The Blue Jackets would get off to a solid start in 2003–04, winning three of their first four games, though the club would eventually go on a seven-game losing streak to quickly fall out of playoff contention. Columbus would continue to struggle, and General Manager and Head CoachDoug MacLeanannounced on January 1, 2004, that he would step down from head coaching duties, naming Blue Jacketsassistant coach and former NHL player Gerard Gallant as his replacement. Columbus posted a 9–21–4–3 record under MacLean. While the Blue Jackets would play better hockey with Gallant behind the bench, the team would fail once again to earn a playoff spot, as they finished the season with a 25–45–8–4 record for 62 points—seven fewer than the previous season—and finish 29 points the Nashville Predators for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Columbus, however, climbed out of the basement in the Central Divisionfor the first time in franchise history after finishing ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks. Rick Nash had a memorable season, finishing in a three-way tie with Ilya Kovalchuk from the Atlanta Thrashers and Jarome Iginla from the Calgary Flames to win the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the League's highest goal-scorer; he scored a club-record 41 goals and finished with a team-best 57 points. David Vyborny led the Blue Jackets with 31 assists and finished second to Nash with 53 points. Rookie Nikolai Zherdev also contributed a solid 34 points in 57 games. On defense, Anders Eriksson led the Jackets with 27 points, while Jaroslav Spacek contributed with 22 points in just 58 games. Jody Shelley provided the team toughness, earning a team-high 228 penalty minutes. In goal, Marc Denis was the team's number one, playing a team-high 66 games, winning 21 of them, posting a teambest 2.56 goals against average and earning five shutouts. The Blue Jackets would finish the season having tied the Dallas Stars for most times shut-out, with 11.
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
80
41
16
57
87
-35
19
0
7
RW
82
22
31
53
40
-26
8
4
2
W
57
13
21
34
54
-11
5
0
1
C
77
9
25
34
34
-17
4
0
2
RW
73
15
17
32
16
-12
4
0
1
LW
67
13
16
29
34
-9
5
0
1
D
66
7
20
27
18
-6
2
0
1
C
58
6
20
26
26
-24
2
0
0
C
56
12
13
25
24
-5
1
0
2
D
58
5
17
22
45
-13
2
1
2
C
68
9
9
18
63
-19
2
0
3
D
49
2
13
15
26
-19
1
0
0
D
47
2
11
13
27
-16
0
0
1
C
57
2
8
10
20
-6
0
0
0
D
27
1
8
9
22
-6
1
0
0
D
29
2
6
8
32
-2
0
0
1
C
29
2
6
8
16
-8
0
0
0
D
34
0
7
7
39
-15
0
0
0
LW
76
3
3
6
228
-10
1
0
0
D
64
1
5
6
48
-11
0
0
1
C
9
1
3
4
6
-2
1
0
0
C
14
0
4
4
2
-5
0
0
0
D
77
0
4
4
44
-23
0
0
0
RW
19
1
2
3
16
-7
0
0
0
RW
50
1
2
3
98
-3
0
0
0
RW
29
1
2
3
36
-7
0
0
0
LW
9
2
0
2
6
0
0
0
0
C
2
1
1
2
2
-1
0
0
0
G
66
0
2
2
10
0
0
0
0
D
24
0
2
2
8
-12
0
0
0
C
19
1
0
1
12
-5
0
0
0
C
13
1
0
1
2
-4
0
0
0
C
4
1
0
1
0
-1
0
0
0
LW
9
0
1
1
20
-3
0
0
0
D
8
0
1
1
6
-4
0
0
0
G
21
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
D
16
0
0
0
12
-3
0
0
0
D
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
G
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
C
6
0
0
0
4
-2
0
0
0
RW
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
LW
3
0
0
0
0
-2
0
0
0
D
7
0
0
0
2
-2
0
0
0
;Goaltending
Player
MIN
GP
W
L
T/OT
GA
GAA
SO
SA
SV
SV%
3796
66
21
36
7
162
2.56
5
1970
1808
.918
1050
21
4
11
1
59
3.37
0
574
515
.897
119
2
0
2
0
7
3.53
0
69
62
.899
Team:
4965
82
25
49
8
228
2.76
5
2613
2385
.913
Draft picks
Columbus' draft picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft:
