The 2002–03 Calgary Flames season was the 23rd National Hockey League season in Calgary. A relatively successful start to the season quickly gave way to disaster as the Flames lost 11 of 12 games in a November stretch dropping the Flames out of contention, ultimately failing to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. The Flames would quickly find a replacement for Gilbert, announcing they had hired Darryl Sutter shortly before the new year. Sutter immediately began shaping the Flames to his own style, and the Flames finished 19–16–8–1 under their new bench boss. __TOC__