2003–04 NAHL season
| 2003–04 NAHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | North American Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | Regular season September 2003 – March 2004 Post-season March 25 – May 2, 2004 |
| Number of games | 56, 24 |
| Number of teams | 21 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Texas Tornado |
| Top scorer | Mike Ruberto (Cleveland Jr. Barons) |
| Robertson Cup Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Texas Tornado |
| Runners-up | Bismarck Bobcats |
The 2003–04 NAHL season was the 20th season of the North American Hockey League. The season ran from September 2003 to April 2004 with a 56-game schedule for each team. The Texas Tornado won the regular season championship and went on to defeat the Bismarck Bobcats 4 to 1 for the Robertson Cup.
Member changes
- After the previous season, several of the NAHL's active teams folded. These included the Capital Centre Pride, Chicago Freeze and Detroit Compuware Ambassadors.[1]
- The league was further reduced by the loss of the Danville Wings to the United States Hockey League.
- The Pittsburgh Forge also relocated and became the Toledo IceDiggers.
- Over the course of 2003, the NAHL and America West Hockey League negotiated a merger between the two leagues.[2] The new combined league would remain the 'North American Hockey League' and include eight of the eleven AWHL franchises that were active in its final season. These teams were the Billings Bulls, Bismarck Bobcats, Bozeman IceDogs, Fairbanks Ice Dogs, Fernie Ghostriders, Helena Bighorns, Central Texas Blackhawks and Wichita Falls Rustlers.
- The league also added six expansion franchises for this season. The new squads were the Dayton Gems, Fargo-Moorhead Jets, Lone Star Cavalry, Minnesota Blizzard, Texarkana Bandits and Youngstown Phantoms.
- After playing just 21 games during the season, the Dayton Gems suspended operations. The club forfeited their next 3 matches before withdrawing from the league and folding.
Regular season
The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:[3]
Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched regular season title
Standings
North Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – Soo Indians | 56 | 44 | 6 | 6 | 94 | 213 | 115 |
| x – Springfield Jr. Blues | 56 | 34 | 18 | 4 | 72 | 194 | 143 |
| x – Cleveland Jr. Barons | 56 | 31 | 20 | 5 | 67 | 192 | 179 |
| x – USNTDP | 56 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 63 | 199 | 174 |
| Youngstown Phantoms | 56 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 63 | 168 | 169 |
| Toledo IceDiggers | 56 | 13 | 38 | 5 | 31 | 146 | 243 |
| Dayton Gems | 24 | 7 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 63 | 110 |
South Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xyz – Texas Tornado | 56 | 48 | 6 | 2 | 98 | 276 | 123 |
| x – Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 56 | 31 | 15 | 10 | 72 | 174 | 140 |
| x – Wichita Falls Rustlers | 56 | 29 | 20 | 7 | 65 | 200 | 172 |
| x – Texarkana Bandits | 56 | 30 | 24 | 2 | 62 | 167 | 181 |
| Lone Star Cavalry | 56 | 28 | 22 | 6 | 62 | 158 | 171 |
| Central Texas Blackhawks | 56 | 19 | 30 | 7 | 45 | 161 | 219 |
| Springfield Spirit | 56 | 13 | 39 | 4 | 30 | 153 | 259 |
West Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – Billings Bulls | 56 | 40 | 14 | 2 | 82 | 224 | 143 |
| x – Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 56 | 33 | 21 | 2 | 68 | 187 | 160 |
| x – Bismarck Bobcats | 56 | 30 | 22 | 4 | 64 | 184 | 184 |
| x – Helena Bighorns | 56 | 28 | 22 | 6 | 62 | 205 | 191 |
| Bozeman IceDogs | 56 | 28 | 22 | 6 | 62 | 174 | 163 |
| Minnesota Blizzard | 56 | 20 | 28 | 8 | 48 | 148 | 209 |
| Fernie Ghostriders | 56 | 12 | 38 | 6 | 30 | 146 | 270 |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games. [4]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Ruberto | Cleveland Jr. Barons | 56 | 39 | 33 | 72 | 66 |
| Logan Bittle | Soo Indians | 53 | 34 | 37 | 71 | 70 |
| Brian Bicek | Cleveland Jr. Barons | 56 | 26 | 45 | 71 | 91 |
| Stavros Paskaris | Soo Indians | 55 | 30 | 38 | 68 | 35 |
| Luke Flicek | Texas Tornado | 55 | 23 | 42 | 65 | 41 |
| Brad Cooper | Texas Tornado | 56 | 26 | 37 | 63 | 34 |
| Vince Goulet | Texas Tornado | 54 | 28 | 33 | 61 | 197 |
| Mark Agnew | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 55 | 17 | 44 | 61 | 51 |
| Jake Bluhm | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 52 | 28 | 31 | 59 | 91 |
| Tim Hartung | Lone Star Cavalry | 52 | 17 | 41 | 58 | 40 |
Robertson Cup playoffs
Four teams qualified for the Round Robin semifinal, the host (Texas) and the four division champions. If Texas won the South 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.
| Division Semifinals (Best-of-5) | Division Finals (Best-of-5) | Semifinal (Round Robin) | Championship (Best-of-1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Soo Indians | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| N4 | USNTDP | 1 | 3* | 4* | 7 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| N4 | USNTDP | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 3 | 5 | 5* | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 2 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| N3 | Cleveland Jr. Barons | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Texas Tornado | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Springfield Jr. Blues | - | 5 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Texarkana Bandits | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Texas Tornado | 3 | 4 | 7 | - | - | S2 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 2 | - | 2 | 1 | H | Texas Tornado | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| South Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | W3 | Bismarck Bobcats | 3 | 3 | - | 3 | W3 | Bismarck Bobcats | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| S2 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 1 | 3 | 2* | 5 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| H | Texas Tornado | 1 | 2 | 8 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Wichita Falls Rustlers | 2* | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Billings Bulls | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | - | Consolation Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | Helena Bighorns | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Billings Bulls | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | - | N2 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| West Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Bismarck Bobcats | 4 | 0 | 3 | 5 | - | S2 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Bismarck Bobcats | 7 | 4 | 3 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
References
- ^ "Freeze hockey team shuts down". Chicago Tribune. April 24, 2003. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
- ^ "NAHL History". North American Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
- ^ "NAHL Standings". North American Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
- ^ "NAHL Stats". North American Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2025.