2003–04 Eliteserien season

The 2003–04 Eliteserien season ended with Storhamar Dragons claiming their fifth Norwegian title after defeating Vålerenga in double overtime in game 7. Michael Smithurst scored the game winner nearly two minutes into the second extra period in front of 7,405 spectators.

2003–04 Eliteserien season
League	Eliteserien
Sport	Ice hockey
Number of teams	10
Regular-season winner	Storhamar Dragons
Champions	Storhamar Dragons

Regular season

Final standings

Rk	Team	Pts	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF–GA
1	Storhamar Dragons	94	29	2	3	8	151–87
2	Vålerenga	92	28	3	2	9	183–89
3	Trondheim Black Panthers	83	25	3	2	12	160–100
4	Frisk Tigers	74	20	5	4	13	152–118
5	Sparta Warriors	64	19	2	3	18	124–126
6	Stavanger Oilers	63	19	1	4	18	163–152
7	Stjernen	62	16	6	2	19	152–137
8	Bergen Flyers	43	11	3	4	24	105–173
9	Lillehammer	42	12	2	2	26	101–154
10	Manglerud Star	13	4	0	1	37	80–235

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Jari Kesti	Stavanger Oilers	40	26	37	63	+31	40
Tommy Kiviaho	Frisk Tigers	41	27	27	54	+23	20
Ilya Dubkov	Trondheim Black Panthers	42	32	21	53	+29	70
Tomi Suoniemi	Stavanger Oilers	40	20	25	45	+17	20
Teemu Kohvakka	Stavanger Oilers	41	18	27	45	+5	80
Tom Erik Olsen	Storhamar Dragons	40	28	16	44	+32	18
Patric Englund	Vålerenga	40	21	23	44	+23	20
Lars Erik Spets	Lillehammer	40	28	15	43	−10	12
Morten Bakkene	Stavanger Oilers	41	23	20	43	+19	18
Jan Morten Dahl	Trondheim Black Panthers	40	10	31	41	+20	147

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the conclusion of the regular season.

Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Jonas Bertil Norgren	Storhamar Dragons	22	1,285:41	–	–	34	6	92.34	1.59
Tommy Lund	Vålerenga	29	1,736:29	–	–	61	5	91.13	2.11
Henrik Smångs	Sparta Warriors	29	1,807:55	–	–	84	1	90.75	2.79
Halvor Hårstad-Evjen	Frisk Tigers	28	1,568:52	–	–	61	2	90.72	2.33
Rolf Joakim Wiberg	Trondheim Black Panthers	41	2,428:22	–	–	89	5	90.65	2.20

GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Playoffs

After the regular season, the new standard of eight teams qualified for the playoffs. In the first round, the two highest remaining seeds were drawn against the two lowest remaining seeds; in the second round, the highest remaining seed was drawn against one of the two lowest. In each round the higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage, giving them a possible maximum of three home games as opposed to the lower-seeded team's possible maximum of two. Each best-of-five series followed a 1–2–1–1 format: the higher-seeded team played at home for games 2 and 3 (plus 5 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team at home for games 1 and 4 (if necessary).

The final was contested between the Storhamar Dragons and Vålerenga for the second consecutive year. In 2003, the championship had been decided in four straight games when Vålerenga won 4–0 to claim their 22nd title and 18th "double". As in the previous season, the 2004 final was played as a best-of-seven series following a 1–1–1–2–1–1 format. Storhamar, as league champions, were seeded first and played at home for games 2, 4, 5 and 7. They took the lead after winning the first game 2–1 in overtime, but failed to capitalize, losing their first home game 0–4. The third and fourth games were both won by the home side. Game 5 saw Vålerenga achieve an away win in overtime to lead the series 3–2, but Storhamar came back to claim another overtime victory in Oslo and force a seventh, championship deciding game at Hamar OL-Amfi. A record 7,405 spectators turned out for the first game 7 in the history of the Norwegian Championship, in which Storhamar's Michael Smithurst scored the winning goal after 21 minutes and 54 seconds of overtime.

