2007–08 NAHL season
Sports season
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The 2007–08 NAHL season was the 24th season of the North American Hockey League. The regular season ran from September 2007 to April 2008 with a 58-game schedule for each team. The St. Louis Bandits won the regular season championship and went on to defeated the Mahoning Valley Phantoms 5 to 2 to capture the Robertson Cup.
September 14, 2007 – March 30, 2008
Postseason
April 4 – May 5, 2008
| 2007–08 NAHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | North American Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | Regular season September 14, 2007 – March 30, 2008 Postseason April 4 – May 5, 2008 |
| Games | 58 |
| Teams | 18 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | St. Louis Bandits |
| Season MVP | Cody Reichard (Fairbanks Ice Dogs) |
| Top scorer | Adam Cardwell (Wichita Falls Wildcats) |
| Robertson Cup Playoffs | |
| Robertson Cup Playoffs MVP | Kyle O'Kane (Bandits) |
| Finals champions | St. Louis Bandits |
| Runners-up | Mahoning Valley Phantoms |
Member changes
- On February 22, 2007, the Santa Fe RoadRunners announced that they would relocate to Topeka, Kansas for this season.[1] The team retained its nickname.
- The NAHL continued its expansion into Alaska with the addition of the Kenai River Brown Bears as an expansion franchise.[2]
Regular season
The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:[3]
Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched regular season title
Standings
Central Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – North Iowa Outlaws | 58 | 38 | 16 | 4 | 80 | 195 | 137 |
| x – Southern Minnesota Express | 58 | 29 | 21 | 8 | 66 | 203 | 229 |
| x – Alexandria Blizzard | 58 | 29 | 25 | 4 | 62 | 222 | 223 |
| x – Springfield Jr. Blues | 58 | 27 | 26 | 5 | 59 | 190 | 190 |
| Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 58 | 25 | 30 | 3 | 53 | 201 | 199 |
| Bismarck Bobcats | 58 | 20 | 32 | 6 | 46 | 148 | 215 |
North Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xyz – St. Louis Bandits | 58 | 47 | 9 | 2 | 96 | 250 | 149 |
| x – Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 58 | 36 | 18 | 4 | 76 | 227 | 173 |
| x – Alpena IceDiggers | 58 | 30 | 23 | 5 | 65 | 184 | 177 |
| x – USNTDP | 58 | 28 | 26 | 4 | 60 | 177 | 186 |
| Traverse City North Stars | 58 | 23 | 23 | 12 | 58 | 176 | 203 |
| Marquette Rangers | 58 | 26 | 29 | 3 | 55 | 186 | 216 |
South Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – Topeka RoadRunners | 58 | 39 | 11 | 8 | 86 | 242 | 137 |
| x – Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 58 | 39 | 15 | 4 | 82 | 183 | 129 |
| x – Wichita Falls Wildcats | 58 | 38 | 18 | 2 | 78 | 221 | 181 |
| x – Texas Tornado | 58 | 20 | 33 | 5 | 45 | 165 | 201 |
| Alaska Avalanche | 58 | 16 | 38 | 4 | 36 | 158 | 270 |
| Kenai River Brown Bears | 58 | 12 | 38 | 8 | 32 | 144 | 257 |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games. [4]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Cardwell | Wichita Falls Wildcats | 56 | 32 | 49 | 91 | 69 |
| Luke Salazar | Wichita Falls Wildcats | 58 | 41 | 46 | 87 | 38 |
| Shea Walters | North Iowa Outlaws | 57 | 24 | 60 | 84 | 45 |
| Luke Nesper | Alexandria Blizzard | 57 | 25 | 55 | 80 | 97 |
| Ben Warda | St. Louis Bandits | 58 | 31 | 43 | 74 | 106 |
| Mikael Lickteig | Alexandria Blizzard | 58 | 34 | 40 | 74 | 113 |
| Derek Graham | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 57 | 29 | 41 | 70 | 54 |
| Erik Peterson | Alpena IceDiggers | 56 | 23 | 47 | 70 | 80 |
| Corey Jendras | Topeka RoadRunners | 57 | 30 | 39 | 69 | 18 |
| Grant Everett | Wichita Falls Wildcats | 55 | 18 | 50 | 68 | 169 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robby Moss | North Iowa Outlaws | 41 | 2389:57 | 28 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 76 | 5 | 1,262 | .940 | 1.91 |
| Cody Reichard | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 51 | 2951:05 | 33 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 101 | 7 | 1,321 | .924 | 2.05 |
| Bryce Merriam | Topeka RoadRunners | 44 | 2670:40 | 26 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 102 | 4 | 963 | .894 | 2.29 |
| Cal Heeter | St. Louis Bandits | 34 | 1972:00 | 25 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 2 | 938 | .915 | 2.43 |
| Mike Johnson | St. Louis Bandits | 26 | 1522:57 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 65 | 1 | 704 | .908 | 2.56 |
Robertson Cup playoffs
Four teams qualified for the Round Robin semifinal, the host (St. Louis) and the three division champions. If St. Louis won the Central 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.
The team with the best record advanced directly to the championship game while the second- and third-place teams met in a semifinal.
| Division Semifinals (Best-of-5) | Division Finals (Best-of-5) | Quarterfinal (Round Robin) | Semifinal (Best-of-1) | Championship (Best-of-1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C1 | North Iowa Outlaws | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C4 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 3 | 6 | 5* | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C4 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C3 | Alexandria Blizzard | 2 | 3 | 4* | 0 | 2* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Southern Minnesota Express | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C3 | Alexandria Blizzard | 6 | 3* | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | St. Louis Bandits | 4 | 7 | 6 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C3 | Alexandria Blizzard | - | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N4 | USNTDP | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | St. Louis Bandits | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5* | - | N1 | St. Louis Bandits | 3 | - | 5 | 3 | S1 | St. Louis Bandits | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| North Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | S1 | Topeka RoadRunners | 4 | 2 | - | 3 | W2 | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 3* | 5 | 3* | - | - | S1 | Topeka RoadRunners | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 6 | 3 | 2 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N3 | Alpena IceDiggers | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | N2 | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Topeka Roadrunners | 6 | 7 | 5 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Texas Tornado | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Topeka RoadRunners | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Wichita Falls Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)