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2019–20 AHL season

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2019–20 AHL season
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationOctober 4, 2019 – March 12, 2020
Regular season
Macgregor Kilpatrick TrophyMilwaukee Admirals (2nd overall)
Season MVPGerald Mayhew (Iowa)
Top scorerSam Anas (Iowa)
AHL seasons

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.[1][2] 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.[3] 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

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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.[1] The Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the regular season champion was awarded based on points percentage.

Coaching changes

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Off–season
Team 2018–19 coach 2019–20 coach Notes
Charlotte 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[a] 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.[4]
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-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach Notes
Rochester 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 Bonneau
Michael 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.[5]
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.[6]
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.
  1. ^ Interim

Final standings

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Eastern Conference

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Final standings as of March 11, 2020[7]

Atlantic Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts Pts% GF GA
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 GP W L OTL SOL Pts Pts% GF GA
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

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Final standings as of March 11, 2020[7]

Central Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts Pts% GF GA
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 GP W L OTL SOL Pts Pts% GF GA
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 .596 185 164
Ontario 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

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Leading skaters

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The following players are sorted by points, then goals. Final as of March 11, 2020.[8]

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Sam Anas Iowa Wild 63 20 50 70 10
Reid Boucher Utica Comets 53 34 33 67 45
Gerald Mayhew Iowa Wild 49 39 22 61 68
Josh Norris Belleville Senators 56 31 30 61 21
Alex Barre-Boulet Syracuse Crunch 60 27 29 56 22
Drake Batherson Belleville Senators 44 16 38 54 24
Alex Formenton Belleville Senators 61 27 26 53 65
Brayden Burke Tucson Roadrunners 51 21 31 52 34
Chris Terry Grand Rapids Griffins 57 21 30 51 32
Daniel Carr Milwaukee Admirals 47 23 27 50 20

Leading goaltenders

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The following goaltenders with a minimum 1200 minutes played lead the league in goals against average. Final as of March 11, 2020.[9]

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
Dan 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

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2020 Calder Cup playoffs
← 2019
2021 →

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.[2] It is the first time in league history that the Calder Cup was not awarded.

AHL awards

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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 Checkers
Player:

All-Star Teams

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First All-Star Team[10]

Second All-Star Team[10]

All-Rookie Team[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "2019-20 AHL SCHEDULE UNVEILED". AHL. July 10, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "AHL cancels remainder of 2019-20 season". theahl.com. May 11, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  3. ^ "AHL suspends play". American Hockey League. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  4. ^ "Sabres, Amerks announce coaching staff update". AHL. October 1, 2019.
  5. ^ "Sommer gets call to join Sharks". AHL.com. December 11, 2019.
  6. ^ "DALLAS STARS APPOINT NEIL GRAHAM AS TEXAS STARS HEAD COACH". texas Stars. December 10, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "AHL Standings". AHL. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  8. ^ "Player Stats TheAHL.com". AHL.
  9. ^ "Top Goalies - TheAHL.com". AHL.
  10. ^ a b "2019-20 AHL First, Second All-Star Teams unveiled". TheAHL.com. May 20, 2020.
  11. ^ "2019-20 AHL All-Rookie Team named". TheAHL.com. May 23, 2020.
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Preceded by AHL seasons Succeeded by