• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
How The AHL is Navigating the 2021 Season

How The AHL is Navigating the 2021 Season

January 3, 2021
Quick Impressions Of The Montreal Canadiens Trade Deadline

Quick Impressions Of The Montreal Canadiens Trade Deadline

April 15, 2021
Thomas Schemitsch of the Cleveland Monsters waits for the puck .

Cleveland Rolls Through Rochester in New York

April 15, 2021
ADVERTISEMENT
Karmanos Hired To Help Adams, Eichel Shutdown For The Season

Karmanos Hired To Help Adams, Eichel Shutdown For The Season

April 14, 2021
Winners and Losers on NHL’s Trade Deadline Day

Winners and Losers on NHL’s Trade Deadline Day

April 14, 2021
A New Jersey Devils Exhale Post NHL Trade Deadline

A New Jersey Devils Exhale Post NHL Trade Deadline

April 14, 2021
NHL Trade Grades

Grading the NHL Trade Deadline – April 12

April 13, 2021
Benn

Jordie Benn Ready to “Taste the Playoffs Again” in Winnipeg

April 13, 2021
Flyers Sign Laughton, Deal Gustafsson And Raffl On Deadline Day

Flyers Sign Laughton, Deal Gustafsson And Raffl On Deadline Day

April 13, 2021
Perfetti, Moose Jump Back Into Second Place With 5-1 Win Monday

Perfetti, Moose Jump Back Into Second Place With 5-1 Win Monday

April 13, 2021
Islanders’ Division Rivals Got Better Too At Trade Deadline

Islanders’ Division Rivals Got Better Too At Trade Deadline

April 13, 2021
NHL Draft

Five Takeaways from Senators GM Pierre Dorion

April 13, 2021
Penguins Acquire Carter for Conditional Picks

Penguins Acquire Carter for Conditional Picks

April 12, 2021
  • Full Press Coverage
  • Full Press Wrestling
  • Full Press Radio Network
  • FullPressShop.com
  • Want to write for us?
  • Advertise With Us


Friday, April 16, 2021
Full Press Hockey
  • NHL
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • AHL
  • KHL
  • Fantasy Hockey
  • NHL Draft
  • Prospects
  • Podcasts
    • Big Bad Bruins Podcast
    • Off The Post Radio
    • C4 Canucks Podcast
    • High and Wide Radio
    • Fourth Line Hockey Pod
    • The Calder Farmstead
    • Front Range Podcast
  • Full Press Coverage
  • Shop
No Result
View All Result
  • NHL
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • AHL
  • KHL
  • Fantasy Hockey
  • NHL Draft
  • Prospects
  • Podcasts
    • Big Bad Bruins Podcast
    • Off The Post Radio
    • C4 Canucks Podcast
    • High and Wide Radio
    • Fourth Line Hockey Pod
    • The Calder Farmstead
    • Front Range Podcast
  • Full Press Coverage
  • Shop
No Result
View All Result
Full Press Hockey
No Result
View All Result
Home AHL

How The AHL is Navigating the 2021 Season

C.C. Hawkley by C.C. Hawkley
January 3, 2021
in AHL, AHL Featured
0
911
SHARES
2.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A global pandemic had made for strange times and even stranger waters for North American pro hockey leagues to wade through.

The ECHL, with 13 of its 26 teams committed, stuck to its guns and began its abbreviated 2020-21 regular season on December 11, 2020. The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) announced on October 6, 2020 that it would commence its 42-game regular season on December 26, albeit with only five of its ten total teams participating. The NHL had originally planned to start on December 1, but negotiations between the league and players union prevented that. The NHL then hunkered down and confirmed on December 20 that it is, in fact, going to start its 56-game regular season on January 13, 2021.

This leaves one league left yet to begin their pandemic-adjusted campaign for 2020-21.

RelatedPosts

Cleveland Rolls Through Rochester in New York

Perfetti, Moose Jump Back Into Second Place With 5-1 Win Monday

Five Takeaways from Senators GM Pierre Dorion

Ranta Debuts, Sherwood Shines for Eagles

The American Hockey League.

