# American Hockey League 1996-1997

La stagione 1996-1997 è stata la 61ª edizione della American Hockey League, la più importante lega minore nordamericana di hockey su ghiaccio. Un anno dopo il raddoppio delle divisioni da due a quattro si decise di cambiarne i nomi in seguito a una serie di riallineamenti geografici; fu così che nella Northern Conference vennero formate le division Canadian ed Empire State, mentre nella Southern vennero denominate New England e Mid-Atlantic. Venne introdotto l'AHL All-Rookie Team, formazione ideale composta dai migliori esordienti in American Hockey League. La stagione vide al via diciotto formazioni e al termine dei playoff gli Hershey Bears conquistarono la loro ottava Calder Cup sconfiggendo gli Hamilton Bulldogs 4-1.

## Modifiche

* I Prince Edward Island Senators e i Cornwall Aces sospesero momentaneamente le proprie attività.
* I Cape Breton Oilers si trasferirono a Hamilton, in Ontario, dove assunsero il nome di Hamilton Bulldogs.
* Nella Mid-Atlantic Division nacquero i Kentucky Thoroughblades, franchigia con sede a Lexington nel Kentucky.
* Nella Mid-Atlantic Division nacquero i Philadelphia Phantoms, franchigia con sede a Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.
* I Binghamton Rangers passarono dalla Southern alla Empire State Division.

## Stagione regolare
### Classifiche
#### Northern Conference

Canadian Division
| Squadra | Pt | G | V | S | N | SOT | GF | GS | DR |
| St. John's Maple Leafs | 88 | 80 | 36 | 28 | 10 | 6 | 265 | 264 | +1 |
| Saint John Flames | 72 | 80 | 28 | 36 | 13 | 3 | 237 | 269 | -32 |
| Hamilton Bulldogs | 69 | 80 | 28 | 39 | 9 | 4 | 220 | 276 | -56 |
| Fredericton Canadiens | 62 | 80 | 26 | 44 | 8 | 2 | 234 | 283 | -49 |
Empire State Division
| Squadra | Pt | G | V | S | N | SOT | GF | GS | DR |
| Rochester Americans | 90 | 80 | 40 | 30 | 9 | 1 | 298 | 257 | +41 |
| Adirondack R. Wings | 90 | 80 | 38 | 28 | 12 | 2 | 258 | 249 | +9 |
| Albany River Rats | 90 | 80 | 38 | 28 | 9 | 5 | 269 | 231 | +38 |
| Syracuse Crunch | 74 | 80 | 32 | 38 | 10 | 0 | 241 | 265 | -24 |
| Binghamton Rangers | 69 | 80 | 27 | 38 | 13 | 2 | 245 | 300 | -55 |

#### Southern Conference

New England Division
| Squadra | Pt | G | V | S | N | SOT | GF | GS | DR |
| Worcester IceCats | 100 | 80 | 43 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 256 | 234 | +22 |
| Springfield Falcons | 96 | 80 | 41 | 25 | 12 | 2 | 268 | 229 | +39 |
| Portland Pirates | 91 | 80 | 37 | 26 | 10 | 7 | 279 | 264 | +15 |
| Providence Bruins | 75 | 80 | 35 | 40 | 3 | 2 | 262 | 289 | -27 |
Mid-Atlantic Division
| Squadra | Pt | G | V | S | N | SOT | GF | GS | DR |
| Phila. Phantoms | 111 | 80 | 49 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 325 | 230 | +95 |
| Hershey Bears | 101 | 80 | 43 | 22 | 10 | 5 | 273 | 220 | +53 |
| KY Thoroughblades | 81 | 80 | 36 | 35 | 9 | 0 | 278 | 284 | -6 |
| Baltimore Bandits | 73 | 80 | 30 | 37 | 10 | 3 | 251 | 285 | -34 |
| Carolina Monarchs | 65 | 80 | 28 | 43 | 4 | 5 | 273 | 303 | -30 |
Legenda:
    Ammesse ai Playoff
Note:
    Due punti a vittoria, un punto a pareggio e sconfitta all'overtime, zero a sconfitta.

### Statistiche

Classifica marcatori
| Giocatore | Squadra | PG | Gol | Assist | Punti |
| Peter White | Phila. Phantoms | 80 | 44 | 61 | 105 |
| Terry Yake | Rochester Americans | 78 | 34 | 67 | 101 |
| Brian Wiseman | St. John's Maple Leafs | 71 | 33 | 62 | 95 |
| Václav Prospal | Phila. Phantoms | 63 | 32 | 63 | 95 |
| Patrik Juhlin | Phila. Phantoms | 78 | 31 | 60 | 91 |
| Aljaksej Ložkin | Fredericton Canadiens | 79 | 33 | 56 | 89 |
| Gilbert Dionne | Carolina Monarchs | 72 | 41 | 47 | 88 |
| Blair Atcheynum | Hershey Bears | 72 | 42 | 45 | 87 |
| Jan Čaloun | KY Thoroughblades | 66 | 43 | 43 | 86 |
| Shawn McCosh | Phila. Phantoms | 79 | 30 | 51 | 81 |
Classifica portieri
| Giocatore | Squadra | PG | MGS |
| Jean-François Labbé | Hershey Bears | 66 | 2.52 |
| Scott Langkow | Springfield Falcons | 33 | 2.64 |
| Dominic Roussel | Phila. Phantoms | 36 | 2.66 |
| Steve Passmore | Hamilton Bulldogs | 27 | 2.68 |
| Norm Maracle | Adirondack R. Wings | 68 | 2.70 |
| Jamie McLennan | Worcester IceCats | 39 | 2.79 |
| Frederic Deschênes | Rochester Americans | 38 | 2.85 |
| Neil Little | Phila. Phantoms | 54 | 2.89 |
| Peter Sidorkiewicz | Albany River Rats | 62 | 2.90 |
| Don Beaupre | St. John's Maple Leafs | 47 | 2.93 |

### All-Star Classic

La decima edizione dell'AHL All-Star Classic si svolse il 16 gennaio 1997 presso l'Harbour Station di Saint John, casa dei Saint John Flames; il Team World sconfisse il Team Canada 3-2, mentre nella Skills Competition il Team World si impose per 18-9 sul Team Canada.

