The 2011–12 AHL season was the 76th season of the American Hockey League. The regular season began on October 7, 2011, and concluded on April 15, 2012. The 2012 Calder Cup playoffs follows the conclusion of the regular season.
Regular season The 2011–12 season would feature scheduling changes in the regular season and post season. The major change would be the elimination of four games and extending the season by a week. The reasoning behind the change was to eliminate teams having to play four games in five nights. This would bring the total number of games for each team to 76. To accomplish that, the league decided to add an additional week to the season.
On July 5, 2011, the league's new realignment was revealed. The league moved from having four divisions of seven/eight teams to six even divisions of five teams, similar to that of the NHL. The Western Conference consisted of the West, Midwest, and North divisions; the Eastern Conference consisted of the Atlantic, Northeast, and East divisions. As a result of the Manitoba Moose relocating to St. John's, they switched over to the Eastern Conference, while the Charlotte Checkers moved over to the Western Conference.
The third installment of the AHL Outdoor Classic took place in Canada, with the Hamilton Bulldogs hosting the Toronto Marlies in a regional rivalry game at Ivor Wynne Stadium on January 21. The Marlies won the game 7–2 in front of a crowd of 20,565 spectators. This marks the first time the event has been played in Canada, and the event was moved up to the third weekend in January, instead of the third weekend in February as it has been in previous years. In addition to this game, another outdoor AHL game, between the Hershey Bears and the Adirondack Phantoms, took place as part of the 2012 NHL Winter Classic festivities on January 6, 2012. The Phantoms won that game 4–3 in overtime, and an AHL attendance record was set as the game drew a crowd of 45,653 fans.
The Norfolk Admirals set a professional hockey record with 28 consecutive wins.
Playoff format The 2011–12 playoff format will change as a result of the scheduling changes. The first round of the playoffs will now be a best of five series and the following rounds will continue to be best of seven game series'.
Eight teams per conference will qualify for the playoffs. The three division winners will earn the top three seeds. Seeds four through eight will be determined by regular season points out of the remaining teams in the division. Team will be re-seeded after the first round so that the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed.
Team and NHL affiliation changes
Team changes The Manitoba Moose relocated to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, due to the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL relocating to Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the Winnipeg Jets. They became the St. John's IceCaps, affiliating as the Jets' farm club.
Affiliation changes AHL team New affiliate Old affiliate St. John's IceCaps (formerly Manitoba) Winnipeg (formerly Atlanta) Vancouver Chicago Wolves Vancouver Atlanta (now Winnipeg) Rochester Americans Buffalo Florida San Antonio Rampage Florida Phoenix Portland Pirates Phoenix Buffalo
Final standings indicates team clinched division and a playoff spot indicates team clinched a playoff spot indicates team was eliminated from playoff contention
Eastern Conference Atlantic Division y–St. John's IceCaps (WPG) 76 43 25 5 3 94 240 216 x–Manchester Monarchs (LAK) 76 39 32 2 3 83 207 208 e–Portland Pirates (PHX) 76 36 31 4 5 81 223 254 e–Providence Bruins (BOS) 76 35 34 3 4 77 193 214 e–Worcester Sharks (SJS) 76 31 33 4 8 74 199 218
Northeast Division y–Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI) 76 41 26 3 6 91 233 219 x–Connecticut Whale (NYR) 76 36 26 7 7 86 210 208 e–Adirondack Phantoms (PHI) 76 37 35 2 2 78 204 217 e–Springfield Falcons (CBJ) 76 36 34 3 3 78 217 231 e–Albany Devils (NJD) 76 31 34 6 5 73 190 226
East Division y–Norfolk Admirals (TBL) 76 55 18 1 2 113 273 180 x–Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT) 76 44 25 2 5 95 235 215 x–Hershey Bears (WSH) 76 38 26 4 8 88 244 225 x–Syracuse Crunch (ANA) 76 37 29 5 5 84 238 234 e–Binghamton Senators (OTT) 76 29 40 5 2 65 201 243
