Best AHL teams in history?

[Say Hey Kid]

It's hard to establish a best AHL team ever with such in-season roster turnover. Plus, does best team mean from an AHL perspective only or from a developing prospects/future NHL stars standpoint? The 1998-99 Providence Bruins for instance, coached by Peter Laviolette, had 120 regular season points, a regular season goal differential of +98, and then went 15-4 in the Calder Cup playoffs. Yet that roster was filled with players who never set the NHL on fire or were even NHL regulars. The top performers were people like Randy Robitaille, Andre Savage, Peter Ferraro, Cameron Mann, John Grahame, etc. All had long hockey careers, mostly in the minors or Europe, but despite the great team accomplishment, none could be considered an NHL star or sometimes even regular in the making.

Yeah, I was going to post them. I like the 1992-93 Binghamton Rangers in the regular season, but your team is one of the best ever.

Edited: Tim Tookey (824 353 621 974) is the 4th leading scorer in AHL history!

 

[Huselius]

Another question I'm hoping somebody more knowledgeable would be able to answer - has there ever been a player, drafted or not, with no NHL experience who was only signed for AHL depth, that tore it up so well in the A that they were called up and did well in the NHL?

 

[VanIslander]

who was only signed for AHL depth, that tore it up so well in the A that they were called up and did well in the NHL?

You mean, someone who signed an AHL contract then later signed a two-way NHL or one-way NHL contract? I suspect there have been dozens.

 

[Hawksfan2828]

Another question I'm hoping somebody more knowledgeable would be able to answer - has there ever been a player, drafted or not, with no NHL experience who was only signed for AHL depth, that tore it up so well in the A that they were called up and did well in the NHL?

Martin St. Louis?
Patrick Sharp?
Rob Brown?

I think a better question is what players tore up and were elite at the AHL/IHL level but did little in the NHL..

Players like that have always baffled me...

 

[TonyTinglebone]

I know they were in the IHL, but the other day I was thinking about the 1992-93 San Diego Gulls. For a minor league team they were pretty stacked and might have given the 1992-93 Sharks or Senators a run for their money.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000771993.html

Somehow they lost in the finals though, to Fort Wayne.

Odd how many NHL coaches are on that team.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Hershey bears in 09/10 had 123 points and 144 plus on goals and won it all for second in a row. That team was better, ans are others.