American Hockey League Wiki

The 2003–04 AHL season was the 68th season of the American Hockey League. The league introduces the Willie Marshall Award in honour the career points leader in the AHL, and awards it to the annual top goal scorer.

The AHL changes from a six division alignment to four divisions within two conferences. The Eastern conference consists of the Atlantic and East divisions, and the Western conference consists of the North and West divisions. Twenty-eight teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Milwaukee Admirals finished first overall in the regular season, and won the Calder Cup, defeating the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the finals.

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 Division GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA
Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR) 80 44 22 12 2 102 198 153
Manchester Monarchs (LA) 80 40 28 7 5 92 223 181
Worcester Ice Cats (STL) 80 37 27 13 3 90 207 186
Providence Bruins (BOS) 80 36 29 11 4 87 170 170
Portland Pirates (WAS) 80 32 27 13 8 85 156 160
Lowell Lock Monsters (CAR/CGY) 80 32 36 6 6 76 208 242
Springfield Falcons (PHX) 80 26 43 9 2 63 179 234
East Division GP W L T OTL PTS GF GA
Philadelphia Phantoms (PHI) 80 46 25 7 2 101 216 168
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI) 80 41 23 12 4 98 178 140
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT) 80 34 28 10 8 86 197 197
Binghamton Senators (OTT) 80 34 34 9 3 80 210 216
Norfolk Admirals (CHI) 80 35 36 4 5 79 210 216
Hershey Bears (COL/TB) 80 33 34 8 5 79 203 218
Albany River Rats (NJ) 80 21 39 11 9 62 182 157

Western Conference[]

North Division GP W L T OTL PTS GF GA
Hamilton Bulldogs (MON) 80 41 25 10 4 96 235 191
Syracuse Crunch (CBJ) 80 38 25 10 7 93 239 235
Rochester Americans (BUF) 80 37 28 10 5 89 207 188
Cleveland Barons (SJ) 80 37 28 8 7 89 235 220
Toronto Roadrunners (EDM) 80 35 34 8 3 81 219 224
Manitoba Moose (VAN) 80 32 35 11 2 77 214 232
St. John's Maple Leafs (TOR) 80 32 36 8 4 76 225 265
West Division GP W L T OTL PTS GF GA
Milwaukee Admirals (NAS) 80 46 24 7 3 102 269 191
Grand Rapids Griffins (DET) 80 44 28 8 0 96 195 166
Chicago Wolves (ATL) 80 42 26 9 3 96 246 208
Houston Aeros (MIN) 80 28 34 14 4 74 197 220
Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (ANA) 80 29 37 13 1 72 188 211
San Antonio Rampage (FLA) 80 30 42 8 0 68 191 231
Utah Grizzlies (DAL) 80 27 42 6 5 65 162 230

Scoring Leaders[]

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

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Pavel Rosa Manchester Monarchs 77 39 49 88 32
Domenic Pittis Rochester Americans 75 20 57 77 137
Miroslav Zalesak Cleveland Barons 72 35 40 75 80
Eric Perrin Hershey Bears 71 21 54 75 49
Kirby Law Philadelphia Phantoms 74 32 41 73 139
Brad Boyes Cleveland Barons/Providence Bruins 78 31 41 72 51
Steve Kelly Manchester Monarchs 59 21 49 70 117
Craig Darby Albany River Rats 77 21 48 69 44
Jeff Hamilton Bridgeport Sound Tigers 67 43 25 68 26
Donald MacLean Syracuse Crunch 77 27 41 68 45


Calder Cup Playoffs[]

Main article: 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs
  Qualification
                 
A4 Providence Bruins 0
A5 Portland Pirates 2
  Qualification
                 
E4 Binghamton Senators 0
E5 Norfolk Admirals 2
  Qualification
                 
W4 Houston Aeros 0
W5 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 2
  Qualification
                 
N4 Cleveland Barons 2
N5 Toronto Roadrunners 1
  Division Semi-finals Division Finals Conference Finals Calder Cup Finals
                                     
A1  Hartford 4  
A5  Portland 1  
  A1  Hartford 4  
 
  A3  Worcester 0  
A3  Worcester 4
A2  Manchester 2  
  A1  Hartford 3  
Eastern
  E3  Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4  
E1  Philadelphia 4  
E5  Norfolk 2  
  E1  Philadelphia 2
 
  E3  Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4  
E3  Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4
E2  Bridgeport Sound 3  
  E3  Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 0
  W1  Milwaukee 4
N1  Hamilton 4  
N4  Cleveland 2  
  N1  Hamilton 0
 
  N3  Rochester 4  
N3  Rochester 4
N2  Syracuse Crunch 3  
  N3  Rochester 1
Western
  W1  Milwaukee 4  
W1  Milwaukee 4  
W5  Cincinnati 3  
  W1  Milwaukee 4
 
  W3  Chicago 2  
W3  Chicago 4
W2  Grand Rapids 0  

All Star Classic[]

The 17th AHL All-Star Classic was played on February 14, 2005, at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Team Canada defeated team PlanetUSA 9-5. In the skills competition held the night before, team PlanetUSA defeated team Canada 18-9.

Trophy and Award Winners[]

Team Awards[]

Calder Cup
Playoff champions:
Milwaukee Admirals
Richard F. Canning Trophy
Eastern Conference playoff champions:
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Robert W. Clarke Trophy
Western Conference playoff champions:
Milwaukee Admirals
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy
Regular season champions, League:
Milwaukee Admirals
Frank Mathers Trophy
Regular Season champions, Eastern Conference:
Hartford Wolf Pack
Norman R. "Bud" Poile Trophy
Regular Season champions, Western Conference:
Milwaukee Admirals
Emile Francis Trophy
Regular Season champions, Atlantic Division:
Hartford Wolf Pack
F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy
Regular Season champions, East Division:
Philadelphia Phantoms
Sam Pollock Trophy
Regular Season champions, North Division:
Hamilton Bulldogs
John D. Chick Trophy
Regular Season champions, West Division:
Milwaukee Admirals

Individual Awards[]

Les Cunningham Award
Most valuable player:
Jason LaBarbera - Hartford Wolf Pack
John B. Sollenberger Trophy
Top point scorer:
Pavel Rosa - Manchester Monarchs
Willie Marshall Award
Top goal scorer:
Jeff Hamilton - Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award
Rookie of the year:
Wade Dubielewicz - Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Eddie Shore Award
Defenceman of the year:
Curtis Murphy - Milwaukee Admirals
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award
Best Goaltender:
Jason LaBarbera - Hartford Wolf Pack
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award
Lowest Goals Against Average:
Wade Dubielewicz & Dieter Kochan - Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award
Coach of the year:
Claude Noel - Milwaukee Admirals
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award
Sportsmanship / Perseverance:
Ken Gernander - Hartford Wolf Pack
Yanick Dupre Memorial Award
Community Service Award:
Kurtis Foster - Chicago Wolves
Jack A. Butterfield Trophy
MVP of the playoffs:
Wade Flaherty - Milwaukee Admirals

Other Awards[]

James C. Hendy Memorial Award
Most outstanding executive:
Jeff Eisenberg, Manchester Monarchs
Thomas Ebright Memorial Award
Career contributions:
Roy Boe & Jack Kelley
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards
Outstanding media coverage:
Mike Fornabaio, Bridgeport, (newspaper)
John Walton, Hershey, (radio)
Comcast Cable, Chicago, (television)
Ken McKenzie Award
Outstanding marketing executive:
Chris Schwartz, St. John's Maple Leafs
Michael Condon Memorial Award
Outstanding service, on-ice official:
Dan Murphy

See Also[]