The 2002–03 Buffalo Sabres season was the 33rd season of operation for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.[1] The Sabres failed to qualify for the playoffs for a second consecutive season. The 72 points accumulated in the regular season was the lowest total for the franchise since the 1986–87 season.
|- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|1||W||October 10, 2002||5–1 || align="left"| New York Islanders (2002–03) ||1–0–0–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|2||W||October 12, 2002||6–1 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) ||2–0–0–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|3||L||October 13, 2002||0–3 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) ||2–1–0–0 || |- align="center"|4||T||October 17, 2002||4–4 OT|| align="left"| New York Rangers (2002–03) ||2–1–1–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|5||L||October 19, 2002||2–3 || align="left"| Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) ||2–2–1–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|6||W||October 22, 2002||2–1 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||3–2–1–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|7||L||October 25, 2002||1–2 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (2002–03) ||3–3–1–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|8||L||October 26, 2002||2–5 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||3–4–1–0 || |- align="center"|9||T||October 29, 2002||1–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (2002–03) ||3–4–2–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|10||L||October 31, 2002||0–3 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (2002–03) ||3–5–2–0 || |-|- align="center"|11||T||November 1, 2002||1–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) ||3–5–3–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|12||L||November 3, 2002||2–3 || align="left"| @ Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) ||3–6–3–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|13||L||November 7, 2002||0–2 || align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) ||3–7–3–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|14||L||November 9, 2002||4–6 || align="left"| Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) ||3–8–3–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|15||L||November 12, 2002||3–4 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||3–9–3–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|16||L||November 15, 2002||2–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||3–10–3–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|17||L||November 16, 2002||1–4 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (2002–03) ||3–11–3–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FF6F6F"|18||OTL||November 19, 2002||3–4 OT|| align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (2002–03) ||3–11–3–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|19||W||November 22, 2002||5–4 || align="left"| Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) ||4–11–3–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|20||L||November 23, 2002||1–4 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||4–12–3–1 || |- align="center"|21||T||November 27, 2002||1–1 OT|| align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) ||4–12–4–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|22||L||November 29, 2002||1–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||4–13–4–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|23||L||November 30, 2002||1–3 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||4–14–4–1 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|24||W||December 4, 2002||4–0 || align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) ||5–14–4–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|25||W||December 6, 2002||4–1 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (2002–03) ||6–14–4–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|26||W||December 7, 2002||4–3 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (2002–03) ||7–14–4–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|27||L||December 10, 2002||2–4 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (2002–03) ||7–15–4–1 || |- align="center"|28||T||December 13, 2002||1–1 OT|| align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) ||7–15–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|29||L||December 14, 2002||0–2 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||7–16–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|30||W||December 18, 2002||4–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||8–16–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|31||L||December 20, 2002||0–3 || align="left"| Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||8–17–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|32||L||December 21, 2002||2–6 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) ||8–18–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|33||L||December 23, 2002||2–5 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||8–19–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|34||L||December 26, 2002||2–3 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (2002–03) ||8–20–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|35||L||December 28, 2002||3–4 || align="left"| Minnesota Wild (2002–03) ||8–21–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|36||L||December 30, 2002||3–4 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (2002–03) ||8–22–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FF6F6F"|37||OTL||December 31, 2002||0–1 OT|| align="left"| New York Islanders (2002–03) ||8–22–5–2 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|38||W||January 3, 2003||6–3 || align="left"| Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) ||9–22–5–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|39||W||January 4, 2003||2–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (2002–03) ||10–22–5–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|40||L||January 7, 2003||2–3 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||10–23–5–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|41||W||January 