Western Conference North Division y–Toronto Marlies (TOR) 76 44 24 5 3 96 217 175 x–Rochester Americans (BUF) 76 36 26 10 4 86 224 221 e–Lake Erie Monsters (COL) 76 37 29 3 7 84 189 210 e–Grand Rapids Griffins (DET) 76 33 32 7 4 77 245 249 e–Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL) 76 34 35 2 5 75 185 226
Midwest Division y–Chicago Wolves (VAN) 76 42 27 4 3 91 213 193 x–Milwaukee Admirals (NSH) 76 40 29 2 5 87 210 190 e–Charlotte Checkers (CAR) 76 38 29 3 6 85 209 214 e–Peoria Rivermen (STL) 76 39 33 2 2 82 217 207 e–Rockford IceHogs (CHI) 76 35 32 2 7 79 207 228
West Division y–Oklahoma City Barons (EDM) 76 45 22 4 5 99 213 176 x–Abbotsford Heat (CGY) 76 42 26 3 5 92 200 201 x–San Antonio Rampage (FLA) 76 41 30 3 2 87 197 204 x–Houston Aeros (MIN) 76 35 25 5 11 86 202 206 e–Texas Stars (DAL) 76 31 40 3 2 67 224 251
Statistical leaders
Leading skaters
The following players are sorted by points, then goals.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Hershey Bears 73 27 66 93 42 Norfolk Admirals 75 39 41 80 114 Syracuse Crunch 75 32 42 74 120 Peoria Rivermen 66 21 49 70 20 Hershey Bears 43 11 59 70 34 Norfolk Admirals 75 31 37 68 28 Norfolk Admirals 64 25 42 67 70 Texas Stars 76 13 53 66 46 Hershey Bears 61 33 32 65 32 Connecticut Whale 65 25 39 64 130
Leading goaltenders
The following goaltenders with a minimum 1500 minutes played led the league in goals against average.
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout loss
Player Team GP TOI SA GA SO GAA SV% W L OT Toronto Marlies 39 2292 1052 78 4 2.04 0.926 22 15 1 Oklahoma City Barons 43 2544 1165 88 5 2.07 0.924 26 14 2 Lake Erie Monsters 32 1935 997 68 3 2.11 0.932 16 11 5 Milwaukee Admirals 56 3283 1525 119 5 2.17 0.922 31 19 2 Norfolk Admirals 45 2582 1109 96 5 2.23 0.913 32 11 0
Calder Cup playoffs
Bracket
AHL awards Calder Cup : Norfolk Admirals Les Cunningham Award : Cory Conacher, Norfolk John B. Sollenberger Trophy : Chris Bourque, Hershey Willie Marshall Award : Cory Conacher, Norfolk Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award : Cory Conacher, Norfolk Eddie Shore Award : Mark Barberio, Norfolk Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award : Yann Danis, Oklahoma City Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award : Ben Scrivens, Toronto Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award : Jon Cooper, Norfolk Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award : Chris Minard, Grand Rapids Yanick Dupre Memorial Award : Nick Petrecki, Worcester Jack A. Butterfield Trophy : Alexandre Picard, Norfolk Richard F. Canning Trophy : Norfolk Admirals Robert W. Clarke Trophy : Toronto Marlies Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy: Norfolk Admirals Frank Mathers Trophy: Norfolk Admirals Norman R. "Bud" Poile Trophy: Chicago Wolves Emile Francis Trophy : St. John's IceCaps F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy: Bridgeport Sound Tigers Sam Pollock Trophy: Toronto Marlies John D. Chick Trophy: Oklahoma City Barons James C. Hendy Memorial Award: Glenn Stanford, St. John's Thomas Ebright Memorial Award: Lyman G Bullard, Jr. James H. Ellery Memorial Awards: Dave Eminian, Peoria (Newspaper), Pete Michaud, Norfolk (Radio), Aaron LaFontaine, Toronto (TV) Ken McKenzie Award: Mike Lappan, Charlotte Michael Condon Memorial Award: Bob Paquette
Milestones On December 10, 2011, Chicago Wolves forward Darren Haydar recorded his 700th career AHL point. He became the 22nd player in league history to reach this milestone. On February 11, 2012, Worcester Sharks coach Roy Sommer recorded his 500th win as an AHL coach. He became the fourth coach in league history to reach this milestone. On March 18, 2012, the Norfolk Admirals broke the single-season consecutive wins record at 18, finishing the streak with 28 consecutive wins at the close of the season, the longest such streak in professional hockey worldwide. The previous record was set by the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2004–05. On March 25, 2012, Springfield Falcons forward Alexandre Giroux recorded his 700th career AHL point. He became the 23rd player in league history to reach this milestone.
See also List of AHL seasons 2011 in ice hockey 2012 in ice hockey
References
External links AHL official site