AHL cancels remainder of 2019-20 season, Calder Cup playoffs

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ season is officially over.

That much was expected. The American Hockey League announced Monday morning that the rest of the 2019-20 season, along with the Calder Cup Playoffs, would be canceled because of the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis.

What remains to be seen is when the AHL will be able to resume play for next season, as the league depends significantly on ticket sales and revenue from home dates, meaning holding games without fans may not be feasible.

It’s a problem that hockey’s top minor league will mull over during the summer, which will mark the first time the Calder Cup will not be handed out since 1936.

Outgoing AHL president and CEO Dave Andrews made the formal announcement on Monday after the league’s board of governors unanimously voted to cancel on a Friday conference call.

Andrews, who has been at the helm of the league for 26 years, announced that the league had “determined that the resumption and completion of the 2019-20 season is not feasible in light of current conditions.”

“It’s something that was essentially inevitable,” said former Penguins defenseman Cameron Gaunce, who is an AHL executive committee member for the Professional Hockey Players Association and now plays for Syracuse. “I think they had been waiting for this point because they wanted to see if there had been any changes, and I think that was the responsible way to go about it. They didn’t want to make any knee-jerk reactions either way.”

It meant a premature end to the start of a new era for the Penguins, who were in their first season under new coach and general manager Mike Vellucci. When the season was put on pause back on March 12, the Penguins were staring down the possibility of missing the playoffs for the second straight year after 16 seasons of reaching the postseason.

As it was, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton finished in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with 66 points in 63 games. They were seven points out of what would have been the division’s final playoff spot.

“While the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are disappointed we won’t be able to finish the season, the health of our players, employees, and most importantly our fans must take precedence at this time,” the team posted on its website.

In all, seven games at Mohegan Sun Arena were canceled, and fans who held tickets for those games were urged to visit wbspenguins.com to review their options for compensation.

“I think we are all searching for silver linings during these difficult times, and the silver lining here is that the Penguins have worked hard to develop a few options that keep the best interest of their ticket holders in mind, including one option that also supports the essential workers and heroes who are keeping us safe during this pandemic” said Will Beekman, the arena’s general manager.

According to Beekman, all season ticket holders who donate their tickets for the remaining games to essential workers or who convert their remaining tickets into additional ticket vouchers for next season will receive food and beverage vouchers. More information can be found on the “Season Ticket Members” section of the team’s website.

The Penguins are also offering team store merchandise vouchers for these two options.

“It’s great customer service, and all of us at ASM Global and Mohegan Sun Arena are happy to join them in this effort,” Beekman said. “It’s become cliché to say that we are all in this together, but it’s true. This collaboration speaks to the value of relationships.”

What comes next will be spearheaded by new president and CEO Scott Howson, who will take over for Andrews this summer.

Howson said the AHL is still planning for a full 2020-21 regular season running from Oct. 9-April 18. But it also is working on schedules that start in November, December or January.

“Obviously (we’ll) talk about no fans in the building: Are teams prepared to do that?” Howson said. “It’s just in the infancy stages now, and we’ve got a lot of information to gather. But we are going to have models that sort of have truncated season as we move along. … We’re just going to keep planning and make sure we’re flexible and nimble and ready to turn to a different scenario if we have to.”

Bill Daly, the NHL’s deputy commissioner, said the AHL’s announcement will have “no impact” on his league.

“We remain fully engaged in evaluating resumption-of-play options,” Daly said in an email to The Philadelphia Inquirer. “The two leagues don’t rely on the same business model — what might make sense for us doesn’t necessarily make sense for them.”

The NHL is hoping to resume its season, which was also suspended March 12, and play games without fans. It stands to make millions from TV deals.

A majority of AHL players also have NHL contracts and could be part of a resumed season that would feature expanded rosters.

“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,” Andrews said. “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.”

PHPA executive director Larry Landon recently said he’s concerned about the ability of the AHL and ECHL — which canceled the rest of its season in March — returning if it’s not safe for fans.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen, whether there’s going to be an AHL season next year,” said Gaunce, whose NHL/AHL contract with Tampa Bay is set to expire after this season. “If ticket revenues aren’t part of the revenue stream for a lot of these teams, that’s going to affect a lot of their bottom lines. And if that’s the case, how many expenses are they really going to be willing to take on? So it’s something that’s up in the air.”