GETTING SOME ANSWERS

While the “AAA” league just below the NHL hasn’t dropped the puck like its other minor league counterparts, the general public did receive some clarity recently regarding next season. The AHL, after calling an audible from an initially announced December 4, 2020 start date, stated on December 30 that it was going to stay true to its February 5, 2021 opening day. AHL President Scott Howson released a brief statement:

“The American Hockey League Board of Governors has approved the structural framework for an AHL season that will begin on February 5, 2021.

“Details are still being worked out, but this step allows our teams and their National Hockey League partners to better determine their plans for the coming season. We look forward to dropping the puck on Feb. 5.”

DEVIATING FROM THE NORM

However, just because the framework is approved doesn’t mean all 31 AHL teams will necessarily opt-in for this coming year. The league has set a deadline for Monday, January 4 where teams shall decide whether or not to play in 2020-21. And, with exactly half the teams in both the ECHL and SPHL opting out of “pandemic hockey”, one has to wonder how the landscape of the American Hockey League will appear after Monday.

CANADIAN CONUNDRUM

One concern that the NHL and ECHL had to address this season was its teams north of the US border in Canada. The COVID-19 pandemic has effectively closed transit between the United States and Canada, thereby making international play impossible in every sporting league. The NHL had a fairly easy solution — group all seven Canadian teams into their own division for 2020-21. The ECHL, however, had its two Canadian teams — the Newfoundland Growlers and Brampton Beast — decline to play this season, alongside the rest of the North Division.

The AHL has a number of Canadian teams, as well. With four squads — Belleville, Laval, Manitoba, and Toronto — all residing in Canada, alternate plans will have to be made regarding what their potential schedules may look like. Like the NHL, an all-Canadian division is on the table. But, with a lesser number of AHL teams in the Great White North, a regular season that could have anywhere between 26 to 40 games would have these four teams playing one another nine to 13 (!) times in the span of just a few months.

If familiarity breeds contempt, then the aforementioned group of four would absolutely loathe each other by season’s end. While not ideal, the opportunity certainly lends itself to the AHL avoiding an ECHL scenario by adopting the NHL’s philosophy to include more teams in 2020-21.

Another point of interest leading to the end of 2020 was how the three Canadian NHL teams with AHL affiliates in the US (Edmonton/Bakersfield, Calgary/Stockton, and Vancouver/Utica) would work out call-ups across national borders. A player going either to or from said teams would have to serve a 14-day quarantine, and by the time they were cleared, may not even be needed anymore. Thankfully, the NHL instituting a taxi squad of four to six players that stays apart from the main NHL team’s roster has pretty well remedied that potential problem (although threatens to dilute the AHL product once that league begins).

STATESIDE COMPLICATIONS

Another major hurdle that the AHL needs to clear is COVID-19 restrictions and local mandates placed over ice hockey and sports in general. States like Illinois and New York have been hit particularly hard by the Coronavirus; teams like the SPHL’s Quad City Storm & Peoria Rivermen and ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder aren’t playing in part due to that. It’s not a stretch to say that the entirety of the ECHL’s North Division was affected by many northeast US states clamping down hard on gatherings for sports. With no income at the gate meaning no profit for minor league teams, opting out was the only choice these teams could feasibly make. The AHL has four teams in New York and two in Illinois; Monday’s opt-in deadline will push these six clubs to make a tough decision regarding their own fates for the 2020-21 regular season.

California is another state that has reported a high number of COVID-19 cases and deaths this past year. With five of the eight teams in the AHL’s Pacific Division residing in The Golden State, it could be precarious figuring out exactly how these franchises will hit the ice come February. Can they do a small bubble for the division, a la the NHL Playoffs this past summer? Putting up eight teams in one general vicinity would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the AHL teams would more than likely need financial help from their NHL parent clubs to pull it off.

CONCLUSION: TO PLAY, OR NOT TO PLAY?

The final piece regarding the AHL’s major concerns in 2020-21 will simply be which teams opt-in and which don’t. What happens if a number of Atlantic Division squads decide not to play this year, but the southernmost division member — the Charlotte Checkers — does? Travel costs significantly rise if that becomes the case. If the previously mentioned California teams say no thanks this year, where does that leave Pacific Division foes Colorado, Henderson, and Tucson? Bumping those clubs over to the Central Division this season would probably be the most viable solution there. Cost and proximity will most certainly play a part in what teams say yea or nay this season (and how divisions and opponents will look, as well).

