Coach Carlyle was back behind the Moose bench for one last season, replacing Stan Smyl. The old blood and a new home seemed to bring new life, as the rejuvenated Moose went on another spirited playoff dash in their first season at the MTS Centre.
The Moose bid farewell to the Winnipeg Arena on November 6, 2004, with a 2-1 shootout loss to the Utah Grizzlies. They opened the MTS Centre in better style, defeating the St. John’s Maple Leafs 4-2 on November 17, 2004. The Moose finished the season with a 44-26-3-7 record.
The playoffs began with Manitoba dispatching the St. John’s Maple Leafs in five games. The Moose then marched into Rochester and toppled the regular season champion Americans in five games. But the ride came to an abrupt stop at the hands of an old villain. The Chicago Wolves took out the Moose in a four-game sweep to extend their playoff dominance over Manitoba.
Peter Sarno dropped 82 points to lead the team, and fell one assist shy of tying Bill Bowler’s record of 67. Winnipegger Lee Goren and Ryan Kesler provided the bulk of the goal scoring, netting 32 and 30 respectively. Kesler’s sniping earned him team MVP. Nolan Baumgartner was again named top defenceman.
Alex Auld appeared in 50 regular season games for the Moose, compiling a 25-18-4 record, but Carlyle turned to veteran Wade Flaherty in the playoffs. Flaherty had put up a 19-10-3 record in the regular season, and started all but two playoff games.
| AHL Standings 2004-05 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Division | ||||||||||
| TEAM | GP | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | WPCT | GF | GA | PIM | |
| y Manchester | 80 | 21 | 4 | 4 | 110 | .688 | 258 | 176 | 2044 | |
| x Hartford | 80 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 106 | .663 | 206 | 160 | 2586 | |
| x Lowell | 80 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 100 | .625 | 242 | 190 | 1946 | |
| x Providence | 80 | 30 | 3 | 7 | 90 | .563 | 211 | 202 | 2181 | |
| Worcester | 80 | 34 | 4 | 3 | 85 | .531 | 212 | 223 | 1422 | |
| Portland | 80 | 34 | 6 | 6 | 80 | .500 | 175 | 242 | 1810 | |
| Springfield | 80 | 47 | 6 | 3 | 57 | .356 | 161 | 255 | 1946 | |
| TOTALS | 560 | 217 | 27 | 31 | 628 | .561 | 1465 | 1448 | 13935 | |
| East Division | ||||||||||
| TEAM | GP | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | WPCT | GF | GA | PIM | |
| y Binghamton | 80 | 21 | 5 | 7 | 106 | .663 | 276 | 217 | 2382 | |
| x Philadelphia | 80 | 25 | 3 | 4 | 103 | .644 | 235 | 185 | 2244 | |
| x Norfolk | 80 | 30 | 1 | 6 | 93 | .581 | 200 | 188 | 2268 | |
| x Wilkes-Barre | 80 | 27 | 7 | 7 | 92 | .575 | 227 | 219 | 1953 | |
| Hershey | 80 | 37 | 2 | 2 | 82 | .513 | 207 | 226 | 1479 | |
| Bridgeport | 80 | 38 | 4 | 1 | 79 | .494 | 192 | 222 | 1834 | |
| Albany | 80 | 38 | 7 | 6 | 71 | .444 | 198 | 248 | 2178 | |
| TOTALS | 560 | 216 | 29 | 33 | 626 | .559 | 1535 | 1505 | 14338 | |
| North Division | ||||||||||
| TEAM | GP | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | WPCT | GF | GA | PIM | |
| z Rochester | 80 | 19 | 4 | 6 | 112 | .700 | 243 | 208 | 1923 | |
| x St. Johns | 80 | 28 | 1 | 5 | 98 | .613 | 244 | 232 | 2072 | |
| x Manitoba | 80 | 26 | 3 | 7 | 98 | .613 | 243 | 210 | 1799 | |
| x Hamilton | 80 | 29 | 7 | 6 | 89 | .556 | 225 | 210 | 1764 | |
| Sy racuse | 80 | 33 | 7 | 4 | 83 | .519 | 215 | 230 | 2238 | |
| Edmonton | 80 | 33 | 4 | 11 | 79 | .494 | 201 | 223 | 1873 | |
| Cleveland | 80 | 37 | 2 | 6 | 78 | .488 | 200 | 226 | 1676 | |
| TOTALS | 560 | 205 | 28 | 45 | 637 | .569 | 1571 | 1539 | 13345 | |
| West Division | ||||||||||
| TEAM | GP | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | WPCT | GF | GA | PIM | |
| y Chicago | 80 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 105 | .656 | 245 | 211 | 1954 | |
| x Milwaukee | 80 | 24 | 4 | 5 | 103 | .644 | 247 | 207 | 1930 | |
| x Cincinnati | 80 | 31 | 1 | 4 | 93 | .581 | 206 | 191 | 2208 | |
| x Houston | 80 | 28 | 6 | 6 | 92 | .575 | 212 | 195 | 1862 | |
| Grand Rapids | 80 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 86 | .538 | 200 | 200 | 1721 | |
| San Antonio | 80 | 45 | 3 | 5 | 62 | .388 | 156 | 232 | 1654 | |
| Utah | 80 | 50 | 2 | 5 | 53 | .331 | 156 | 265 | 1857 | |
| TOTALS | 560 | 237 | 23 | 29 | 594 | .530 | 1422 | 1501 | 13186 | |
| x - clinched playoff berth y - clinched playoff title z - clinched league title | ||||||||||
