AHL 2008/09

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Master:	Hershey Bears
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The 2008-09 season was the 73rd regular season of the American Hockey League (AHL). The regular season began on October 1, 2008 and ran until April 12, 2009. During this time, the 29 teams in the league played 80 games each. The eight best teams from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference will then play in a play-off round for the Calder Cup .

The 22nd AHL All-Star Classic was held on January 26, 2009 in Worcester , Massachusetts at the DCU Center . In the game, a Canadian all-star team competed against the PlanetUSA team, consisting of US and international players.

Team changes

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

• The Iowa Stars from Des Moines , Iowa have been renamed and now participate in the Western Conference gaming operations under the name Iowa Chops .

Regular season

Closing tables

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

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division	GP	W.	L.	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts
Hartford Wolf Pack (4)	80	46	27	3	4th	243	216	99
Providence Bruins (5)	80	43	29	2	6th	238	232	94
Portland Pirates (8)	80	39	31	3	7th	249	239	88
Worcester Sharks (9)	80	42	35	1	2	223	223	87
Manchester Monarchs (10)	80	37	35	0	8th	211	218	82
Lowell Devils (11)	80	35	36	2	7th	213	243	79
Springfield Falcons (14)	80	24	44	8th	8th	188	258	60

East Division	GP	W.	L.	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts
Hershey Bears (1)	80	49	23	2	6th	296	240	106
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (2)	80	49	23	3	5	241	212	106
Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins (3)	80	49	25th	3	3	274	212	104
Philadelphia Phantoms (6)	80	43	30th	2	5	234	232	93
Binghamton Senators (7)	80	41	30th	5	4th	232	238	91
Norfolk Admirals (12)	80	33	38	4th	5	236	269	75
Albany River Rats (13)	80	33	40	3	4th	219	258	73

Western Conference

North Division	GP	W.	L.	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts
Manitoba Mosses (1)	80	50	23	1	6th	239	188	107
Hamilton Bulldogs (3)	80	49	27	4th	0	263	201	102
Grand Rapids Griffins (4)	80	43	25th	6th	6th	255	226	98
Toronto Marlies (6)	80	39	29	5	7th	240	229	90
Syracuse Crunch (7)	80	40	32	5	3	214	226	88
Lake Erie Monsters (14)	80	34	38	3	5	199	218	76
Rochester Americans (15)	80	29	43	0	8th	184	259	66

West Division	GP	W.	L.	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts
Milwaukee Admirals (2)	80	49	22nd	3	6th	229	195	107
Peoria Rivermen (5)	80	43	31	2	4th	215	211	92
Houston Eros (8)	80	38	31	2	9	218	230	87
Rockford IceHogs (9)	80	40	34	0	6th	229	220	86
Quad City Flames (10)	80	36	31	6th	7th	212	216	85
Chicago Wolves (11)	80	38	37	3	2	226	222	81
Iowa Chops (12)	80	33	33	4th	10	209	260	80
San Antonio Rampage (13)	80	36	38	2	4th	205	243	78

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
Alexandre Giroux	Hershey	69	60	37	97	84
Keith Aucoin	Hershey	70	25th	71	96	73
Jason Krog	Manitoba	74	30th	56	86	30th
Janne Pesonen	Wilkes-Barre / Scranton	70	32	50	82	33
Artyom Anissimov	Hartford	80	37	44	81	50
Darren Haydar	Grand Rapids	79	31	49	80	26th
Tim Stapleton	Toronto	70	28	51	79	26th
Corey Locke	Houston	77	25th	54	79	60
Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau	Hartford	74	29	49	78	142
Kyle Greentree	Quad City	79	39	37	76	63

Calder Cup playoffs

mode

The four best teams of the Atlantic Division and the East Divisions qualify for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference . In the Western Conference , the distribution of playoff places works differently, as the West Division is one team more occupied than the North Division. The four best teams in the West Division and the three best teams in the North Division are qualified. Eighth playoff place in the Western Conference will either go to the fourth-placed team in the North Division or the fifth-placed team in the West Division. The one of the two teams with the most points is qualified.

