2002–03 WHL season
The 2002–03 WHL season was the 37th season for the Western Hockey League. 19 teams completed a 72-game season. The Kelowna Rockets won the President's Cup.
Regular season
Eastern Conference
East Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
x Brandon Wheat Kings | 72 | 43 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 98 | 258 | 187 |
x Moose Jaw Warriors | 72 | 36 | 22 | 11 | 3 | 86 | 266 | 208 |
x Saskatoon Blades | 72 | 40 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 85 | 234 | 205 |
x Regina Pats | 72 | 25 | 28 | 14 | 5 | 69 | 171 | 217 |
Prince Albert Raiders | 72 | 27 | 37 | 3 | 5 | 62 | 185 | 258 |
Central Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
x Red Deer Rebels | 72 | 50 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 105 | 271 | 160 |
x Swift Current Broncos | 72 | 38 | 24 | 7 | 3 | 86 | 240 | 215 |
x Medicine Hat Tigers | 72 | 29 | 34 | 2 | 7 | 67 | 278 | 314 |
x Calgary Hitmen | 72 | 27 | 36 | 7 | 2 | 63 | 240 | 260 |
Lethbridge Hurricanes | 72 | 28 | 39 | 2 | 3 | 61 | 236 | 303 |
Western Conference
B.C. Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
x Kelowna Rockets | 72 | 51 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 109 | 311 | 164 |
x Kamloops Blazers | 72 | 39 | 27 | 5 | 1 | 84 | 261 | 222 |
x Kootenay Ice | 72 | 36 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 83 | 234 | 202 |
x Vancouver Giants | 72 | 26 | 37 | 5 | 4 | 61 | 217 | 292 |
x Prince George Cougars | 72 | 26 | 41 | 3 | 2 | 57 | 257 | 317 |
U.S. Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
x Seattle Thunderbirds | 72 | 44 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 94 | 280 | 224 |
x Spokane Chiefs | 72 | 26 | 36 | 6 | 4 | 62 | 216 | 261 |
x Portland Winter Hawks | 72 | 19 | 40 | 8 | 5 | 51 | 192 | 243 |
Tri-City Americans | 72 | 20 | 44 | 3 | 5 | 47 | 240 | 335 |
- Prince George Crosses over into U.S. Division playoffs
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Erik Christensen | Kamloops Blazers | 67 | 54 | 54 | 108 | 60 |
Jesse Schultz | Kelowna Rockets | 72 | 53 | 51 | 104 | 47 |
Jeremy Jackson | Lethbridge Hurricanes | 65 | 44 | 58 | 102 | 83 |
Matt Ellison | Red Deer Rebels | 72 | 40 | 56 | 96 | 80 |
Chris St. Jaques | Medicine Hat Tigers | 70 | 31 | 65 | 96 | 78 |
Brooks Laich | Seattle Thunderbirds | 60 | 41 | 53 | 94 | 65 |
Jeremy Williams | Swift Current Broncos | 72 | 41 | 52 | 93 | 117 |
Dylan Stanley | Tri-City Americans | 72 | 34 | 59 | 93 | 60 |
David Bararuk | Moose Jaw Warriors | 66 | 29 | 64 | 93 | 44 |
Nigel Dawes | Kootenay Ice | 72 | 47 | 45 | 92 | 54 |
Goaltending leaders
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties ; GA = Goals against; SO = Total shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kelly Guard | Kelowna Rockets | 53 | 3018 | 39 | 10 | 3 | 97 | 6 | .911 | 1.93 |
Geoff McIntosh | Brandon Wheat Kings | 23 | 1337 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 46 | 2 | .914 | 2.06 |
Cam Ward | Red Deer Rebels | 57 | 3367 | 40 | 13 | 2 | 118 | 5 | .920 | 2.10 |
Jeff Glass | Kootenay Ice | 35 | 1884 | 15 | 16 | 2 | 77 | 4 | .909 | 2.45 |
Blake Grenier | Moose Jaw Warriors | 41 | 2356 | 23 | 8 | 8 | 100 | 5 | .911 | 2.55 |
2003 WHL Playoffs
Conference Quarter-finals | Conference Semi-finals | Conference Finals | WHL Championship | ||||||||||||||||
E1 | Brandon | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
E4 | Regina | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
C1 | Red Deer | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
C3 | Medicine Hat | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
E2 | Moose Jaw | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
E3 | Saskatoon | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
E1 | Brandon | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
Eastern | |||||||||||||||||||
C1 | Red Deer | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
C1 | Red Deer | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
C4 | Calgary | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
E1 | Brandon | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
E2 | Moose Jaw | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
C2 | Swift Current | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
C3 | Medicine Hat | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
C1 | Red Deer | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
B1 | Kelowna | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
B1 | Kelowna | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
B4 | Vancouver | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
B1 | Kelowna | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
U2 | Spokane | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
B2 | Kamloops | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
B3 | Kootenay | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
B1 | Kelowna | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
Western | |||||||||||||||||||
U1 | Seattle | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
U1 | Seattle | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
B5 | Prince George | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
U1 | Seattle | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
B3 | Kootenay | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
U2 | Spokane | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
U3 | Portland | 3 |
Eastern Conference
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Western Conference
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Conference semifinals
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Conference finals
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WHL Championship
Kelowna vs. Red Deer | |||
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Date | Away | Home | |
May 2 | Red Deer 1 | 5 Kelowna | |
May 3 | Red Deer 2 | 5 Kelowna | |
May 5 | Kelowna 2 | 6 Red Deer | |
May 6 | Kelowna 1 | 2 Red Deer | |
May 8 | Red Deer 2 | 5 Kelowna | |
May 10 | Kelowna 2 | 0 Red Deer | |
Kelowna wins series 4–2 |
All-Star game
On November 12, the WHL Eastern All-Stars defeated the QMJHL Lebel All-Stars 5–2 at Hull, Quebec with a crowd of 2194.
