2019–20 NBL Canada season

2019–20 NBL Canada season
LeagueNational Basketball League of Canada
SportBasketball
DurationDecember 26, 2019 – March 11, 2020 (suspended)
Number of games36 (20–25 games played before suspension)
Number of teams8
NBL Canada seasons
2020–21 (cancelled) →

The 2019–20 NBL Canada season was the ninth season of the National Basketball League of Canada. The regular season was supposed to run from December 26, 2019, to April 23, 2020. However, on March 12, the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[1]

On April 1, the season was officially cancelled with the league saying they will "begin preparations for its tenth season in 2020–21".[2] The 2020–21 season was also cancelled.[3]

League changes

Because of financial difficulties, two of the league's teams, Saint John Riptide and Cape Breton Highlanders, were granted a one-year sabbatical, with the goal of finding new sponsors in order to rejoin the league next season, reducing the league to eight teams.[4] The decrease in the number of teams also caused a change in the playoff format with the top two teams in each division qualifying for the postseason.[5]

Offseason coaching changes

  • The Halifax Hurricanes hired Ryan Marchand as head coach after the Hurricanes' head coach for the previous three seasons, Mike Leslie, was named team president and general manager.[6]
  • The London Lightning hired Doug Plumb, who had most recently been the head coach of the St. John's Edge. Plumb replaced Elliott Etherington who had been promoted during the previous season after the Lightning had fired Keith Vassell.
  • The St. John's Edge removed the interim status of head coach Steven Marcus.[7]

Teams

2019-20 National Basketball League of Canada
Division Team City Arena Capacity
Atlantic Halifax Hurricanes Halifax, Nova Scotia Scotiabank Centre 10,500
Island Storm Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Eastlink Centre 4,000
Moncton Magic Moncton, New Brunswick Avenir Centre 8,800
St. John's Edge St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Mile One Centre 6,750
Central KW Titans Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener Memorial Auditorium 7,312
London Lightning London, Ontario Budweiser Gardens 9,000
Sudbury Five Sudbury, Ontario Sudbury Community Arena 4,640
Windsor Express Windsor, Ontario WFCU Centre 6,500

Map of teams

Atlantic Division Central Division

Regular season

Standings as of March 11:[8]

Atlantic Division GP W L PCT GB Div
Moncton Magic 23 19 4 .826 — 16–3
St. John's Edge 20 11 9 .550 6.5 6–6
Halifax Hurricanes 24 8 16 .333 11.5 4–10
Island Storm 23 6 17 .261 13 4–11
Central Division GP W L PCT GB Div
London Lightning 24 15 9 .625 — 12–6
Sudbury Five 23 13 10 .565 1.5 9–6
Windsor Express 22 11 11 .500 3 7–9
KW Titans 25 9 16 .360 6.5 4–10
  • z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
  • c – Clinched home court advantage for the division playoffs
  • x – Clinched playoff spot

Attendance

As of games played 11 March 2020

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 London Lightning 42,245 7,914 1,244 3,250 +6.9%†
2 St. John's Edge 23,599 5,475 1,781 2,950 −22.2%†
3 Sudbury Five 19,094 3,027 1,523 2,387 +16.6%†
4 Windsor Express 21,121 4,136 600 1,760 +52.6%†
5 Halifax Hurricanes 22,869 4,249 1,123 1,759 −16.0%†
6 Moncton Magic 22,344 2,389 1,330 1,719 +49.2%†
7 KW Titans 17,452 3,766 938 1,587 +22.0%†
8 Island Storm 11,707 1,410 771 976 −20.3%†
League total 178,252 7,914 600 1,981 +6.4%†

Source: [1]

Awards

Player of the Week award

For games
in week ending 		Player of the week Canadian player of the week
Player Team Player Team
December 29, 2019 Damon Lynn KW Titans Alex Campbell Island Storm
January 5, 2020 Xavier Moon London Lightning Alex Campbell (2) Island Storm
January 12, 2020 Karrington Ward St. John's Edge Garrett Williamson London Lightning
January 19, 2020 Chris Jones Windsor Express Shaquille Keith Windsor Express
January 26, 2020 Billy White Moncton Magic Junior Cadougan St. John's Edge
February 2, 2020 Akeem Ellis KW Titans Jarryn Skeete Sudbury Five
February 9, 2020 A.J. Gaines London Lightning Alex Campbell (3) Island Storm
February 16, 2020 Cane Broome St. John's Edge Marvell Waithe Halifax Hurricanes
February 23, 2020 Billy White (2) Moncton Magic Kemy Osse Windsor Express
March 1, 2020 Cameron Forte London Lightning Tyrell Green London Lightning

Coach of the Month award

Month Coach Team
January Joe Salerno Moncton Magic
February Joe Salerno (2) Moncton Magic

References

  1. ^ "NBLC Suspends Remainder of 2019-20 Season Until Further Notice". nblcanada.ca. March 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "NBLC Announces Cancellation of the 2019-20 Season". nblcanada.ca. April 1, 2020.
  3. ^ "NBLC Announces Cancellation of the 2020-21 Season". OurSports Central. March 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "NBLC Grants Riptide & Highlanders One-Year Sabbatical". NBLCanada.ca. August 30, 2019.
  5. ^ "NBLC Announces Playoff Format for the 2020 Postseason". NBLCanada.ca. November 11, 2019.
  6. ^ "Hurricanes Announce Front Office Moves". OurSports Central. 20 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Marcus officially named Edge coach". The Telegram. September 27, 2019.
  8. ^ "2019–20 NBL Canada Standings". NBL Canada. Retrieved 28 November 2019.