–19–7–4 Recap 56 W February 12, 2003 4–3 OT Calgary Flames 26–19–7–4 Recap 57 W February 14, 2003 4–2 @ Dallas Stars 27–19–7–4 Recap 58 L February 15, 2003 1–2 @ Nashville Predators 27–20–7–4 Recap 59 T February 17, 2003 2–2 OT New York Islanders 27–20–8–4 Recap 60 W February 19, 2003 2–0 Columbus Blue Jackets 28–20–8–4 Recap 61 L February 21, 2003 2–6 New York Rangers 28–21–8–4 Recap 62 W February 23, 2003 4–0 @ Carolina Hurricanes 29–21–8–4 Recap 63 L February 25, 2003 0–2 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 29–22–8–4 Recap 64 W February 26, 2003 2–1 @ Florida Panthers 30–22–8–4 Recap 65 L February 28, 2003 1–3 @ Phoenix Coyotes 30–23–8–4 Recap
March: 9–3–1–1 (Home: 6–2–1–0; Road: 3–1–0–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 66 L March 2, 2003 1–4 Atlanta Thrashers 30–24–8–4 Recap 67 W March 4, 2003 2–1 @ Los Angeles Kings 31–24–8–4 Recap 68 W March 5, 2003 3–1 Montreal Canadiens 32–24–8–4 Recap 69 L March 7, 2003 1–4 Edmonton Oilers 32–25–8–4 Recap 70 W March 9, 2003 4–1 Detroit Red Wings 33–25–8–4 Recap 71 W March 12, 2003 5–2 Chicago Blackhawks 34–25–8–4 Recap 72 W March 13, 2003 3–2 OT San Jose Sharks 35–25–8–4 Recap 73 L March 15, 2003 2–4 @ Phoenix Coyotes 35–26–8–4 Recap 74 T March 16, 2003 2–2 OT Calgary Flames 35–26–9–4 Recap 75 W March 19, 2003 4–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks 36–26–9–4 Recap 76 OTL March 20, 2003 2–3 OT @ St. Louis Blues 36–26–9–5 Recap 77 W March 22, 2003 3–2 OT @ San Jose Sharks 37–26–9–5 Recap 78 W March 24, 2003 5–0 Columbus Blue Jackets 38–26–9–5 Recap 79 W March 30, 2003 3–1 Vancouver Canucks 39–26–9–5 Recap
April: 1–1–0–1 (Home: 0–0–0–1; Road: 1–1–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 80 W April 1, 2003 2–1 OT @ Nashville Predators 40–26–9–5 Recap 81 L April 2, 2003 1–2 @ Dallas Stars 40–27–9–5 Recap 82 OTL April 4, 2003 3–4 OT Colorado Avalanche 40–27–9–6 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)   Overtime loss (1 point)

