2019–20 FPHL season explained

2019–20 FPHL season
League:Federal Prospects Hockey League
Sport:Ice hockey
No Of Teams:10
Season Champs:Carolina Thunderbirds
Finals:Commissioner Cup playoffs
Finals Champ:None
Finals Runner-Up:None
Prevseason Year:2018–19
Nextseason Year:2020–21

The 2019–20 Federal Prospects Hockey League season was the tenth season of the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) and the first with "Prospects" in the league's name. The regular season was an unbalanced schedule with the ten teams in the league playing somewhere from 56 to 60 games per team. On March 16, 2020, the league canceled the remainder of the 2019–20 season schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

League changes

Following the 2018–19 season, the league fully branded itself as the Federal Prospects Hockey League with a new FPHL logo.

The Danbury Hat Tricks were announced as an expansion team on May 7, 2019, with Ffrmer FHL player Billy McCreary was announced a general manager and head coach. The team is owned by DP 110 LLC, the same group that had recently purchased the Danbury Ice Arena.[2] In April 2019, the Columbus, Georgia, city council voted to award a five-year lease to Ignite Pro Hockey, LLC at the Civic Center. On May 21, 2019, the league awarded an expansion team to Columbus and was named the Columbus River Dragons.[3] The Delaware Thunder were announced as a member on May 29, 2019, owned by Delaware Pro Hockey LLC, an investment group led by Charlie Pens, who also served as the president and general manager of the team.[4] In June 2019, the league's schedule revealed a tenth team for the 2019–20 season based in Michigan.[5] On July 23, the Battle Creek Rumble Bees were announced.[6]

The league split the ten teams into two divisions of five with the Elmira Enforcers, Watertown Wolves, Mentor Ice Breakers, Danbury Hat Tricks and Delaware Thunder in the Eastern Division and the Columbus River Dragons, Battle Creek Rumble Bees, Port Huron Prowlers, Danville Dashers, Carolina Thunderbirds in the Western Division. The top four teams in each division would qualify to make the playoffs

Regular season

The Battle Creek Rumble Bees' 0–23–1 start to the season gave them the longest losing streak in professional hockey history that would hold up until the Delaware Thunder lost 26 straight in the 2022–23 season.[7] On March 16, 2020, the league canceled the remainder of the 2019–20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Final standings:[8]

Eastern Division
Team GP W L OTL GF GA Pts Pts% Att.
46 31 12 3 212 158 94 .681 1,169
48 32 13 3 200 149 96 .667 3,077
48 25 21 2 191 182 74 .514 847
48 15 30 3 147 196 48 .333 652
45 13 31 1 165 206 39 .289 499
Western Division
Team GP W L OTL GF GA Pts Pts% Att.
46 35 6 5 217 106 108 .783 2,831
46 32 14 0 211 166 92 .667 1,036
47 26 18 3 172 150 79 .560 1,034
46 24 21 1 191 183 67 .486 3,046
48 1 45 2 94 304 5 .035 353

Qualified for playoffs

Playoffs

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the playoffs were canceled as well.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2020-03-16 . FPHL Cancels Remainder of 2019-20 Season . July 18, 2023 . federalhockey.com.
  2. Web site: May 7, 2019 . FHL Returns to Danbury . July 18, 2023 . federalhockey.com.
  3. Web site: May 21, 2019 . News: The River Dragons Arrive in Columbus May 21 2019 - Ignite Sports and Entertainment . July 18, 2023 . rdragons.com.
  4. Web site: Professional hockey is coming to Delaware, meet the Delaware Thunder . July 18, 2023 . The News Journal . en-US.
  5. Web site: June 17, 2019 . 2019/2020 FPHL SCHEDULE . July 18, 2023 . federalhockey.com.
  6. Web site: Introducing your newest pro hockey team, the Battle Creek Rumble Bees . July 18, 2023 . Battle Creek Enquirer .
  7. Web site: @MinorHero . July 18, 2023 . Twitter .
  8. Web site: Stats - Federal Prospects Hockey League . 2023-07-18 . federalhockey.com.