2005–06 AHL season

The 2005–06 AHL season was the 70th season of the American Hockey League. Twenty-seven teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Hershey Bears won the Calder Cup, defeating the Milwaukee Admirals in the finals.
To celebrate the AHL's 70th anniversary, the league announced on January 6, 2006, the first inductees into the AHL's new Hall of Fame. The first inductees were; Johnny Bower, Jack Butterfield, Jody Gage, Fred Glover, Willie Marshall, Frank Mathers and Eddie Shore.
==Team changes==
*The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks suspend operations, becoming dormant.
*The Edmonton Road Runners suspend operations, becoming dormant.
*The Utah Grizzlies suspend operations, becoming dormant.
*The dormant Saint John Flames resumed operations as the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, playing in the West division.
*The dormant Louisville Panthers resumed operations as the Iowa Stars, playing in the West division.
*The St. John's Maple Leafs moved to , Ontario, becoming the Toronto Marlies.
*The Worcester IceCats moved to Peoria, Illinois, becoming the Peoria Rivermen, playing in the West division.
*The Albany River Rats shift from the East division to the Atlantic division.
*The Grand Rapids Griffins shift from the West division to the North division.
==Final standings==
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime Losses; SL = Shootout Losses; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; Pts = Points; 
===Eastern Conference===
Atlantic Division 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	SL	Pts	GF 	GA
Portland Pirates (ANA) 	80	53	19	5 	3 	114	306	241
Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR) 	80	48	24	2 	6 	104	292	241
Manchester Monarchs (LA) 	80	43	30	3 	4 	93 	236	230
Providence Bruins (BOS) 	80	43	31	1 	5 	92 	254	217
Lowell Lock Monsters (CAR/COL)	80	29	37	6 	8 	72 	222	257
Springfield Falcons (TB) 	80	28	43	3 	6 	65 	220	312
Albany River Rats (NJ) 	80	25	48	4 	3 	57 	206	278
East Division 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	SL	PTS	GF 	GA
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT)	80	51	18	5 	6 	113	249	178
Hershey Bears (WAS) 	80	44	21	5 	10	103	262	234
Norfolk Admirals (CHI) 	80	43	29	4 	4 	94 	259	246
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI) 	80	38	33	6 	3 	85 	246	253
Binghamton Senators (OTT) 	80	35	37	4 	4 	78 	258	295
Philadelphia Phantoms (PHI) 	80	34	37	2 	7 	77 	197	232
===Western Conference===
North Division 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	SL	PTS	GF 	GA
Grand Rapids Griffins (DET) 	80	55	20	1 	4 	115	323	247
Syracuse Crunch (CBJ) 	80	47	25	5 	3 	102	272	251
Manitoba Moose (VAN) 	80	44	24	7 	5 	100	243	217
Toronto Marlies (TOR) 	80	41	29	6 	4 	92 	270	263
Rochester Americans (BUF/FLA)	80	37	39	2 	2 	78 	261	270
Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL/EDM) 	80	35	41	0 	4 	74 	225	251
Cleveland Barons (SJ) 	80	27	48	2 	3 	59 	210	302
West Division 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	SL	PTS	GF 	GA
Milwaukee Admirals (NAS) 	80	49	21	6 	4 	108	268	234
Houston Aeros (MIN) 	80	50	24	3 	3 	106	285	242
Peoria Rivermen (STL) 	80	46	26	3 	5 	100	253	226
Iowa Stars (DAL) 	80	41	31	1 	7 	90 	238	228
Chicago Wolves (ATL) 	80	36	32	4 	8 	84 	278	275
Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights (CGY)	80	35	31	3 	11	84 	206	221
San Antonio Rampage (PHX) 	80	23	50	3 	4 	53 	153	251
==Scoring leaders==
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Kirby Law 	Houston Aeros 	80	43	67	110	95
Erik Westrum 	Houston Aeros 	71	34	64	98 	138
Jiri Hudler 	Grand Rapids Griffins	76	36	60	96 	56
Patrick O'Sullivan	Houston Aeros 	78	47	46	93 	64
Darren Haydar 	Milwaukee Admirals 	80	35	57	92 	50
Denis Hamel 	Binghamton Senators 	77	56	35	91 	65