There’s no question that some AHL teams may decide to not play this season; the league has the unenviable task of figuring out how to logistically handle it when February 5 rolls around.






Tags: AHLAHL FeaturedScott Howson
Previous Post

Ottawa Senators Name Their “A” Team

Next Post

Penguins Re-sign Defenseman John Marino

C.C. Hawkley

C.C. Hawkley

Next Post
Penguins Re-sign Defenseman John Marino

Penguins Re-sign Defenseman John Marino

Braydon Coburn, Cedric Paquette Not Totally Surprised to Leave Tampa

Braydon Coburn, Cedric Paquette Not Totally Surprised to Leave Tampa

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Benn

Jordie Benn Ready to “Taste the Playoffs Again” in Winnipeg

April 13, 2021
KHL

KHL Releases List of Top Player Salaries

December 1, 2020
Thomas Schemitsch of the Cleveland Monsters waits for the puck .

Cleveland Rolls Through Rochester in New York

April 15, 2021
Quick Impressions Of The Montreal Canadiens Trade Deadline

Quick Impressions Of The Montreal Canadiens Trade Deadline

April 15, 2021
Thomas Schemitsch of the Cleveland Monsters waits for the puck .

Cleveland Rolls Through Rochester in New York

April 15, 2021
Karmanos Hired To Help Adams, Eichel Shutdown For The Season

Karmanos Hired To Help Adams, Eichel Shutdown For The Season

April 14, 2021


  • Episode #29: Axel F
    by Full Press Coverage on April 16, 2021 at 6:19 am

    Just a few more weekends to go in the AHL season, and as always, C.C. and Sean have got you […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44355153/the_calder_farmstead_episode_29_final.mp3
  • 4/15 - Jackie Robinson and April 15th Events in History
    by Full Press Coverage on April 15, 2021 at 11:43 pm

    Ian and Mike discuss the anniversary of Jackie Robinson playing his first MLB game and other famous […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44352891/adv1580103741.mp3
  • 4/13 - Julian Edelman Announces Retirement; John Sapochetti Joins
    by Full Press Coverage on April 15, 2021 at 11:38 pm

    Ian and Mike discuss the retirement of Patriots receiver Julian Edelman with John Sapochetti.Learn […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44352890/adv8133226208.mp3
  • Episode #14 - Grub and Dub Connection
    by Full Press Coverage on April 15, 2021 at 1:02 am

    The Avs were active at the trade deadline, the Eagles took on the Stars (and now host the Condors), […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44339027/front_range_hockey_episode_14_final.mp3
  • Brock Talks - Apr. 13, 2021
    by Full Press Coverage on April 13, 2021 at 8:00 pm

    Joining Anna & Chris is former professional hockey player Brock McGillis to talk about his […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://pdst.fm/e/chtbl.com/track/6F48GD/traffic.megaphone.fm/ADV6517810548.mp3?updated=1618342546
  • HW Trade Deadline Recap ft Ant SanFillippo
    by HW Radio on April 13, 2021 at 10:00 am

    We're joined by the one and only Anthony SanFillippo of Crossing Broad and Snow the Goalie to recap […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44315226/https_d3ctxlq1ktw2nl_cloudfront_net_staging_2021_3_13_174985711_44100_2_81947de565543.mp3
  • Episode #28: Power Plays on Carcone Island
    by Full Press Coverage on April 13, 2021 at 4:51 am

    What happens when you bring in Brett Fera to talk Tucson in the AHL Weekend Preview episode? The […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44312645/the_calder_farmstead_episode_28_final.mp3
  • Episode #325 - The 2021 NHL Trade Deadline Special
    by Full Press Coverage on April 13, 2021 at 2:35 am

    It's NHL trade deadline day! We take a look at the buyers and sellers of trade deadline day. BUYERS […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44312139/episode325_output.mp3
All Shows

  • 2021 Dolphins Draft Prospect: Tight end Kyle Pitts
    by Christian Chappell on April 15, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    Kyle Pitts’ abilities make him a candidate to be the first TE selected in the top five picks of […]