Playoffs

2003 Stanley Cup playoffs
Western Conference Quarterfinals vs. (2) Detroit Red Wings – Mighty Ducks win 4–0 Game Result Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 W April 10, 2003 2–1 3OT @ Detroit Red Wings Mighty Ducks lead 1–0 Recap 2 W April 12, 2003 3–2 @ Detroit Red Wings Mighty Ducks lead 2–0 Recap 3 W April 14, 2003 2–1 Detroit Red Wings Mighty Ducks lead 3–0 Recap 4 W April 16, 2003 3–2 OT Detroit Red Wings Mighty Ducks win 4–0 Recap
Western Conference Semifinals vs. (1) Dallas Stars – Mighty Ducks win 4–2 Game Result Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 W April 24, 2003 4–3 5OT @ Dallas Stars Mighty Ducks lead 1–0 Recap 2 W April 26, 2003 3–2 OT @ Dallas Stars Mighty Ducks lead 2–0 Recap 3 L April 28, 2003 1–2 Dallas Stars Mighty Ducks lead 2–1 Recap 4 W April 30, 2003 1–0 Dallas Stars Mighty Ducks lead 3–1 Recap 5 L May 3, 2003 1–4 @ Dallas Stars Mighty Ducks lead 3–2 Recap 6 W May 5, 2003 4–3 Dallas Stars Mighty Ducks win 4–2 Recap
Western Conference Finals vs. (6) Minnesota Wild – Mighty Ducks win 4–0 Game Result Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 W May 10, 2003 1–0 2OT @ Minnesota Wild Mighty Ducks lead 1–0 Recap 2 W May 12, 2003 2–0 @ Minnesota Wild Mighty Ducks lead 2–0 Recap 3 W May 14, 2003 4–0 Minnesota Wild Mighty Ducks lead 3–0 Recap 4 W May 16, 2003 2–1 Minnesota Wild Mighty Ducks win 4–0 Recap
Stanley Cup Finals vs. (E2) New Jersey Devils – Devils win 4–3 Game Result Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 L May 27, 2003 0–3 @ New Jersey Devils Devils lead 1–0 Recap 2 L May 29, 2003 0–3 @ New Jersey Devils Devils lead 2–0 Recap 3 W May 31, 2003 3–2 OT New Jersey Devils Devils lead 2–1 Recap 4 W June 2, 2003 1–0 OT New Jersey Devils Series tied 2–2 Recap 5 L June 5, 2003 3–6 @ New Jersey Devils Devils lead 3–2 Recap 6 W June 7, 2003 5–2 New Jersey Devils Series tied 3–3 Recap 7 L June 9, 2003 0–3 @ New Jersey Devils Devils win 4–3 Recap
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Paul Kariya	82	25	56	81	48
Petr Sykora	82	34	25	59	24
Steve Rucchin	82	20	38	58	12
Adam Oates	67	9	36	45	16
Niclas Havelid	82	11	22	33	30
Stanislav Chistov	79	12	18	30	54
Mike Leclerc	57	9	19	28	34
Jason Krog	67	10	15	25	12
Keith Carney	81	4	18	22	65
Andy McDonald	46	10	11	21	14
Matt Cullen	50	7	14	21	12
Patric Kjellberg	76	8	11	19	16
Sandis Ozolinsh	31	5	13	18	16
Samuel Pahlsson	34	4	11	15	18
Steve Thomas	12	10	3	13	2
Ruslan Salei	61	4	8	12	78
Pavel Trnka	24	3	6	9	6
Fredrik Olausson	44	2	6	8	22
Vitaly Vishnevski	80	2	6	8	76
Marc Chouinard	70	3	4	7	40
Alexei Smirnov	44	3	2	5	18
Dan Bylsma	39	1	4	5	12
Rob Niedermayer	12	2	2	4	15
Kevin Sawyer	31	2	1	3	115
Kurt Sauer	80	1	2	3	74
Mike Brown	16	1	1	2	44
Rob Valicevic	10	1	0	1	2
Martin Gerber	22	0	1	1	0
Chris O'Sullivan	2	0	1	1	0
Lance Ward	29	0	1	1	43
Jean-Sebastien Giguere	65	0	0	0	8
Jonathan Hedstrom	4	0	0	0	0
Cam Severson	2	0	0	0	8

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Jean-Sebastien Giguere	3775	65	34	22	6	145	2.30	1820	1675	.920	8
Martin Gerber	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
Adam Oates	21	4	9	13	6
Petr Sykora	21	4	9	13	12
Paul Kariya	21	6	6	12	6
Mike Leclerc	21	2	9	11	12
Steve Rucchin	21	7	3	10	2
Rob Niedermayer	21	3	7	10	18
Steve Thomas	21	4	4	8	8
Sandis Ozolinsh	21	2	6	8	10
Stanislav Chistov	21	4	2	6	8
Samuel Pahlsson	21	2	4	6	12
Ruslan Salei	21	2	3	5	26
Jason Krog	21	3	1	4	4
Keith Carney	21	0	4	4	16
Niclas Havelid	21	0	4	4	2
Kurt Sauer	21	1	1	2	6
Marc Chouinard	15	1	0	1	0
Dan Bylsma	11	0	1	1	2
Jean-Sebastien Giguere	21	0	1	1	0
Vitaly Vishnevski	21	0	1	1	6
Martin Gerber	2	0	0	0	0
Patric Kjellberg	10	0	0	0	0
Fredrik Olausson	1	0	0	0	0
Cam Severson	1	0	0	0	0
Alexei Smirnov	4	0	0	0	2

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Jean-Sebastien Giguere	1407	21	15	6		38	1.62	697	659	.945	5
Martin Gerber	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

Transactions

The Mighty Ducks were involved in the following transactions from June 14, 2002, the day after the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 9, 2003, the day of the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 22, 2002	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Future considerations	To Nashville Predators 3rd-round pick in 2002
June 25, 2002	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 3rd-round pick in 2003	To Boston Bruins Steve Shields
July 6, 2002	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mike Commodore Jean-Francois Damphousse Petr Sykora Rights to Igor Pohanka	To New Jersey Devils Maxim Balmochnykh Jeff Friesen Oleg Tverdovsky
October 23, 2002	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Future considerations	To Nashville Predators Jason York
January 30, 2003	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Sandis Ozolinsh Lance Ward	To Florida Panthers Matt Cullen Pavel Trnka 4th-round pick in 2003
March 11, 2003	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Rob Niedermayer	To Calgary Flames Mike Commodore Jean-Francois Damphousse
March 11, 2003	To Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Steve Thomas	To Chicago Blackhawks 5th-round pick in 2003