10, 2003||4–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||11–23–5–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|42||W||January 11, 2003||3–2 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) ||12–23–5–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|43||W||January 14, 2003||1–0 || align="left"| @ Minnesota Wild (2002–03) ||13–23–5–2 || |- align="center"|44||T||January 16, 2003||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (2002–03) ||13–23–6–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|45||W||January 18, 2003||1–0 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) ||14–23–6–2 || |- align="center"|46||T||January 21, 2003||0–0 OT|| align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) ||14–23–7–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|47||W||January 24, 2003||4–0 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||15–23–7–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FF6F6F"|48||OTL||January 25, 2003||3–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (2002–03) ||15–23–7–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|49||L||January 27, 2003||1–5 || align="left"| Nashville Predators (2002–03) ||15–24–7–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FF6F6F"|50||OTL||January 30, 2003||1–2 OT|| align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (2002–03) ||15–24–7–4 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|51||L||February 4, 2003||1–4 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (2002–03) ||15–25–7–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|52||L||February 7, 2003||2–4 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (2002–03) ||15–26–7–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|53||L||February 8, 2003||1–3 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (2002–03) ||15–27–7–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|54||L||February 11, 2003||2–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (2002–03) ||15–28–7–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|55||L||February 13, 2003||2–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) ||15–29–7–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|56||W||February 15, 2003||5–4 || align="left"| New York Rangers (2002–03) ||16–29–7–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FF6F6F"|57||OTL||February 17, 2003||3–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) ||16–29–7–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|58||W||February 19, 2003||2–1 OT|| align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) ||17–29–7–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|59||L||February 21, 2003||1–4 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) ||17–30–7–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|60||W||February 23, 2003||4–1 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) ||18–30–7–5 || |- align="center"|61||T||February 24, 2003||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||18–30–8–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|62||L||February 26, 2003||2–3 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (2002–03) ||18–31–8–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|63||W||February 28, 2003||5–3 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (2002–03) ||19–31–8–5 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FF6F6F"|64||OTL||March 1, 2003||1–2 OT|| align="left"| @ New York Islanders (2002–03) ||19–31–8–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|65||L||March 4, 2003||1–2 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (2002–03) ||19–32–8–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|66||W||March 6, 2003||4–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||20–32–8–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|67||W||March 8, 2003||4–0 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||21–32–8–6 || |- align="center"|68||T||March 9, 2003||1–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) ||21–32–9–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FF6F6F"|69||OTL||March 12, 2003||2–3 OT|| align="left"| Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) ||21–32–9–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|70||L||March 14, 2003||2–4 || align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) ||21–33–9–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|71||L||March 15, 2003||3–5 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) ||21–34–9–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|72||W||March 18, 2003||5–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) ||22–34–9–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|73||L||March 19, 2003||0–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (2002–03) ||22–35–9–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FF6F6F"|74||OTL||March 22, 2003||2–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) ||22–35–9–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|75||W||March 24, 2003||4–3 OT|| align="left"| Colorado Avalanche (2002–03) ||23–35–9–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|76||W||March 26, 2003||2–1 || align="left"| Florida Panthers (2002–03) ||24–35–9–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|77||W||March 28, 2003||4–1 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) ||25–35–9–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|78||W||March 29, 2003||3–1 || align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) ||26–35–9–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|79||L||March 31, 2003||0–3 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (2002–03) ||26–36–9–8 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"|80||W||April 2, 2003||4–3 || align="left"| Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) ||27–36–9–8 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|81||L||April 5, 2003||5–8 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (2002–03) ||27–37–9–8 || |- align="center"|82||T||April 6, 2003||2–2 OT|| align="left"| New Jersey Devils (2002–03) ||27–37–10–8 || |-|-| Legend:
Regular season | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | |||||||||
81 | LW | 79 | 26 | 49 | 75 | −3 | 20 | ||
77 | C | 66 | 15 | 29 | 44 | −5 | 86 | ||
