The United
States Hockey League has decided to cancel their 2019-20 season six days after
postponing on March 12.
The decision
was made today by the USHL Board of Directors for “best interest of USHL
athletes, staff, officials and fans in mind.”
Any playoffs
look to be canceled as well. USHL President and Commissioner Tom Garrity told
USHL.com that “This decision was not an easy one to make, but was a necessity
in order to keep our athletes, staffs and fans in all 16 of our communities
safe amid this international health risk. While we believe our product is the
best junior hockey that fans can view, we also understand the health of our
athletes, employees, fans and communities is more important during this time.”
The press
release did mention that “the USHL will announce the 2019-20 season awards in the
coming weeks.”
Meanwhile,
in Russia, the Kontinental Hockey League has suspended play during the Gagarin
Cup playoffs because of the pandemic. The recommendation came from the Russian “Ministry
of Sport and various regional authorities across Russia” according to the
preface to an interview with KHL President Alexei Morozov on the league’s
official website published today.
The decision
came after the Mayor of Moscow placed “restrictions [on the number of people
who could gather at one event.” Moscow clubs Dynamo and Spartak were in the middle
of their playoff series and “still had one or two game[s] left to play.”
Since it was
hard to comply with keeping fans, players, officials and staff safe while still
being able to carry on the game with fans in the stands, they decided to pull
the plug temporarily.
KHL team
Jokerit of Helsinki, Finland had dropped out of the playoffs due to advice from
the Finnish government and the Finnish Health Ministry. Barys of Kazakhstan will
also not continue in the playoffs when/if things get going again.
Morozov said
that there is a possibility that the season could be could not be finished. He
said “the KHL will do everything possible to complete the season as soon as the
risks to our players and supporters are gone.”
In addition
to all of that, the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto is “closed effective Saturday,
March 14, 2020.” It is scheduled to reopen April 6, “subject to further notice
as management continues to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation via public
health authorities.”