{"id":42852,"date":"2022-04-25T09:51:21","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T15:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportstravelmagazine.com\/?p=42852"},"modified":"2023-01-25T09:08:31","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T16:08:31","slug":"how-the-ahl-has-survived-covid-scott-howson-on-leading-the-league-through-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sportstravelmagazine.com\/how-the-ahl-has-survived-covid-scott-howson-on-leading-the-league-through-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"How the AHL has Survived COVID: Scott Howson on Leading the League Through the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How the AHL has Survived COVID: Scott Howson on Leading the League Through the Pandemic\" src=\"https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/sportstravel-podcast\/how-the-ahl-has-survived-covid-scott-howson-on-lea\/embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"article_sidebar\">\n<h3>More Episodes<\/h3>\n<p>To listen to more episodes of the SportsTravel Podcast, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportstravelmagazine.com\/category\/podcasts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Scott<\/strong> <strong>Howson <\/strong>was named president of the <a href=\"https:\/\/theahl.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Hockey League<\/a> in February 2020 with plans for a short transition period before assuming control ahead of the 2020\u20132021 season. Obviously the sports landscape, along with the world landscape, looks a lot different now than it did a little more than two years ago. Howson worked during the pandemic to steer the league through a shortened 2020\u20132021 season that saw no Calder Cup playoffs. This season, the AHL has steered through the winter difficulties of the omicron variant to put itself on track for a full regular season and playoffs thanks to the support of medical experts and the National Hockey League as well. The AHL\u2019s future also looks bright with the incoming addition of a team in the Coachella Valley <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportstravelmagazine.com\/new-sports-venues-to-watch-in-2022\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">starting next season in a new venue<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In this episode, Howson talks with <em>SportsTravel<\/em> managing editor <strong>Matt<\/strong> <strong>Traub<\/strong> about how a kid who grew up loving hockey turned it into not just a playing career but a post-playing career as a sports executive.<\/p>\n<h3>Among the topics featured in this episode:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>What the past two years have been like as a sports executive (2:24)<\/li>\n<li>Surviving the 2021 season that saw teams opt out, relocate and play in altered playoffs (3:55)<\/li>\n<li>How the current season compares to the previous one (5:49)<\/li>\n<li>The frustrations of a rough December because of the omicron variant (7:15)<\/li>\n<li>How the AHL has survived financially through the pandemic (9:20)<\/li>\n<li>The incentives of gambling and other revenue streams for the AHL (11:05)<\/li>\n<li>Why he was interested in the job of AHL president (12:08)<\/li>\n<li>His view of league when he was a player in the mid-1980s and later as an NHL team executive (13:35)<\/li>\n<li>The growth of the AHL which now has teams from coast to coast (15:02)<\/li>\n<li>How AHL franchises have been able to stay relevant in an increasingly crowded entertainment landscape (16:50)<\/li>\n<li>The AHL\u2019s relationship with the NHL and its member clubs (18:17)<\/li>\n<li>Diversity, Equity and Inclusion throughout the league on and off the ice (20:16)<\/li>\n<li>Standardizing the AHL&#8217;s schedule for all 32 teams starting next season (22:10)<\/li>\n<li>The anticipation of having the Calder Cup Playoffs return (23:52)<\/li>\n<li>The league&#8217;s future priorities (24:45)<\/li>\n<li>What his younger self would think having had a playing and post-playing career in hockey (26:08)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>This episode is sponsored by:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.teamsconference.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-40581\" src=\"https:\/\/media.sportstravelmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/10030839\/T22_logo_color_dark-NEW-Dates-1024x227.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.sportstravelmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/10030839\/T22_logo_color_dark-NEW-Dates-1024x227.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/media.sportstravelmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/10030839\/T22_logo_color_dark-NEW-Dates-300x67.jpg 300w, https:\/\/media.sportstravelmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/10030839\/T22_logo_color_dark-NEW-Dates-768x170.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media.sportstravelmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/10030839\/T22_logo_color_dark-NEW-Dates-1536x341.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/media.sportstravelmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/10030839\/T22_logo_color_dark-NEW-Dates-2048x455.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scott Howson was named president of the American Hockey League in February 2020 with plans for a short transition period before assuming control ahead of the 2020\u20132021 season. Obviously the sports landscape, along with the world landscape, looks a lot different now than it did a little more than two years ago. Howson worked during [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":43210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6267,3047,3032,4337,3030],"tags":[4940,6149,598],"class_list":["post-42852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-hockey","category-olympic-sports","category-podcasts","category-professional-sports","tag-ahl","tag-coronavirus","tag-hockey"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/sportstravelmagazine.com\/how-the-ahl-has-survived-covid-scott-howson-on-leading-the-league-through-the-pandemic\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"How 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