AHL Cancels Remainder of Season

By Bob Phillips

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—While it wasn’t exactly breaking news, the American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer David Andrews made it official today when he announced that the league’s Board of Governors had voted to cancel the remainder of the 2019-20 AHL regular season and the 2020 Calder Cup Playoffs due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis:

“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

The League’s operational focus has turned toward actively preparing for the 2020-21 season.

We are very grateful to the National Hockey League and its teams for their support and leadership in navigating through the challenges faced over the past two months.

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 all look forward to returning to our arenas in 2020-21.”

The AHL’s standings – sorted by points percentage – and statistics as of March 12, 2020, are considered final and official, and will serve as the basis for determining league awards for the 2019-20 season.

Connecticut’s two AHL teams, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and the Hartford Wolf Pack, made the following announcements regarding the cancellation of the season and the refunding of tickets.

Bridgeport: Tickets purchased for all remaining games will be refunded at the point of purchase. If you have any questions or would like more information, please reach out to us at info@soundtigers.com.

Hartford: Season ticket members, mini plan and flex plan holders will receive an email from the team shortly regarding refunds, redemption and other options for the 2020-21 season.

—with staff reports

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Yale Honors Three Student Athletes

NEW HAVEN—Yale University Athletics announced the three recipients of the 2019-20 Thomas W. Ford Award on Monday. The three standout seniors share the honor this season are Anna Jennings (gymnastics), men’s soccer’s Andrew Sady-Kennedy (men’s soccer) and Vanessa Yu (women’s lacrosse).

ANNA JENNINGS 

Jennings is a dedicated member of Yale as well as the broader New Haven community. Last summer, she was awarded the Yale President’s Public Service Fellowship, which is given to a student exemplifying leadership, and working to tackle social concerns. With this fellowship, she works on a documentary highlighting the homeless population in the New Haven community, which will be a capstone project for her Medical Anthropology major.

“Anna embodies a community-drive spirit, because she always has the best intentions at heart, and she truly goes above and beyond to create an impact in anything she does,” said gymnastics head coach Barbara Tonry. “Anna is involved in so many charitable organizations, as well as projects that she has led on her own, and holds leadership roles in almost all of them.”

Jennings has also been a leader on campus and in the community as a volunteer with both Camp Kesem and the New Haven PAWS project, which are focused on helping children affected by cancer, and the well-being of the homeless, respectively. Additionally, Jennings is a leader within the organization Athletes in Action on campus, which allows her to apply her dedication and passion for leadership into her faith practices.

ANDREW SADY-KENNEDY

Sady-Kennedy’s volunteer and outreach work was evident over his four years at Yale. Much of his service came as the Vice President of the Yale International Relations Association (YIRA). There he aided the New Haven community with numerous outreach programs including the Yale Model United Nations conference every January, which averaged 1,600 participants. YIRA also hosted its 2018 conference in Seoul, South Korea for 300 high schoolers from around the world. Sady-Kennedy also volunteered as a teach with the Hemispheres Program and hosted the 2017 Yale Model Government Europe conference in Budapest, Hungary.

“Andrew is a true ambassador for Yale men’s soccer and Yale athletics. He is incredibly selfless in how he leads his everyday life,” said head 5K Corral Head Coach of Men’s Soccer Kylie Stannard. “His commitment in helping is shown by him not only volunteering his time for all the outreach we organize as a team, but then taking the initiative and giving huge amounts of time to be involved in all the other volunteering and outreach he has done during his time at Yale, both locally in New Haven and also representing Yale athletics abroad, as well.” 

Additionally, Sady-Kennedy assisted with the Mandi Schwartz Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive, helped with the New Haven Reads program, was a part of free youth soccer clinics for the Elm City Internationals after school program, spent hours with men’s soccer’s Team Impact member, and aided Connecticut Special Olympics. 

VANESSA YU

Yu’s mother passed away during her junior year of high school from a rare form of cancer. In her honor, Yu became the founder of the Macy Yu Scholarship, given annually to the student who excels in both academics and athletics, at Oyster Bay High School, (Oyster Bay, N.Y.). Yu is responsible for fundraising and collecting donations throughout the year to honor her mother with this award. 

“Vanessa’s impact on our program is immeasurable. She is the quintessential selfless team player and leader,” said Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women’s Lacrosse Erica Bamford. “Vanessa said being a counselor at this camp has been one of the best experiences of her life, but our team benefited from her leadership as a captain this season. Vanessa unified our team under difficult circumstances and helped shape our team culture with her quiet, selfless and compassionate leadership.” 

Yu also served as a counselor and Operations Committee member for Camp Kesem. Throughout the year leading up to camp, she worked on a team that developed a budget, created the schedule, chose a campsite, bought supplies, and hosted in-kind donation drives.

The Thomas W. Ford Award is awarded annually to male and a female student-athletes who during the past four years has demonstrated their commitment to strengthening the relationship between Yale Athletics and the youth in the New Haven community.

—Staff Reports

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