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After holding a board of governors meeting on Friday, the American Hockey League put out a statement on Monday, May 11, 2020, confirming the inevitable demise of the 2019-20 season.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer David Andrews announced today that the league’s 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:

“After a lengthy review process, the American Hockey League has determined that the resumption and completion of the 2019-20 season is not feasible in light of current conditions.

The League’s operational focus has turned toward actively preparing for the 2020-21 season.

We are very grateful to the National Hockey League and its teams for their support and leadership in navigating through the challenges faced over the past two months.

The AHL continues to place paramount importance on the health and safety of our players, officials, staff and fans and all of their families, and we all look forward to returning to our arenas in 2020-21.”

The AHL’s standings – sorted by points percentage – and statistics as of March 12, 2020, are considered final and official, and will serve as the basis for determining league awards for the 2019-20 season. https://theahl.com/ahl-cancels-remainder-of-season

The 2019-20 season has been over in my mind for a long while now but the realisation that it’s finally concluded in this manner, with no champion to be crowned still leaves an empty feeling.

It also means that the San Antonio Rampage is no more, with the franchise bought out by the Vegas Golden Knights organisation who are relocating the team to Nevada.

No chance for one last hurrah in attempting to make the playoffs and perhaps going out in a blaze of glory.

No chance for a fervent and passionate fan base to say goodbye and properly mourn the loss of yet another team in Texas.

The league 100% made the right decision but nevertheless, it’s a sad way for San Antonio to bow out of the AHL.

There are also questions marks surrounding the new franchise out in Palm Springs who were due to join the league for the 2020-21 season.

Will everything be ready in time?

Even if the team is ready, will facilities be built and have passed all the criteria needed to open?

Would the Palm Springs team possibly have to begin life on the road?

There is much work to be done even in these uncertain times and planning for every eventuality surely has to be the American Hockey League’s modus operandi from this moment on.

The AHL will have to do some fire-fighting in the short-term and reacted quickly to inform AHL TV subscribers of what the plan is moving forward in that regard.
Emails have been sent out to subscribers and should look exactly like the version below with the dollar amount varying dependant on the package purchased.

Dear AHLTV Subscriber,

Earlier today the AHL announced that the remainder of the 2019-20 regular season and 2020 Calder Cup Playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read the AHL’s full press release here.

We greatly appreciate your support of the AHL and AHLTV. In lieu of missed games on your All-Access Regular Season and Playoffs games subscription, a pro-rated credit of $$? USD will be applied to your AHLTV account (associated with the email address receiving this message).

This pro-rated credit will remain on your account and will be automatically applied against any future AHLTV purchases. Please allow up to 30 days for this credit to be issued. A confirmation email will be sent once the credit is applied and will include specific instructions on how to redeem this credit.

Your subscription will remain active throughout the summer allowing subscribers access to watch past games on-demand based on your subscription.

2020-21 AHLTV packages will be available in the coming months.

Please contact AHLTV Support via email at ahltv@theahl.com if you have any further questions. We appreciate your patience and will respond to all inquiries as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your support of the AHL and AHLTV.

Best regards,
AHLTV

It’s a nice touch by the league to keep subscriptions intact throughout the summer.
Small gestures go a long way in keeping fans engaged, making them more willing to spend their dollars next season, whenever that may be.

Let us hope we can come through the other side of this pandemic in one piece and once again enjoy sport, and specifically hockey, in better times.

Stay safe and healthy.