The 2009–10 NAHL season was the 26th season of the North American Hockey League. The regular season ran from September 2009 to April 2010 with a 58-game schedule for each team. The Wenatchee Wild won the regular season championship. The Bismarck Bobcats defeated the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 3 to 0 to capture the Robertson Cup.
Member changes In April of 2009, the United States Hockey League announced that they would be expanding by accepting two NAHL teams, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms and USNTDP, for the upcoming season.
The Texas Tornado sat out the previous season due to renovations at their home rink, the Deja Blue Arena. With the venue now ready to host events once more, it was renamed Dr Pepper Arena and Tornado returned to league play.
In 2009, the NAHL approved Janesville, Wisconsin as the site for a new expansion franchise. In June, the team revealed their new name as the Janesville Jets.
Towards the end of June, the Motor City Machine announced that they were changing their logo and name to Motor City Metal Jackets.
Regular season
The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:
Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched regular season title Standings Central Division
Team xy – Bismarck Bobcats 583911886195130 x – Owatonna Express 583222468188190 x – Alexandria Blizzard 583022666180166 x – Albert Lea Thunder 581934643153231 North Iowa Outlaws 581537636147234
North Division
Team xy – Marquette Rangers 583522171186154 x – Traverse City North Stars 583320571217172 x – Janesville Jets 582923664169172 x – Motor City Metal Jackets 582526757158189 Alpena IceDiggers 582234246169201
South Division
Team xy – Topeka RoadRunners 58449593254147 x – St. Louis Bandits 584411391211125 x – Texas Tornado 582528555170204 x – Springfield Jr. Blues 582129850163193 Wichita Falls Wildcats 581834642175251
West Division
Team xyz – Wenatchee Wild 584510393219125 x – Alaska Avalanche 583219771198178 x – Fairbanks Ice Dogs 583222468203182 x – Kenai River Brown Bears 581240630144247
Statistics Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games.
Player Team Erik Higby Topeka RoadRunners 57 27 53 80 68 Michael Juola Fairbanks Ice Dogs 58 22 55 77 70 Jared Rickord Springfield Jr. Blues 58 28 40 68 14 Andrew Kolb Marquette Rangers 58 24 41 65 34 Garrett Ladd Marquette Rangers 55 23 40 63 105 Nardo Nagtzaam Alexandria Blizzard 54 24 37 61 55 Brian Sheehan Wichita Falls Wildcats 58 29 31 60 70 Mark Pustin Fairbanks Ice Dogs 53 23 36 59 29 Jason Fabian Bismarck Bobcats 57 24 34 58 81 Kyle Clay Alexandria Blizzard 58 21 36 57 46
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 Brandon Jaeger Wenatchee Wild 29 1604:35 22 3 1 0 49 3 631 .928 1.83 Lukas Hafner Marquette Rangers 21 1071:53 11 6 0 0 37 3 558 .938 2.07 Tyler Bruggeman St. Louis Bandits 36 2136:22 24 8 0 2 75 2 936 .926 2.11 Ryan Faragher Bismarck Bobcats 38 2125:58 23 6 2 5 77 4 897 .921 2.17 Evan Karambelas Topeka RoadRunners 27 1622:45 22 4 0 1 62 2 504 .890 2.29
Robertson Cup playoffs Five teams qualified for the Round Robin semifinal, the host (Wenatchee) and the four division champions. If Wenatchee won the west 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.
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Division Semifinals
Central Division
(C1) Bismarck Bobcats vs. (C4) Albert Lea Thunder
(C2) Owatonna Express vs. (C3) Alexandria Blizzard
North Division
(N1) Marquette Rangers vs. (N4) Motor City Machine
(N2) Traverse City North Stars vs. (N3) Janesville Jets
South Division
(S1) Topeka RoadRunners vs. (S4) Springfield Jr. Blues
(S2) St. Louis Bandits vs. (S3) Texas Tornado
West Division
(W1) Wenatchee Wild vs. (W4) Kenai River Brown Bears
(W2) Alaska Avalanche vs. (W3) Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Division Finals
Central Division
(C1) Bismarck Bobcats vs. (C4) Alexandria Blizzard
North Division
(N2) Traverse City North Stars vs. (N4) Motor City Machine
South Division
(S1) Topeka RoadRunners vs. (S2) St. Louis Bandits
West Division
(W1) Wenatchee Wild vs. (W3) Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Semifinal
May 4
May 5
May 6
May 7
May 8
Robertson Cup Final
(C1) Bismarck Bobcats vs. (W3) Fairbanks Ice Dogs
References
NAHL reference
External links Official website of the North American Hockey League