AHL Cancels Remainder of Season and Playoffs

This morning the Binghamton Devils announced via their website that the American Hockey League Board of Governors have voted to cancel the rest of the 2019-20 regular season as well as the 2020 Calder Cup playoffs.

The article on the B-Devils’ official site had an official statement from the league. “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 Binghamton Devils, who were one of the hottest teams in all of hockey (they had not seemingly lost since Christmas) in their push to make the Calder Cup playoffs, will be one team that will be extremely adversely impacted by this decision. Could they have carried over their momentum into the playoffs? That will remain an unknown.

However, Binghamton did release a statement saying “the Binghamton Devils fully support the decision made by the American Hockey League to cancel the rest of the 2019-20 season. The health and safety of our fans, players, partners, and staff are the top priority.” They also thanked the fans for supporting the team through their “historic run towards the playoffs.”

According to the article, 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.” The B-Devils had moved into fourth place in the Eastern Conference’s North Division with 72 points over 62 games played. They finished with a record of 34-24-4-0.

As for Binghamton Devils fans with tickets to canceled games, the team has a FAQ on their website (binghamtondevils.com) to help sort that out.