Donald MacLean 	Grand Rapids Griffins	76	56	32	88 	63
Brad Smyth 	Hartford Wolf Pack 	80	34	52	86 	69
Ryan Shannon 	Portland Pirates 	71	27	59	86 	44
Keith Aucoin 	Lowell Lock Monsters 	72	29	56	85 	68
==Leading goaltenders==
Note: GP = Games Played; Mins = Minutes Played; W = Wins; L = Losses: OTL = Overtime Losses; SL = Shootout Losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against Average
Player 	Team 	GP	Mins	W 	L 	SL	GA 	SO	GAA 	Sv%
Dany Sabourin	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	49	2943	30	14	4 	111	4 	2.26	0.922
Wade Flaherty	Manitoba Moose 	49	2822	26	17	4 	113	6 	2.40	0.919
Brent Krahn 	Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights 	57	3241	26	20	9 	135	3 	2.50	0.912
Mike Smith 	Iowa Stars 	50	3000	25	19	6 	125	3 	2.50	0.917
Martin Houle 	Philadelphia Phantoms 	40	2153	18	18	1 	91 	2 	2.54	0.914
==Calder Cup Playoffs==
==All Star Classic==
The 19th AHL All-Star Classic was played on February 1, 2006 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Team Canada defeated team PlanetUSA 9–4. In the skills competition held the night before, team Canada defeated team PlanetUSA 21–12 in front of two sellout crowds of 15,115, the largest for an AHL event. 
==Trophy and Award winners==
===Team Awards===
Calder CupPlayoff champions: 	Hershey Bears
Richard F. Canning TrophyEastern Conference playoff champions: 	Hershey Bears
Robert W. Clarke TrophyWestern Conference playoff champions: 	Milwaukee Admirals
Macgregor Kilpatrick TrophyRegular season champions, League: 	Grand Rapids Griffins
Frank Mathers TrophyRegular Season champions, Eastern Conference: 	Portland Pirates
Norman R. "Bud" Poile TrophyRegular Season champions, Western Conference:	Grand Rapids Griffins
Emile Francis TrophyRegular Season champions, Atlantic Division: 	Portland Pirates
F. G. "Teddy" Oke TrophyRegular Season champions, East Division: 	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Sam Pollock TrophyRegular Season champions, North Division: 	Grand Rapids Griffins
John D. Chick TrophyRegular Season champions, West Division: 	Milwaukee Admirals
===Individual Awards===
Les Cunningham AwardMost valuable player: 	Donald MacLean - Grand Rapids Griffins
John B. Sollenberger TrophyTop point scorer: 	Kirby Law - Houston Aeros
Willie Marshall AwardTop goal scorer: 	Donald MacLean - Grand Rapids Griffins &Denis Hamel - Binghamton Senators
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial AwardRookie of the year: 	Patrick O'Sullivan - Houston Aeros
Eddie Shore AwardDefenceman of the year: 	Andy Delmore - Syracuse Crunch
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial AwardBest Goaltender: 	Dany Sabourin - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial AwardLowest goals against average:	Dany Sabourin - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial AwardCoach of the year: 	Kevin Dineen - Portland Pirates
Fred T. Hunt Memorial AwardSportsmanship / Perseverance: 	Mark Cullen - Norfolk Admirals
Yanick Dupre Memorial AwardCommunity Service Award: 	Mitch Fritz - Springfield Falcons
Jack A. Butterfield TrophyMVP of the playoffs: 	Frederic Cassivi - Hershey Bears
===Other Awards===
James C. Hendy Memorial AwardMost outstanding executive: 	Doug Yingst, Hershey Bears
Thomas Ebright Memorial AwardCareer contributions: 	Al Coates
James H. Ellery Memorial AwardsOutstanding media coverage: 	Phil Janack, Albany, (newspaper)Kelly Moore, Manitoba, (radio)Gregg Mace, Hershey, (television)
Ken McKenzie AwardOutstanding marketing executive: 	Mike Wojociechowski, Milwaukee Admirals
Michael Condon Memorial AwardOutstanding service, on-ice official:	Luke Galvin
==Team Photos==
05-06PeoRiv.jpg|Peoria Rivermen
==See also==
*List of AHL seasons
==References==
*AHL official site
*AHL Hall of Fame
*HockeyDB
Category:American Hockey League seasons
Category:2006 in hockey