2001-02 AHL SEASON

The '2001-02 AHL season' was the 66th season of the American Hockey League. It was the season of the biggest growth in the AHL's hitory, as it accepted eight new teams. The demise of the International Hockey League brought six teams transferring from the defunct league, in addition to two expansion teams.
The AHL realigns divisions again. The Eastern conference consists of the East, North and Canadian divisions. The Western conference consists of the Centreal, South and West divisions. The league also announces two additional trophies, to be awarded for the regular season champions of the new divisions. The Norman R. "Bud" Poile Trophy goes to the West division, and the Emile Francis Trophy goes to the North division.
Twenty-seven teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers finished first overall in the regular season. The Chicago Wolves won their first Calder Cup championship.

Contents

Team changes

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Scoring leaders

Calder Cup playoffs

All Star Classic

Trophy and Award winners

Team Awards

Individual Awards

See also

References

Team changes

★ The Louisville Panthers suspend operations, becoming dormant.

★ The Kentucky Thoroughblades move to Cleveland, Ohio, becoming the second incarnation of the Cleveland Barons.

★ The Bridgeport Sound Tigers join the AHL as an expansion team, based in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

★ The Manchester Monarchs join the AHL as an expansion team, based in Manchester, New Hampshire.
;Teams from the International Hockey League
Six teams transferred to the American Hockey League, when the International Hockey League ceased operations.

★ The Chicago Wolves based in Chicago, Illinois.

★ The Grand Rapids Griffins based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

★ The Houston Aeros based in Houston, Texas.

★ The Manitoba Moose based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

★ The Milwaukee Admirals based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

★ The Utah Grizzlies based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Final standings

''Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime Losses; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; PTS = Points;

Eastern Conference

Canadian	GP	W	L	T	OTL	PTS	GF	GA
Quebec Citadelles	80	35	27	15	3	88	257	254
Hamilton Bulldogs	80	37	30	10	3	87	247	205
St. John's Maple Leafs	80	34	27	17	2	87	256	240
Manitoba Moose	80	39	33	4	4	86	270	260
Saint John Flames	80	29	34	13	4	75	182	202

North	GP	W	L	T	OTL	PTS	GF	GA
Lowell Lock Monsters	80	41	25	11	3	96	229	209
Manchester Monarchs	80	38	28	11	3	90	236	225
Worcester IceCats	80	39	33	7	1	86	245	218
Portland Pirates	80	30	31	15	4	79	220	225
Springfield Falcons	80	35	41	2	2	74	213	237

East	GP	W	L	T	OTL	PTS	GF	GA
Bridgeport Sound Tigers	80	43	25	8	4	98	240	192
Hartford Wolf Pack	80	41	26	10	3	95	249	243
Providence Bruins	80	35	33	8	4	82	190	223
Albany River Rats	80	14	42	12	12	52	172	271

Western Conference

Central	GP	W	L	T	OTL	PTS	GF	GA
Syracuse Crunch	80	39	23	13	5	96	228	193
Rochester Americans	80	32	30	15	3	82	206	211
Cincinnati Mighty Ducks	80	33	33	11	3	80	216	211
Cleveland Barons	80	29	40	7	4	69	223	268

West	GP	W	L	T	OTL	PTS	GF	GA
Grand Rapids Griffins	80	42	27	11	0	95	217	178
Houston Aeros	80	39	26	10	5	93	234	232
Utah Grizzlies	80	40	29	6	5	91	240	225
Chicago Wolves	80	37	31	7	5	86	250	236
Milwaukee Admirals	80	30	35	10	5	75	198	207

South	GP	W	L	T	OTL	PTS	GF	GA
Norfolk Admirals	80	38	26	12	4	92	222	205
Hershey Bears	80	36	27	11	6	89	200	193
Philadelphia Phantoms	80	33	27	15	5	86	206	210
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	80	20	44	13	3	56	201	274

Scoring leaders

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes''

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Donald MacLean	St. John's Maple Leafs	75	33	54	87	49
Eric Boguniecki	Worcester IceCats	45	17	28	45	100
Rob Brown	Chicago Wolves	80	29	54	83	103
Brad Smyth	Hartford Wolf Pack	79	34	48	82	90
Jason Chimera	Hamilton Bulldogs	77	26	51	77	158
Justin Papineau	Worcester IceCats	75	38	38	76	86
Eric Landry	Quebec Citadelles	73	26	36	62	119
Brian Swanson	Hamilton Bulldogs	65	34	39	73	26
Bob Wren	St. John's Maple Leafs	69	24	49	73	83

★ complete list

Calder Cup playoffs

;Qualifying round

★ Chicago Wolves defeated Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 2 games to 1.