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
July 1, 2002 (2002-07-01)	Adam Oates	Philadelphia Flyers	1-year	Free agency
July 9, 2002 (2002-07-09)	Cory Pecker	Erie Otters (OHL)		Free agency
July 12, 2002 (2002-07-12)	Fredrik Olausson	Detroit Red Wings	1-year	Free agency
July 16, 2002 (2002-07-16)	Todd Reirden	Atlanta Thrashers	2-year	Free agency
July 17, 2002 (2002-07-17)	Jason Krog	New York Islanders	2-year	Free agency
July 22, 2002 (2002-07-22)	Chris O'Sullivan	Kloten Flyers (NLA)	1-year	Free agency
July 24, 2002 (2002-07-24)	Rob Valicevic	Los Angeles Kings		Free agency
August 22, 2002 (2002-08-22)	Francis Belanger	Montreal Canadiens		Free agency
	Josh DeWolf	Detroit Red Wings		Free agency
	Cam Severson	Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)		Free agency
	Nick Smith	Florida Panthers		Free agency
October 11, 2002 (2002-10-11)	Mike Brown	Vancouver Canucks		Waivers
April 1, 2003 (2003-04-01)	Chris Kunitz	Ferris State University (CCHA)	2-year	Free agency

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via	Ref
July 14, 2002 (2002-07-14)	Sergei Krivokrasov	Amur Khabarovsk (RSL)	Free agency (UFA)
August 9, 2002 (2002-08-09)	Aris Brimanis	St. Louis Blues	Free agency (UFA)
August 13, 2002 (2002-08-13)	Antti-Jussi Niemi	Jokerit (Liiga)	Free agency (II)
September 23, 2002 (2002-09-23)	Brian White	Providence Bruins (AHL)	Free agency (VI)
October 17, 2003 (2003-10-17)	Denny Lambert	Milwaukee Admirals (AHL)	Buyout
October 20, 2002 (2002-10-20)	Drew Bannister	Karpat (Liiga)	Free agency (UFA)
June 6, 2003 (2003-06-06)	Patric Kjellberg		Retirement

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 26, 2002 (2002-06-26)	Marc Chouinard		Option exercised
	Kevin Sawyer		Option exercised
July 2, 2002 (2002-07-02)	Vitali Vishnevski	1-year	Re-signing
July 15, 2002 (2002-07-15)	Stanislav Chistov	3-year	Entry-level
	Martin Gerber		Entry-level
	Tony Martensson		Entry-level
	Jan Tabacek		Entry-level
July 19, 2002 (2002-07-19)	Pavel Trnka	2-year	Re-signing
July 22, 2002 (2002-07-22)	Samuel Pahlsson	1-year	Re-signing
July 24, 2002 (2002-07-24)	Jean-Francois Damphousse		Re-signing
July 31, 2002 (2002-07-31)	Paul Kariya	1-year	Re-signing
August 1, 2002 (2002-08-01)	Andy McDonald	2-year	Re-signing
August 2, 2002 (2002-08-02)	Matt Cullen	2-year	Re-signing
August 6, 2002 (2002-08-06)	Ruslan Salei	2-year	Re-signing
August 22, 2002 (2002-08-22)	Brian Gornick		Entry-level
August 26, 2002 (2002-08-26)	Steve Rucchin	4-year	Re-signing
November 13, 2002 (2002-11-13)	Joffrey Lupul	3-year	Entry-level
December 26, 2002 (2002-12-26)	Joel Perrault	3-year	Entry-level
May 6, 2002 (2002-05-06)	George Davis	3-year	Entry-level
May 22, 2002 (2002-05-22)	P. A. Parenteau	3-year	Entry-level
June 1, 2002 (2002-06-01)	Igor Pohanka	3-year	Entry-level
	Joel Stepp	3-year	Entry-level

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	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
2	37	Tim Brent	Forward	Canada	Toronto St. Michael's Majors (OHL)
3	71	Brian Lee	Defense	United States	Erie Otters (OHL)
4	103	Joonas Vihko	Forward	Finland	HIFK (Finland)
5	140	George Davis	Forward	Canada	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
6	173	Luke Fritshaw	Defense	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
9	261	Francois Caron	Defense	Canada	Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
9	267	Chris Petrow	Defense	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)

Farm teams

• The Mighty Ducks farm team was the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League. The team finished third in the Central Division with a record of 26-35-13-6.

See also

• 2002–03 NHL season

References

• Mighty Ducks on Hockey Database
• Ducks on Database Hockey