2020 - 2021 AUS Thread

[Drummer]

Spring has arrived, flowers are starting to bloom and recruiting is in high gear - it's that time of year when we start to look forwar to the next season.

There are a number of factors at play - most notable each province's exit criteria from the lockdown as the first step to organized sports. We will also have to see what Hockey Canada has to say and if/when HC relinquishes the decision to play to the provincial bodies. In my opinion - this is the biggest issue.

For us here in Atlantic Canada - Nova Scotia will be determining factor as PEI and NB are doing well.

I can certainly see a reduced schedule, very reminiscent of the 60's where each side (East/West or North/South, yes the AUS has used both terms in it's past) plays less often. I could even see no exhibition games - the NCAA basically has no pre-season.

I can also see reduced fan/seating to maintain social distancing requirements if we have any fans at all.

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Start late: October 16th or 23rd

Drover Division: UNB, UdeM and PEI (and use to have Mt. A and STU)
Coolen Division: SFX, ACD, SMU, DAL (and use to have UCCB, King's and TUNS)

Drover: play each team Division team 6 times and each Coolen Division team twice for 6+6+(2+2+2+2)= 20
Coolen Division: play each Division team 4 times and each Drover Division team twice for 4+4+4+(2+2+2+2)=20

Playoffs are top two crossover in a best of 5 followed by best of 3 finals
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As for UCup - no idea. That will depend on 2nd and 3rd wave stats and if the other conferences even play a season.

Click to read more...

 

[Rob]

Drover Division: UNB, UdeM and PEI (and use to have Mt. A and STU)
Coolen Division: SFX, ACD, SMU, DAL (and use to have UCCB, King's and TUNS)

King's and TUNS? That must be going way back.

 

[Drummer]

King's and TUNS? That must be going way back.

Yup - 20’s to the 40’s

 

[Hollywood3]

I think we might be looking at a pre-WW2 type of schedule, i.e. just exhibition games before Christmas and a regular season of maybe 6-8 weeks in January/February.

 

[Prov1X]

AUS just announced that all sports cancelled until Jan 2021.

Atlantic University Sport suspends competition until January 2021 | Sport universitaire de l’Atlantique suspend les compétitions jusqu’en janvier 2021 - Atlantic University Sport (AUS)

 

[AUS Fan]

That's the first shoe to drop. The other shoe is not as big from an AUS standing, but is from a SMU standing.

 

[AdamMcg83]

Ok, AUS friends - can anyone confirm or deny this massive news?

 

[AUS Fan]

That's the other shoe.

He's not "out". He has retired, resigned or whatever you want to call it.

But not out.

 

[timbitca]

Another good guy gone from the AUS. Not overly surprised though.

 

[Rob]

Another good guy gone from the AUS. Not overly surprised though.

Really? I’m kind of shocked.

 

[Rob]

AUS just announced that all sports cancelled until Jan 2021.

Atlantic University Sport suspends competition until January 2021 | Sport universitaire de l’Atlantique suspend les compétitions jusqu’en janvier 2021 - Atlantic University Sport (AUS)

I noticed they mentioned only regular season and playoff games. I wonder if this leaves the door open to possibly having exhibition games in November?

 

[AUS Fan]

Really? I’m kind of shocked.

No big event triggered this. Nothing to read between the lines. It was a long time coming. I'll just leave it there.

 

[AUS Fan]

I noticed they mentioned only regular season and playoff games. I wonder if this leaves the door open to possibly having exhibition games in November?

I doubt it. You will need to have athletes on campus and most campuses are online.

 

[Rob]

If hockey does begin the first weekend in January I wonder if they will still have the Nationals at the same time?

 

[AUS Fan]

If hockey does begin the first weekend in January I wonder if they will still have the Nationals at the same time?

No need to have it in March. No tv contract so the timing can be flexible.

I'm not gonna look that far ahead. A lot of pieces need to come together before we can even play a game.

 

[timbitca]

Really? I’m kind of shocked.

No big event triggered this. Nothing to read between the lines. It was a long time coming. I'll just leave it there.

This. I was getting that feeling the last few years. Don't ask me to give you specifics, just a feeling I had.

 

[hockeyinsiderusports]

Ok, AUS friends - can anyone confirm or deny this massive news?

100% confirmed

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

No need to have it in March. No tv contract so the timing can be flexible.

I'm not gonna look that far ahead. A lot of pieces need to come together before we can even play a game.

I just wonder about pushing it closer to final exams or even after school is done...would that even be a possibility?

 

[Island Husky]

That's the other shoe.

He's not "out". He has retired, resigned or whatever you want to call it.

But not out.

He wants to call it "out"

 

[timbitca]

I just wonder about pushing it closer to final exams or even after school is done...would that even be a possibility?

I'm sure it could be made a possibility for this year. Not sure how it would work having it after Finals though, but I'd rather see that (couple weeks, not months a la NHL's current plans...)

One thing I do know, even though our playoffs/nationals are a month removed from Finals for most schools, a deep playoff run and a participation in Nationals will sidetrack your academics. The 3 Nationals I participated in while I was a student (04-05 in Edmonton, 06-07 and 07-08 at home) really took my mind off school for a while and not in a good way. The following couple of weeks afterwards were a mad scramble to catch up and get things done. I'm not an athlete but when you get to that point you want to take the whole experience in and give it your best. Granted though, most students (and most athletes for that matter) are better disciplined and more focused than I am/ever was while I was in school.

I think my ideal scenario would be a 12-game regular season starting mid-January, follow that up with best-of-3's all around (or maybe even a tournament style playdown, not ideal but for an exception...)

 

[Rob]

I think a lot depends on what the other conferences do. If the Nationals end up being cancelled we might just have the AUS championship.

 

[Rob]

I think my ideal scenario would be a 12-game regular season starting mid-January, follow that up with best-of-3's all around (or maybe even a tournament style playdown, not ideal but for an exception...)

A tournament? That would be interesting.
UNB would host of course.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

If there was ever a year to try something wacky, this would be it.

Shortened regular season for seeding purposes...top team gets a bye...2/7, 3/6, 4/5 best of 3 quarterfinals...then best of 3 or 5 semi-finals (depending on Nationals)...best of 3 or 5 final.

 

[Drummer]

No need to have it in March. No tv contract so the timing can be flexible.

Well - moving the date kind-of requires buy-in from the host (UPEI) and the arena they arranged for (Eastlink Centre) and the other tenant (Charlottetown Islanders).

I think you keep the dates the same to avoid conflicts with exams and getting athletes ready for exams and have a really short regular season, basically a 'qualifying/seeding' season (12 games, as mentioned above, 2-games per team). I really like the #1 seed getting a bye and qualifying all teams.

I would skip the re-seeding after each round so we know the brackets. Based on last season, you would have...

#1 UNB vs Bye
#4 Udem vs SFX
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#2 ACD vs #7 DAL
#3 SMU vs #6 UPEI

ps. The post Christmas schedule has averaged 12 games for the past few years, so that's a bonus

 

[Rob]

Well - moving the date kind-of requires buy-in from the host (UPEI) and the arena they arranged for (Eastlink Centre) and the other tenant (Charlottetown Islanders).

I agree. If we are to have a Nationals in 2021 it will have to be the same date.

For more than 14 regular season games we will have to see a shortened playoff run. A tournament style would be fun but I doubt we will see it.