The 2007–08 NAHL season was the 24th season of the North American Hockey League. The regular season ran from September 2007 to April 2008 with a 58-game schedule for each team. The St. Louis Bandits won the regular season championship and went on to defeated the Mahoning Valley Phantoms 5 to 2 to capture the Robertson Cup.
Member changes On February 22, 2007, the Santa Fe RoadRunners announced that they would relocate to Topeka, Kansas for this season. The team retained its nickname.
The NAHL continued its expansion into Alaska with the addition of the Kenai River Brown Bears as an expansion franchise.
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 – North Iowa Outlaws 583816480195137 x – Southern Minnesota Express 582921866203229 x – Alexandria Blizzard 582925462222223 x – Springfield Jr. Blues 582726559190190 Fargo-Moorhead Jets 582530353201199 Bismarck Bobcats 582032646148215
North Division
Team xyz – St. Louis Bandits 58479296250149 x – Mahoning Valley Phantoms 583618476227173 x – Alpena IceDiggers 583023565184177 x – USNTDP 582826460177186 Traverse City North Stars 5823231258176203 Marquette Rangers 582629355186216
South Division
Team xy – Topeka RoadRunners 583911886242137 x – Fairbanks Ice Dogs 583915482183129 x – Wichita Falls Wildcats 583818278221181 x – Texas Tornado 582033545165201 Alaska Avalanche 581638436158270 Kenai River Brown Bears 581238832144257
Statistics Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games.
Player Team Adam Cardwell Wichita Falls Wildcats 56 32 49 91 69 Luke Salazar Wichita Falls Wildcats 58 41 46 87 38 Shea Walters North Iowa Outlaws 57 24 60 84 45 Luke Nesper Alexandria Blizzard 57 25 55 80 97 Ben Warda St. Louis Bandits 58 31 43 74 106 Mikael Lickteig Alexandria Blizzard 58 34 40 74 113 Derek Graham Mahoning Valley Phantoms 57 29 41 70 54 Erik Peterson Alpena IceDiggers 56 23 47 70 80 Corey Jendras Topeka RoadRunners 57 30 39 69 18 Grant Everett Wichita Falls Wildcats 55 18 50 68 169
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 SO SV SV% GAA Robby Moss North Iowa Outlaws 41 2389:57 28 7 2 2 76 5 1,262 .940 1.91 Cody Reichard Fairbanks Ice Dogs 51 2951:05 33 15 0 2 101 7 1,321 .924 2.05 Bryce Merriam Topeka RoadRunners 44 2670:40 26 11 4 3 102 4 963 .894 2.29 Cal Heeter St. Louis Bandits 34 1972:00 25 6 1 0 80 2 938 .915 2.43 Mike Johnson St. Louis Bandits 26 1522:57 21 3 1 0 65 1 704 .908 2.56
Robertson Cup playoffs Four teams qualified for the Round Robin semifinal, the host (St. Louis) and the three division champions. If St. Louis won the Central 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.The team with the best record advanced directly to the championship game while the second- and third-place teams met in a semifinal.
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
References
NAHL reference
External links Official website of the North American Hockey League