National Post (National Edition)
AHL puts end to season, officially
NHL FARM TEAMS
The farm has been shut down.
The American Hockey League, feeder system to the NHL’s 31 teams, announced Monday morning its board of governors voted to cancel the rest of the 2019-20 schedule and Calder Cup playoffs due to the ongoing delay with the COVID-19 crisis.
Among the affected are the farm clubs of four Canadian NHL teams, the Belleville Senators (Ottawa), Laval Rocket (Montreal), Toronto Marlies (Maple Leafs) and Manitoba Moose (Winnipeg).
The decision was not a surprise, given the gate-driven AHL has no TV money as a fallback and faces significant travel challenges at the best of times with teams sprinkled across the continent. For the past two months, they were facing potential headaches such as player isolation, border crossing and training camps had play resumed for this season.
To be decided is how many AHL players could be added to NHL rosters should the latter start up its regular season and playoffs this summer.
“After a lengthy review process, the AHL has determined the resumption and completion of the 2019-20 season is not feasible in light of current conditions,” a statement from the league read.
“The operational focus has turned toward actively preparing for the 2020-21 season.”
The league’s standings — sorted by points percentage — and statistics as of March 12, will be considered final and will serve as the basis for determining league awards for the 2019-20 season.
The club that would be affected the most from a competitive standpoint is the Senators, who were closing in on clinching first place in the Northern Division with a number of good player prospects, a goal differential of plus-37 and a record of 3820-4-1. They were bound to be Calder contenders.
The Marlies (29-27-3-2) and Rocket (30-24-5-3) were in a pack of teams fighting for the division’s lower playoff seeds, while the Moose were last in the Central Division (27-33-1-0).
This also will be a tough exit for outgoing Nova Scotia-born president Dave Andrews, who was set to retire at the end of June and looked forward to one last playoff run. He is being replaced by former Columbus GM Scott Howson.