2005–06 AHL season

The 2005–06 AHL season was the 70th season of the American Hockey League. Twenty-seven teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Hershey Bears won the Calder Cup, defeating the Milwaukee Admirals in the finals.
To celebrate the AHL's 70th anniversary, the league announced on January 6, 2006, the first inductees into the AHL's new Hall of Fame . The first inductees were; Johnny Bower, Jack Butterfield, Jody Gage, Fred Glover, Willie Marshall, Frank Mathers and Eddie Shore.

Team changes

The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks suspend operations, becoming dormant.
The Edmonton Road Runners suspend operations, becoming dormant.
The Utah Grizzlies suspend operations, becoming dormant.
The dormant Saint John Flames resumed operations as the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, playing in the West division.
The dormant Louisville Panthers resumed operations as the Iowa Stars, playing in the West division.
The St. John's Maple Leafs moved to Toronto, Ontario, becoming the Toronto Marlies.
The Worcester IceCats moved to Peoria, Illinois, becoming the Peoria Rivermen, playing in the West division.
The Albany River Rats shift from the East division to the Atlantic division.
The Grand Rapids Griffins shift from the West division to the North division.

Final standings

indicates team clinched division and a playoff spotindicates team clinched a playoff spot

''indicates team was eliminated from playoff contention''

Eastern Conference

East Division
y–Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	80	51	18	5	6	113	249	178
x–Hershey Bears	80	44	21	5	10	103	262	234
x–Norfolk Admirals	80	43	29	4	4	94	259	246
x–Bridgeport Sound Tigers	80	38	33	6	3	85	246	253
e–Binghamton Senators	80	35	37	4	4	78	258	295
e–Philadelphia Phantoms	80	34	37	2	7	77	197	232

Western Conference

West Division
y–Milwaukee Admirals	80	49	21	6	4	108	268	234
x–Houston Aeros	80	50	24	3	3	106	285	242
x–Peoria Rivermen	80	46	26	3	5	100	253	226
x–Iowa Stars	80	41	31	1	7	90	238	228
e–Chicago Wolves	80	36	32	4	8	84	278	275
e–Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights	80	35	31	3	11	84	206	221
e–San Antonio Rampage	80	23	50	3	4	53	153	251

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Kirby Law	Houston Aeros	80	43	67	110	95
Erik Westrum	Houston Aeros	71	34	64	98	138
Jiri Hudler	Grand Rapids Griffins	76	36	60	96	56
Patrick O'Sullivan	Houston Aeros	78	47	46	93	64
Darren Haydar	Milwaukee Admirals	80	35	57	92	50
Denis Hamel	Binghamton Senators	77	56	35	91	65
Donald MacLean	Grand Rapids Griffins	76	56	32	88	63
Brad Smyth	Hartford Wolf Pack	80	34	52	86	69
Ryan Shannon	Portland Pirates	71	27	59	86	44
Keith Aucoin	Lowell Lock Monsters	72	29	56	85	68

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses: OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	Mins	W	L	SL	GA	SO	GAA	Sv%
Dany Sabourin	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	49	2943	30	14	4	111	4	2.26	0.922
Wade Flaherty	Manitoba Moose	49	2822	26	17	4	113	6	2.40	0.919
Brent Krahn	Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights	57	3241	26	20	9	135	3	2.50	0.912
Mike Smith	Iowa Stars	50	3000	25	19	6	125	3	2.50	0.917
Martin Houle	Philadelphia Phantoms	40	2153	18	18	1	91	2	2.54	0.914

All Star Classic

The 19th AHL All-Star Classic was played on February 1, 2006, at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Team Canada defeated team PlanetUSA 9–4. In the skills competition held the night before, team Canada defeated team PlanetUSA 21–12 in front of two sellout crowds of 15,115, the largest for an AHL event.