American Hockey League Wiki

The 1995–96 AHL season was the 60th season of the American Hockey League. The AHL expands by two teams and realigns into two conferences, and four divisions. The Northern Conference includes the North and Atlantic Divisions. The Southern Conference include the South Division and the newly created Central Division.

The league introduces two new trophies for division champions of the regular season. The Frank Mathers Trophy is first awarded for the south division, and the Sam Pollock Trophy is first awarded for the atlantic Division. The John D. Chick Trophy becomes awarded to the central division.

The AHL revives awarding points for overtime losses, last awarded in the 1987–88 AHL season. Eighteen teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Albany River Rats finished first overall in the regular season. The Rochester Americans won their sixth Calder Cup championship.

Team Changes[]

Final Standings[]

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points;

Northern Conference[]

Atlantic GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA
Prince Edward Island Senators 80 38 33 6 3 85 303 313
Saint John Flames 80 35 30 11 4 85 272 264
St. John's Maple Leafs 80 31 31 14 4 80 248 274
Fredericton Canadiens 80 34 35 11 0 79 307 308
Cape Breton Oilers 80 33 40 3 4 73 290 323
North GP W L T OTL PTS GF GA
Springfield Falcons 80 42 22 11 5 100 272 215
Worcester IceCats 80 36 28 12 4 88 242 244
Portland Pirates 80 32 34 10 4 78 282 283
Providence Bruins 80 30 36 10 4 74 249 280

Southern Conference[]

Central GP W L T OTL PTS GF GA
Albany River Rats 80 54 19 7 0 115 322 218
Adirondack Red Wings 80 38 32 8 2 86 271 247
Rochester Americans 80 37 34 5 4 83 294 297
Cornwall Aces 80 34 34 7 5 80 249 251
Syracuse Crunch 80 31 37 5 7 74 257 307
South GP W L T OTL PTS GF GA
Binghamton Rangers 80 39 31 7 3 88 333 331
Hershey Bears 80 36 30 11 3 86 301 287
Baltimore Bandits 80 33 36 9 2 77 279 299
Carolina Monarchs 80 28 38 11 3 70 313 343

Scoring Leaders[]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Brad Smyth Carolina Monarchs 68 68 58 126 80
Jim Montgomery Hershey Bears 78 34 71 105 95
Mike Casselman Carolina Monarchs 70 34 68 102 46
Gilbert Dionne Carolina Monarchs 55 43 58 101 29
Peter Ferraro Binghamton Rangers 68 48 53 101 157
Chris Ferraro Binghamton Rangers 77 32 67 99 208
Craig Charron Rochester Americans 72 43 52 95 79
Jean-Yves Roy Prince Edward Island Senators 67 40 55 95 64
Dixon Ward Rochester Americans 71 38 56 94 74
Brett Harkins Carolina Monarchs 55 23 71 94 44
Andrew Brunette Portland Pirates 69 28 66 94 125

Calder Cup Playoffs[]

Main article: 1996 Calder Cup Playoffs
  Division Semifinals Division Finals Conference Finals Calder Cup Final
                                     
A1  P.E.I. 2  
A4  Fredericton 3  
  A4  Fredericton 1  
Atlantic Division
  A2  Saint John 4  
A2  Saint John 3
A3  St. John's 1  
  A2  Saint John 3  
Northern Conference
  N3  Portland 4  
N1  Springfield 3  
N4  Providence 1  
  N1  Springfield 2
North Division
  N3  Portland 4  
N2  Worcester 1
N3  Portland 3  
  N3  Portland 3
  C3  Rochester 4
C1  Albany 1  
C4  Cornwall 3  
  C4  Cornwall 0
Central Division
  C3  Rochester 4  
C2  Adirondack 0
C3  Rochester 3  
  C3  Rochester 4
Southern Conference
  C5  Syracuse 1  
S1  Binghamton 1  
C5  Syracuse 3  
  C5  Syracuse 4
South Division
  S3  Baltimore 3  
S2  Hershey 2
S3  Baltimore 3  

All Star Classic[]

The 9th AHL All-Star Game was played on January 16, 1996 at the Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Team USA defeated Team Canada 6-5. In the inaugural AHL skills competition held the day before the All-Star Game, Team USA won 14-12 over Team Canada.

Trophy and Award Winners[]

Team Awards[]

Calder Cup
Playoff champions:
Rochester Americans
Richard F. Canning Trophy
Northern Conference playoff champions:
Portland Pirates
Robert W. Clarke Trophy
Southern Conference playoff champions:
Rochester Americans
Frank Mathers Trophy
Regular Season champions, South Division:
Binghamton Rangers
F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy
Regular Season champions, North Division:
Springfield Falcons
Sam Pollock Trophy
Regular Season champions, Atlantic Division:
Prince Edward Island Senators
John D. Chick Trophy
Regular Season champions, South Division:
Albany River Rats

Individual Awards[]

Les Cunningham Award
Most valuable player:
Brad Smyth - Carolina Monarchs
John B. Sollenberger Trophy
Top point scorer:
Brad Smyth - Carolina Monarchs
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award
Rookie of the year:
Darcy Tucker - Fredericton Canadiens
Eddie Shore Award
Defenceman of the year:
Barry Richter - Binghamton Rangers
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award
Best Goaltender:
Manny Legace - Springfield Falcons
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award
Lowest goals against average:
Manny Legace & Scott Langkow - Springfield Falcons
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award
Coach of the year:
Robbie Ftorek - Albany River Rats
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award
Sportsmanship / Perseverance:
Ken Gernander - Binghamton Rangers
Jack A. Butterfield Trophy
MVP of the playoffs:
Dixon Ward - Rochester Americans

Other Awards[]

James C. Hendy Memorial Award
Most outstanding executive:
Steve Donner, Rochester Americans
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards
Outstanding media coverage:
Kevin Oklobzija, Rochester, (newspaper)
Seth Everett, Syracuse, (radio)
Tom Caron, New England Sports Network, (television)
Ken McKenzie Award
Outstanding marketing executive:
Tim Kuhl, Syracuse Crunch

See Also[]