1995–96 AHL season

The 1995–96 AHL season was the 60th season of the American Hockey League. The AHL expands by two teams and realigns into two conferences, and four divisions. The Northern Conference includes the North and Atlantic Divisions. The Southern Conference include the South Division and the newly created Central Division.
The league introduces two new trophies for division champions of the regular season. The Frank Mathers Trophy is first awarded for the south division, and the Sam Pollock Trophy is first awarded for the atlantic Division. The John D. Chick Trophy becomes awarded to the central division.
The AHL revives awarding points for overtime losses, last awarded in the 1987–88 AHL season. Eighteen teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Albany River Rats finished first overall in the regular season. The Rochester Americans won their sixth Calder Cup championship.
== Team changes ==
* The Baltimore Bandits join the AHL as an expansion team, based in Baltimore, Maryland, playing in the South Division.
* The Carolina Monarchs join the AHL as an expansion team, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, playing in the South Division.
* The Cornwall Aces, Rochester Americans, and Syracuse Crunch switch from the South Division to the new Central Division.
* The Adirondack Red Wings and Albany River Rats switch from the North Division to the new Central Division.
== Final standings ==
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points;
===Northern Conference===
Atlantic 	GP	W 	L 	T 	OTL	Pts	GF 	GA
Prince Edward Island Senators	80	38	33	6 	3 	85 	303	313
Saint John Flames 	80	35	30	11	4 	85 	272	264
St. John's Maple Leafs 	80	31	31	14	4 	80 	248	274
Fredericton Canadiens 	80	34	35	11	0 	79 	307	308
Cape Breton Oilers 	80	33	40	3 	4 	73 	290	323
North 	GP	W 	L 	T 	OTL	PTS	GF 	GA
Springfield Falcons	80	42	22	11	5 	100	272	215
Worcester IceCats 	80	36	28	12	4 	88 	242	244
Portland Pirates 	80	32	34	10	4 	78 	282	283
Providence Bruins 	80	30	36	10	4 	74 	249	280
===Southern Conference===
Central 	GP	W 	L 	T	OTL	PTS	GF 	GA
Albany River Rats 	80	54	19	7	0 	115	322	218
Adirondack Red Wings	80	38	32	8	2 	86 	271	247
Rochester Americans 	80	37	34	5	4 	83 	294	297
Cornwall Aces 	80	34	34	7	5 	80 	249	251
Syracuse Crunch 	80	31	37	5	7 	74 	257	307
South 	GP	W 	L 	T 	OTL	PTS	GF 	GA
Binghamton Rangers	80	39	31	7 	3 	88 	333	331
Hershey Bears 	80	36	30	11	3 	86 	301	287
Baltimore Bandits 	80	33	36	9 	2 	77 	279	299
Carolina Monarchs 	80	28	38	11	3 	70 	313	343
==Scoring leaders==
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Brad Smyth 	Carolina Monarchs 	68	68	58	126	80
Jim Montgomery 	Hershey Bears 	78	34	71	105	95
Mike Casselman 	Carolina Monarchs 	70	34	68	102	46
Gilbert Dionne 	Carolina Monarchs 	55	43	58	101	29
Peter Ferraro 	Binghamton Rangers 	68	48	53	101	157
Chris Ferraro 	Binghamton Rangers 	77	32	67	99 	208
Craig Charron 	Rochester Americans 	72	43	52	95 	79
Jean-Yves Roy 	Prince Edward Island Senators	67	40	55	95 	64
Dixon Ward 	Rochester Americans 	71	38	56	94 	74
Brett Harkins 	Carolina Monarchs 	55	23	71	94 	44
Andrew Brunette	Portland Pirates 	69	28	66	94 	125
* complete list
== Calder Cup playoffs ==
==All Star Classic==
The 9th AHL All-Star Game was played on January 16, 1996 at the Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Team USA defeated Team Canada 6-5. In the inaugural AHL skills competition held the day before the All-Star Game, Team USA won 14-12 over Team Canada.
==Trophy and award winners==
===Team Awards===
Calder CupPlayoff champions: 	Rochester Americans
Richard F. Canning TrophyNorthern Conference playoff champions: 	Portland Pirates
Robert W. Clarke TrophySouthern Conference playoff champions: 	Rochester Americans
Frank Mathers TrophyRegular Season champions, South Division: 	Binghamton Rangers
F. G. "Teddy" Oke TrophyRegular Season champions, North Division:	Springfield Falcons
Sam Pollock TrophyRegular Season champions, Atlantic Division: 	Prince Edward Island Senators
John D. Chick TrophyRegular Season champions, South Division: 	Albany River Rats
===Individual awards===
Les Cunningham AwardMost valuable player: 	Brad Smyth - Carolina Monarchs
John B. Sollenberger TrophyTop point scorer: 	Brad Smyth - Carolina Monarchs
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial AwardRookie of the year: 	Darcy Tucker - Fredericton Canadiens
Eddie Shore AwardDefenceman of the year: 	Barry Richter - Binghamton Rangers
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial AwardBest Goaltender: 	Manny Legace - Springfield Falcons
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial AwardLowest goals against average:	Manny Legace & Scott Langkow - Springfield Falcons
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial AwardCoach of the year: 	Robbie Ftorek - Albany River Rats
Fred T. Hunt Memorial AwardSportsmanship / Perseverance: 	Ken Gernander - Binghamton Rangers
Jack A. Butterfield TrophyMVP of the playoffs: 	Dixon Ward - Rochester Americans
===Other awards===
James C. Hendy Memorial AwardMost outstanding executive: 	Steve Donner, Rochester Americans
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards Outstanding media coverage:	Kevin Oklobzija, Rochester, (newspaper)Seth Everett, Syracuse, (radio)Tom Caron, New England Sports Network, (television)
Ken McKenzie AwardOutstanding marketing executive: 	Tim Kuhl, Syracuse Crunch
==Team Photos==
95-96RocAme.jpg|Champion Rochester Americans
95-96SprFal.jpg|Springfield Falcons
==Game Ads==
95-96AHLAlbanyGameAd.jpg|Albany
95-96AHLAdirondackGameAd.jpg|Glens Falls
==See also==
*List of AHL seasons
==References==
*AHL official site
*AHL Hall of Fame
*HockeyDB
Category:American Hockey League seasons
Category:1996 in hockey