After suspending its 2019-20 season abruptly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, American Hockey League (AHL) President and CEO Scott Howson announced that the league’s Board of Governors has elected to push back the start date of the AHL 2020-21 season to Feb. 5.

“This gives us the best chance to have a significant season with fans in the building and we’ll just see what happens here in the next two months,” Howson told the Associated Press. “We’re going to be flexible and we’re going to do everything we can to play.”

The AHL is the top minor league affiliate for the NHL and includes the Binghamton Devils, who are the top minor league affiliate for the New Jersey Devils.

Teams in the NHL have historically relied on sending their players to the AHL for player development. Many current NHL players have had stints in the AHL.

Although the AHL typically begins its season in the first week in October, the pandemic has forced it to push back the date. In July, the AHL was previously targeting a return date of Dec. 4. However, several obstacles made it unrealistic to begin the season at that point in time.

First, various regulations prevent teams from accommodating fans in their arenas. The AHL is dependent on fan attendance to earn revenue as a league. With the start date pushed back, Howson is hopeful that these regulations will be lifted by the February start date.

“We’re moving in the right direction in some of our markets,” Howson said. “Hopefully that trend continues.”

The second predicament that the AHL faces is the number of teams that may elect to opt out of the season. When the ECHL, which is a tier below the AHL, announced earlier this month that it will start its season on Dec. 11, several teams voluntarily opted out of the season.

Although Howson believes this may ultimately happen in the AHL, he believes that pushing back the starting date will give teams more time to ensure eligibility.

“I think all our teams want to play, but nobody knows what’s going to happen,” Howson said.

In order to do this, there have been discussions among the league’s Board of Governors as it pertains to league realignment, formats and the number of games played. According to Howson, “everything’s on the table.”