# 1996–97 AHL season

The 1996–97 AHL season was the 61st season of the American Hockey League. The league renames its divisions due to relocating teams. The Northern Conferences consists of the Atlantic Division becoming the Canadian Division, and the Central Division becoming the Empire State Division. The Southern Conferences consists of the North Division becoming the New England Division, and the South Division becoming the Mid-Atlantic Division.
Eighteen teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Philadelphia Phantoms finished first overall in the regular season. The Hershey Bears won their eighth Calder Cup championship.

## Team changes

* The Prince Edward Island Senators suspend operations, becoming dormant.
* The Cornwall Aces suspend operations, becoming dormant.
* The Cape Breton Oilers move to Hamilton, Ontario, becoming the Hamilton Bulldogs, playing in the Canadian division.
* The Kentucky Thoroughblades join the AHL as an expansion team, based in Lexington, Kentucky, playing in the Mid-Atlantic division.
* The Philadelphia Phantoms join the AHL as an expansion team, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, playing in the Mid-Atlantic division.
* The Binghamton Rangers switch from the South division to the Empire State division.

## Final standings

* y– indicates team clinched division and a playoff spot
* x– indicates team clinched a playoff spot
* e– indicates team was eliminated from playoff contention

### Northern Conference

| Canadian Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
| y–St. John's Maple Leafs (TOR) | 80 | 36 | 28 | 10 | 6 | 88 | 265 | 264 |
| x–Saint John Flames (CGY) | 80 | 28 | 36 | 13 | 3 | 72 | 237 | 269 |
| x–Hamilton Bulldogs (EDM) | 80 | 28 | 39 | 9 | 4 | 69 | 220 | 276 |
| e–Fredericton Canadiens (MTL) | 80 | 26 | 44 | 8 | 2 | 62 | 234 | 283 |
| Empire State Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
| y–Rochester Americans (BUF) | 80 | 40 | 30 | 9 | 1 | 90 | 298 | 257 |
| x–Adirondack Red Wings (DET/TBL) | 80 | 38 | 28 | 12 | 2 | 90 | 258 | 249 |
| x–Albany River Rats (NJD) | 80 | 38 | 28 | 9 | 5 | 90 | 269 | 231 |
| x–Syracuse Crunch (VAN) | 80 | 32 | 38 | 10 | 0 | 74 | 241 | 265 |
| x–Binghamton Rangers (NYR) | 80 | 27 | 38 | 13 | 2 | 69 | 245 | 300 |

### Southern Conference

| New England Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
| y–Worcester IceCats (OTT/STL) | 80 | 43 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 100 | 256 | 234 |
| x–Springfield Falcons (HFD/PHX) | 80 | 41 | 25 | 12 | 2 | 96 | 268 | 229 |
| x–Portland Pirates (WSH) | 80 | 37 | 26 | 10 | 7 | 91 | 279 | 264 |
| x–Providence Bruins (BOS) | 80 | 35 | 40 | 3 | 2 | 75 | 262 | 289 |
| Mid-Atlantic Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
| y–Philadelphia Phantoms (PHI) | 80 | 49 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 111 | 325 | 230 |
| x–Hershey Bears (COL) | 80 | 43 | 22 | 10 | 5 | 101 | 273 | 220 |
| x–Kentucky Thoroughblades (SJS) | 80 | 36 | 35 | 9 | 0 | 81 | 278 | 284 |
| x–Baltimore Bandits (ANA) | 80 | 30 | 37 | 10 | 3 | 73 | 251 | 285 |
| e–Carolina Monarchs (FLA) | 80 | 28 | 43 | 4 | 5 | 65 | 273 | 303 |

## Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Peter White | Philadelphia Phantoms | 80 | 44 | 61 | 105 | 28 |
| Terry Yake | Rochester Americans | 78 | 34 | 67 | 101 | 77 |
| Brian Wiseman | St. John's Maple Leafs | 71 | 33 | 62 | 95 | 83 |
| Vaclav Prospal | Philadelphia Phantoms | 63 | 32 | 63 | 95 | 70 |
| Patrik Juhlin | Philadelphia Phantoms | 78 | 31 | 60 | 91 | 24 |
| Aleksey Lozhkin | Fredericton Canadiens | 79 | 33 | 56 | 89 | 41 |
| Gilbert Dionne | Carolina Monarchs | 72 | 41 | 47 | 88 | 69 |
| Blair Atcheynum | Hershey Bears | 77 | 42 | 45 | 87 | 57 |
| Jan Caloun | Kentucky Thoroughblades | 66 | 43 | 43 | 86 | 68 |
| Shawn McCosh | Philadelphia Phantoms | 79 | 30 | 51 | 81 | 110 |
* complete list