| 2004-05 Regular Season | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Player Statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| # | PLAYER | POS | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG | FG | OTG | UAG | ENG | SHOG | SHOA | SHO% | SHOTS | SPCT |
| 18 | Sarno, Peter | C | 80 | 16 | 66 | 82 | +11 | 53 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | .286 | 114 | .140 |
| 37 | Goren, Lee | RW | 79 | 32 | 30 | 62 | +24 | 117 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | .333 | 241 | .133 |
| 17 | Kesler, Ryan | C | 78 | 30 | 28 | 58 | +22 | 105 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 202 | .149 |
| 32 | King, Jason | LW | 59 | 26 | 27 | 53 | +1 | 22 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | .286 | 212 | .123 |
| 16 | Heerema, Jeff | RW | 80 | 14 | 30 | 44 | +9 | 67 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 187 | .075 |
| 36 | Green, Josh | F | 67 | 21 | 19 | 40 | +6 | 72 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 11 | .455 | 180 | .117 |
| 3 | Bieksa, Kevin | D | 80 | 12 | 27 | 39 | +21 | 192 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 189 | .063 |
| 7 | Baumgartner, Nolan | D | 78 | 9 | 30 | 39 | -5 | 51 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 150 | .060 |
| 4 | Mojzis, Tomas | D | 80 | 7 | 23 | 30 | +1 | 62 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 153 | .046 |
| 43 | Burrows, Alexandre | RW | 72 | 9 | 17 | 26 | +3 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 83 | .108 |
| 14 | Jaffray, Jason | LW | 14 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 13 | .308 |
| (TOTALS) | 44 | 14 | 10 | 24 | +15 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .200 | 54 | .259 | .259 | |
| 22 | Schultz, Jesse | RW | 70 | 9 | 15 | 24 | -1 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 69 | .130 |
| 15 | Morrison, Justin | RW | 71 | 11 | 10 | 21 | +1 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .200 | 102 | .108 |
| 27 | Groulx, Danny | D | 16 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +5 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 34 | .059 |
| (TOTALS) | 69 | 3 | 16 | 19 | +3 | 106 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 113 | .027 | .027 | |
| 21 | Roy, Jimmy | LW | 50 | 10 | 7 | 17 | +5 | 187 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 60 | .167 |
| X | Koltsov, Kirill | D | 28 | 3 | 14 | 17 | +3 | 42 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 34 | .088 |
| 19 | Smith, Nathan | C | 72 | 7 | 9 | 16 | -11 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 71 | .099 |
| 6 | Huskins, Kent | D | 65 | 5 | 11 | 16 | -4 | 41 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 61 | .082 |
| 12 | Pecker, Cory | RW | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 9 | .111 |
| (TOTALS) | 61 | 5 | 9 | 14 | -4 | 59 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 79 | .063 | .063 | |
| 23 | Nolan, Brandon | C | 48 | 4 | 8 | 12 | +8 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 47 | .085 |
| 5 | DiPenta, Joe | D | 73 | 2 | 10 | 12 | +18 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 59 | .034 |
| 42 | Brookbank, Wade | RW | 68 | 0 | 10 | 10 | +2 | 285 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 32 | .000 |
| 44 | Aitken, Johnathan | D | 46 | 1 | 6 | 7 | +4 | 101 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 58 | .017 |
| X | Smith, Tim | C | 29 | 4 | 0 | 4 | +1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 15 | .267 |
| 11 | Rypien, Rick | C | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 8 | .125 |
| 35 | Auld, Alex | G | 50 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | .000 |
| 33 | Flaherty, Wade | G | 36 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | .000 |
| X | Fitzpatrick, Chans | RW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 5 | .000 |
| X | Lehoux, Jason | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | .000 |
| X | Zultek, Matt | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | .000 |
| X | McVicar, Rob | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | .000 |
| X | Amadio, Greg | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | .000 |
| X | Gaucher, Ryan | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | .000 |
| X | Minard, Mike | G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | .000 |
| TOTALS | 80 | 243 | 412 | 655 | - | 1799 | 73 | 4 | 44 | 41 | 7 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 54 | .278 | 2391 | .102 | ||