Bracket

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Storhamar Dragons	3
	8	Bergen Flyers	0
						1	Storhamar Dragons	3
						6	Stavanger Oilers	0
	2	Vålerenga	3
	7	Stjernen	1
											1	Storhamar Dragons	4
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
											2	Vålerenga	3
	3	Trondheim Black Panthers	1
	6	Stavanger Oilers	3
						2	Vålerenga	3
						4	Sparta Bears	1
	4	Sparta Bears	3
	5	Frisk Tigers	2

Source: hockey.no

Norwegian Champions 2004
Storhamar Dragons 5th title

Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2004–05

Final standings

	Team	GP	W	OTW	SOW	OTL	SOL	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	Lillehammer (Q)	6	4	0	0	1	0	1	22	14	13
2	Comet (Q)	6	2	2	1	0	0	1	24	15	12
3	Manglerud Star	6	3	0	1	1	1	4	26	19	11
4	Hasle/Løren	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	15	39	0

GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime Wins; OTL = Overtime losses; SOW = Shootout Wins; SOL = Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; Q = Qualified
Source: speaker.no

Game log

Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2004–05 Game Log

Rounds 1–6 Round 1 26 February 2004 18:30 CET Hasle/Løren 4 – 7 (1–2, 1–2, 2–3) Manglerud Star Løren Ishall, Oslo Attendance: 253 Game reference Referee: Lars Olav Gaden 10 min Penalties 10 min 31 Shots 30 26 February 2004 18:30 CET Lillehammer 3 – 4 (OT) (1–1, 0–1, 2–1, 0–1) Comet Kristins Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 1,101 Game reference Referee: Owe Lüthcke 83 min Penalties 18 min 21 Shots 27 Round 2 29 February 2004 17:00 CET Comet 4 – 3 (SO) (1–0, 0–3, 2–0, 1–0, 2/5–1/5) Manglerud Star Halden Ishall, Halden Attendance: 833 Game reference Referee: Yngvar Skau Jensen 4 min Penalties 2 min 25 Shots 27 29 February 2004 17:00 CET Hasle/Løren 2 – 4 (1–2, 0–2, 1–0) Lillehammer Løren Ishall, Oslo Attendance: 223 Game reference Referee: Kjetil Bøe 44 min Penalties 20 min 26 Shots 26 Round 3 4 March 2004 18:30 CET Comet 7 – 2 (3–1, 2–0, 2–1) Hasle/Løren Halden Ishall, Halden Attendance: 750 Game reference Referee: Egil Andre Borge 12 min Penalties 14 min 34 Shots 27 4 March 2004 18:30 CET Manglerud Star 1 – 3 (0–1, 1–0, 0–2) Lillehammer Manglerudhallen, Oslo Attendance: 382 Game reference Referee: Pål Idar Sørensen 8 min Penalties 6 min 23 Shots 25 Round 4 7 March 2004 17:00 CET Comet 0 – 2 (0–0, 0–1, 0–1) Lillehammer Halden Ishall, Halden Attendance: 1,050 Game reference Referee: Hans Petter Berg 12 min Penalties 16 min 29 Shots 20 7 March 2004 17:00 CET Manglerud Star 8 – 2 (2–0, 4–2, 2–0) Hasle/Løren Manglerudhallen, Oslo Attendance: 322 Game reference Referee: Per Gustav Solem 10 min Penalties 14 min 37 Shots 25 Round 5 11 March 2004 18:30 CET Lillehammer 7 – 2 (2–1, 4–0, 1–1) Hasle/Løren Kristins Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 850 Game reference Referee: Tommy Søstumoen 2 min Penalties 4 min 42 Shots 25 11 March 2004 18:30 CET Manglerud Star 2 – 3 (OT) (1–1, 1–1, 0–0, 0–1) Comet Manglerudhallen, Oslo Attendance: 720 Game reference Referee: Yngvar Skau Jensen 8 min Penalties 8 min 35 Shots 41 Round 6 14 March 2004 17:00 CET Hasle/Løren 3 – 6 (1–1, 2–1, 0–4) Comet Løren Ishall, Oslo Attendance: 500 Game reference Referee: Owe Lüthcke 10 min Penalties 12 min 22 Shots 40 14 March 2004 17:00 CET Lillehammer 3 – 5 (2–1, 0–3, 1–1) Manglerud Star Kristins Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 1,280 Game reference Referee: Svein-Erik Edvartsen 8 min Penalties 4 min 19 Shots 25

External links

• Official website (in Norwegian)