The 2020–21 AHL season was the 85th

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. Due to the ongoing restrictions in the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the start of the regular season was pushed back to February 5, 2021, and the league championship

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

was not awarded for the second consecutive season. The

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the best regular-season record, their eighth regular-season championship. This was the first season under

Scott Howson Donald Scott Howson (born April 9, 1960) is a Canadian ice hockey executive and former player. He was formerly the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played 18 games in the NHL with the New York I ...

as the league's president after David Andrews announced his retirement after 26 years in the position.

League changes

After the previous season was curtailed due to the

, there was no certainty for the AHL's 2020–21 season due to continuing limitations on arena capacities and traveling during the pandemic. The league had originally hoped to start play by December 4, 2020, but was later pushed back to at least February 5, 2021. Similar to the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, the league was reportedly exploring the option of playing with an all-Canada division due to increased border travel restrictions between the United States and Canada. On January 4, 2021, the league announced its plans and divisional alignment for the shortened season. The four Canadian teams were placed in their own division with a season start date still pending provincial approval. Three teams opted out of the season entirely: the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affi ...

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

, and the

Springfield Thunderbirds The Springfield Thunderbirds are a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League that began play for the 2016–17 season. They are the affiliate of the National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; fren ...

. Seven teams temporarily relocated to be closer to their parent teams or due to venue availability during the pandemic: the

Belleville Senators The Belleville Senators are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2017–18 season as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League team, the Ottawa Senators. Based in Bellevill ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

; the

Binghamton Devils The Binghamton Devils were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2017 to 2021 as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s New Jersey Devils. Based in Binghamton, New York ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Laval Rocket The Laval Rocket (french: Rocket de Laval) are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) as an affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Montreal Canadiens. Based in Laval, Quebec, Canada, the Rocket play th ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

; the

Ontario Reign The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Ontario, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings, the team plays i ...

El Segundo, California El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 16,731 as of th ...

; the

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the primary development team for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rh ...

Marlborough, Massachusetts Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 41,793 at the 2020 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the ...

; the

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

; and the

Stockton Heat The Stockton Heat were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2015 to 2022. The team was based in Stockton, California, and was affiliated with the National Hockey League (NHL) Calgary Flames. The Hea ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. The

San Jose Barracuda The San Jose Barracuda are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. The team will play at Tech CU Arena beginning in the 2022-23 season. The Barracuda is a relocation of the ...

also opened their season with home games in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

before returning to San Jose. The schedule for the American divisions was released on January 22; however, the Canadian teams had not yet received provincial clearance. Stockton then moved from the Pacific to the Canadian Division on January 28 causing scheduling changes to the Pacific Division. On February 1, the league announced a revised schedule and that the start of the season for the Canadian Division had been postponed. The beginning of the Canadian schedule was released on February 9 with a February 12 start date, but the two Ontario teams still did not have approval to play at home. The league allowed each division the choice to hold a divisional postseason. On April 29, it was announced that only the Pacific Division had elected to hold a postseason tournament to name a division champion, with the other four divisions awarding their champions via regular season records. Consequently, the league would not award the

for a second consecutive season.

Team and NHL affiliation changes

Relocations

*The

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sold ...

franchise was purchased by the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...

and relocated to the

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

area. The team became the

Henderson Silver Knights The Henderson Silver Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in Henderson, Nevada, that began play in the 2020–21 American Hockey League (AHL) season. The team plays its home games at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. The tea ...

playing out of

Orleans Arena Orleans Arena is a 9,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Paradise, Nevada, in the Las Vegas Valley. It is located at the Orleans Hotel and Casino and is operated by Coast Casinos, a subsidiary of Boyd Gaming Corporation. The arena is the home to ...

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the fif ...

, with plans to move into a new venue in nearby

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

, upon completion.

Hiatus

Due to the

, three teams chose to not participate in the season. *

Affiliation changes

Coaching changes

Final standings

''indicates team clinched regular season division title'' Final standings as of May 20, 2021

Statistical leaders

Leading skaters

The following players are sorted by points, then goals. Final as of May 20, 2021. ''GP = Games played; G =

Goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

s; A =

Assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

s; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus-minus; PIM =

Penalty minutes A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders with a minimum 660 minutes played lead the league in

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

. Final as of May 20, 2021. ''GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO =

Shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s; GAA = Goals against average; SV% =

Save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT =

Overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

loss''

Postseason

For the second consecutive season, there was no

playoffs. The teams in the Pacific Division held a postseason tournament to name a division champion. All seven Pacific teams participated, with the bottom four teams participating in a single-elimination play-in series to face the top seed in the division semifinal. The semifinals and finals were both best-of-three series.

