ECHL season cancelled, AHL season in danger of being completely cancelled as well.

The National Hockey League and its commissioner Gary Bettman have remained optimistic about the prospects of saving the 2019 - 2020 NHL regular season in spite of the fact that play has now been suspended as a direct result of the coronavirus outbreak. Bettman made statements that left no doubt that he intends to do everything in his power to make sure that the Stanley Cup is awarded this season and that a champion will be crowned.

“We are looking at every contingency and what’s doable, so yes, everything – for consideration – is on the table,” said Bettman as per Sportsnet. “It doesn’t mean that any of those are going to happen. I don’t want to speculate as to which direction we’re going in. We are analyzing every conceivable option that is available to us, and that’s not something that’s static. In other words, what’s an option today, there may be different options – fewer options, more options, who knows – next week.

“And so, my hope and expectation is that we can finish the season in some form, award the Stanley Cup, and then be able to move on knowing that we accomplished that goal of finishing the season for our fans.”

The NHL of course is a league that is worth billions of dollars and as you would expect for such as monolithic organization they have many ways of navigating the complex problems that will presented to them in the coming weeks, but it appears that may not be the case for some of the smaller hockey leagues in North America, including the American Hockey League and the ECHL. Just earlier tonight the ECHL announced that it had completely cancelled the season, a devastating blow to hundreds of players around the league and it sounds now like the AHL may be in some trouble as well. 

Sportsnet's NHL insider Chris Johnston has reported that regardless of whether or not the NHL is able to resume play, the AHL will not be able to follow suit given that they lack the resources available to the NHL.

"Word around the American Hockey League is that a potential return won't mirror what happens with the NHL," wrote Johnston on Saturday. "Too many different variables, including travel and revenue. They're facing a big challenge."

Johnston was then asked if this meant that the AHL season would be entirely cancelled as well, but he stopped short of making that claim.

"No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying it'll tougher for them to resume than the NHL, but everyone is waiting to see where things go with COVID-19."

I would imagine that as more and more time passes, the more and more likely it will become that we will see the AHL season follow the way of the ECHL season with a complete cancellation. That of course would be devastating for the league and for the individual teams, many of which do not have the benefit of having billionaire ownership groups like those in the National Hockey League. All of that is of course important, but for fans and players the toughest blow will likely be the damage done to the competitive integrity of the league as a result of a lost season.

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