While the National Hockey League continues its pursuit of crowning a champion for the 2019-20 campaign by conducting this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs in two bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton amid the COVID-19 pandemic, North American junior hockey leagues are preparing for the 2020-21 season.
The United States Hockey League is targeting Nov. 6 as the opening date for its 2020-21 campaign. Under the circuit’s current plan, each team will play 54 regular-season games and the season will conclude on April 24, 2021. The schedule allows for flexibility for games to be moved to the back of the schedule due to postponements or other factors.
Players are scheduled to arrive in their club’s market over a four-week period beginning Sept. 14. Preseason games are scheduled to begin in mid-October.
The league is working to finalize its return-to-play protocols.
“We are going to make sure the players and the billets are clear of the virus before we allow them to participate in any practices or connect with billets,” USHL Commissioner Tom Garrity told New England Hockey Journal.
Noting that there isn’t a playbook to plan a season amid a pandemic, Garrity is working with other hockey leagues and USA Hockey to formulate a plan, one that can change by the day. He stressed that the USHL is focusing on the guidelines set forth by each city and state where the league has a team as well as guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create a plan that has minimum standards and requirements that every team must adhere to. He added that the league will emphasize each of its teams work with its respective city and state.
Explained Garrity: “There’s an importance to following minimum standards throughout the league so all the teams are operating in the same fashion, but then giving each team the chance to work with their local city and state so they can work with what’s going on in that market and adhere to those practices that make everybody — fans, players, staff, billets — safe.”
The USHL is anticipating the possibility that players who were college-bound this campaign may return to the league for another season in the event their college seasons are canceled.
Regarding international players, the USHL is working on those plans due to travel bans that are in place. The circuit and its teams are following all CDC guidelines as well as those set forth by each club’s state and city to see if European and Canadian players can join their team.
While the USHL is planning on playing a full season, one casualty that’s already occurred is the cancellation of its annual Fall Classic, which was scheduled for Sept. 24-28 at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pa. The complex is the primary practice and training facility for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s a huge event for us and kicks off our season,” Garrity said. “Players like it. Scouts like it. The Penguins, the NHL and USA Hockey are great partners on the event. There were restrictions we couldn’t work out.”
The USHL has all intentions to try and reschedule it, or possibly do a modified version of it.
As of today, the league expects all 16 of its teams to play this season. However, the home venues of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and the Des Moines Buccaneers recently were ravaged due to storms, so the USHL and those clubs are working through those unexpected hurdles.
Meanwhile, the North American Hockey League announced that its 2020-21 season will begin on Oct. 9. The league is committed to playing a full slate of regular-season games, which usually consists of each club playing 60 contests.
The 18th annual NAHL Showcase, usually held in September, will take place Dec. 16-19 at Super Rink in Blaine, Minn., and the 2021 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament will be held Feb. 8-9, 2021, at New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Mass. The 2021 Robertson Cup National Championship is scheduled to be held from May 28-June 1, 2021, at Fogerty Arena in Blaine.
As for safety measures as players report to their teams, the NAHL told New England Hockey Journal via email, “The NAHL baseline recommendation is that players show up with a negative COVID-19 test within the past 10 days of arrival date and then provide verification of any COVID-19-like symptoms. Individual teams may require more.”
Regarding billets, the league stated, “The NAHL baseline recommendation is billets provide verification of any COVID-19-like symptoms. Individual teams may require more.”
Although college seasons are in flux, the NAHL feels, as of today, “Teams are going to stick with returners and recruits in order to develop the next wave of NCAA athletes.” The final player pool is still unknown.
Regarding international players, the league has been told that requests for transfers will be processed.
As of now, two NAHL teams, the Corpus Christi IceRays and Kansas City Scouts, will be inactive this season but have set a return date for the 2021-22 campaign.
In Canada, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League also is shooting for an October return, with the 2020-21 season scheduled to start on Oct. 1. The league will be divided into three six-team divisions and each club will play 60 games within its division. The playoff format will be announced in December.
Contests in Quebec will be played behind closed doors. The details for the matches in the Maritimes are still being discussed.
Training camps opened on Aug. 30 with each club limited to 34 invitees. The preseason slate, which consists of 51 games, will run from Sept. 1-26. Each team will play between four and seven contests over the 26-day span.
With the U.S./Canadian border closed until Sept. 21, American players are not able to travel to Canada to join their teams. The government considers it a non-essential trip.
The Ontario Hockey League is planning to return to play on Dec. 1. The regular season will end on April 29, 2021. Each club will play 64 games and there will be a 16-team playoff format. There is no timetable yet for when training camps will open.
The 2021 Memorial Cup is scheduled to be played June 17-27, 2021, in Oshawa or Sault St. Marie, Ontario.
Another junior circuit that those in New England closely follow with many local players skating in it is the British Columbia Hockey League, which is aiming to start its 2020-21 campaign on Dec. 1, pending approval from the Provincial Health Office. A full schedule will be announced at a later date.
BCHL clubs will have the option to hold an extended training camp from September to November, which will include regular on-ice training. Training camps will be permitted to begin on Sept. 8 under mass gathering restrictions, which allow up to 50 people on the ice and in the stands.
