The 2012–13 NAHL season was the 29th season of the North American Hockey League. The regular season ran from September 2012 to April 2013 with a 60-game schedule for each team. The Amarillo Bulls won the regular season championship and went on to defeat the Wenatchee Wild 5 to 0 in the championship game to capture the Robertson Cup.
Member changes During the previous season, the Chicago Hitmen had been locked out of their home arena due to unpaid fees. While they were able to come to an arrangement for the remainder of the season, the rink's owners did eventually file suit with the franchise for more than $100,000 in disputed charges. The Hitmen were disbanded prior to this season.
Due to high travel costs, the Dawson Creek Rage announced that they would attempt to join the AJHL after the 2012 season. After the plans fell through, the franchise elected to suspend operations in April.
In On March 2, 2012, the Soo Eagles announced that they had purchased the franchise rights to the Traverse City North Stars, the final condition for the team's move to the NAHL.
In April, the Alexandria Blizzard announced their move to Brookings, South Dakota. The club would retain its moniker and become the Brookings Blizzard.
One day later, the Alaska Avalanche announced that they were moving to Johnstown, Pennsylvania and would become the Johnstown Tomahawks.
In May, the St. Louis Bandits applied for and were granted inactive status for this season. A little over a week later, the New Mexico Mustangs were also approved for a year-long dormancy.
Regular season
The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:
Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched regular season title Standings Central Division
Team xy – Austin Bruins 604211791223155 x – Bismarck Bobcats 603516979183140 x – Brookings Blizzard 603223569175179 x – Minot Minotauros 602630456151186 Aberdeen Wings 602330753158194 Coulee Region Chill 601639537157224
North Division
Team xy – Soo Eagles 604114587203155 x – Jamestown Ironmen 603719478170152 x – Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings 603519676184169 x – Port Huron Fighting Falcons 603224468178163 x – Johnstown Tomahawks 6027211266179177 x – Springfield Jr. Blues 602630456159181 Janesville Jets 6023271056147182 Michigan Warriors 601932947136177
South Division
Team xyz – Amarillo Bulls 60467799248118 x – Topeka RoadRunners 603914785190146 x – Texas Tornado 603622274219168 x – Corpus Christi IceRays 602826662194200 Wichita Falls Wildcats 602630456183200 Odessa Jackalopes 60651315121309
West Division
Team xy – Wenatchee Wild 603915684197147 x – Fairbanks Ice Dogs 603917482192148 x – Kenai River Brown Bears 602925664185177 x – Fresno Monsters 601835743139224
Statistics Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games.
Player Team Jared VanWormer Soo Eagles 60 25 51 76 28 Kyle Sharkey Topeka RoadRunners 59 32 37 69 72 Brandon Wahlin Austin Bruins 58 20 49 69 113 Rudy Sulmonte Corpus Christi IceRays 60 27 41 68 42 Sean Gaffney Topeka RoadRunners 58 26 40 66 47 A.J. Reid Austin Bruins 55 25 40 65 50 Robbie Payne Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings 57 29 35 64 109 Eric Rivard Soo Eagles 58 24 39 63 119 Jonathan Davis Wenatchee Wild 59 32 29 61 110 Mike Davis Amarillo Bulls 59 28 31 59 52 C. J. Smith Austin Bruins 60 30 29 59 22
Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage
Player Team GP Mins W L OTL SOL GA SV SV% GAA Paul Berrafato Amarillo Bulls 44 2455:08 33 3 2 3 68 839 .919 1.66 Aaron Nelson Bismarck Bobcats 40 2298:03 24 7 1 5 72 982 .928 1.88 Zach Nagelvoort Soo/Aberdeen 28 1601:08 17 6 0 2 56 834 .933 2.10 Spencer Viele Topeka RoadRunners 41 2356:26 28 9 1 2 86 1,053 .918 2.19 Marcus Due-Boje Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings 23 1335:45 14 7 1 1 49 748 .935 2.20
Robertson Cup playoffs In the Semifinal, ties are broken first by head-to-head matchup and then by goal differential.
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Division Play-in
North Division
(N4) Port Huron Fighting Falcons vs. (E5) Johnstown Tomahawks
(N3) Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings vs. (N6) Springfield Jr. Blues
Division Semifinals
Central Division
(C1) Austin Bruins vs. (C4) Minot Minotauros
(C2) Bismarck Bobcats vs. (C3) Brookings Blizzard
North Division
(N1) Soo Eagles vs. (N4) Port Huron Fighting Falcons
(N2) Jamestown Ironmen vs. (N3) Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings
South Division
(S1) Amarillo Bulls vs. (S4) Corpus Christi IceRays
(S2) Topeka Roadrunners vs. (S3) Texas Tornado
West Division
(W1) Wenatchee Wild vs. (W4) Fresno Monsters
(W2) Fairbanks Ice Dogs vs. (W3) Kenai River Brown Bears
Division Finals
Central Division
(C1) Austin Bruins vs. (C2) Bismarck Bobcats
North Division
(N1) Soo Eagles vs. (N2) Jamestown Ironmen
South Division
(S1) Amarillo Bulls vs. (S2) Texas Tornado
West Division
(W1) Wenatchee Wild vs. (W2) Fresno Monsters
Semifinals
May 10
May 11
May 12
Robertson Cup Finals
(S1) Amarillo Bulls vs. (W1) Wenatchee Wild
References
NAHL reference
External links Official website of the North American Hockey League