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.

2005–06 AHL season
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationOctober 5, 2005 - April 16, 2006
Regular season
Macgregor Kilpatrick TrophyGrand Rapids Griffins
Season MVPDonald MacLean
Top scorerKirby Law
Playoffs
Playoffs MVPFrederic Cassivi
Calder Cup
ChampionsHershey Bears
  Runners-upMilwaukee Admirals
AHL seasons

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 [1]. The first inductees were; Johnny Bower, Jack Butterfield, Jody Gage, Fred Glover, Willie Marshall, Frank Mathers and Eddie Shore.

Team changes

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Final standings

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

Eastern Conference

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Atlantic Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
y–Portland Pirates (ANA) 80 53 19 5 3 114 306 241
x–Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR) 80 48 24 2 6 104 292 241
x–Manchester Monarchs (LAK) 80 43 30 3 4 93 236 230
x–Providence Bruins (BOS) 80 43 31 1 5 92 254 217
e–Lowell Lock Monsters (CAR/COL) 80 29 37 6 8 72 222 257
e–Springfield Falcons (TBL) 80 28 43 3 6 65 220 312
e–Albany River Rats (NJD) 80 25 48 4 3 57 206 278
East Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
y–Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT) 80 51 18 5 6 113 249 178
x–Hershey Bears (WSH) 80 44 21 5 10 103 262 234
x–Norfolk Admirals (CHI) 80 43 29 4 4 94 259 246
x–Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI) 80 38 33 6 3 85 246 253
e–Binghamton Senators (OTT) 80 35 37 4 4 78 258 295
e–Philadelphia Phantoms (PHI) 80 34 37 2 7 77 197 232

Western Conference

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North Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
y–Grand Rapids Griffins (DET) 80 55 20 1 4 115 323 247
x–Syracuse Crunch (CBJ) 80 47 25 5 3 102 272 251
x–Manitoba Moose (VAN) 80 44 24 7 5 100 243 217
x–Toronto Marlies (TOR) 80 41 29 6 4 92 270 263
e–Rochester Americans (BUF/FLA) 80 37 39 2 2 78 261 270
e–Hamilton Bulldogs (EDM/MTL) 80 35 41 0 4 74 225 251
e–Cleveland Barons (SJS) 80 27 48 2 3 59 210 302
West Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
y–Milwaukee Admirals (NSH) 80 49 21 6 4 108 268 234
x–Houston Aeros (MIN) 80 50 24 3 3 106 285 242
x–Peoria Rivermen (STL) 80 46 26 3 5 100 253 226
x–Iowa Stars (DAL) 80 41 31 1 7 90 238 228
e–Chicago Wolves (ATL) 80 36 32 4 8 84 278 275
e–Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights (CGY) 80 35 31 3 11 84 206 221
e–San Antonio Rampage (PHX) 80 23 50 3 4 53 153 251

Scoring leaders

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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

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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

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Division Semi-finals Division Finals Conference Finals Calder Cup Finals
            
A1 Portland 4
A4 Providence 2
A1 Portland 4
A2 Hartford 2
A2 Hartford 4
A3 Manchester 3
A Portland 3
Eastern
E Hershey 4
E1 WBS 4
E4 Bridgeport 3
E1 WBS 0
E2 Hershey 4
E2 Hershey 4
E3 Norfolk 0
E Hershey 4
W Milwaukee 2
N1 Grand Rapids 4
N4 Toronto 1
N1 Grand Rapids 4
N3 Manitoba 3
N2 Syracuse 2
N3 Manitoba 4
N Grand Rapids 0
Western
W Milwaukee 4
W1 Milwaukee 4
W4 Iowa 3
W1 Milwaukee 4
W2 Houston 0
W2 Houston 4
W3 Peoria 0

All Star Classic

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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. [2]

Trophy and award winners

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Team awards

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Calder Cup
Playoff champions:
Hershey Bears
Richard F. Canning Trophy
Eastern Conference playoff champions:
Hershey Bears
Robert W. Clarke Trophy
Western Conference playoff champions:
Milwaukee Admirals
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy
Regular season champions, League:
Grand Rapids Griffins
Frank Mathers Trophy
Regular Season champions, Eastern Conference:
Portland Pirates
Norman R. "Bud" Poile Trophy
Regular Season champions, Western Conference:
Grand Rapids Griffins
Emile Francis Trophy
Regular Season champions, Atlantic Division:
Portland Pirates
F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy
Regular Season champions, East Division:
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Sam Pollock Trophy
Regular Season champions, North Division:
Grand Rapids Griffins
John D. Chick Trophy
Regular Season champions, West Division:
Milwaukee Admirals

Individual awards

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Les Cunningham Award
Most valuable player:
Donald MacLean - Grand Rapids Griffins
John B. Sollenberger Trophy
Top point scorer:
Kirby Law - Houston Aeros
Willie Marshall Award
Top goal scorer:
Donald MacLean - Grand Rapids Griffins &
Denis Hamel - Binghamton Senators
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award
Rookie of the year:
Patrick O'Sullivan - Houston Aeros
Eddie Shore Award
Defenceman of the year:
Andy Delmore - Syracuse Crunch
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award
Best Goaltender:
Dany Sabourin - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award
Lowest goals against average:
Dany Sabourin - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award
Coach of the year:
Kevin Dineen - Portland Pirates
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award
Sportsmanship / Perseverance:
Mark Cullen - Norfolk Admirals
Yanick Dupre Memorial Award
Community Service Award:
Mitch Fritz - Springfield Falcons
Jack A. Butterfield Trophy
MVP of the playoffs:
Frederic Cassivi - Hershey Bears

Other awards

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James C. Hendy Memorial Award
Most outstanding executive:
Doug Yingst, Hershey Bears
Thomas Ebright Memorial Award
Career contributions:
Al Coates
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards
Outstanding media coverage:
Phil Janack, Albany (newspaper)
Kelly Moore, Manitoba (radio)
Gregg Mace, Hershey (television)
Ken McKenzie Award
Outstanding marketing executive:
Mike Wojociechowski, Milwaukee Admirals
Michael Condon Memorial Award
Outstanding service, on-ice official:
Luke Galvin

See also

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References

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Preceded by AHL seasons Succeeded by