SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins captured the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy on Saturday night as the American Hockey League’s 2010-11 regular-season points champion, securing the title with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Rochester Americans.
The Penguins (55-20-0-1, 111 points) have also claimed the F.G. (Teddy) Oke Trophy as the East Division champions, as well as the Frank S. Mathers Trophy as the regular-season champions of the Eastern Conference.
Under rookie head coach John Hynes, the Penguins have eclipsed the previous team record for wins (51) and are closing in on the club mark for points (113) in a season with four games remaining. Wilkes-Barre has won the East Division for the third time in the last six seasons, but this is the franchise’s first Kilpatrick Trophy. The Penguins will have home-ice advantage for as long as they are in the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, which was instituted in 1997, honors the late Macgregor Kilpatrick, a member of the AHL Board of Governors for 27 years and a 2010 inductee into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame. Kilpatrick also served as the AHL’s senior vice president and general counsel during his tenure, and earned the James C. Hendy Award in 1976 as the league’s outstanding executive.
Celebrating its historic 75th anniversary season in 2010-11, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 85 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
