It's go-time for the 2020-21 American Hockey League season.

The NHL’s top developmental league announced Monday that its 2020-21 season will start on February 5th after going nearly 11 months without play. That announcement followed a months-long negotiation process between the NHL and AHL to put hockey’s top prospects back on the ice despite the considerable financial challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But producing nearly 90 percent of the NHL’s player supply made the financial cost worthwhile for organizations.

“For [prospects] to not play for over a year would have been very tough for our organization, especially on the players and our fans,” said Tampa Bay Lightning assistant general manager Stacy Roest, who also serves as general manager for the Syracuse Crunch. “Most of the p