CANTLON: FEW DETAILS EXIST FOR START OF AHL SEASON 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – AHL hockey will return on February 5th, that much is for certain, but regarding details, like schedules, the number of games, yea or nay to spectator participation, and a plethora of other decisions still must be made and discussed at both the league and the local level.

Getting to February 5th is going to be a mad dash until then.

The only official word on the start of the season came Wednesday afternoon from American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer, Scott Howson, regarding the league’s 2020-21 season.

“The American Hockey League Board of Governors has approved the structural framework for an AHL season that will begin on February 5, 2021.

“Details are still being worked out, but this step allows our teams and their National Hockey League partners to better determine their plans for the coming season. We look forward to dropping the puck on February 5.”

The league met for most of the day, another session is expected tomorrow.

For the Hartford Wolf Pack, negotiations now can begin anew with the CRDA despite just five weeks before the season is set to start.

CRDA Executive Director, Michael W. Freimuth, was asked if a formal request had been made regarding the use of the currently closed XL Center.

“Not a ‘request,” he replied. “We’ve been talking with them for months on ‘if’ and ‘how’ to proceed. Now that February 5th has been established, we’ve begun conversations in a more earnest way and will have discussions with them as early as tomorrow (Thursday).”

There will be a lot of give-and-take and perhaps even some heated discussions as they try to hammer out a deal even with a signed contract already in place between the parties, but clearly, the operational framework has been changed in the last year.

Cantlon’s Corner has learned of one detail that has been discussed in a draft proposal. The thought in the draft had Hartford, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Springfield Thunderbirds, and The Providence Bruins playing a 30-35 game schedule together in one division.

With the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence being closed, the team is looking at potentially playing their games at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, MA. A final decision has not been made.

Teams in the East have always had a decided geographic advantage. The close proximity to each other can easily allow the teams to minimize travel and overnight stays.

The AHL West, on the other hand, has their teams further apart geography. The two objectives of minimizing travel, and overnight stay, will be very hard to meet. The only exception would be games between the Chicago Steel and Milwaukee Admirals and Chicago and the Iowa Wild.

Another proposal has the AHL’s California teams playing in Texas to accomplish a model more closely in line with the AHL East.

The AHL’s Canadian division is likely to see the farm teams play in the parent’s team barn in Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa. Manitoba already is home to the Jets.

50 games are the ceiling for games, but fitting them in within a reasonable period of time will be quite the challenge.

But that isn’t the only challenge facing the league and its individual teams.

Teams will need to assemble their respective staff and start the process of preparation, with very little public info to work with. In fact, it’s likely that most of their staff has moved on, and it’s equally likely that a newly hired staff, would each be wearing multiple hats.

The AHL might resemble Yugoslavia in 1990, with each team going in scattered directions as a result of COVID public health guidelines being so high. It could prove to be too difficult.

In some cases, what they have may require is a complete internal makeover and redesign and a new plan to operate. The changes may lead to just a bare-bones staff and approach to keep things within a workable budget.

Player personnel will also be a thorny issue. The reason?  Each NHL will maintain a taxi squad consisting of anywhere from four to as many as potentially ten prospects, all being paid their full AHL salaries.

The Bakersfield Condors have 16 of their players currently in Europe. What will their AHL team look like? What kind of team could they actually field? One possibility is the AHL veteran rule could be stretched or even eliminated for the season to put so teams could put competitive players on the ice.

The NHL compact schedule harkens back to the early 1990s when they had a murderous AHL schedule of three-games-in-four-nights, four-games-in-five nights. They’ll also need taxi squads and players will be used.

How will workers’ compensation insurance work with the expected altered rosters? It’s a major financial detail that teams deal with as a regular part of doing business in normal circumstances, but these are not normal circumstances.

How are the teams’ sales departments,  eviscerated last March, going to function? Group sales, a lifeblood in Hartford, how can there be groups when under COVID restrictions and how will social-distancing be maintained?

Could there be a promotional “Mask and Soap Night at the XL Center” coming to Hartford?

There are clearly so many questions, and far too few answers because with six months lead time the AHL gave its fans, teams and players very little to work with to plan their futures.

It’s going to be a sprint marathon the rest of the way.