  • Chicago Bears Draft Profile: Cornerback Caleb Farley
    by Carlos Nazario on April 15, 2021 at 7:11 pm

    With the release of Kyle Fuller, the Chicago Bears have a need at cornerback. Caleb Farley is […]

  • 2021 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Brady Christensen
    by Braden Holecek on April 15, 2021 at 6:40 pm

    2021 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Brady Christensen. BYU offensive tackle Brady Christensen is a solid […]

  • 2020 Raiders Mock Draft: Mid-April
    by Terrance Biggs on April 15, 2021 at 5:22 pm

    Speeding towards the NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders find themselves in an interesting spot. After […]

  • The Presumptive MVP Is No Joke
    by John Sapochetti on April 15, 2021 at 3:37 pm

    Who is leading the NBA MVP race? The post The Presumptive MVP Is No Joke appeared first on Full […]

FPC Radio LIVE Join Ian Glendon and Mike D'Adabte Monday through Friday as they discuss the latest news from the sports world and much more.

  • 4/15 - Jackie Robinson and April 15th Events in History
    by Full Press Coverage on April 15, 2021 at 11:43 pm

    Ian and Mike discuss the anniversary of Jackie Robinson playing his first MLB game and other famous […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44352891/adv1580103741.mp3
  • 4/13 - Julian Edelman Announces Retirement; John Sapochetti Joins
    by Full Press Coverage on April 15, 2021 at 11:38 pm

    Ian and Mike discuss the retirement of Patriots receiver Julian Edelman with John Sapochetti.Learn […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44352890/adv8133226208.mp3
  • 4/12 - Weekend Wrap, Vaccine Recap, Ed O'Neal, NHL Trade Deadline
    by Full Press Coverage on April 12, 2021 at 1:59 pm

    Ian and Mike recap the latest from the weekend including Ian's vaccine side effects, Netflix […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44303436/adv5842490920.mp3
  • 4/9 - Wrestlemania, 2024 Glendon/D'Abate Ticket, and Julian Edelman
    by Full Press Coverage on April 9, 2021 at 2:02 pm

    On this episode, Ian and Mike talk a little Wrestlemania before the weekend's event, the theme […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44272056/adv5505172386.mp3
  • 4/8 - More Cowbell, Sports Movies, Space Adventures, and More
    by Full Press Coverage on April 8, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    On today's show, Ian and Mike discuss the anniversary of the Sandlot and Major League, More Cowbell […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44258247/adv6567559796.mp3
  • 4/7 - Documentaries, Aaron Rodgers, and More With John Sapochetti
    by Full Press Coverage on April 7, 2021 at 2:29 pm

    John Sapochetti joins Ian and Mike to talk documentaries, Aaron Rodgers future and his appearance […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44242041/adv1869381289.mp3
  • 4/6 - Baylor Beats Gonzaga, Vaccines and Gil Hill, Sam Darnold To Panthers
    by Full Press Coverage on April 6, 2021 at 2:53 pm

    Ian and Mike discuss Baylor's victory over Gonzaga in the NCAA Men's Championship Game, getting […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44221388/adv9103610065.mp3
  • 4/5 - Married With Children, Vaccines, Red Sox, and More
    by Full Press Coverage on April 5, 2021 at 11:27 pm

    On an abbreviated episode, Ian and Mike discuss Married with Children on its 34th anniversary, […]

    Your browser does not support the audio element. But you can check this for the original link: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/44211047/adv7870235805.mp3
Full Press Hockey

2020 Full Press Coverage

Navigate Site

  • NHL
  • AHL
  • KHL
  • Fantasy Hockey
  • NHL Draft
  • Prospects
  • Podcasts
  • Full Press Coverage
  • Shop

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • NHL
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • AHL
  • KHL
  • Fantasy Hockey
  • NHL Draft
  • Prospects
  • Podcasts
    • Big Bad Bruins Podcast
    • Off The Post Radio
    • C4 Canucks Podcast
    • High and Wide Radio
    • Fourth Line Hockey Pod
    • The Calder Farmstead
    • Front Range Podcast
  • Full Press Coverage
  • Shop

2020 Full Press Coverage