On November 19, the WHL Western All-Stars defeated the OHL Eastern All-Stars 7–3 at Vancouver, British Columbia before a crowd of 7,046.
The WHL won the Hershey Cup as champion of the round robin format all-star tournament.
WHL awards
All-Star Teams
Eastern Conference | ||||
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First Team | Second Team | |||
Goal | Josh Harding | Regina Pats | Cam Ward | Red Deer Rebels |
Defense | Jeff Woywitka | Red Deer Rebels | Stephen Mann | Saskatoon Blades |
Ian White | Swift Current Broncos | Nathan Paetsch | Moose Jaw Warriors | |
Forward | Ryan Craig | Brandon Wheat Kings | Jeremy Jackson | Lethbridge Hurricanes |
Jordin Tootoo | Brandon Wheat Kings | David Bararuk | Moose Jaw Warriors | |
Boyd Gordon | Red Deer Rebels | Matt Ellison | Red Deer Rebels | |
Western Conference | ||||
First Team | Second Team | |||
Goal | Kelly Guard | Kelowna Rockets | Billy Thompson | Prince George Cougars |
Defense | Tomas Slovak | Kelowna Rockets | Gerard Dicaire | Kootenay Ice |
Tomas Mojzis | Seattle Thunderbirds | Josh Gorges | Kelowna Rockets | |
Forward | Erik Christensen | Kamloops Blazers | Nigel Dawes | Kootenay Ice |
Jesse Schultz | Kelowna Rockets | Kiel McLeod | Kelowna Rockets | |
Brooks Laich | Seattle Thunderbirds | Adam Courchaine | Vancouver Giants |
- source: Western Hockey League press release
2003 Bantam draft
- List of first round picks in the bantam draft.
# | Player | Nationality | WHL Team |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jonathan Toews (C) | Canada | Tri-City Americans |
2 | Ben Maxwell (C) | Canada | Kootenay Ice (via Lethbridge) |
3 | Zach Hamill (C) | Canada | Everett Silvertips |
4 | Ryan de Pape (RW) | Canada | Prince Albert Raiders |
5 | Sasha Golin (RW) | Canada | Portland Winter Hawks |
6 | Tyler Swystun (C) | Canada | Prince George Cougars |
7 | Jason Reese (LW) | United States | Vancouver Giants |
8 | Michael Reich (C) | Canada | Spokane Chiefs |
9 | Keegan Dansereau (RW) | Canada | Calgary Hitmen |
10 | Trevor Glass (D) | Canada | Medicine Hat Tigers |
11 | Logan Pyett (D) | Canada | Regina Pats |
12 | Todd Panchyson (D) | Canada | Kootenay Ice |
13 | Victor Bartley (D) | Canada | Kamloops Blazers |
14 | Justin McCrae (C) | Canada | Saskatoon Blades |
15 | Brennan Wray (C) | Canada | Moose Jaw Warriors |
16 | Kyle Bortis (LW) | Canada | Swift Current Broncos |
17 | George Holloway (C) | Canada | Seattle Thunderbirds |
18 | Mike Cann (D) | Canada | Brandon Wheat Kings |
19 | Matthew Cline (C) | Canada | Red Deer Rebels |
20 | Craig Cuthbert (C) | Canada | Kelowna Rockets |
References
- whl.ca
- 2005–06 WHL Guide