The AHL Board of Governors voted today to cancel the remainder of the league’s regular-season and upcoming playoffs. Hockey has been suspended since mid-March due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The AHL released the news early Monday morning.
The AHL Board of Governors has voted to cancel the remainder of the 2019-20 AHL regular season and the 2020 Calder Cup Playoffs due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis.
→ https://t.co/b8XoXIimHE pic.twitter.com/G1fafFhJHV
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) May 11, 2020
AHL Cancels Season and Playoffs
This is just the latest cancellation for North America hockey during a time of incredible uncertainty. Many international hockey leagues and events have been cancelled already but the AHL was one of the few that had not yet. The NHL is one of the few leagues still considering how to resume its regular season, play a full playoff schedule, and then move forward with operations for 2020-21.
This cancellation is a blow to several teams who had hopes of winning the league’s Calder Cup. Multiple programs had winning percentages over .640 including the incredible Milwaukee Admirals. The Nashville Predators affiliate was 41-14-5 for an outstanding .714 winning percentage. All that work is meaningless now unless the league crowns a champion based on final standings. Teams will start preparing for 2020-21 depending on what happens in the next few months regarding health and safety for participants and fans.
What This Means for the Future
AHL teams can still sign players to contracts and will continue to add depth during this period of uncertainty. Some players may take this opportunity to retire and open up roster space as well. There are many unknowns in hockey’s future so we don’t know exactly what this cancellation will do to the league in the coming seasons.
The NHL has yet to decide what to do with its 2019-20 season. The remainder of the regular season is more in doubt every day and the league has to consider its draft, postseason and offseason schedules. Players on AHL teams will remain as ready as they can for whatever the NHL teams decide to do. Some may still have games to play this season.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
