Early this morning, the American Hockey League officially announced that it has decided to shut down the remainder of the 2019-20 season along with the Calder Cup playoffs as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

After suspending its season on March 12th, the AHL has officially decided to abandon the remainder of the 2019-20 schedule and Calder Cup playoffs in favour of looking ahead at next year. According to the official release, the AHL advised that the current standings and statistics as of the shutdown (based on points percentage), are considered to be final and will serve as the benchmark for determining league awards for the 2019-20 season.

While many hockey fans were holding out hope that both the NHL and AHL would be able to finish up their respective seasons, the global health crisis caused by the pandemic has certainly thrown that all to the wayside. Despite today’s announcement, the NHL still desperately wants to finish their year and award the Stanley Cup even if it means finishing up later in the calendar year, but whether or not that can actually happen remains to be seen.

When the AHL shut down in mid-March, the Utica Comets were sitting in third place in the North Division and fifth place in the Eastern Conference with Reid Boucher leading the team in scoring with 67 points (34G, 33A) in 53 games.