2003-04 NAHL Season

This is the North American Hockey League 2003-04 season. The season was the league's first after a merger with the America West Hockey League following the 2002-03 season

Franchise changes
The league added the eight of the eleven teams from the America West Hockey League:
 * Billings Bulls
 * Bismarck Bobcats
 * Bozeman IceDogs
 * Central Texas Blackhawks (based in Belton, Texas)
 * Fairbanks Ice Dogs
 * Fernie Ghostriders
 * Helena Bighorns
 * Wichita Falls Wildcats
 * The Capital Centre Pride folded.
 * The Chicago Freeze folded due to "increased operation costs and low attendance".
 * The Detroit Compuware Ambassadors disbanded
 * The Danville Wings left the league and joined the United States Hockey League.
 * The Alexandria, Minnesota based Minnesota Blizzard joined the league.
 * The Pittsburgh Forge relocated to Toledo, Ohio and were renamed the Toledo IceDiggers.
 * The North Richland Hills, Texas based Lone Star Cavalry joined the league.
 * The Fargo-Moorhead Jets joined the league.
 * The Texarkana Bandits joined the league.
 * The Dayton Gems joined the league and then the team disolved after playing 21 games and forfeiting the next 3 games.
 * The Youngstown Phantoms joined the league.

Standings
Team                       GP    W    L   OTL SOL   GF    GA     P  North Soo Indians                56    44   6    6   0    213   115    94 Springfield Jr. Blues      56    34   18   4   0    194   143    72 Cleveland Jr. Barons       56    31   20   5   0    192   179    67 US National Under-18 Team  56    28   21   7   0    199   174    63 Youngstown Phantoms        56    28   21   7   0    168   169    63 Toledo IceDiggers          56    13   38   5   0    146   243    31 Dayton Gems                24    7    16   1   0    63    110    15 South Texas Tornado              56    48   6    2   0    276   123    98 Fairbanks Ice Dogs         56    31   15   10  0    174   140    72 Wichita Falls Wildcats     56    29   20   7   0    200   172    65 Texarkana Bandits          56    30   24   2   0    167   181    62 Lone Star Cavalry          56    28   22   6   0    158   171    62 Central Texas Blackhawks   56    19   30   7   0    161   219    45 Springfield Spirit         56    13   39   4   0    153   259    30 West Billings Bulls             56    40   14   2   0    224   143    82 Fargo-Moorhead Jets        56    33   21   2   0    187   160    68 Bismarck Bobcats           56    30   22   4   0    184   184    64 Bozeman IceDogs            56    28   22   6   0    174   163    62 Helena Bighorns            56    28   22   6   0    205   191    62 Minnesota Blizzard         56    20   28   8   0    148   209    48 Fernie Ghostriders         56    12   38   6   0    146   270    30

First Round

 * Texas defeated Texarakana 3 games to none (3-1, 3-2, 5-1)
 * Fairbanks defeated Wichita Falls 3 games to 1 (1-2 (ot),  3-1, 2-1 (ot), 5-2)
 * Bismarck defeated Fargo-Moorhead 3 games to none (7-2, 4-3, 3-1)
 * Billings defeated Helena 3 games to 1 (3-0, 2-5, 3-2, 7-0)
 * Team USA defeated Soo 3 games to 1 (1-3, 3-2 (ot), 4-3 (ot), 7-1)
 * Springfield Jr. Blues defeated Cleveland 3 games to 2 (2-1, 9-4, 2-5, 4-7, 4-2)

Second Round

 * Texas defeated Fairbanks 3 games to none (3-2, 4-1, 7-1)
 * Bismarck defeated Billings 3 games to 1 (4-0, 0-4, 3-2, 5-0)
 * Springfield Jr. Blues defeated Team USA 3 games to none (3-1, 5-1, 5-4 (ot))

Robertson Cup Round Robin

 * Springfield defeated Fairbanks 5-2
 * Texas defeated Bismarck 8-3
 * Bismarck defeated Fairbanks 3-2
 * Texas defeated Springfield 1-0
 * Bismarck defeated Springfield 3-2
 * Texas defeated Fairbanks 2-1

Third Place Game

 * Springfield defeated Fairbanks 5-3

Championship Game
The Texas Tornado won the Robertson Cup.
 * Texas defeated Bismarck 4-1