Eight months since the arrival of the coronavirus forced the abrupt cancellation of the 2019-20 college hockey season, Hockey East unveiled its schedule for 2020-21 on Wednesday, with games starting Nov. 20 for both the men’s and women’s leagues.
The men’s schedule, which consists of 11 teams, will feature 20 league games — two against each Hockey East opponent — as well as several flex weekends that will feature games against league foes but won’t count in the league standings.
The women’s schedule, comprised of 10 teams, will feature 18 league games.
The flex games, as well as the opponents, are tentative, the league said, and can be adjusted during the season in order to maintain “competitively balanced schedules.”
If any league games get postponed during the regular season, these flex games will be rescheduled and used to make up those missed contests at the end of the season.
“We're very excited to get to this point,” Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf said Thursday. “It's been a tremendous amount of work with all of our institutions and the staff here in the office just getting to a point where we think we can have a safe and successful season. We’ve spent a lot of time trying to ensure that we can do this safely for all of our teams and institutions, but then, you know, play as full and complete of a season as we can for our teams. And now, we're nine days away from playing some college hockey and Hockey East, so we're thrilled about that.”
To cut down on travel and limit overall risk, each of the 20 games will be played solely across weekend home-and-home series using day-of-game travel, with the exception of trips involving Maine and Vermont, the league’s geographic outliers.
The schedule was created in consult with the league’s Return to Play Task Force, which is made up of conference and school administrators, plus other personnel.
According to the release, one of the most critical components of the Return to Play protocol was ensuring a vigorous testing program for the teams, staff and officials.
Throughout the course of the season, Metcalf said, teams will be instructed to meet one of two standard testing protocols: tri-weekly PCR testing or daily antigen tests.
In addition to team-wide testing protocols, a group of league personnel, athletic directors and medical professionals will meet once a week to discuss the state of the league and to determine how to handle situations if, and when, cases pop up.
“Quite frankly … we've set a very high bar (for testing protocols),” Metcalf said, “but an appropriately high bar for all of our institutions. That's one of the things that, by having vigorous testing protocols like that, it gives us a better chance of playing as full of season as possible. When positive tests occur, then the contract tracing goes into play. So, then you follow the contact tracing and see how many individuals were impacted by that, and then those kids are going to quarantine — and then you’re either shutting down a portion of your team or your entire team.”
As for fans, the league announced that each school will be left to make its own decision when it comes to allowing spectators in to watch their home games, as long as they are staying in accordance with state and local health guidelines.
UNH, UMass and BU are among schools that already have announced no fans.
The league also announced a large slate of games to be featured on NESN until Jan. 1, as well as news that games not aired on NESN will be streamed and made free for fans through its partnership with ViacomCBS Digital all season.
With cases on the rise across New England heading into the winter, Metcalf is “cautiously optimistic” that, with these protocols, the season can run its course.
“We think the protocols that we’ve put in place give ourselves the best chance,” he added. “I think there is some optimism, but I think we all have to be very realistic.
“I read the same newspapers that you do. I see where the cases are in New England and certainly over the last week or two, those numbers have risen. Does that make our lives a little more difficult? I'm sure the answer is yes. But our institutions have been great partners. We’re trying to establish protocols that give us the best chance (at a full season) and I think that's what we've done. Now we'll get into the season and I guess we'll try to be as appropriately optimistic but also realistic as possible.”
Details about the 2021 Hockey East tournament will be announced at a later date. Metcalf called it a “fluid situation,” and one that hasn’t been considered too much yet. He also said the possibility of a 2021 Beanpot Tournament is “very unlikely.”
“Let's just get the season started successfully and get a few games under our belt,” he remarked. “And then we'll turn our attention to how we handle the postseason.”
As for the idea of an NCAA tournament, “I would be surprised if the NCAA said there was no tournament,” Metcalf added. “I think they would find a way to do it.”
Liam Flaherty can be reached at liam.flaherty@hockeyjournal.com and on Twitter @_LiamFlaherty.
