The 2004–05 NAHL season was the 21st season of the North American Hockey League. The regular season ran from September 2004 to March 2005 with a 56-game schedule for each team. The Texas Tornado won the regular season championship and went on to defeat the Fargo-Moorhead Jets 6 to 1 for the Robertson Cup.
Member changes The Lone Star Cavalry relocated and became the Santa Fe Roadrunners.
The Central Texas Blackhawks rebranded as the Central Texas Marshals.
The Fernie Ghostriders, left the league and joined the KIJHL.
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
North Division
Team xy – USNTDP 563717276214164 x – Soo Indians 563318571170141 x – Youngstown Phantoms 562725458201181 x – Fairbanks Ice Dogs 562624658164179 Cleveland Jr. Barons 562726357185178 Toledo IceDiggers 561835339149234
South Division
Team xyz – Texas Tornado 564213185226120 x – Texarkana Bandits 563615577218153 x – Santa Fe RoadRunners 563318571201163 x – Wichita Falls Wildcats 562821763206218 Springfield Jr. Blues 563025161207200 Springfield Spirit 562029747144188 Central Texas Marshals 561142325112256
West Division
Team xy – Fargo-Moorhead Jets 563617375222148 x – Billings Bulls 563317672194170 x – Helena Bighorns 563319470203168 x – Minnesota Blizzard 562824460159198 Bismarck Bobcats 562522959165172 Bozeman IceDogs 562031545165186
Statistics Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games.
Player Team Brad Cooper Texas Tornado 54 27 59 86 28 Karl Sellan Texas Tornado 54 43 40 83 90 Kevin Huck Wichita Falls Wildcats 54 23 54 77 36 Pat Lee Springfield Jr. Blues 51 31 38 69 122 Rob Rassey Youngstown Phantoms 54 28 41 69 18 Tom Train Texas Tornado 53 31 35 66 143 Aaron Rhyner Youngstown Phantoms 53 31 31 62 48 Chad Costello Wichita Falls Wildcats 54 29 32 61 22 Kyle Kraemer Wichita Falls Wildcats 51 27 32 59 84 Brian Kaufman Billings Bulls 52 29 30 59 38
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 Jason Kearney Soo Indians 37 2034:17 23 8 0 3 63 6 758 .917 1.86 Ben Bishop Texas Tornado 44 2517:13 34 8 0 0 82 5 992 .917 1.96 Andrew Stricker Fargo-Moorhead Jets 34 1962:04 22 9 1 0 74 2 874 .915 2.26 Riley Gill Texarkana Bandits 42 2473:10 25 11 4 1 107 5 1,135 .906 2.60 Brett Bennett USNTDP 21 1096:42 9 6 0 1 50 1 608 .918 2.74
Robertson Cup playoffs Four teams qualified for the Round Robin semifinal, the host (Bismarck) and the four division champions. If Bismarck 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) Note: Despite winning their Division Final, the USNTDP were unavailable for the Semifinal round. Instead, the Soo Indians, as runners-up, advanced to the Round Robin.
References
NAHL reference
External links Official website of the North American Hockey League