| 1995–96 AHL season | |
| League: | American Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champ Name: | F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy |
| Season Champs: | Springfield Falcons |
| Mvp: | Brad Smyth |
| Mvp Link: | Les Cunningham Award |
| Top Scorer: | Brad Smyth |
| Top Scorer Link: | John B. Sollenberger Trophy |
| Playoffs: | Playoffs |
| Playoffs Link: | 1996 Calder Cup playoffs |
| Finals: | Calder Cup |
| Finals Champ: | Rochester Americans |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Portland Pirates |
| Playoffs Mvp: | Dixon Ward |
| Playoffs Mvp Link: | Jack A. Butterfield Trophy |
| Seasonslistnames: | AHL |
The 1995–96 AHL season was the 60th season of the American Hockey League. The AHL expanded by two teams and realigned into two conferences, and four divisions. The Northern Conference includes the North and Atlantic Divisions. The Southern Conference include the South Division and the newly created Central Division.
The league introduces two new trophies for division champions of the regular season. The Frank Mathers Trophy is first awarded for the south division, and the Sam Pollock Trophy is first awarded for the atlantic Division. The John D. Chick Trophy becomes awarded to the central division.
The AHL revives awarding points for overtime losses, last awarded in the 1987–88 AHL season. Eighteen teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Albany River Rats finished first overall in the regular season. The Rochester Americans won their sixth Calder Cup championship.
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points;
| Atlantic | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Edward Island Senators (OTT) | 80 | 38 | 33 | 6 | 3 | 85 | 303 | 313 | |
| Saint John Flames (CGY) | 80 | 35 | 30 | 11 | 4 | 85 | 272 | 264 | |
| St. John's Maple Leafs (TOR) | 80 | 31 | 31 | 14 | 4 | 80 | 248 | 274 | |
| Fredericton Canadiens (MTL) | 80 | 34 | 35 | 11 | 0 | 79 | 307 | 308 | |
| Cape Breton Oilers (EDM) | 80 | 33 | 40 | 3 | 4 | 73 | 290 | 323 |
| North | GP | W | L | T | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield Falcons (HFD/WIN) | 80 | 42 | 22 | 11 | 5 | 100 | 272 | 215 | |
| Worcester IceCats (STL) | 80 | 36 | 28 | 12 | 4 | 88 | 242 | 244 | |
| Portland Pirates (WSH) | 80 | 32 | 34 | 10 | 4 | 78 | 282 | 283 | |
| Providence Bruins (BOS) | 80 | 30 | 36 | 10 | 4 | 74 | 249 | 280 |
| Central | GP | W | L | T | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany River Rats (NJD) | 80 | 54 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 115 | 322 | 218 | |
| Adirondack Red Wings (DET) | 80 | 38 | 32 | 8 | 2 | 86 | 271 | 247 | |
| Rochester Americans (BUF) | 80 | 37 | 34 | 5 | 4 | 83 | 294 | 297 | |
| Cornwall Aces (COL) | 80 | 34 | 34 | 7 | 5 | 80 | 249 | 251 | |
| Syracuse Crunch (VAN) | 80 | 31 | 37 | 5 | 7 | 74 | 257 | 307 |
| South | GP | W | L | T | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binghamton Rangers (NYR) | 80 | 39 | 31 | 7 | 3 | 88 | 333 | 331 | |
| Hershey Bears (PHI) | 80 | 36 | 30 | 11 | 3 | 86 | 301 | 287 | |
| Baltimore Bandits (ANA) | 80 | 33 | 36 | 9 | 2 | 77 | 279 | 299 | |
| Carolina Monarchs (FLA) | 80 | 28 | 38 | 11 | 3 | 70 | 313 | 343 |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 | 68 | 58 | 126 | 80 | |||
| 78 | 34 | 71 | 105 | 95 | |||
| 70 | 34 | 68 | 102 | 46 | |||
| 55 | 43 | 58 | 101 | 29 | |||
| 68 | 48 | 53 | 101 | 157 | |||
| 77 | 32 | 67 | 99 | 208 | |||
| 72 | 43 | 52 | 95 | 79 | |||
| 67 | 40 | 55 | 95 | 64 | |||
| 71 | 38 | 56 | 94 | 74 | |||
| 55 | 23 | 71 | 94 | 44 | |||
| 69 | 28 | 66 | 94 | 125 |
See main article: 1996 Calder Cup playoffs.
The 9th AHL All-Star Game was played on January 16, 1996, at the Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Team USA defeated Team Canada 6-5. In the inaugural AHL skills competition held the day before the All-Star Game, Team USA won 14-12 over Team Canada.[1]
| Calder Cup Playoff champions: | Rochester Americans | |
| Richard F. Canning Trophy Northern Conference playoff champions: | Portland Pirates | |
| Robert W. Clarke Trophy Southern Conference playoff champions: | Rochester Americans | |
| Frank Mathers Trophy Regular Season champions, South Division: | Binghamton Rangers | |
| F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy Regular Season champions, North Division: | Springfield Falcons | |
| Sam Pollock Trophy Regular Season champions, Atlantic Division: | Prince Edward Island Senators | |
| John D. Chick Trophy Regular Season champions, Central Division: | Albany River Rats |
| Les Cunningham Award Most valuable player: | Brad Smyth - Carolina Monarchs | |
| John B. Sollenberger Trophy Top point scorer: | Brad Smyth - Carolina Monarchs | |
| Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award Rookie of the year: | Darcy Tucker - Fredericton Canadiens | |
| Eddie Shore Award Defenceman of the year: | Barry Richter - Binghamton Rangers | |
| Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award Best Goaltender: | Manny Legace - Springfield Falcons | |
| Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Lowest goals against average: | Manny Legace & Scott Langkow - Springfield Falcons | |
| Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award Coach of the year: | Robbie Ftorek - Albany River Rats | |
| Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award Sportsmanship / Perseverance: | Ken Gernander - Binghamton Rangers | |
| Jack A. Butterfield Trophy MVP of the playoffs: | Dixon Ward - Rochester Americans |
| James C. Hendy Memorial Award Most outstanding executive: | Steve Donner, Rochester Americans | |
| James H. Ellery Memorial Awards Outstanding media coverage: | Kevin Oklobzija, Rochester, (newspaper) Seth Everett, Syracuse, (radio) Tom Caron, New England Sports Network, (television) | |
| Ken McKenzie Award Outstanding marketing executive: | Tim Kuhl, Syracuse Crunch |