2020-21 Division I Hockey Thread

[JMCx4]

Continuation of @tealhockey's general Div I hockey thread of last season. Please post news, game talk, etc. in this thread for this crazy season.

Refer to the Return To Play Plans thread to catch up with season start & scheduling plans.

Click to read more...

 

[JMCx4]

From: The Wisconsin State Journal

What's different in Big Ten hockey this season? A look at standings, tiebreakers, travel, crowd noise

2 hrs ago (November 13, 2020)


It took until the penultimate day before the season but Big Ten Conference hockey administrators on Thursday finalized some major matters on how a champion will be crowned.

Here are some of the things that are different about Big Ten hockey for 2020-21 ...

Read more at: What's different in Big Ten hockey this season? A look at standings, tiebreakers, travel, crowd noise

One aspect in particular caught my attention ...

Artificial crowd noise will be used in rinks.

The noise that will run throughout to simulate the murmur of a crowd can top out at 70 decibels, or a normal conversation level.

Those running the audio can do up to five seconds of a louder reaction to big events during play but that can't exceed 90 decibels, roughly the level of a blender. ...

 

[JMCx4]

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine College Hockey Poll

Men's Poll
(2020-21 Season, Preseason)
First-place votes in parentheses

Rank	School	Final 2019-20 Rank ​	2019-20 Record ​
1	University of North Dakota, 494 (22)	2​	26-5-4​
2	Boston College, 418 (3)	4​	24-8-2​
3	University of Minnesota Duluth, 385 (3)	5​	22-10-2​
4	University of Denver, 370 (1)	6​	21-9-6​
5	Minnesota State University, 369 (3)	3​	31-5-2​
6	Cornell University, 368 (3)	1​	23-2-4​
7	University of Massachusetts, 277	9​	21-11-2​
8	Clarkson University, 255	8​	23-8-3​
9	Penn State University, 238	7​	20-10-4​
10	Ohio State University, 197	10​	20-11-5​
11	University of Massachusetts Lowell, 158	12​	18-10-6​
12	University of Michigan, 145	15​	18-14-4​
13	University of Minnesota, 111	NR​	16-14-7​
14	Quinnipiac University, 96	14​	21-11-2​
15	Bemidji State University, 42	11​	22-10-5​

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Others Receiving Votes: Providence, 38; Arizona State, 33; Boston University, 18; Northeastern, 13; Notre Dame, 13; Bowling Green, 8; Harvard, 6; Michigan Tech, 5; Western Michigan, 5; Maine, 4; Northern Michigan, 4; UConn, 3; Wisconsin, 3; Air Force, 2; AIC, 1; St.Cloud State, 1.

 

[JMCx4]

USCHO Division I Women's Poll

November 9, 2020

Rnk	Team	(First Place Votes)​	Points​	Last Poll​
1	Wisconsin	(7)​	140​	2​
2	Cornell	(7)​	120​	1​
3	Northeastern	(1)​	114​	3​
4	Minnesota	​	109​	5​
5	Ohio State	​	104​	4​
6	Princeton	​	72​	6​
7	Clarkson	​	64​	7​
8	Minnesota Duluth	​	45​	8​
9	Boston University	​	28​	9​
10	Mercyhurst	​	12​	10​

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Others receiving votes: Harvard 6, Quinnipiac 5, Boston College 4, Colgate 2

 

[JMCx4]

From: College Hockey News (CHN)

College Hockey This Week: Nov. 12, 2020

by Greg Cameron/CHN Reporter
November 12, 2020


... Looking Ahead
There are only three matchups this week, but each is rife with talent and rich with storylines.

Wisconsin (14-20-2, 7-15-2 Big Ten) at Notre Dame (15-15-7, 9-9-6 Big Ten)
Friday, 7 p.m. ET (NBCSN); Saturday, 7 p.m. ET

The cherry on top of navigating the road back to hockey is the first game of the season being televised across the country, as a hungry Wisconsin team rolls into South Bend to start the Big Ten’s first-half schedule. Badgers head coach Tony Granato emphasized during Monday’s media day that the young team from a season ago learned a lot from the disappointment and is planning to build off of the positives. ...

