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The AHL 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.
— AHL (@TheAHL) May 11, 2020
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There’s plenty of talk about the NHL possibly holding their draft in June and starting up again in July. While nothing’s confirmed in stone, the AHL has folded up shop for the remainder of the year. This announcement comes nearly two months to the day from when the AHL suspended play due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Edmonton’s AHL affiliate in Bakersfield will finish the year at 21-27-5, good for sixth in the AHL’s Pacific Conference.
While the AHL has moved on to next season, it’s unclear at this time what will happen to the NHL, though there’s a push to resume the season by sometime in July. There’s much talk about whether the league will hold its annual entry draft in June (which would likely be prior to the league possibly opening up in July to complete the 2019-20 season). Though manyt areas are beginning to “open up” and ease lockdown restrictions, there still many areas that are under a stay-at-home order and have yet to ease restrictions.