Chirps from Center Ice

Man, it’s been so long since I updated that there is dust everywhere here at the blog and I damn near forgot the password to get in. Anyway, a quick update as to where things stand with the “paused” American Hockey League season.

– Teams on Twitter are talking like it’s the end of the season. From goals of the season and silly GIFs, it certainly looks like teams are packing it in until official word.

– Did you pay for your season tickets for 2020-21 yet? I did. There hasn’t been any official word from the Penguins yet regarding any type of refunds or credits which may apply for this lost, er,, paused season or next years start.

– I don’t have anything for you on what to do with unused vouchers and the like. I know were were due another bobble head and assorted tchotchkes. My guess is when official word comes down on the fate of the season, all will be revealed.

On the remainder of the season, two things came to light today. You will need sound for this first one.

Also….

That last one is paywalled, but the finer points include:

– AHL isn’t likely to restart the 19-20 season.
– They have a plan to start on time for 20-21.
– The have a plan to have a delayed start to 20-21 also.
– The whole NHL-AHL owned clubs / independent AHL teams.
– One last headache for David Andrews, who is stepping down at the end of the season. Hell of a way to go out if you ask me.

They, unlike their NHL counterpart, can’t play games in front of no one because they don’t have a TV contract. So I wouldn’t worry at least in this far term about AHL games being played behind closed doors next year. It isn’t financially feasible for some of, if not all of the teams.

What it means for you the ticket payer to the men and women in the front offices of the AHL team you support is anyones guess. I would like to think that some of the ticketing offices are pressuring the front offices asking what is going on so they can have some type of plan in place for 2020-21.

The AHL Board of Governors is set to have a call at some point in the near future and I would expect that the 19-20 AHL season will be called off officially. When that happens, look for that official word here.

Oh, out the door, the Penguins re-signed Chase Berger for next season, whenever the hell that is going to be.

Stay safe.