2002–03 Columbus Blue Jackets season
The 2002–03 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the Blue Jackets' third season in the National Hockey League, as the team was coming off of a 22–47–8–5 record in the 2001–02 season, earning 57 points and finishing in last in the Western Conference.
Regular season
The Blue Jackets got off to a good start, having a 7–5–1–1 record in their opening 14 games. Columbus, however, won only two of their next 12 games to fall out of the playoff picture. The club would play mediocre hockey for the rest of the season, finishing with a 29–42–8–3 record, earning 69 points for last place in the Western Conference for the second-straight season. Midway through the season, Columbus fired Head Coach Dave King after a 14–20–4–2 start. King was replaced with General Manager Doug MacLean, as the Blue Jackets posted a record of 15–22–4–1 record under his guidance. The 69 points was a 12-point improvement over the previous season, but the club finished 23 points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the final playoff spot in the Conference. The previous season, the Blue Jackets scored a League-low 164 goals, however, the team would beat that total by 49 goals, finishing with a club record 213 goals. Columbus though led the NHL in goals against, allowing 263, also a club record.Ray Whitney led the club in points for the second-straight season, earning a club record 76 points, as he scored 24 goals and 52 assists. Geoff Sanderson rebounded from an injury-plagued 2001–02 season to score a club record 34 goals, while Andrew Cassels earned 68 points in his first season in Columbus. David Vyborny had a breakout season, scoring 20 goals and 46 points. On the blueline, Jaroslav Spacek scored nine goals and earned 45 points in his first full season with the team. Jody Shelley led the team with 249 penalty minutes, setting a franchise record.
In goal, Marc Denis got the bulk of the action, winning a club-record 27 games, while posting a 3.09 goals against average and earning five shutouts along the way.
Season standings
Schedule and results
- Green background indicates a win.
- Red background indicates a regulation loss.
- Yellow background indicates an overtime loss.
- White background indicates a tie.
Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| LW | 81 | 24 | 52 | 76 | 22 | -26 | 8 | 2 | 2 | |
| C | 79 | 20 | 48 | 68 | 30 | -4 | 9 | 1 | 5 | |
| LW | 82 | 34 | 33 | 67 | 34 | -4 | 15 | 2 | 2 | |
| RW | 79 | 20 | 26 | 46 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 4 | |
| D | 81 | 9 | 36 | 45 | 70 | -23 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 75 | 18 | 25 | 43 | 52 | -21 | 9 | 3 | 3 | |
| LW | 74 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 78 | -27 | 6 | 0 | 2 | |
| C | 70 | 19 | 11 | 30 | 113 | -25 | 3 | 2 | 3 | |
| RW | 66 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 71 | -8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| C | 51 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 12 | -4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| D | 53 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 34 | -9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| D | 72 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 71 | -22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 78 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 72 | -26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 82 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 73 | -16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 31 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 20 | -15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| RW | 34 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 18 | -12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 36 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 22 | -11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 39 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 77 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 35 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 86 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 68 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 249 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | -6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| D | 41 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 64 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 48 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 99 | -15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 61 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 46 | -20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 77 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T/OT | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 4511 | 77 | 27 | 41 | 8 | 232 | 3.09 | 5 | 2404 | 2172 | .903 | |
| 451 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 3.59 | 0 | 233 | 206 | .884 | |
| Team: | 4962 | 82 | 29 | 45 | 8 | 259 | 3.13 | 5 | 2637 | 2378 | .902 |
Draft picks
Columbus' draft picks at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft:| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/junior/club team |
| 1 | 1 | Rick Nash | London Knights | |
| 2 | 41 | Joakim Lindstrom | Modo Hockey | |
| 3 | 65 | Ole-Kristian Tollefsen | Lillehammer IK | |
| 3 | 96 | Jeff Genovy | Des Moines Buccaneers | |
| 4 | 98 | Ivan Tkachenko | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | |
| 4 | 119 | Jekabs Redlihs | New York Applecore | |
| 5 | 133 | Lasse Pirjeta | Karpat | |
| 6 | 168 | Tim Konsorada | Brandon Wheat Kings | |
| 6 | 184 | Jaroslav Balastik | Continental Zlin | |
| 7 | 199 | Greg Mauldin | University of Massachusetts Amherst | |
| 7 | 225 | Steve Goertzen | Seattle Thunderbirds | |
| 8 | 231 | Jaroslav Kracik | HC Plzen | |
| 9 | 263 | Sergei Mozyakin | CSKA Moscow |