## Calder Cup playoffs

| Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | | | Division Finals | Division Finals | Division Finals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | | Calder Cup Final | Calder Cup Final | Calder Cup Final |
| C1 | St. John's | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E5 | Binghamton | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E5 | Binghamton | 1 | | | C1 | St. John's | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Canadian Division | Canadian Division | Canadian Division | | | C1 | St. John's | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Canadian Division | Canadian Division | Canadian Division | | | C3 | Hamilton | 4 | | | | | | | |
| C2 | Saint John | 2 | | | C3 | Hamilton | 4 | | | | | | | |
| C3 | Hamilton | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| C3 | Hamilton | 3 | | | | | | C3 | Hamilton | 4 | | | | |
| Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | C3 | Hamilton | 4 | | | | |
| Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | E3 | Albany | 1 | | | | |
| E1 | Rochester | 3 | | | | | | | | | E3 | Albany | 1 | | | | |
| E4 | Syracuse | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | Syracuse | 0 | | | E1 | Rochester | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Empire State Division | Empire State Division | Empire State Division | | | E1 | Rochester | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Empire State Division | Empire State Division | Empire State Division | | | E3 | Albany | 4 | | | | | | | |
| E2 | Adirondack | 1 | | | E3 | Albany | 4 | | | | | | | |
| E3 | Albany | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E3 | Albany | 3 | | | | | | | | | | C3 | Hamilton | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | M2 | Hershey | 4 |
| N1 | Worcester | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | M2 | Hershey | 4 |
| N4 | Providence | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Providence | 3 | | | N4 | Providence | 1 | | | | | | | |
| New England Division | New England Division | New England Division | | | N4 | Providence | 1 | | | | | | | |
| New England Division | New England Division | New England Division | | | N2 | Springfield | 4 | | | | | | | |
| N2 | Springfield | 3 | | | N2 | Springfield | 4 | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Portland | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Portland | 2 | | | | | | N2 | Springfield | 3 | | | | |
| Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | N2 | Springfield | 3 | | | | |
| Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | M2 | Hershey | 4 | | | | |
| M1 | Philadelphia | 3 | | | | | | | | | M2 | Hershey | 4 | | | | |
| M4 | Baltimore | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| M4 | Baltimore | 0 | | | M1 | Philadelphia | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Mid-Atlantic Division | Mid-Atlantic Division | Mid-Atlantic Division | | | M1 | Philadelphia | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Mid-Atlantic Division | Mid-Atlantic Division | Mid-Atlantic Division | | | M2 | Hershey | 4 | | | | | | | |
| M2 | Hershey | 3 | | | M2 | Hershey | 4 | | | | | | | |
| M3 | Kentucky | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## All Star Classic

The 10th AHL All-Star Game was played on January 16, 1997, at the Harbour Station in Saint John, New Brunswick. Team World defeated Team Canada 3–2 in a shootout. In the skills competition held the day before the All-Star Game, Team World won 18–9 over Team Canada.

## Trophy and award winners
### Team awards

| Calder Cup Playoff champions: | Hershey Bears |
| Richard F. Canning Trophy Northern Conference playoff champions: | Hamilton Bulldogs |
| Robert W. Clarke Trophy Southern Conference playoff champions: | Hershey Bears |
| Frank Mathers Trophy Regular season champions, Mid-Atlantic Division: | Philadelphia Phantoms |
| F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy Regular season champions, New England Division: | Worcester IceCats |
| Sam Pollock Trophy Regular season champions, Canadian Division: | St. John's Maple Leafs |
| John D. Chick Trophy Regular season champions, Empire State Division: | Rochester Americans |

### Individual awards

| Les Cunningham Award Most valuable player: | Jean-Francois Labbe – Hershey Bears |
| John B. Sollenberger Trophy Top point scorer: | Peter White – Philadelphia Phantoms |
| Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award Rookie of the year: | Jaroslav Svejkovsky – Portland Pirates |
| Eddie Shore Award Defenceman of the year: | Darren Rumble – Philadelphia Phantoms |
| Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award Best goaltender: | Jean-Francois Labbe – Hershey Bears |
| Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Lowest goals against average: | Jean-Francois Labbe – Hershey Bears |
| Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award Coach of the year: | Greg Gilbert – Worcester IceCats |
| Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award Sportsmanship / Perseverance: | Steve Passmore – Hamilton Bulldogs |
| Jack A. Butterfield Trophy MVP of the playoffs: | Mike McHugh – Hershey Bears |

### Other awards

| James C. Hendy Memorial Award Most outstanding executive: | Jay Feaster, Hershey Bears |
| James H. Ellery Memorial Awards Outstanding media coverage: | Lindsay Kramer, Syracuse, (newspaper) Aaron Kennedy, Saint John, (radio) Jim Ogle, Kentucky, (television) |
| Ken McKenzie Award Outstanding marketing executive: | Glenn Stanford, St. John's Maple Leafs & Carole Appleton, Springfield Falcons |