AHL Cancels Remainder of Season, Including Playoffs

(Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

The American Hockey League announced today that they have cancelled the remainder of the 2019-20 season, including the playoffs, due to COVID-19. This will be the first time in the history of the league that the Calder Cup is not awarded.

The Stars were sitting outside the playoff picture and were unlikely to get a shot at the postseason in the various "direct to playoff" scenarios that had been floated.

This is a particularly cruel end for the Rampage, as they will never get a farewell to their San Antonio fans before heading to Vegas. Further, you have to feel for former Texas Stars Karl Taylor and Greg Rallo, who were looking to bring the Calder Cup to Milwaukee with the best record in the league. Finally, this was certainly not the final season that AHL president Dave Andrews wanted. He is retiring on June 30th after three decades in charge of this league.

Usually I use the last post of the season partly to thank everyone for reading throughout the season. It feels incredibly weird to be doing that right now, but here we are. Thank you to everyone for reading during this abridged and tumultuous season. We had Travis Morin's jersey retirement, a 12-game losing streak, a point streak nearly as long to follow it, a head coaching change unrelated to on-ice performance and now the early end of the season without the Calder Cup awarded. This team shows strong promise for the future with the crop of rookies they iced this season.

Best wishes for your continued safety and health during the offseason. Wash your hands, and we hope we'll see you all in October.