| 2004-05 Regular Season | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Goaltender Statistics | |||||||||||||||
| # | Goaltender | GP | MIN | W | L | SOL | SO | GA | GAA | SHOW | SHO | SHOGA | SHOAA | SAVES | SPCT |
| 35 | Auld, Alex | 50 | 2763:47 | 25 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 118 | 2.56 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 33 | 1178 | .909 |
| 33 | Flaherty, Wade | 36 | 2009:32 | 19 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 78 | 2.33 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 873 | .918 |
| X | Minard, Mike | 0 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| X | McVicar, Rob | 1 | 61:33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.92 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | .933 |
| TOTALS | 80 | NA | 44 | 29 | 7 | 6 | 210 | 2.63 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 55 | 2093 | .909 | |
| 2004-05 Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Player Statistics | ||||||||||||||||||
| # | PLAYER | POS | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG | FG | GTG | OTG | UAG | ENG | SHOTS | SPCT |
| 36 | Green, Josh | F | 14 | 9 | 5 | 14 | -1 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 42 | .214 |
| 37 | Goren, Lee | RW | 14 | 10 | 3 | 13 | +4 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 49 | .204 |
| 16 | Heerema, Jeff | RW | 14 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +8 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 48 | .083 |
| 17 | Kesler, Ryan | C | 14 | 4 | 5 | 9 | +7 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | .133 |
| 18 | Sarno, Peter | C | 14 | 1 | 8 | 9 | -2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | .032 |
| 19 | Smith, Nathan | C | 14 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | .143 |
| 15 | Morrison, Justin | RW | 14 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | .043 |
| 22 | Schultz, Jesse | RW | 14 | 3 | 2 | 5 | +2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | .231 |
| 5 | DiPenta, Joe | D | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | +6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | .000 |
| 27 | Groulx, Danny | D | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | +3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | .030 |
| 7 | Baumgartner, Nolan | D | 14 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | .000 |
| 21 | Roy, Jimmy | LW | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | .200 |
| 43 | Burrows, Alexandre | RW | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -3 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | .000 |
| 3 | Bieksa, Kevin | D | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | .031 |
| 4 | Mojzis, Tomas | D | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +5 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | .000 |
| 6 | Huskins, Kent | D | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | .000 |
| 12 | Pecker, Cory | RW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .250 |
| 33 | Flaherty, Wade | G | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 11 | Rypien, Rick | C | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| 42 | Brookbank, Wade | RW | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| 35 | Auld, Alex | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 14 | Jaffray, Jason | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 44 | Aitken, Johnathan | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 |
| 20 | Lehoux, Jason | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 23 | Nolan, Brandon | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 29 | Bernier, Marc-Andr | RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 32 | King, Jason | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| X | McLeod, Cody | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| X | McIver, Nathan | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| TOTALS | 14 | 39 | 60 | 99 | - | 364 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 428 | .091 | ||
| 2004-05 Playoffs | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Goaltender Statistics | ||||||||||
| # | Goaltender | GP | MIN | W | L | SO | GA | GAA | SAVES | SPCT |
| 33 | Flaherty, Wade | 12 | 719:48 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 29 | 2.42 | 300 | .912 |
| 35 | Auld, Alex | 3 | 127:31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3.29 | 43 | .860 |
| TOTALS | 14 | - | 8 | 6 | 2 | 39 | 2.79 | 343 | .898 | |