In the first two rounds, each division plays its own winner, before the conference semi-finals play out the winners of the conferences that meet in the Calder Cup final. The team that is highest on the seeding list always meets the lowest seeded team. The competitor, who will be either third in the North Division or fifth in the West Division, will take the last place on the seeding list in the North Division. All series in each round are played out in best-of-seven mode , which means that a team needs four wins to reach the next round. The higher ranked team has the first two games at home, the next two the opposing team. If no winner has emerged from the round by then, home rights will change from game to game. The higher-ranked team has a home advantage in games 1, 2, 5 and 7, i.e. four of the maximum seven games.

For games that remain tied after the regular playing time of 60 minutes, overtime follows , which, in contrast to the regular season, is played with five field players. The thirds continue to last 20 minutes and play continues until a team scores the first goal.

Playoff tree

Semifinals division

Division Finals

Conference Finals

Calder Cup Finals

E1

Hershey Bears

4th

E4

Philadelphia Phantoms

0

E1

Hershey Bears

4th

E3

Wilkes-Barre / Sc. Penguins

3

E2

Bridgeport Sound Tigers

1

E3

Wilkes-Barre / Sc. Penguins

4th

E1

Hershey Bears

4th

Eastern Conference

A2

Providence Bruins

1

A2

Providence Bruins

4th

A3

Portland Pirates

1

A2

Providence Bruins

4th

A4

Worcester Sharks

2

A1

Hartford Wolf Pack

2

A4

Worcester Sharks

4th

E1

Hershey Bears

4th

N1

Manitoba mosses

2

N1

Manitoba mosses

4th

N4

Toronto Marlies

2

N1

Manitoba mosses

4th

N3

Grand Rapids Griffins

0

N2

Hamilton Bulldogs

2

N3

Grand Rapids Griffins

4th

N1

Manitoba mosses

4th

Western Conference

W3

Houston Eros

2

W1

Milwaukee Admirals

4th

W4

Rockford IceHogs

0

W1

Milwaukee Admirals

3

W3

Houston Eros

4th

W2

Peoria Rivermen

3

W3

Houston Eros

4th

Calder Cup winner

Calder Cup winner Hershey Bears

Goalkeepers: Daren Machesney , Michal Neuvirth Defenders: Karl Alzner , Greg Amadio , Dean Arsene , John Carlson , Sean Collins , Bryan Helmer , Staffan Kronwall , Sami Lepistö , Grant McNeill , Patrick McNeill , Tyler Sloan Attackers: Keith Aucoin , Jay Beagle , François Bouchard , Chris Bourque , Kip Brennan , Alexandre Giroux , Andrew Gordon , Andrew Joudrey , Quintin Laing , Graham Mink , Oskar Osala , Mathieu Perreault , Steve Pinizzotto , Darren Reid , Kyle Wilson Head Coach: Bob Woods   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	Hershey Bears
Robert W. Clarke Trophy winner of the Western Conference Finals	Manitoba mosses
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy Best Regular Season Team	Manitoba mosses
Frank S. Mathers Trophy Best Team of the Eastern Conference	Hershey Bears
Norman R. "Bud" Poile Trophy Best Team of the Western Conference	Manitoba mosses
Emile Francis Trophy Best Team in the Atlantic Division	Hartford Wolf Pack
FG "Teddy" Oke Trophy Best team in the East Division	Hershey Bears
Sam Pollock Trophy Best Team in the North Division	Manitoba mosses
John D. Chick Trophy Best Team in the West Division	Milwaukee Admirals

Individual trophies

Award	player	team
Les Cunningham Award MVP of the regular season	Alexandre Giroux	Hershey Bears
John B. Sollenberger Trophy Best Scorer	Alexandre Giroux	Hershey Bears
Willie Marshall Award Best Goalscorer	Alexandre Giroux	Hershey Bears
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award Best Rookie	Nathan Gerbe	Portland Pirates
Eddie Shore Award Best Defender	Johnny Boychuk	Providence Bruins
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award Best Goalkeeper	Cory Schneider	Manitoba mosses
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded	Karl Goehring	Manitoba mosses
	Cory Schneider
Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award Best Trainer	Scott Arniel	Manitoba mosses
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award For the player who excels through fairness, commitment and dedication	Ajay Baines	Iowa chops
Yanick Dupré Memorial Award For the player who distinguishes himself through special commitment in society	Brandon Rogers	Houston Eros
Jack A. Butterfield Trophy MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs	Michal Neuvirth	Hershey Bears

Web links

• Official site of the AHL (English)