Pacific Division playoff

Final results:

AHL awards

All-star teams

Instead of the traditional first and second all-star teams, the league named an all-star team for each division in addition to the annual all-rookie team.

Atlantic Division

Jeremy Swayman Jeremy Swayman (born November 24, 1998), nicknamed "Sway", is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Bruins selected him in the fourth round, 111th overall, of the 2017 NHL ...

(G) – Providence * Samuel Bolduc (D) – Bridgeport * Tarmo Reunanen (D) – Hartford *

Morgan Barron Morgan Andrew Barron (born December 2, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre playing for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Barron played two seasons of minor ice hockey with the ...

(F) – Hartford * Cameron Hughes (F) – Providence * Jakub Lauko (F) – Providence

Canadian Division

Cayden Primeau Cayden Primeau (born August 11, 1999) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently playing for the Laval Rocket in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). ...

(G) – Laval * Otto Leskinen (D) – Laval *

Connor Mackey Connor Mackey (born September 12, 1996) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Mackey became highly coveted as an undrafted free agent after playing three years of college i ...

(D) – Stockton * Kalle Kossila (F) – Toronto *

Egor Sokolov Egor Sokolov (born June 7, 2000) is a Russians, Russian professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger currently playing for the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League while under contract to the Ottawa Senators of the Nation ...

(F) – Belleville * Nathan Todd (F) – Manitoba

Central Division

* Beck Warm (G) – Chicago * Calen Addison (D) – Iowa *

Cody Franson Cody Franson (born August 8, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL). Franson was drafted in the third r ...

(D) – Rockford *

Riley Barber Riley Barber (born February 7, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey forward who is currently under contract with the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Barber was selected by the Washington Capitals in the sixth round (16 ...

(F) – Grand Rapids *

Riley Damiani Riley Damiani (born March 20, 2000) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Texas Stars in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Early life Damiani ...

(F) – Texas *

Adam Mascherin Adam Mascherin (; born June 6, 1998) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for Skellefteå AIK in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He was originally drafted 38th overall by the Florida Panthers in the 2016 NHL E ...

(F) – Texas

North Division

Zane McIntyre Zane McIntyre (né Gothberg; born August 20, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing with the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey ...

(G) – Lehigh Valley * Oskari Laaksonen (D) – Rochester *

Cameron Schilling Ernest Cameron Schilling (born October 7, 1988), is an Americans, American professional ice hockey defenceman, defenseman currently playing with Djurgårdens IF Hockey, Djurgårdens IF in the HockeyAllsvenskan (Allsv). Playing career Undrafted, S ...

(D) – Hershey * Boris Katchouk (F) – Syracuse *

Connor McMichael Connor McMichael (born January 15, 2001) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He wa ...

(F) – Hershey * Taylor Raddysh (F) – Syracuse

Pacific Division

Logan Thompson Logan Thompson (born February 25, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played junior in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Brandon Wheat King ...

(G) – Henderson * Josh Mahura (D) – San Diego * Ryan Murphy (D) – Henderson * Cooper Marody (F) – Bakersfield * Andrew Poturalski (F) – San Diego * T. J. Tynan (F) – Colorado

All-Rookie

(G) – Henderson * Calen Addison (D) – Iowa * Max Gildon (D) – Bakersfield *

(F) – Texas *

(F) – Hershey * Phil Tomasino (F) – Chicago

References

External links

AHL official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 AHL season 2020-21 season American Hockey League seasons 2020–21 in American ice hockey by league 2020–21 in Canadian ice hockey by league

League changes

Team and NHL affiliation changes

Relocations

Hiatus

Affiliation changes

Coaching changes

Final standings

Statistical leaders

Leading skaters

Leading goaltenders

Postseason

Pacific Division playoff

AHL awards

All-star teams

Atlantic Division

Canadian Division

Central Division

North Division

Pacific Division

All-Rookie

See also

References

External links