The 2019–20 AHL season was the 84th season of the American Hockey League. The regular season began October 4, 2019, and was officially cancelled on May 11, 2020. The 2020 Calder Cup playoffs, which was also cancelled, would have followed the conclusion of the regular season. The league suspended play on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, and was not able to resume play. The Milwaukee Admirals claimed the league's regular-season trophy, the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, their second regular-season championship.
This was the final season under David Andrews' 26-year tenure as the president of the league. He was succeeded by Scott Howson.
League changes For the first time since 2012, there were no team changes in the offseason. The league also retained the same four division alignment of 31 teams, with teams in each division playing 76 games except for the seven-team Pacific Division with 68 games each. The Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the regular season champion was awarded based on points percentage.
Coaching changes Off–season Team 2018–19 coach 2019–20 coach NotesCharlotte Checkers Mike Vellucci Ryan Warsofsky Vellucci left for the WBS Penguins head coaching position after leading the Checkers to the 2019 Calder Cup. Warsofsky was promoted from the assistant coaching position.Cleveland Monsters John Madden Mike Eaves Madden resigned after three seasons and one playoff appearance. He was replaced by Eaves, a longtime Wisconsin Badgers head coach, but most recently with Div. III St. Olaf College.Hartford Wolf Pack Keith McCambridge Kris Knoblauch McCambridge was fired after two seasons and never making the playoffs. Knoblauch was hired after serving as a Philadelphia Flyers assistant following several seasons as a head coach in major juniors.Rochester Americans Chris Taylor Gord Dineen Taylor was called up to the Buffalo Sabres as an interim assistant coach when Don Granato had to take a medical leave of absence days before the season was to start. Dineen was named interim head coach of the Americans.San Diego Gulls Dallas Eakins Kevin Dineen Eakins was promoted to head coach of the Anaheim Ducks. Dineen was hired on July 15, 2019, after serving as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks. Dineen had previously been the head coach of the Portland Pirates in the AHL and the Florida Panthers in the NHL.Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Clark Donatelli Mike Vellucci The Penguins hired Vellucci after his successful stint with the Charlotte Checkers and Donatelli resigned.In-seasonTeamOutgoing coachIncoming coach NotesRochester Americans Gord Dineen Chris Taylor Following Don Granato's return to his assistant coach position with the Buffalo Sabres, Taylor returned to his head coach position with the Americans. Dineen had a record of 11–3–1–2 as interim head coach of the Americans.San Jose Barracuda Roy Sommer Jimmy BonneauMichael Chiasson The San Jose Sharks fired head coach Peter DeBoer on December 11, 2019, promoted assistant coach Bob Boughner to the position of head coach, and brought up Sommer as an associate coach for the Sharks. Sommer had been head coach of the Sharks' AHL affiliate since first being named to the position with the Kentucky Thoroughblades on May 28, 1998, and had a record of 772–743–122. Assistant coaches Bonneau and Chiasson were named as co-coaches of the Barracuda.Texas Stars Derek Laxdal Neil Graham The Dallas Stars fired head coach Jim Montgomery on December 10, 2019 due to unprofessional conduct, which resulted in the promotion of assistant coach Rick Bowness to interim head coach. This move resulted in Laxdal being promoted to the assistant coach role that was vacated by Bowness. Laxdal had a record of 198–152–55 as head coach of the Texas Stars since being hired in 2014. Texas Stars assistant coach and former Idaho Steelheads head coach Neil Graham was named as Laxdal's replacement on December 10.Toronto Marlies Sheldon Keefe Greg Moore On November 20, 2019, Keefe was promoted to the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs after Mike Babcock was fired. Moore was named the next head coach of the Marlies on December 1.
Final standings
Eastern Conference Final standings as of March 11, 2020 Atlantic Division Providence Bruins (BOS) 62 38 18 3 3 82 .661 197 154 Hershey Bears (WSH) 62 37 18 3 4 81 .653 187 157 Charlotte Checkers (CAR) 61 34 22 5 0 73 .598 202 172 Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR) 62 31 20 6 5 73 .589 171 173 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT) 63 29 26 3 5 66 .524 164 193 Springfield Thunderbirds (FLA) 61 31 27 3 0 65 .533 190 186 Lehigh Valley Phantoms (PHI) 62 24 28 3 7 58 .468 161 186 Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI) 63 23 33 5 2 53 .421 152 206 North Division Belleville Senators (OTT) 63 38 20 4 1 81 .643 234 197 Rochester Americans (BUF) 62 33 20 4 5 75 .605 181 173 Utica Comets (VAN) 61 34 22 3 2 73 .598 210 186 Binghamton Devils (NJD) 62 34 24 4 0 72 .581 189 182 Syracuse Crunch (TBL) 62 30 23 4 5 69 .556 202 210 Laval Rocket (MTL) 62 30 24 5 3 68 .548 183 182 Toronto Marlies (TOR) 61 29 27 3 2 63 .516 206 212 Cleveland Monsters (CBJ) 62 24 31 5 2 55 .444 159 192
