# 2005 Calder Cup playoffs

The 2005 Calder Cup playoffs of the American Hockey League began on April 19, 2005. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for division semifinals, finals and conference finals. The conference champions played a best-of-7 series for the Calder Cup. The Calder Cup Final ended on June 10, 2005 with the Philadelphia Phantoms defeating the Chicago Wolves four games to none to win the second Calder Cup in team history. Philadelphia's Antero Niittymaki won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP.
Philadelphia set an AHL record by winning 11 consecutive home games in a single playoff. By playing the postseason in the Wachovia Center, the team also managed to settle postseason attendance records, with 20,103 spectators in the cup-clinching game 4 against Chicago.
As the National Hockey League was in the midst of a lockout that canceled that league's entire 2004–05 season, the 2005 playoffs featured a higher number of players from the NHL.

## Playoff seeds

After the 2004–05 AHL regular season, 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The top four teams from each division qualified for the playoffs. The Rochester Americans were the Western Conference regular season champions as well as the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners with the best overall regular season record. The Manchester Monarchs were the Eastern Conference regular season champions.

### Eastern Conference
#### Atlantic Division

* Manchester Monarchs – Eastern Conference regular season champions, 110 points
* Hartford Wolf Pack – 106 points
* Lowell Lock Monsters – 100 points
* Providence Bruins – 90 points

#### East Division

* Binghamton Senators – 106 points
* Philadelphia Phantoms – 103 points
* Norfolk Admirals – 93 points
* Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins – 92 points

### Western Conference
#### North Division

* Rochester Americans – Western Conference regular season champions; Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners, 112 points
* St. John's Maple Leafs – 98 points
* Manitoba Moose – 98 points
* Hamilton Bulldogs – 89 points

#### West Division

* Chicago Wolves – 105 points
* Milwaukee Admirals – 103 points
* Cincinnati Mighty Ducks – 93 points
* Houston Aeros – 92 points

## Bracket

| Division Semifinals April 19–May 1 | Division Semifinals April 19–May 1 | Division Semifinals April 19–May 1 | | | Division Finals May 4–14 | Division Finals May 4–14 | Division Finals May 4–14 | Conference Finals May 19–29 | Conference Finals May 19–29 | Conference Finals May 19–29 | | Calder Cup Final June 2–10 | Calder Cup Final June 2–10 | Calder Cup Final June 2–10 |
| A1 | Manchester | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Providence | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Providence | 4 | | | A4 | Providence | 4 | | | | | | | |
| Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | | | A4 | Providence | 4 | | | | | | | |
| Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | | | A3 | Lowell | 1 | | | | | | | |
| A2 | Hartford | 2 | | | A3 | Lowell | 1 | | | | | | | |
| A3 | Lowell | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A3 | Lowell | 4 | | | | | | A4 | Providence | 2 | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | A4 | Providence | 2 | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E2 | Philadelphia | 4 | | | | |
| E1 | Binghamton | 2 | | | | | | | | | E2 | Philadelphia | 4 | | | | |
| E4 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton | 4 | | | E4 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton | 1 | | | | | | | |
| East Division | East Division | East Division | | | E4 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton | 1 | | | | | | | |
| East Division | East Division | East Division | | | E2 | Philadelphia | 4 | | | | | | | |
| E2 | Philadelphia | 4 | | | E2 | Philadelphia | 4 | | | | | | | |
| E3 | Norfolk | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E3 | Norfolk | 2 | | | | | | | | | | E2 | Philadelphia | 4 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | W1 | Chicago | 0 |
| N1 | Rochester | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | W1 | Chicago | 0 |
| N4 | Hamilton | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Hamilton | 0 | | | N1 | Rochester | 1 | | | | | | | |
| North Division | North Division | North Division | | | N1 | Rochester | 1 | | | | | | | |
| North Division | North Division | North Division | | | N3 | Manitoba | 4 | | | | | | | |
| N2 | St. John's | 1 | | | N3 | Manitoba | 4 | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Manitoba | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Manitoba | 4 | | | | | | N3 | Manitoba | 0 | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | N3 | Manitoba | 0 | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | Chicago | 4 | | | | |
| W1 | Chicago | 4 | | | | | | | | | W1 | Chicago | 4 | | | | |
| W4 | Houston | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| W4 | Houston | 1 | | | W1 | Chicago | 4 | | | | | | | |
| West Division | West Division | West Division | | | W1 | Chicago | 4 | | | | | | | |
| West Division | West Division | West Division | | | W3 | Cincinnati | 1 | | | | | | | |
| W2 | Milwaukee | 3 | | | W3 | Cincinnati | 1 | | | | | | | |
| W3 | Cincinnati | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In each round the higher seed receives home ice advantage, meaning they can play a maximum of four home games if the series reaches seven games. There is no set series format for each series due to arena scheduling conflicts and travel considerations.