★ Philadelphia Phantoms defeated Rochester Americans 2 games to 0.

★ St. John's Maple Leafs defeated Providence Bruins 2 games to 0.

★ Manitoba Moose defeated Worcester IceCats 2 games to 1.
;First round

★ Syracuse Crunch defeated Philadelphia Phantoms 3 games to 0.

★ Chicago Wolves defeated Grand Rapids Griffins 3 games to 2.

★ Hershey Bears defeated Norfolk Admirals 3 games to 1.

★ Houston Aeros defeated Utah Grizzlies 3 games to 2.

★ Bridgeport Sound Tigers defeated Manitoba Moose 3 games to 1.

★ St. John's Maple Leafs defeated Lowell Lock Monsters 3 games to 2.

★ Hamilton Bulldogs defeated Quebec Citadelles 3 games to 0.

★ Hartford Wolf Pack defeated Manchester Monarchs 3 games to 2.
;Second round

★ Chicago Wolves defeated Syracuse Crunch 4 games to 3.

★ Houston Aeros defeated Hershey Bears 4 games to 0.

★ Bridgeport Sound Tigers defeated St. John's Maple Leafs 4 games to 0.

★ Hamilton Bulldogs defeated Hartford Wolf Pack 4 games to 1.
;Third round

★ Chicago Wolves defeated Houston Aeros 4 games to 1.

★ Bridgeport Sound Tigers defeated Hamilton Bulldogs 4 games to 3.
;Finals

★ Chicago Wolves defeated Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4 games to 1, to win the Calder Cup.

★ list of scores

All Star Classic

The 15th AHL All-Star game was played on February 14, 2002 at the Mile One Stadium in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Team Canada defeated Team PlanetUSA 13-11. In the skills competition held the day before the All-Star game, Team Canada won 21-9 over Team PlanetUSA. [1]

Trophy and Award winners

Team Awards

Calder Cup ''Playoff champions'':	Chicago Wolves
Richard F. Canning Trophy ''Eastern Conference playoff champions'':	Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Robert W. Clarke Trophy ''Western Conference playoff champions'':	Chicago Wolves
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy ''Regular season champions, League'':	Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Frank Mathers Trophy ''Regular Season champions, South Division'':	Norfolk Admirals
Norman R. "Bud" Poile Trophy ''Regular Season champions, West Division'':	Grand Rapids Griffins
Emile Francis Trophy ''Regular Season champions, North Division'':	Lowell Lock Monsters
F.G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy ''Regular Season champions, East Division'':	Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Sam Pollock Trophy ''Regular Season champions, Canadian Division'':	Quebec Citadelles
John D. Chick Trophy ''Regular Season champions, Central Division'':	Syracuse Crunch

Individual Awards

Les Cunningham Award ''Most valuable player'':	Eric Boguniecki - Worcester IceCats
John B. Sollenberger Trophy ''Top point scorer'':	Donald MacLean - St. John's Maple Leafs
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award ''Rookie of the year'':	Tyler Arnason - Norfolk Admirals
Eddie Shore Award ''Defenceman of the year'':	John Slaney - Philadelphia Phantoms
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award ''Best Goaltender'':	Martin Prusek - Grand Rapids Griffins
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award ''Lowest goals against average'':	Martin Prusek, Simon Lajeunesse & Mathieu Chouinard - Grand Rapids Griffins
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award ''Coach of the year'':	Bruce Cassidy - Grand Rapids Griffins
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award ''Sportsmanship / Perseverance'':	Nathan Dempsey - St. John's Maple Leafs
Yanick Dupre Memorial Award ''Community Service Award'':	Travis Roche - Houston Aeros
Jack A. Butterfield Trophy ''MVP of the playoffs'':	Pasi Nurminen - Chicago Wolves

See also

★ List of AHL seasons

References

★ AHL official site

★ AHL Hall of Fame

★ HockeyDB