The Wolves and the American Hockey League won’t be returning this season. When the Wolves do come back, it will be with a new parent club and coach.
The catch is, it’s unclear when the AHL will skate again.
On Monday, the AHL announced that its board of governors voted to cancel the remainder of the 2019-20 campaign. Originally halted on March 12 due to concerns over COVID-19, the season will end without a Calder Cup champion. That trophy had been awarded every year starting in 1937.
“After a lengthy review process, the American Hockey League has determined that the resumption and completion of the 2019-20 season is not feasible in light of current conditions,” AHL president and CEO David Andrews said in a news release. “The league’s operational focus has turned toward actively preparing for the 2020-21 season. The AHL continues to place paramount importance on the health and safety of our players, officials, staff and fans and all of their families, and we look forward to returning to our arenas in 2020-21.”
On March 16, the league recommended that teams help players get home while allowing clubs to melt their ice. The ice at Allstate Arena has been melted, and in an April interview on SiriusXM, Andrews said the league had begun to pivot toward the 2020-21 season.
But playing games without fans, Andrews said, would be very unlikely because the AHL is a gate-driven league.
Andrews said the AHL is building for an October start next season and needs to be ready for that possibility. But it must also look for operating models beginning in November, December and January.
Whatever’s coming, the Wolves have said they’re ready.
“Our first wave of planning has an early October start for games and that we’ll play a traditional season,” Jon Sata, the Wolves’ senior vice president, partnerships & business development, recently told the Sun-Times. “The Plan B looks like a delayed start to the season and the potential of a truncated season thereafter. I think the way that we’re approaching it is planning for the full schedule, and then if we have to pare it down we’ll adjust accordingly.”
Refunds are available for fans who had tickets for the Wolves’ eight remaining home games. In a news release the team said fans “have multiple options available that include converting them into tickets for the 2020-21 season and donating them to front-line healthcare workers and first responders for games next season.”
In terms of hockey, Monday’s news ends a challenging season for the Wolves.
At the time of the pause in the season, the Wolves were 27-26-5-3, in fourth place in the Central Division, and trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
This also brings an unceremonious end to the Wolves’ three-season relationship with the parent-club Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas purchased the San Antonio Rampage and will move them to Nevada for next season, making that team their AHL affiliate.
The Wolves have not formalized a parent club for next season, but they are expected to join with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes’ relationship with the in-state Charlotte Checkers, their current affiliate, is apparently nearing its conclusion.
The end of the season also wraps up coach Rocky Thompson’s time in Rosemont. Thompson, a Vegas employee, went 113-71-18-11 with two division titles and the 2019 Western Conference championship over three seasons with the Wolves, burnishing his reputation as a potential future NHL head coach.
Assuming the Wolves and Hurricanes link up, current Charlotte coach Ryan Warsofsky is expected to take over in Rosemont. The shortened 2019-20 season was the first for Warsofsky, 32, leading the Checkers.
This story will be updated.
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