Western Conference Final standings as of March 11, 2020 Central Division Milwaukee Admirals (NSH) 63 41 14 5 3 90 .714 211 141 Iowa Wild (MIN) 63 37 18 4 4 82 .651 194 171 Grand Rapids Griffins (DET) 63 29 27 3 4 65 .516 177 193 Chicago Wolves (VGK) 61 27 26 5 3 62 .508 155 175 Rockford IceHogs (CHI) 63 29 30 2 2 62 .492 156 187 Texas Stars (DAL) 62 27 28 3 4 61 .492 171 192 San Antonio Rampage (STL) 61 24 25 7 5 60 .492 161 184 Manitoba Moose (WPG) 61 27 33 1 0 55 .451 160 190
Pacific Division Tucson Roadrunners (ARI) 58 36 19 1 2 75 .647 198 163 Colorado Eagles (COL) 56 34 18 3 1 72 .643 188 162 Stockton Heat (CGY) 55 30 17 4 4 68 .618 194 170 San Diego Gulls (ANA) 57 30 19 6 2 68 .596 185 164Ontario Reign (LAK) 57 29 22 5 1 64 .561 166 198 Bakersfield Condors (EDM) 56 21 27 5 3 50 .446 162 202 San Jose Barracuda (SJS) 55 21 27 5 2 49 .445 179 192
Statistical leaders
Leading skaters The following players are sorted by points, then goals. Final as of March 11, 2020.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player Team GP G A Pts PIMSam AnasIowa Wild 63 20 50 70 10Reid BoucherUtica Comets 53 34 33 67 45Gerald MayhewIowa Wild 49 39 22 61 68Josh NorrisBelleville Senators 56 31 30 61 21Alex Barre-BouletSyracuse Crunch 60 27 29 56 22Drake BathersonBelleville Senators 44 16 38 54 24Alex FormentonBelleville Senators 61 27 26 53 65Brayden BurkeTucson Roadrunners 51 21 31 52 34Chris TerryGrand Rapids Griffins 57 21 30 51 32Daniel CarrMilwaukee Admirals 47 23 27 50 20
Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders with a minimum 1200 minutes played lead the league in goals against average. Final as of March 11, 2020.
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout loss
Player Team GP TOI SA GA SO GAA SV% W L OT Daniel Vladar Providence Bruins 25 1407:08 656 42 3 1.79 .936 14 7 1 Igor Shesterkin Hartford Wolf Pack 25 1454:37 698 46 3 1.90 .934 17 4 3 Connor Ingram Milwaukee Admirals 33 1905:41 913 61 2 1.92 .933 21 5 5 Kaapo Kahkonen Iowa Wild 34 2058:20 972 71 7 2.07 .927 25 6 3 Vitek Vanecek Hershey Bears 31 1832:11 827 69 2 2.26 .917 19 10 1
Calder Cup playoffs
The 2020 Calder Cup playoffs was a planned playoff tournament following the conclusion of the regular season to determine the champions of the American Hockey League. On May 11, 2020, American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer David Andrews cancelled the remainder of the season and the Calder Cup playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first time in league history that the Calder Cup was not awarded.
AHL awards Award Winner Calder Cup Not awarded Les Cunningham Award Gerald Mayhew, Iowa Wild John B. Sollenberger Trophy Sam Anas, Iowa Wild Willie Marshall Award Gerald Mayhew, Iowa Wild Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award Josh Norris, Belleville Senators Eddie Shore Award Jake Bean, Charlotte Checkers Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award Kaapo Kahkonen, Iowa Wild Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Troy Grosenick & Connor Ingram, Milwaukee Admirals Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award Karl Taylor, Milwaukee Admirals Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award John McCarthy, San Jose Barracuda Yanick Dupre Memorial Award Troy Grosenick, Milwaukee Admirals Jack A. Butterfield Trophy Not awarded Richard F. Canning Trophy Not awarded Robert W. Clarke Trophy Not awarded Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy Milwaukee Admirals Frank Mathers Trophy(Eastern Conference regular season champions) Providence Bruins Norman R. "Bud" Poile Trophy(Western Conference regular season champions) Milwaukee Admirals Emile Francis Trophy (Atlantic Division regular season champions) Providence Bruins F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy(North Division regular season champions) Belleville Senators Sam Pollock Trophy(Central Division regular season champions) Milwaukee Admirals John D. Chick Trophy(Pacific Division regular season champions) Tucson Roadrunners James C. Hendy Memorial Award Frank Miceli Thomas Ebright Memorial Award David Andrews James H. Ellery Memorial Awards Larry Figurski Ken McKenzie Award Allie Brown, Iowa Wild Michael Condon Memorial Award Peter Feola President's Awards Organization: Charlotte CheckersPlayer:
All-Star teams First All-Star Team Kaapo Kahkonen (G) – Iowa Jake Bean (D) – Charlotte Brennan Menell (D) – Iowa Reid Boucher (F) – Utica Josh Norris (F) – Belleville Sam Anas (F) – Iowa
Second All-Star Team Connor Ingram (G) – Milwaukee Jacob MacDonald (D) – Colorado Brogan Rafferty (D) – Utica Gerald Mayhew (F) – Iowa Alex Barre-Boulet (F) – Syracuse Drake Batherson (F) – Belleville
All-Rookie Team Cayden Primeau (G) – Laval Joey Keane (D) – Hartford/Charlotte Brogan Rafferty (D) – Utica Alex Formenton (F) – Belleville Josh Norris (F) – Belleville Jack Studnicka (F) – Providence
See also List of AHL seasons 2019 in ice hockey 2020 in ice hockey
References
External links AHL official site