12 | RW | 68 | 21 | 14 | 35 | −2 | 30 | ||
17 | RW | 76 | 14 | 21 | 35 | −14 | 44 | ||
41 | C | 68 | 11 | 21 | 32 | −13 | 20 | ||
37 | C | 74 | 15 | 16 | 31 | 4 | 40 | ||
24 | LW | 78 | 14 | 14 | 28 | −8 | 38 | ||
71 | LW | 49 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 4 | 30 | ||
18 | C | 80 | 12 | 13 | 25 | −28 | 32 | ||
45 | D | 65 | 8 | 13 | 21 | −7 | 57 | ||
44 | D | 70 | 3 | 18 | 21 | −5 | 85 | ||
51 | D | 65 | 2 | 17 | 19 | −8 | 20 | ||
22 | C | 79 | 6 | 11 | 17 | −4 | 146 | ||
3 | D | 69 | 4 | 12 | 16 | −3 | 26 | ||
10 | D | 46 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 28 | ||
48 | C | 14 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 12 | ||
25 | RW | 44 | 7 | 4 | 11 | −2 | 23 | ||
61 | RW | 35 | 5 | 6 | 11 | −12 | 21 | ||
4 | D | 50 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 63 | ||
26 | LW | 58 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 178 | ||
28 | LW | 17 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 14 | ||
74 | D | 59 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −16 | 49 | ||
8 | D | 36 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −7 | 16 | ||
16 | C | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | ||
5 | D | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −1 | 29 | ||
55 | LW | 25 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −4 | 17 | ||
19 | RW | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 6 | ||
15 | RW | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
43 | G | 54 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |||
60 | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
21 | D | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
6 | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 | ||
33 | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
29 | RW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 4 | ||
23 | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
30 | G | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
35 | G | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
32 | RW | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 92 |
Regular season | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | ||||||||||||
43 | 54 | 17 | 28 | 6 | 1468 | 135 | 2.56 | .908 | 4 | 3170 | ||
30 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 410 | 40 | 2.63 | .902 | 1 | 912 | ||
35 | 16 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 411 | 36 | 2.42 | .912 | 1 | 891 |
Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Miroslav Satan | [2] |
NHL Player of the Week | Miroslav Satan (December 9) | [3] | |
NHL Rookie of the Month | Ales Kotalik (January) | [4] | |
NHL YoungStars Game selection | Ryan Miller | [5] | |
Taylor Pyatt | |||
Henrik Tallinder |
The Sabres 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.[6]
Date | Details | Ref | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
June 22, 2002 | To Buffalo Sabres 1st-round pick in 2002 | To Columbus Blue Jackets Rights to Mike Pandolfo 1st-round pick in 2002 | [7] | |
June 22, 2002 | To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2002 3rd-round pick in 2002 | To Atlanta Thrashers Vyacheslav Kozlov 2nd-round pick in 2002 | ||
June 22, 2002 | To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2002 | To Nashville Predators 3rd-round pick in 2002 2nd-round pick in 2003 | ||
June 22, 2002 | To Buffalo Sabres Jochen Hecht | To Edmonton Oilers Atlanta’s 2nd-round pick in 2002 Nashville’s 2nd-round pick in 2002 | ||
July 24, 2002 | To Buffalo Sabres Adam Mair 5th-round pick in 2003 | To Los Angeles Kings Erik Rasmussen | [8] | |
November 16, 2002 | To Buffalo Sabres Future considerations | To Detroit Red Wings Jason Woolley | [9] | |
February 25, 2003 | To Buffalo Sabres Rights to Jakub Klepis | To Ottawa Senators Vaclav Varada 5th-round pick in 2003 | [10] | |
March 10, 2003 | To Buffalo Sabres Future considerations | To Ottawa Senators Rob Ray | [11] | |
March 10, 2003 | To Buffalo Sabres Rights to Michael Ryan 2nd-round pick in 2003 | To Dallas Stars Stu Barnes | [12] | |
March 11, 2003 | To Buffalo Sabres Daniel Briere 3rd-round pick in 2004 | To Phoenix Coyotes Chris Gratton 4th-round pick in 2004 | [13] |
Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free agency | [14] | |||||
Free agency | [15] |
Date | Player | New team | Via | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ZSC Lions (NLA) | Free agency (VI) | [16] | |||
Free agency (III) | [17] | ||||
Free agency (UFA) | [18] | ||||
Retirement (III) | [19] | ||||
Retirement (VI) | [20] | ||||
Retirement (III) | [21] | ||||
N/A | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) | [22] | ||
Luc Theoret | Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (CHL) | Free agency (UFA) | [23] | ||
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) | Free agency (II) | [24] |
Date | Player | Term | Contract type | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
1-year | Option exercised | [25] | ||
1-year | Option exercised | |||
1-year | Re-signing | [26] | ||
multi-year | Re-signing | [27] | ||
2-year | Re-signing | [28] | ||
1-year | Re-signing | [29] | ||
Re-signing | [30] | |||
Re-signing | ||||
Re-signing | ||||
Re-signing | ||||
2-year | Re-signing | [31] | ||
Entry-level | [32] | |||
Entry-level | ||||
Re-signing | ||||
2-year | Entry-level | [33] | ||
multi-year | Re-signing | [34] | ||
multi-year | Entry-level | [35] | ||
Re-signing | [36] | |||
Entry-level | [37] | |||
Entry-level |
Buffalo's draft picks at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.[38]
Round | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 | Keith Ballard | University of Minnesota (WCHA) | ||
1 | 20 | Daniel Paille | Guelph Storm (OHL) | ||
3 | 76 | Michael Tessier | Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL) | ||
3 | 82 | John Adams | Boston College (Hockey East) | ||
4 | 108 | Jakub Hulva | HC Vitkovice Jr. (Czech Republic) | ||
4 | 121 | Marty Magers | Omaha Lancers (USHL) | ||
6 | 178 | Maxim Shchevyev | Elemash Elektrostal (Russia) | ||
7 | 208 | Radoslav Hecl | Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) | ||
8 | 241 | Dennis Wideman | London Knights (OHL) | ||
9 | 271 | Martin Cizek | Slavia Prague Jr. (Czech Republic) |