By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published May 11, 2020 at 10:46 AM

While some sports are discussing potential returns of various contortions, one Milwaukee team's year has unfortunately come to an early close as the AHL officially canceled the rest of the 2019-20 season. 

The season was suspended back on March 12 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but today the AHL officially nixed the idea of returning to the ice.

"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," wrote AHL President and CEO David Andrews in a release. "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."

"While we will not be able to compete our mission of winning the Calder Cup this season, we know that we will be back to start another journey," wrote Admirals governor/CEO Harris Turer and head coach Karl Taylor. "And while we are disappointed not to be able to compete for you at this time, the best fans and sponsors anywhere, we know that we can count on you to remain in our corner."

There's at least a little glimmer of good news amongst this grim announcement: The AHL announced that the final standings and statistics as of March 12 are official and final, meaning that the Admirals – owners of the league's best record this year at 41-14-5-3 (91 points) – are basically the champions of the truncated regular season. It's certainly not the way anyone would want or dream of earning the crown, but at least it's some triumphant news in these otherwise testing times. 

Stay tuned to OnMilwaukee for more updates.

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.