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 axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
of the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
. Due to the ongoing restrictions in the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the start of the regular season was pushed back to February 5, 2021,
and the league's playoff tournament championship
Calder Cup was not awarded for the second consecutive season. The AHL's regular-season
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy would become the league's primary trophy, which was the
Hershey Bears
The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...
's eighth regular-season championship. This was the first season under
Scott Howson 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
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, 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; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
, 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 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 affiliate of the ...
,
Milwaukee Admirals, and the
Springfield Thunderbirds. Seven teams temporarily relocated to be closer to their parent teams or due to venue availability during the pandemic: the
Belleville Senators to
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
; the
Binghamton Devils to
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
; the
Laval Rocket to
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
; the
Ontario Reign to
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 17,272 as of t ...
; the
Providence Bruins to
Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 41,793 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high ...
; the
San Diego Gulls to
Irvine, California
Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...
; and the
Stockton Heat to
Calgary
Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
. The
San Jose Barracuda also opened their season with home games in
Tucson
Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
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
Calder Cup for a second consecutive season.
Team and NHL affiliation changes
Relocations
*The
San Antonio Rampage franchise was purchased by the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
's
Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...
and relocated to the
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
area. The team became the
Henderson Silver Knights 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 The Orleans, Orleans Hotel and Casino and is operated by Coast Casinos, a subsidiary of Boyd Gaming, Boyd Gaming Corporation. ...
in
Paradise, Nevada
Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, 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 ...
, 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 List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...
, upon completion.
Hiatus
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, three teams chose to not participate in the season.
*
Charlotte Checkers
The Charlotte Checkers are a 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 affiliate of the ...
*
Milwaukee Admirals
*
Springfield Thunderbirds
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 or objective 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 ...
s; A =
Assists; Pts =
Points; +/– = P
Plus–minus; PIM =
Penalty minutes''
Leading goaltenders
The following goaltenders with a minimum 660 minutes played lead the league in
goals against average. 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 (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...
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 (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic.
In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...
; 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 loss''
Postseason
For the second consecutive season, there was no
Calder Cup 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:
Play-in games
:
Note 1: ''All times are in Eastern Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico.
* Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...
( UTC−4).''
:
Note 2: ''Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary.''
:
Note 3: ''Home team is listed first.''
(4) San Jose Barracuda vs. (7) Tucson Roadrunners
(5) Colorado Eagles vs. (6) Ontario Reign
Play-in final game
(4) San Jose Barracuda vs. (5) Colorado Eagles
Semifinals
(1) Henderson Silver Knights vs. (4) San Jose Barracuda
(2) Bakersfield Condors vs. (3) San Diego Gulls
Finals
(1) Henderson Silver Knights vs. (2) Bakersfield Condors
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 (G) – Providence
*
Samuel Bolduc (D) – Bridgeport
*
Tarmo Reunanen (D) – Hartford
*
Morgan Barron (F) – Hartford
*
Cameron Hughes (F) – Providence
*
Jakub Lauko (F) – Providence
Canadian Division
*
Cayden Primeau (G) – Laval
*
Otto Leskinen (D) – Laval
*
Connor Mackey (D) – Stockton
*
Kalle Kossila (F) – Toronto
*
Egor Sokolov (F) – Belleville
*
Nathan Todd (F) – Manitoba
Central Division
*
Beck Warm (G) – Chicago
*
Calen Addison (D) – Iowa
*
Cody Franson (D) – Rockford
*
Riley Barber (F) – Grand Rapids
*
Riley Damiani (F) – Texas
*
Adam Mascherin (F) – Texas
North Division
*
Zane McIntyre (G) – Lehigh Valley
*
Oskari Laaksonen (D) – Rochester
*
Cameron Schilling (D) – Hershey
*
Boris Katchouk (F) – Syracuse
*
Connor McMichael (F) – Hershey
*
Taylor Raddysh (F) – Syracuse
Pacific Division
*
Logan Thompson (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
*
Logan Thompson (G) – Henderson
*
Calen Addison (D) – Iowa
*
Max Gildon (D) – Bakersfield
*
Riley Damiani (F) – Texas
*
Connor McMichael (F) – Hershey
*
Phil Tomasino (F) – Chicago
See also
*
List of AHL seasons
*
2020 in ice hockey
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