The 2009–10 AHL season was the 74th

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

. Twenty-nine teams played 80 regular-season games each from October 2 to April 11. This season featured the addition of one new team, the relocation of two others, and the involuntary suspension of another.

League business

European pre-season openers

On June 11, 2009, both the Hamilton Bulldogs and the Toronto Marlies were invited to participate in a four-team preseason tournament in Edinburgh, Scotland, to celebrate Scotland's contribution to the game of ice hockey. The Edinburgh Capitals, Scotland's only Elite Ice Hockey team, hosted the tournament from September 24–27. The Bulldogs and Marlies played the Capitals and the Belfast Giants in order to win the Gardiner Cup. Hamilton defeated Toronto in the final.

Playoff format

The top four teams from each division played for the Calder Cup. The league's rules included one exception: if the fifth-place team in the Atlantic Division finishes better than the fourth-place team in the East Division, they assume the fourth playoff spot in the East Division. The Atlantic Division's

Bridgeport Sound Tigers The Bridgeport Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the franchise. The team started in 200 ...

qualified for the playoffs under this provision.

Team and NHL affiliation changes

Team changes

On April 28, 2009, it was announced that two teams would be relocated for the 2009–10 season and one expansion team would join: * Quad City Flames would move to Abbotsford, BC due to poor ticket sales. They became the Abbotsford Heat. * Philadelphia Phantoms would relocate to Glens Falls, NY due to the Wachovia Spectrum being demolished fall of 2009. They became the Adirondack Phantoms. * Texas Stars joined the league with a limited membership and will be operated by the Dallas Stars. The limited membership is conditioned on the completed purchase of an existing AHL franchise within one year. * Iowa Chops involuntarily suspended operations on July 7, 2009, by the AHL Board of Governors for the 2009-10 season for being "unable to remedy certain violations of the provisions of the league's Constitution and By-Laws" .

Affiliation changes

Final standings

* ''indicates team clinched division and a playoff spot'' * ''indicates team clinched a playoff spot'' * ''indicates team was eliminated from playoff contention''

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Statistical leaders

Leading skaters

The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season. ''GP = Games played; G =

Goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

s; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes'' = No longer with listed team

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders with a minimum 1560 minutes played led the league in goals against average at the end of the regular season. ''GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO =

Shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

s; GAA = Goals against average; SV% =

Save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...

; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/ shootout loss''

Calder Cup playoffs

Bracket

AHL awards

Milestones

References

AHL official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahl Season 2009-10 2009-10 2 2