2002–03 NAHL season
| 2002–03 NAHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | North American Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | Regular season September 2002 – March 2003 Post-season April 2 – April 25, 2003 |
| Number of games | 56 |
| Number of teams | 11 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Texas Tornado |
| Top scorer | Matt Rutkowski (Detroit Compuware Ambassadors) |
| Robertson Cup Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Pittsburgh Forge |
| Runners-up | Texas Tornado |
The 2002–03 NAHL season was the 19th season of the North American Hockey League. The season ran from September 2002 to April 2003 with a 56-game schedule for each team. The Pittsburgh Forge won the regular season championship and went on to defeat the Texas Tornado 3 games to 1 for the Robertson Cup.
Member changes
None
Regular season
The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:[1]
Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched regular season title
Standings
East Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xyz – Pittsburgh Forge | 56 | 43 | 9 | 4 | 90 | 208 | 111 |
| x – Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 56 | 41 | 12 | 3 | 85 | 210 | 143 |
| x – Soo Indians | 56 | 30 | 22 | 4 | 64 | 187 | 152 |
| x – Capital Centre Pride | 56 | 26 | 25 | 5 | 57 | 178 | 209 |
| USNTDP | 56 | 16 | 38 | 2 | 34 | 177 | 238 |
| Cleveland Jr. Barons | 56 | 12 | 38 | 6 | 30 | 150 | 253 |
West Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – Texas Tornado | 56 | 41 | 13 | 2 | 84 | 214 | 142 |
| x – Chicago Freeze | 56 | 34 | 20 | 2 | 70 | 220 | 180 |
| x – Danville Wings | 56 | 30 | 19 | 7 | 67 | 198 | 157 |
| x – Springfield Jr. Blues | 56 | 20 | 27 | 9 | 49 | 191 | 237 |
| Springfield Spirit | 56 | 15 | 36 | 5 | 35 | 129 | 240 |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games. [2]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Rutkowski | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 56 | 24 | 53 | 77 | 97 |
| Frank Furdero | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 45 | 26 | 43 | 69 | 24 |
| Dan Riedel | Springfield Jr. Blues | 56 | 29 | 38 | 67 | 110 |
| Tommy Goebel | Cleveland Jr. Barons | 49 | 32 | 32 | 64 | 76 |
| Bryan Marshall | Danville Wings | 53 | 31 | 31 | 62 | 45 |
| Chris Lawrence | Pittsburgh Forge | 56 | 30 | 32 | 62 | 48 |
| Jason Tejchma | Danville Wings | 56 | 21 | 41 | 62 | 39 |
| Hank Carisio | Springfield Jr. Blues | 53 | 25 | 36 | 61 | 251 |
| Billy McCreary | Texas Tornado | 43 | 27 | 33 | 60 | 135 |
| Jeremy Hall | Danville Wings | 55 | 40 | 17 | 57 | 59 |
| Geoff Smith | Texas Tornado | 47 | 23 | 34 | 57 | 89 |
| Evan Salmela | Chicago Freeze | 55 | 19 | 38 | 57 | 60 |
Robertson Cup playoffs
| Division Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinal (Best-of-3) | Championship (Best-of-5) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Pittsburgh Forge | 3 | 1 | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Capital Centre Pride | 1 | 0 | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Pittsburgh Forge | 3 | 3*** | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Danville Wings | 2 | 2 | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Chicago Freeze | 4 | 2 | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Danville Wings | 5 | 4 | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Pittsburgh Forge | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | - | ||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Texas Tornado | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | ||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Texas Tornado | 2* | 5 | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 1 | 2 | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Texas Tornado | 2* | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | 3 | 3 | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Soo Indians | 2 | 1 | - | ||||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
References
- ^ "NAHL Standings". North American Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
- ^ "NAHL Stats". North American Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2025.