| Calder Cup playoffs | |
| Year: | 2005 |
| Dates: | April 19 – June 10, 2005 |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Second: | Chicago Wolves |
| Prev Season: | 2004 |
| Next Season: | 2006 |
The 2005 Calder Cup playoffs of the American Hockey League began on April 19, 2005.[1] The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for division semifinals, finals and conference finals. The conference champions played a best-of-7 series for the Calder Cup. The Calder Cup Final ended on June 10, 2005 with the Philadelphia Phantoms defeating the Chicago Wolves four games to none to win the second Calder Cup in team history.[2] Philadelphia's Antero Niittymaki won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP.[3]
Philadelphia set an AHL record by winning 11 consecutive home games in a single playoff.[4] By playing the postseason in the Wachovia Center, the team also managed to settle postseason attendance records, with 20,103 spectators in the cup-clinching game 4 against Chicago.[5]
As the National Hockey League was in the midst of a lockout that canceled that league's entire 2004–05 season, the 2005 playoffs featured a higher number of players from the NHL.
After the 2004–05 AHL regular season, 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The top four teams from each division qualified for the playoffs. The Rochester Americans were the Western Conference regular season champions as well as the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners with the best overall regular season record. The Manchester Monarchs were the Eastern Conference regular season champions.[6]
In each round the higher seed receives home ice advantage, meaning they can play a maximum of four home games if the series reaches seven games. There is no set series format for each series due to arena scheduling conflicts and travel considerations.[7]
Note 1: All times are in Eastern Time (UTC−4).
Note 2: Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary.
Note 3: Home team is listed first.
These are the top ten skaters based on points. If there is a tie in points, goals take precedence over assists.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Philadelphia Phantoms | 21 | 12 | 11 | 23 | +10 | 12 | ||
| align=left | Philadelphia Phantoms | 21 | 8 | 13 | 21 | +9 | 20 | ||
| align=left | Providence Bruins | 17 | 7 | 14 | 21 | +3 | 27 | ||
| align=left | Providence Bruins | 17 | 4 | 14 | 18 | –5 | 18 | ||
| align=left | Philadelphia Phantoms | 21 | 10 | 7 | 17 | +7 | 44 | ||
| align=left | Providence Bruins | 16 | 8 | 7 | 15 | –1 | 23 | ||
| align=left | Philadelphia Phantoms | 14 | 7 | 8 | 15 | +8 | 28 | ||
| align=left | Manitoba Moose | 14 | 9 | 5 | 14 | –1 | 26 | ||
| align=left | Manitoba Moose | 14 | 10 | 3 | 13 | +4 | 23 | ||
| align=left | Philadelphia Phantoms | 19 | 2 | 11 | 13 | +5 | 6 |
This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage with at least 420 minutes played. The table is initially sorted by goals against average, with the criterion for inclusion in bold.
GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes)
| Player | Team | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 10 | 6 | 457 | 28 | 1.71 | .939 | 2 | 983 | |||
| 21 | 15 | 5 | 648 | 37 | 1.75 | .943 | 3 | 1269 | |||
| 12 | 8 | 4 | 329 | 29 | 2.42 | .912 | 2 | 720 | |||
| 17 | 10 | 7 | 547 | 42 | 2.43 | .923 | 0 | 1038 | |||
| 9 | 5 | 4 | 244 | 23 | 2.48 | .906 | 1 | 556 | |||
| 11 | 5 | 6 | 340 | 28 | 2.53 | .918 | 2 | 664 | |||
| 7 | 3 | 4 | 229 | 20 | 2.62 | .913 | 1 | 458 |