The 84th season gets underway October 4
BY: Jason Chaimovich, American Hockey League
The American Hockey League today released the complete schedule of games for the 2019-20 regular season, the league’s 84th year of operation.
The season, with 31 teams playing a total of 1,150 games, begins on Friday, October 4 and concludes on Saturday, April 11.
Some highlights of the 2019-20 schedule:
· The 2019-20 regular season opens with eight games on Oct. 4, highlighted by a 2019 postseason rematch between the Bakersfield Condors and the San Diego Gulls.
· On Oct. 5, the Charlotte Checkers begin defense of their 2019 Calder Cup championship with a visit to Hartford. The Checkers’ home opener at Bojangles’ Coliseum is scheduled for Oct. 11 vs. Bridgeport.
The Western Conference champion Chicago Wolves also open their season on Oct. 5, as Grand Rapids visits Allstate Arena.
· The Hershey Bears, members of the AHL since 1938, will skate in their 6,000th regular-season game on Nov. 27 when they host Providence.
· The Syracuse Crunch play their 2,000th regular-season game on Dec. 28 when they visit Belleville, and the Cleveland Monsters (Apr. 2 vs. Hershey) and Rockford IceHogs (Apr. 3 vs. Chicago) both play their 1,000th regular-season game as members of the AHL this season.
The Ontario Reign host the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Ontario International Airport, Jan. 26 and 27 at Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif.
· There are 12 days this season on which 30 of the league’s 31 teams are in action: Sat., Oct. 19; Sat., Oct. 26; Sat., Nov. 23; Sat., Nov. 30; Sat., Dec. 7; Sat., Dec. 14; Fri., Jan. 24; Sat., Jan. 25; Fri., Jan. 31; Sat., Mar. 7; Sat., Mar. 28; and Sat., Apr. 11.
· The 2020 Calder Cup Playoffs will get underway the week of Apr. 13, featuring the top four teams in each of the AHL’s four divisions.
Every game this season will be streamed live on AHLTV (theahl.com/AHLTV). Details on subscription packages for the 2019-20 season will be available later this summer.
The American Hockey League was officially born in 1936 when the Canadian-American Hockey League and the International Hockey League merged to form the International-American Hockey League (the “International” would be dropped from the league’s name in 1940). The AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 31 National Hockey League teams; nearly 90 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers.