## Division Semifinals

    Note 1: All times are in Eastern Time (UTC−4).
    Note 2: Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
    Note 3: Home team is listed first.

### Eastern Conference
#### Atlantic Division
##### (A1) Manchester Monarchs vs. (A4) Providence Bruins

* Providence won series 4 – 2

##### (A2) Hartford Wolf Pack vs. (A3) Lowell Lock Monsters

* Lowell won series 4 – 2

#### East Division
##### (E1) Binghamton Senators vs. (E4) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

* Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won series 4 – 2

##### (E2) Philadelphia Phantoms vs. (E3) Norfolk Admirals

* Philadelphia won series 4 – 2

### Western Conference
#### North Division
##### (N1) Rochester Americans vs. (N4) Hamilton Bulldogs

* Rochester won series 4 – 0

##### (N2) St. John's Maple Leafs vs. (N3) Manitoba Moose

* Manitoba won series 4 – 1

#### West Division
##### (W1) Chicago Wolves vs. (W4) Houston Aeros

* Chicago won series 4 – 1

##### (W2) Milwaukee Admirals vs. (W3) Cincinnati Mighty Ducks

* Cincinnati won series 4 – 3

## Division Finals
### Eastern Conference
#### Atlantic Division
##### (A3) Lowell Lock Monsters vs. (A4) Providence Bruins

* Providence won series 4 – 1

#### East Division
##### (E2) Philadelphia Phantoms vs. (E4) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

* Philadelphia won series 4 – 1

### Western Conference
#### North Division
##### (N1) Rochester Americans vs. (N3) Manitoba Moose

* Manitoba won series 4 – 1

#### West Division
##### (W1) Chicago Wolves vs. (W3) Cincinnati Mighty Ducks

* Chicago won series 4 – 1

## Conference finals
### Eastern Conference
#### (E2) Philadelphia Phantoms vs. (A4) Providence Bruins

* Philadelphia won series 4 – 2

### Western Conference
#### (W1) Chicago Wolves vs. (N3) Manitoba Moose

* Chicago won series 4 – 0

## Calder Cup Final
### (W1) Chicago Wolves vs. (E2) Philadelphia Phantoms

* Philadelphia won series 4 – 0

## Playoff statistical leaders
### Leading skaters

These are the top ten skaters based on points. If there is a tie in points, goals take precedence over assists.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Jeff Carter | Philadelphia Phantoms | 21 | 12 | 11 | 23 | +10 | 12 |
| Patrick Sharp | Philadelphia Phantoms | 21 | 8 | 13 | 21 | +9 | 20 |
| Andy Hilbert | Providence Bruins | 17 | 7 | 14 | 21 | +3 | 27 |
| Keith Aucoin | Providence Bruins | 17 | 4 | 14 | 18 | –5 | 18 |
| Jon Sim | Philadelphia Phantoms | 21 | 10 | 7 | 17 | +7 | 44 |
| Brad Boyes | Providence Bruins | 16 | 8 | 7 | 15 | –1 | 23 |
| Mike Richards | Philadelphia Phantoms | 14 | 7 | 8 | 15 | +8 | 28 |
| Josh Green | Manitoba Moose | 14 | 9 | 5 | 14 | –1 | 26 |
| Lee Goren | Manitoba Moose | 14 | 10 | 3 | 13 | +4 | 23 |
| Ryan Ready | Philadelphia Phantoms | 19 | 2 | 11 | 13 | +5 | 6 |

### Leading goaltenders

This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage with at least 420 minutes played. The table is initially sorted by goals against average, with the criterion for inclusion in bold.
GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes)
| Player | Team | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| Kari Lehtonen | Chicago Wolves | 16 | 10 | 6 | 457 | 28 | 1.71 | .939 | 2 | 983 |
| Antero Niittymaki | Philadelphia Phantoms | 21 | 15 | 5 | 648 | 37 | 1.75 | .943 | 3 | 1269 |
| Wade Flaherty | Manitoba Moose | 12 | 8 | 4 | 329 | 29 | 2.42 | .912 | 2 | 720 |
| Hannu Toivonen | Providence Bruins | 17 | 10 | 7 | 547 | 42 | 2.43 | .923 | 0 | 1038 |
| Andy Chiodo | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | 9 | 5 | 4 | 244 | 23 | 2.48 | .906 | 1 | 556 |
| Cam Ward | Lowell Lock Monsters | 11 | 5 | 6 | 340 | 28 | 2.53 | .918 | 2 | 664 |
| Brian Finley | Milwaukee Admirals | 7 | 3 | 4 | 229 | 20 | 2.62 | .913 | 1 | 458 |