2000–01 AHL season

The 2000–01 AHL season was the 65th season of the American Hockey League. The league realigned its divisions again. The Atlantic division was renamed as the Canadian division. The Empire State division was replaced by the South division, with many teams shifting from the Mid-Atlantic division.

2000–01 AHL season
League	American Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Regular season
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy	Worcester IceCats
Season MVP	Derek Armstrong
Top scorer	Derek Armstrong
Calder Cup playoffs
Calder Cup playoffs MVP	Steve Begin
Finals champions	Saint John Flames
Runners-up	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
AHL seasons
← 1999-2000 2001–02 →

Twenty teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Worcester IceCats finished first overall in the regular season. The Saint John Flames won their first Calder Cup championship.

Team changes

• The Norfolk Admirals joined the AHL as an expansion team, based in Norfolk, Virginia, playing in the South division.
• The Lowell Lock Monsters switched divisions from Atlantic to New England.
• The Hamilton Bulldogs switched divisions from Empire State to Canadian.
• The Albany River Rats, Rochester Americans, Syracuse Crunch and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins switched from the Empire State division to the Mid-Atlantic division.
• The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, Kentucky Thoroughblades and Louisville Panthers switched from the Mid-Atlantic division to the South division.

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
Saint John Flames (CGY)	80	44	24	7	5	100	269	210
Quebec Citadelles (MTL)	80	41	32	3	4	89	264	252
St. John's Maple Leafs (TOR)	80	35	35	8	2	80	247	244
Hamilton Bulldogs (EDM)	80	28	41	6	5	67	227	281

New England	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
Worcester IceCats (STL)	80	48	20	9	3	108	264	205
Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR)	80	40	26	8	6	94	263	247
Providence Bruins (BOS)	80	35	31	10	4	84	245	242
Lowell Lock Monsters (LAK/NYI)	80	35	35	5	5	80	225	244
Portland Pirates (WSH)	80	34	40	4	2	74	250	280
Springfield Falcons (NYI/PHX)	80	29	37	8	6	72	253	280

Western Conference

Mid-Atlantic	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
Rochester Americans (BUF)	80	46	22	9	3	104	224	192
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT)	80	36	33	9	2	83	252	248
Syracuse Crunch (CBJ)	80	33	30	12	5	83	235	254
Philadelphia Phantoms (PHI)	80	36	34	5	5	82	246	244
Hershey Bears (COL)	80	34	39	4	3	75	216	234
Albany River Rats (NJD)	80	30	40	6	4	70	216	262

South	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
Kentucky Thoroughblades (SJS)	80	42	25	12	1	97	273	212
Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (ANA/DET)	80	41	26	9	4	95	254	240
Norfolk Admirals (CHI)	80	36	26	13	5	90	241	208
Louisville Panthers (FLA)	80	21	51	5	3	50	200	285

Scoring leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Derek Armstrong	Hartford Wolf Pack	75	32	69	101	73
Jean-Guy Trudel	Springfield Falcons	80	34	65	99	89
Ryan Kraft	Kentucky Thoroughblades	77	38	50	88	36
Mark Greig	Philadelphia Phantoms	74	31	57	88	98
Brad Smyth	Hartford Wolf Pack	77	50	29	79	110
Bill Bowler	Syracuse Crunch	72	21	58	79	50
Mikael Samuelsson	Kentucky Thoroughblades	66	32	46	78	58
Marty Murray	Saint John Flames	56	24	52	76	36
Jim Montgomery	Kentucky Thoroughblades	55	22	52	74	44
Steve Bancroft	Kentucky Thoroughblades	80	23	50	73	162

• complete list

Calder Cup playoffs

Main article: 2001 Calder Cup playoffs

Division Semifinals

Division Finals

Conference Finals

Calder Cup Final

C1

Saint John

3

N5

Portland

0

C1

Saint John

4

Canadian Division

C2

Quebec

1

C2

Quebec

3

C3

St. John's

1

C1

Saint John

4

Eastern Conference

N3

Providence

1

N1

Worcester

3

N4

Lowell

1

N1

Worcester

3

New England Division

N3

Providence

4

N2

Hartford

2

N3

Providence

3

C1

Saint John

4

M2

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

2

M1

Rochester

1

M4

Philadelphia

3

M2

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

4

Mid-Atlantic Division

M4

Philadelphia

2

M2

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

3

M3

Syracuse

2

M2

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

4

Western Conference

M5

Hershey

0

S1

Kentucky

0

M5

Hershey

3

S3

Norfolk

1

Southern Division

M5

Hershey

4

S2

Cincinnati

1

S3

Norfolk

3

All Star Classic

The 14th AHL All-Star Game was played on January 15, 2001 at the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Team Canada defeated Team PlanetUSA 11-10. In the skills competition held the day before the All-Star Game, Team PlanetUSA won 16-8 over Team Canada.

Trophy and award winners

Team awards

Calder Cup Playoff champions:	Saint John Flames
Richard F. Canning Trophy Eastern Conference playoff champions:	Saint John Flames
Robert W. Clarke Trophy Western Conference playoff champions:	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy Regular season champions, League:	Worcester IceCats
Frank Mathers Trophy Regular Season champions, Mid-Atlantic Division:	Rochester Americans
F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy Regular Season champions, New England Division:	Worcester IceCats
Sam Pollock Trophy Regular Season champions, Canadian Division:	Saint John Flames
John D. Chick Trophy Regular Season champions, South Division:	Kentucky Thoroughblades

Individual awards

Les Cunningham Award Most valuable player:	Derek Armstrong - Hartford Wolf Pack
John B. Sollenberger Trophy Top point scorer:	Derek Armstrong - Hartford Wolf Pack
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award Rookie of the year:	Ryan Kraft - Kentucky Thoroughblades
Eddie Shore Award Defenceman of the year:	John Slaney - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton / Philadelphia
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award Best goaltender:	Dwayne Roloson - Worcester IceCats
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Lowest goals against average:	Mika Noronen & Tom Askey - Rochester Americans
Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award Coach of the year:	Don Granato - Worcester IceCats
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award Sportsmanship / Perseverance:	Kent Hulst - Portland / Providence
Yanick Dupre Memorial Award Community Service Award:	Mike Minard - St. John's Maple Leafs
Jack A. Butterfield Trophy MVP of the playoffs:	Steve Begin - Saint John Flames

Other awards

James C. Hendy Memorial Award Most outstanding executive:	Stew MacDonald, Saint John Flames
Thomas Ebright Memorial Award Career contributions:	Bill Torrey
James H. Ellery Memorial Awards Outstanding media coverage:	Tris Wykes, Norfolk, (newspaper) Bob Crawford, Hartford, (radio) Fox Sports Net, Pittsburgh, (television)
Ken McKenzie Award Outstanding marketing executive:	Dave Cieslinski, Rochester Americans

See also

• List of AHL seasons

References

• AHL official site
• AHL Hall of Fame

Preceded by 1999–2000 AHL season

AHL seasons

Succeeded by 2001–02 AHL season