2003–04 Vancouver Canucks season

The 2003–04 Vancouver Canucks season was the Canucks' 34th NHL season. It was the first time since the Northwest Division was created that a team other than the Colorado Avalanche won the division title.

Regular season
The Canucks began their season with the top line of Brendan Morrison, Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi. The Sedin twins continued to develop and began seeing some success initially being paired with Jason King. With their initial team chemistry, Jason King plotting 12 goals and being named NHL Rookie of the Month in November. The trio briefly formed "The Mattress Line" (Two Twins and a King). The season looked promising with the Canucks being near the top of the standings. When February came along, the Canucks narrowly defeated the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 but it came at a cost with Avalanche forward Steve Moore hitting Canucks captain Markus Naslund resulting in Naslund getting a concussion and Moore not penalized. Many Canucks vowed revenge against Moore (notably Brad May). When the two teams met again in Denver on March 3 (with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance), there were no incidents and both teams skated to a 5-5 draw. On March 8, however, in Vancouver, everything fell apart. The Avalanche jumped out to a 5-0 lead and Brad May cut the deficit to 5-2 while at the same time taunting Avalanche goalie David Aebischer after each goal. Bertuzzi made it his personal mission to go after Steve Moore and after trying (and failing) to incite him, sucker punched him and falling on top of him. Bertuzzi would be suspended the rest of the regular season and playoffs. The Canucks had some difficulty recovering from this incident and managed to win the Northwest Division on the final day of the regular season, their first division championship since the 1992-93 season.

Western Conference Quarterfinals vs. (6) Calgary Flames
After splitting the first two games in Vancouver, Dan Cloutier was injured midway through Game 3 in Calgary. With backup Johan Hedberg playing in relief, Vancouver would also split Games 3 and 4 in Calgary. Alex Auld took over in goal starting in Game 5, which the Canucks lost 2-1. Facing elimination in Game 6, Brendan Morrison scored the winner in the third overtime period to force a Game 7 in Vancouver. In the series-deciding game, the Canucks found themselves down a goal and on the penalty kill in the last minute. With Auld on the bench for the extra attacker, winger Matt Cooke tied the game with 5.7 seconds left to force overtime. However, with Ed Jovanovski still in the penalty box, former Canuck Martin Gelinas eliminated the Canucks on the power play.

Regular season

 * Legend:
 * Legend:

Playoffs

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

Transactions
The Canucks were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2003, the day after the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2004, the day of the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

Draft picks
Vancouver's draft picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.