Following an unprecedented past year, the college hockey world has undergone a change.
Not only was every NCAA student-athlete granted an additional year of eligibility as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but April’s one-time transfer ruling — the reverse of previous legislation that required men’s hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, football and baseball student-athletes to sit out a year before being eligible to compete at a new school — has made an impact on nearly every Division 1 team in New England and beyond.
“It’s kind of a new age in college hockey with the transfers and everybody getting a fifth year,” said Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold, whose team got off to a 7-1-2 start with a class of five transfers that includes a reigning national champion in former UMass forward Oliver Chau.
