#18: 2003 Ottawa Senators
The 2002-2003 Ottawa Senators might still be a pretty good NHL team today. The team had some of today’s biggest NHL stars on it. It featured Marian Hossa, Jason Spezza, Martin Havlat, Zdeno Chara, and Mike Fisher. It also featured Daniel Alfredsson in his prime and Alfredsson in his prime might be one of the most underrated players of all time. They narrowly beat out the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings to win the President’s Trophy with 113 points.
They scored the third-most goals in the league while allowing the fifth-fewest goals during the regular season. The team’s balanced offense was primarily led by 24-year-old Hossa (45 goals with a team-high 80 points) and Alfredsson (27 goals with 51 assists). Todd White added 60 points in 82 games. 21-year-old Havlat added 59 points. Two 25-year-old stud defensemen (Chara and the often forgotten about Wade Redden) led their blue line. Redden had 45 points while Chara had 39. 22-year-old Fisher had 38 points in 74 games. Even 19-year-old Spezza was impressive with 21 points in his 33 game stint in the NHL.
The Senators came into the playoffs as the obvious Stanley Cup favorites. The Senators proved why by handling the New York Islanders in the first round four games to one. They handled the Flyers four games to two in the Eastern Conference semifinals to advance to the conference finals. The New Jersey Devils were waiting for them.
The Devils were an outstanding team that year. They proved it by inching out a series win over the Senators four games to three. The Devils won 3-2 in game seven in one of the most memorable finishes to a series. The Senators fought valiantly and had the Devils not disposed of them, they likely would have won the Stanley Cup.
Next: 2000-2001 New Jersey Devils