## Playoff

| Semifinali Division | Semifinali Division | Semifinali Division | | | Finali Division | Finali Division | Finali Division | Finali Conference | Finali Conference | Finali Conference | | Calder Cup | Calder Cup | Calder Cup |
| C1 | St. John's Maple Leafs | 3 | |
| E5 | Binghamton Rangers | 1 | |
| E5 | Binghamton Rangers | 1 | | | C1 | St. John's Maple Leafs | 3 |
| | | | | | C3 | Hamilton Bulldogs | 4 |
| C2 | Saint John Flames | 2 | | | C3 | Hamilton Bulldogs | 4 |
| C3 | Hamilton Bulldogs | 3 | | | | | |
| C3 | Hamilton Bulldogs | 3 | | | | | | C3 | Hamilton Canucks | 4 |
| | | | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | | | | C3 | Hamilton Canucks | 4 | |
| | | | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | Northern Conference | E3 | Albany River Rats | 1 |
| E1 | Rochester Americans | 3 | | | | | | E3 | Albany River Rats | 1 |
| E4 | Syracuse Crunch | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | Syracuse Crunch | 0 | | | E1 | Rochester Americans | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | E3 | Albany River Rats | 4 | | | |
| E2 | Adirondack Red Wings | 1 | | | E3 | Albany River Rats | 4 | | | |
| E3 | Albany River Rats | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| E3 | Albany River Rats | 3 | | | | | | | | | | C3 | Hamilton Bulldogs | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | M2 | Hershey Bears | 4 |
| N1 | Worcester IceCats | 2 | | | | | | | | | | M2 | Hershey Bears | 4 |
| N4 | Providence Bruins | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Providence Bruins | 3 | | | N4 | Providence Bruins | 1 | | | |
| | | | | | N2 | Springfield Falcons | 4 | | | |
| N2 | Springfield Falcons | 3 | | | N2 | Springfield Falcons | 4 | | | |
| N3 | Portland Pirates | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Portland Pirates | 2 | | | | | | N2 | Springfield Falcons | 3 |
| | | | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | | | | N2 | Springfield Falcons | 3 | |
| | | | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | Southern Conference | M2 | Hershey Bears | 4 | |
| M1 | Philadelphia Phantoms | 3 | | | | | | M2 | Hershey Bears | 4 | |
| M4 | Baltimore Bandits | 0 | | | | | |
| M4 | Baltimore Bandits | 0 | | | M1 | Philadelphia Phantoms | 3 |
| | | | | | M2 | Hershey Bears | 4 |
| M2 | Hershey Bears | 3 | | | M2 | Hershey Bears | 4 |
| M3 | Kentucky Thoroughblades | 1 | |

## Premi AHL

* Calder Cup: Hershey Bears
* F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy: Worcester IceCats
* Frank Mathers Trophy: Philadelphia Phantoms
* John D. Chick Trophy: Rochester Americans
* Richard F. Canning Trophy: Hamilton Bulldogs
* Robert W. Clarke Trophy: Hershey Bears
* Sam Pollock Trophy: St. John's Maple Leafs
* Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award: Jean-François Labbé (Hershey Bears)
* Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award: Jaroslav Svejkovský (Portland Pirates)
* Eddie Shore Award: Darren Rumble (Philadelphia Phantoms)
* Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award: Steve Passmore (Hamilton Bulldogs)
* Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award: Jean-François Labbé (Hershey Bears)
* Jack A. Butterfield Trophy: Mike McHugh (Hershey Bears)
* John B. Sollenberger Trophy: Peter White (Philadelphia Phantoms)
* Les Cunningham Award: Jean-François Labbé (Hershey Bears)
* Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award: Greg Gilbert (Worcester IceCats)

### Vincitori

| Hershey Bears | Portieri: Marc Denis, Jean-François Labbé, Sinuhe Wallinheimo Difensori: Rich Brennan, Paul Jerrard, Steve Lingren, Kevin MacDonald, Éric Messier, Dan Smith, Pascal Trépanier, Bob Woods Attaccanti: Blair Atcheynum, Cory Banika, Wade Belak, Doug Friedman, Hugues Gervais, Mike Hartman, Josef Marha, Christian Matte, Mike McHugh, Kurtis Miller, Rob Shearer, Éric Veilleux, Steffon Walby Allenatore: Bob Hartley |

### AHL All-Star Team

First All-Star Team
* Attaccanti: Patrik Juhlin • Václav Prospal • Blair Atcheynum
* Difensori: Darren Rumble • Terry Hollinger
* Portiere: Jean-François Labbé
Second All-Star Team
* Attaccanti: Ralph Intranuovo • Peter White • Jan Čaloun
* Difensori: Jamie Rivers • Pascal Trépanier
* Portiere: Norm Maracle
All-Rookie Team
* Attaccanti: Éric Houde • Mike Leclerc • Jaroslav Svejkovský
* Difensori: Craig Millar • Jason Holland
* Portiere: Dan Cloutier