2002–03 Montreal Canadiens season

The 2002–03 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 94th season of play. Facing numerous challenges throughout the season including a coaching change, the team did not qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Regular season
Before the start of the season, many predicted a strong showing from the Canadiens as a result of a healthy Saku Koivu and last season's Hart Memorial Trophy winner, Jose Theodore. The team was .500 for the first two months of the season and showed little improvement in December. Players such as Mariusz Czerkawski, added to the lineup during the summer, and Donald Audette were slow to produce offence for the team, and the two forwards were both sent down for brief stints in the minors. Moreover, Jose Theodore's performances were not up to par with his MVP-winning season of a year earlier. Despite strong seasons from Koivu, Richard Zednik and Yanic Perreault, the Canadiens slid to 11th place in the Eastern Conference in mid-January. This losing streak prompted General Manager Andre Savard to fire head coach Michel Therrien and replace him with Claude Julien, who filled the same role behind the bench of the Habs' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Despite Julien's arrival, the team was unable to improve its situation and saw their playoff hopes evaporate with a nine-game winless streak that ended in early March. Despite Saku Koivu's 71 points and Richard Zednik's 31 goals, the Canadiens missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. The Canadiens ended with a record of 30–35–9–8, and former MVP Theodore had a disappointing season with a record of 20–31–6.

The Canadiens finished the regular season tying the Nashville Predators for the fewest short-handed goals scored, with just two.

Schedule and results

 * Legend:
 * Legend:

Scoring

 * Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
 * † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.
 * ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.

Goaltending

 * ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.

Transactions
The Canadiens 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.

Draft picks
Montreal's draft picks at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.