American Hockey League Wiki

The 1997–98 AHL season was the 62nd season of the American Hockey League. The AHL shifts teams in their divisions, and the Canadian division reverts to being named Atlantic division. The Northern conference is renamed the Eastern conference, and the Southern conference renamed the Western conference.

The league introduces three new trophies. The Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy first awarded for the team which finishes in first place in the league during the regular season. The Yanick Dupre Memorial Award is given to the player who best exemplifies the spirit of community service. The Thomas Ebright Memorial Award honors an individual with outstanding career contributions to the AHL.

Eighteen teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Philadelphia Phantoms repeated finishing first overall in the regular season, and won their first 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;

Eastern Conference[]

Atlantic GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA
Saint John Flames 80 43 24 13 0 99 231 201
Fredericton Canadiens 80 33 32 10 5 81 245 244
Portland Pirates 80 33 33 12 2 80 241 247
St. John's Maple Leafs 80 25 32 18 5 73 233 254
New England GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA
Springfield Falcons 80 45 26 7 2 99 278 248
Hartford Wolf Pack 80 43 24 12 1 99 272 227
Beast of New Haven 80 38 33 7 2 85 256 239
Worcester IceCats 80 34 31 9 6 83 267 268
Providence Bruins 80 19 49 7 5 50 211 301

Western Conference[]

Empire State GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA
Albany River Rats 80 43 20 11 6 103 290 223
Hamilton Bulldogs 80 36 22 17 5 94 264 242
Syracuse Crunch 80 35 32 11 2 83 272 285
Adirondack Red Wings 80 31 37 9 3 74 245 275
Rochester Americans 80 30 38 12 0 72 238 260
Mid-Atlantic GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA
Philadelphia Phantoms 80 47 21 10 2 106 314 249
Hershey Bears 80 36 31 7 6 85 238 235
Kentucky Thoroughblades 80 29 39 9 3 70 241 278
Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 80 23 37 13 7 66 243 303

Scoring Leaders[]

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

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Peter White Philadelphia Phantoms 80 27 78 105 28
Bob Wren Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 77 42 58 100 151
Steve Guolla Kentucky Thoroughblades 69 37 63 100 45
Stacy Roest Adirondack Red Wings 80 34 58 92 30
Danny Briere Springfield Falcons 68 36 56 92 42
Craig Darby Philadelphia Phantoms 77 42 45 87 34
Craig Reichert Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 78 28 59 87 28
Brendan Morrison Albany River Rats 72 35 49 84 44
Alexei Yegorov Kentucky Thoroughblades 79 32 52 84 56

Calder Cup Playoffs[]

Main article: 1998 Calder Cup Playoffs
  Division Semifinals Division Finals Conference Finals Calder Cup Final
                                     
A1  Saint John 3  
A4  St. John's 1  
  A1  Saint John 4  
Atlantic Division
  A3  Portland 2  
A2  Fredericton 1
A3  Portland 3  
  A1  Saint John 4  
Eastern Conference
  N2  Hartford 1  
N1  Springfield 1  
N4  Worcester 3  
  N4  Worcester 3
New England Division
  N2  Hartford 4  
N2  Hartford 3
N3  New Haven 0  
  A1  Saint John 2
  M1  Philadelphia 4
E1  Albany 3  
E4  Adirondack 0  
  E1  Albany 4
Empire State Division
  E3  Hamilton 0  
E2  Hamilton 3
E3  Syracuse 2  
  E1  Albany 2
Western Conference
  M1  Philadelphia 4  
M1  Philadelphia 3  
E5  Rochester 1  
  M1  Philadelphia 4
Mid-Atlantic Division
  M2  Hershey 0  
M2  Hershey 3
M3  Kentucky 0  

All Star Classic[]

The 11th AHL All-Star Game was played on February 11, 1998, at the Onondaga War Memorial in Syracuse, New York. Team Canada defeated Team PlanetUSA 11-10. In the skills competition held the day before the All-Star Game, Team PlanetUSA won 13-8 over Team Canada.

Trophy and Award Winners[]

Team Awards[]

Calder Cup
Playoff champions:
Philadelphia Phantoms
Richard F. Canning Trophy
Eastern Conference playoff champions:
Saint John Flames
Robert W. Clarke Trophy
Western Conference playoff champions:
Philadelphia Phantoms
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy
Regular season champions, League:
Philadelphia Phantoms
Frank Mathers Trophy
Regular Season champions, Mid-Atlantic Division:
Philadelphia Phantoms
F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy
Regular Season champions, New England Division:
Springfield Falcons
Sam Pollock Trophy
Regular Season champions, Atlantic Division:
Saint John Flames
John D. Chick Trophy
Regular Season champions, Empire State Division:
Albany River Rats

Individual Awards[]

Les Cunningham Award
Most valuable player:
Steve Guolla - Kentucky Thoroughblades
John B. Sollenberger Trophy
Top point scorer:
Peter White - Philadelphia Phantoms
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award
Rookie of the year:
Danny Briere - Springfield Falcons
Eddie Shore Award
Defenceman of the year:
Jamie Heward - Philadelphia Phantoms
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award
Best Goaltender:
Scott Langkow - Springfield Falcons
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award
Lowest goals against average:
Jean-Sebastien Giguere & Tyler Moss - Saint John Flames
Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award
Coach of the year:
Bill Stewart - Saint John Flames
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award
Sportsmanship / Perseverance:
Craig Charron - Rochester Americans
Yanick Dupre Memorial Award
Community Service Award:
John Jakopin - Beast of New Haven
Jack A. Butterfield Trophy
MVP of the playoffs:
Mike Maneluk - Philadelphia Phantoms

Other Awards[]

James C. Hendy Memorial Award
Most outstanding executive:
Frank Miceli, Philadelphia Phantoms
Thomas Ebright Memorial Award
Career contributions:
Jack Butterfield
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards
Outstanding media coverage:
Brendan McCarthy, St. John's & Bill Ballou, Worcester, (newspaper)
Lance McAllister, Cincinnati, (radio)
Rich Coppola, Hartford / New Haven, (television)
Ken McKenzie Award
Outstanding marketing executive:
Chris Palin, Rochester Americans

See Also[]