The 2011–12 NAHL season was the 28th season of the North American Hockey League. The regular season ran from September 2011 to April 2012 with a 60-game schedule for each team. The Amarillo Bulls won the regular season championship. The Texas Tornado defeated the St. Louis Bandits 4 to 3 in overtime to capture the Robertson Cup.
Member changes In November of 2010, the Kalamazoo Wings were approved to found an expansion franchise with the league. The new club, called the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings began play this season.
In late March, the Minot Minotauros were approved as a second expansion franchise for this season.
On May 7, 2011, the Motor City Metal Jackets relocated to Jamestown, New York.Rodriguez, Jason (2011-06-09). Jets file lawsuit. The Post-Journal. Retrieved 2011-06-09. After the team reveled their new name to be Jamestown Ironmen, the town's displaced junior team, Jamestown Jets, filed a lawsuit against the team, arena and NAHL. The suit persisted for several years, progressing as far as the New York Supreme Court but was later abandoned after the Ironmen folded in 2013.
A few days later, the NAHL approved the sale and relocation of the Owatonna Express. The franchise was purchased by the Odessa Jackalopes, a minor professional team, who promptly suspended their professional club and began operating solely as a junior organization. The Express were renamed Odessa Jackalopes and took up residence at the Ector County Coliseum.
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 – Bismarck Bobcats 604513292237160 x – Alexandria Blizzard 604015585212156 x – Austin Bruins 603618678198162 x – Aberdeen Wings 602924765187177 Minot Minotauros 60749418104252
Midwest Division
Team xy – St. Louis Bandits 604215387239148 x – Janesville Jets 603718579174134 x – Springfield Jr. Blues 603127264202190 x – Coulee Region Chill 601835743162229 Chicago Hitmen 601342531166310
North Division
Team xy – Port Huron Fighting Falcons 603819379203159 x – Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings 603718478213171 x – Traverse City North Stars 603420674200158 x – Michigan Warriors 602332551163212 Jamestown Ironmen 601936543148211
South Division
Team xyz – Amarillo Bulls 60467799263136 x – Texas Tornado 603616880215159 x – Topeka RoadRunners 603818480197152 x – Odessa Jackalopes 602728559169199 Corpus Christi IceRays 602629557169199 Wichita Falls Wildcats 602035545149204 New Mexico Mustangs 601839339166269
West Division
Team xy – Fairbanks Ice Dogs 603913886225163 x – Wenatchee Wild 603617779165102 x – Alaska Avalanche 603519676192173 x – Kenai River Brown Bears 603125666186189 Fresno Monsters 6027231064167179 Dawson Creek Rage 601244428139264
Statistics Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games.
Player Team Joe Kalisz St. Louis Bandits 60 40 51 91 27 Gabe Levin Fairbanks Ice Dogs 56 18 72 90 37 J. T. Osborn Fairbanks Ice Dogs 58 40 41 81 114 Jack Prince Texas Tornado 60 39 39 78 28 Brooks Behling Amarillo Bulls 57 37 38 75 119 Kyle Cook Springfield Jr. Blues 59 31 39 70 105 Joseph Birmingham St. Louis Bandits 60 24 45 69 80 Brett Lubanski Kenai River Brown Bears 60 17 50 67 26 Chris Sitler Springfield Jr. Blues 60 26 40 66 54 Josef Pontasch Springfield Jr. Blues 60 26 39 65 35
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 SO SV% GAA Robert Nichols Wenatchee Wild 34 2059:33 24 6 2 2 10 .938 1.49 Greg Lewis Wenatchee Wild 26 1559:39 12 11 2 1 4 .919 1.77 Tony Kujava Janesville Jets 45 2619:11 28 12 1 2 9 .924 1.92 Gregg Gruehl Amarillo Bulls 35 2005:53 26 4 2 2 2 .917 2.06 Jacob Meyers Alexandria Blizzard 42 2382:10 30 9 1 1 6 .930 2.09
Robertson Cup playoffs Six teams qualified for the Round Robin semifinal, the host (Texas) and the five division champions. If Texas won the west division final, the runner-up would receive the final qualifying spot. For the round robin semifinal, ties were broken first by head-to-head matchup and then by goal differential.
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Division Semifinals
Central Division
(C1) Bismarck Bobcats vs. (C4) Aberdeen Wings
(C2) Alexandria Blizzard vs. (C3) Austin Bruins
Midwest Division
(E1) St. Louis Bandits vs. (E5) Coulee Region Chill
(MW2) Janesville Jets vs. (MW3) Springfield Jr. Blues
North Division
(N1) Port Huron Fighting Falcons vs. (N4) Michigan Warriors
(N2) Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings vs. (N3) Traverse City North Stars
South Division
(S1) Amarillo Bulls vs. (S4) Odessa Jackalopes
(S2) Texas Tornado vs. (S3) Topeka RoadRunners
West Division
(W1) Fairbanks Ice Dogs vs. (W4) Kenai River Brown Bears
(W2) Wenatchee Wild vs. (W3) Alaska Avalanche
Division Finals
Central Division
(C1) Bismarck Bobcats vs. (C3) Austin Bruins
Midwest Division
(MW1) St. Louis Bandits vs. (MW3) Springfield Jr. Blues
North Division
(N1) Port Huron Fighting Falcons vs. (N2) Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings
South Division
(S1) Amarillo Bulls vs. (S3) Topeka Roadrunners
West Division
(W1) Fairbanks Ice Dogs vs. (W2) Wenatchee Wild
Quarterfinal
May 3
May 4
May 5
Semifinals
(S1) Amarillo Bulls vs. (MW1) St. Louis Bandits
(W1) Fairbanks Ice Dogs vs. (S2) Texas Tornado
Robertson Cup Finals
(MW1) St. Louis Bandits vs (S2) Texas Tornado
References
NAHL reference
External links Official website of the North American Hockey League