AHL 1996/97

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The 1996/97 season was the 61st regular season of the American Hockey League (AHL). During the regular season, the 18 teams in the league played 80 games each. The eight best teams from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference then played in a play-off round for the Calder Cup .

Team changes

The following changes were made before the start of the season:

Regular season

Closing tables

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, OTL = defeat after overtime , GF = goals scored, GA = goals conceded, Pts = points
Explanations: The placement within the conference is shown in brackets;     = Playoff qualification,     = division winner,     = conference winner

Northern Conference

Canadian Division GP W. L. T OTL GF GA Pts
St. John's Maple Leafs 80 36 28 10 6th 265 264 88
Saint John Flames 80 28 36 13 3 237 269 72
Hamilton Bulldogs 80 28 39 9 4th 220 276 69
Fredericton Canadiens 80 26th 44 8th 2 234 283 62
Empire State Division GP W. L. T OTL GF GA Pts
Rochester Americans 80 40 30th 9 1 298 257 90
Adirondack Red Wings 80 38 28 12 2 258 249 90
Albany River Rats 80 38 28 9 5 269 231 90
Syracuse crunch 80 32 38 10 0 241 265 74
Binghamton Rangers 80 27 38 13 2 245 300 69

Southern Conference

New England Division GP W. L. T OTL GF GA Pts
Worcester IceCats 80 43 23 9 5 256 234 100
Springfield Falcons 80 41 25th 12 2 268 229 96
Portland Pirates 80 37 26th 10 7th 279 264 91
Providence Bruins 80 35 40 3 2 262 289 75
Mid-Atlantic Division GP W. L. T OTL GF GA Pts
Philadelphia Phantoms 80 49 18th 10 3 325 230 111
Hershey Bears 80 43 22nd 10 5 273 220 101
Kentucky Thoroughblades 80 36 35 9 0 278 284 81
Baltimore Bandits 80 30th 37 10 3 251 285 73
Carolina Monarchs 80 28 43 4th 5 273 303 65

Best scorer

Abbreviations: GP = games, G = goals, A = assists , Pts = points, +/- = plus / minus , PIM = penalty minutes; Bold: Season best

player team GP G A. Pts PIM
Peter White Philadelphia Phantoms 80 44 61 105 28
Terry Yake Rochester Americans 78 34 67 101 77
Brian Wiseman St. John's Maple Leafs 71 33 62 95 83
Václav Prospal Philadelphia Phantoms 63 32 63 95 70
Patrik Juhlin Philadelphia Phantoms 78 31 60 91 24
Alyaksey Lojkin Fredericton Canadiens 79 33 56 89 41
Gilbert Dionne Carolina Monarchs 72 41 47 88 69
Blair Atcheynum Hershey Bears 77 42 45 87 57
Jan Čaloun Kentucky Thoroughblades 66 43 43 86 68
Shawn McCosh Philadelphia Phantoms 79 30th 51 81 110

Calder Cup playoffs

mode

The eight best teams each qualified for the playoffs in the Northern Conference and Southern Conference . While the best four teams in each division qualified in the Southern Conference, the fifth of the Empire State Division, the Binghamton Rangers , could qualify in the Northern Conference , as they had more points than the fourth of the Canadian Division, the Fredericton Canadiens .

In the first three playoff rounds, the winners of the Eastern and Western divisions were played, which then met in the final of the Calder Cup. While the first playoff round was played in best-of-five mode, all other play-offs and the final were played in best-of-seven mode.

Playoff tree

  Semifinals division   Division Finals   Conference Finals   Calder Cup Finals
                                     
C1 St. John's Maple Leafs 3                  
E5 Binghamton Rangers 1  
C1 St. John's Maple Leafs 3
  C3 Hamilton Bulldogs 4th  
C2 Saint John Flames 2
 
C3 Hamilton Bulldogs 3  
C3 Hamilton Bulldogs 4th
Eastern Conference
  E3 Albany River Rats 1  
E1 Rochester Americans 3      
 
E4 Syracuse crunch 0  
E1 Rochester Americans 3
  E3 Albany River Rats 4th  
E2 Adirondack Red Wings 1
 
E3 Albany River Rats 3  
C3 Hamilton Bulldogs 1
  M2 Hershey Bears 4th
N1 Worcester IceCats 2            
 
N4 Providence Bruins 3  
N4 Providence Bruins 1
  N2 Springfield Falcons 4th  
N2 Springfield Falcons 3
 
N3 Portland Pirates 2  
N2 Springfield Falcons 3
Western Conference
  M2 Hershey Bears 4th  
M1 Philadelphia Phantoms 3      
 
M4 Baltimore Bandits 0  
M1 Philadelphia Phantoms 3
  M2 Hershey Bears 4th  
M2 Hershey Bears 3
 
M3 Kentucky Thoroughblades 1  

Calder Cup winner

Calder Cup winner


Hershey Bears

Goalkeepers: Marc Denis , Jean-François Labbé , Sylvain Rodrigue , Sinuhe Wallinheimo

Defenders: Wade Belak , Rich Brennan , Paul Jerrard , Steve Lingren , Kevin MacDonald , Éric Messier , Dan Smith , Pascal Trepanier , Bob Woods

Attackers: Blair Atcheynum , Cory Banika , Doug Friedman , Hugues Gervais , Mike Hartman , Josef Marha , Christian Matte , Mike McHugh , Kurt Miller , Rob Shearer , Éric Veilleux , Steffon Walby

Head Coach: Bob Hartley   General Manager: Doug Yingst

Awarded trophies

Team trophies

Award team
Calder Cup
winners of the AHL playoffs 		Hershey Bears
Richard F. Canning Trophy
winner of the Eastern Conference Finals 		Hamilton Bulldogs
Robert W. Clarke Trophy
winner of the Western Conference Finals 		Hershey Bears
Frank S. Mathers Trophy
Best Team in the Mid-Atlantic Division 		Philadelphia Phantoms
FG "Teddy" Oke Trophy
Best team in the New England Division 		Worcester IceCats
Sam Pollock Trophy
Best Team in the Atlantic Division 		St. John's Maple Leafs
John D. Chick Trophy
Best Team in the Empire State Division 		Rochester Americans

Individual trophies

Award player team
Les Cunningham Award
MVP of the regular season 		Jean-François Labbé Hershey Bears
John B. Sollenberger Trophy
Best Scorer 		Peter White Philadelphia Phantoms
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award
Best Rookie 		Jaroslav Svejkovský Portland Pirates
Eddie Shore Award
Best Defender 		Darren Rumble Philadelphia Phantoms
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award
Best Goalkeeper 		Jean-François Labbé Hershey Bears
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award
Goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded 		Jean-François Labbé Hershey Bears
Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award
Best Trainer 		Greg Gilbert Worcester IceCats
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award
For the player who excels through fairness, commitment and dedication 		Steve Passmore Hamilton Bulldogs
Jack A. Butterfield Trophy
MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs 		Mike McHugh Hershey Bears

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