2004–05 NAHL season
Sports season
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The 2004–05 NAHL season was the 21st season of the North American Hockey League. The regular season ran from September 2004 to March 2005 with a 56-game schedule for each team. The Texas Tornado won the regular season championship and went on to defeat the Fargo-Moorhead Jets 6 to 1 for the Robertson Cup.
September 2004 – March 2005
Postseason
April 1 – April 30, 2005
| 2004–05 NAHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | North American Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | Regular season September 2004 – March 2005 Postseason April 1 – April 30, 2005 |
| Games | 56 |
| Teams | 19 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Texas Tornado |
| Season MVP | Jason Kearney (Texarkana/Soo) |
| Top scorer | Brad Cooper (Texas Tornado) |
| Robertson Cup Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Texas Tornado |
| Runners-up | Fargo-Moorhead Jets |
Member changes
- The Lone Star Cavalry relocated and became the Santa Fe Roadrunners.
- The Central Texas Blackhawks rebranded as the Central Texas Marshals.
- The Fernie Ghostriders, left the league and joined the KIJHL.
Regular season
The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:[1]
Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched regular season title
Standings
North Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – USNTDP | 56 | 37 | 17 | 2 | 76 | 214 | 164 |
| x – Soo Indians | 56 | 33 | 18 | 5 | 71 | 170 | 141 |
| x – Youngstown Phantoms | 56 | 27 | 25 | 4 | 58 | 201 | 181 |
| x – Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 56 | 26 | 24 | 6 | 58 | 164 | 179 |
| Cleveland Jr. Barons | 56 | 27 | 26 | 3 | 57 | 185 | 178 |
| Toledo IceDiggers | 56 | 18 | 35 | 3 | 39 | 149 | 234 |
South Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xyz – Texas Tornado | 56 | 42 | 13 | 1 | 85 | 226 | 120 |
| x – Texarkana Bandits | 56 | 36 | 15 | 5 | 77 | 218 | 153 |
| x – Santa Fe RoadRunners | 56 | 33 | 18 | 5 | 71 | 201 | 163 |
| x – Wichita Falls Wildcats | 56 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 63 | 206 | 218 |
| Springfield Jr. Blues | 56 | 30 | 25 | 1 | 61 | 207 | 200 |
| Springfield Spirit | 56 | 20 | 29 | 7 | 47 | 144 | 188 |
| Central Texas Marshals | 56 | 11 | 42 | 3 | 25 | 112 | 256 |
West Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 56 | 36 | 17 | 3 | 75 | 222 | 148 |
| x – Billings Bulls | 56 | 33 | 17 | 6 | 72 | 194 | 170 |
| x – Helena Bighorns | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | 203 | 168 |
| x – Minnesota Blizzard | 56 | 28 | 24 | 4 | 60 | 159 | 198 |
| Bismarck Bobcats | 56 | 25 | 22 | 9 | 59 | 165 | 172 |
| Bozeman IceDogs | 56 | 20 | 31 | 5 | 45 | 165 | 186 |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games. [2]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brad Cooper | Texas Tornado | 54 | 27 | 59 | 86 | 28 |
| Karl Sellan | Texas Tornado | 54 | 43 | 40 | 83 | 90 |
| Kevin Huck | Wichita Falls Wildcats | 54 | 23 | 54 | 77 | 36 |
| Pat Lee | Springfield Jr. Blues | 51 | 31 | 38 | 69 | 122 |
| Rob Rassey | Youngstown Phantoms | 54 | 28 | 41 | 69 | 18 |
| Tom Train | Texas Tornado | 53 | 31 | 35 | 66 | 143 |
| Aaron Rhyner | Youngstown Phantoms | 53 | 31 | 31 | 62 | 48 |
| Chad Costello | Wichita Falls Wildcats | 54 | 29 | 32 | 61 | 22 |
| Kyle Kraemer | Wichita Falls Wildcats | 51 | 27 | 32 | 59 | 84 |
| Brian Kaufman | Billings Bulls | 52 | 29 | 30 | 59 | 38 |
Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | W | L | OTL | SOL | GA | SO | SV | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Kearney | Soo Indians | 37 | 2034:17 | 23 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 63 | 6 | 758 | .917 | 1.86 |
| Ben Bishop | Texas Tornado | 44 | 2517:13 | 34 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 5 | 992 | .917 | 1.96 |
| Andrew Stricker | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 34 | 1962:04 | 22 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 74 | 2 | 874 | .915 | 2.26 |
| Riley Gill | Texarkana Bandits | 42 | 2473:10 | 25 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 107 | 5 | 1,135 | .906 | 2.60 |
| Brett Bennett | USNTDP | 21 | 1096:42 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 1 | 608 | .918 | 2.74 |
Robertson Cup playoffs
Four teams qualified for the Round Robin semifinal, the host (Bismarck) and the four division champions. If Bismarck won the West division final, the runner-up would receive the final qualifying spot. For the round robin semifinal, ties were broken first by head-to-head matchup and then by goal differential.
| Division Semifinals (Best-of-5) | Division Finals (Best-of-5) | Semifinal (Round Robin) | Championship (Best-of-1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | USNTDP | 4 | 2 | 5 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | USNTDP | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Soo Indians | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5* | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Soo Indians | 5 | 4* | 4* | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N3 | Youngstown Phantoms | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Texas Tornado | 9 | 8 | 7 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Soo Indians | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Wichita Falls Wildcats | 5 | 6 | 3 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Texas Tornado | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | - | - | S1 | Texas Tornado | 4 | - | 4 | 4 | S1 | Texas Tornado | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| South Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Texarkana Bandits | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | - | - | W1 | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 8 | 1 | - | 3 | W1 | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| S2 | Texarkana Bandits | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5* | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| H | Bismarck Bobcats | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Santa Fe Roadrunners | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | - | Consolation Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | Minnesota Blizzard | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | - | - | - | N2 | Soo Indians | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| West Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Billings Bulls | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | H | Bismarck Bobcats | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Billings Bulls | 6* | 6 | 2* | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Helena Bighorns | 5 | 2 | 1 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Despite winning their Division Final, the USNTDP were unavailable for the Semifinal round. Instead, the Soo Indians, as runners-up, advanced to the Round Robin.