Arizona State (22-11-3) at Michigan (18-14-4, 11-10-3 Big Ten)
Saturday, 3 p.m. ET; Sunday, 7 p.m. ET (BTN)

The marquee matchup of the week pits independent-turned-Big Ten scheduling partner Arizona State against Michigan, long one of college hockey’s torchbearers. Over the last two seasons, ASU is a ridiculous 24-5-3 in home games, but is a middling 19-17 on the road. Saturday’s opener marks game one of a 28-game, road-only schedule for the Sun Devils, who will remain in the Midwest for just over three weeks to play their first eight games. ...

Long Island at Army (17-13-3, 14-11-3 Atlantic Hockey)
Saturday, 4 p.m. ET ...

[Ed. Note: This game was postponed. S/T to @JiggsNY for that breaking news.]


Read more at: College Hockey This Week: Nov. 12, 2020

 

[JMCx4]

College hockey is back!

NBCSN Highlights: Notre Dame hockey falls to Wisconsin in opener

 

[Henkka]

Are they playing in empty arenas?

 

[JMCx4]

Are they playing in empty arenas?

Yes, as witnessed by the NBCSN game highlights above & the Wisconsin State Journal article content re. artificial crowd noise posted further up. Take your pick.

 

[JMCx4]

Welcome, ASU, to B1G hockey ...

No. 12 Michigan hockey crushes No. 15 ASU in season opener

 

[JMCx4]

The first weekend of the 2020-21 NCAA Div. I men's hockey season is finally in the proverbial books. Four of five scheduled games were completed: B1G kickoff, Wisconsin @ Notre Dame for two games; an Arizona State @ Michigan non-conference pair; and a non-conference D-III vs. D-I match-up, Adrian College @ Bowling Green State. The Long Island University @ Army game scheduled for Saturday was postponed for COVID precautions.

A qualified success for getting the top-tier U.S. college hockey season underway.

 

[JMCx4]

A little late, but ... Plow through all the COVID-related talk in the top portion of this USCHO.com article, and you'll get to some informative 2020-21 Pre-Season Big Ten Men's Team Capsules.

 

[JMCx4]

USCHO.com: Atlantic Hockey 2020-21 Preview

Ed. Note: I sure wish the USCHO.com editors would institute a sidebar policy for all writers to separate their miles of "Remember last spring when we were all excited about hockey?" content from the actual topic of their articles. I spent so much time scrolling down to these season previews, I forgot what I had opened the page for in the first place.

 

[JMCx4]

And again, you've gotta scroll past all the gloomy COVID stuff to get to the topic advertised ...

USCHO.com: NCHC 2020-21 Season Preview: Omaha ‘pod’ kicks off what may be surreal hockey season for league teams

 

[JMCx4]

USCHO.com: Hockey East 2020-21 Season Preview: ‘Still a great uncertainty’ as conference struggles to get to starting line

As a college hockey fan looking for ways to follow the game this season, this news was worth suffering through all the top matter of the article ...

Though fans won’t be allowed in the buildings at the start (and likely for the entire season), fans will still have the chance to follow the league better than ever. NESN will be showing more league games than ever and, those that aren’t broadcast on the regional sports network will be available 100 percent free-of-charge on collegesportslive.com.

 

[JMCx4]

This week's regular season Division I men's poll is out, courtesy of College Hockey Inc. and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine ...

 

[JMCx4]

And from the AHCA website, this week's DI women's poll ...

 

[Dakota Sioux]

 

[JMCx4]

"Pod Hockey" kicks off for the NCHC ...

December 2, 2020

NCHC Has Successful, Albeit Odd, Opening Night in Pod

by Greg Cameron/CHN Reporter

It had been 269 days since any of them had participated in a college hockey game. It required seven days of quarantine, and a Thanksgiving spent without swaths of family, before a long bus ride to Omaha’s Aksarben Village. But it was all worth it for the players and coaches who kicked off the NCHC pod on Tuesday. ...

"It felt great. There was a lot of nervous, pent-up energy from the players,” SCSU head coach Brett Larson said of the return to the ice. “It felt really good to get the first one out of the way, playing hockey again and just to be able to be here competing and playing, man, it means a lot. It was fun to be out there again.”

That message rang throughout the teams’ postgame remarks, as the conference reached a relatively small yet undoubtedly major milestone: drop the puck on a unique season. ...

Read more at: NCHC Has Successful, Albeit Odd, Opening Night in Pod

 

[JMCx4]

Tough two weekends for my hometown Lindenwood University Lady Lions in Pennsylvania. Four straight losses to start their abbreviated 2020-21 season, outscored 15-3 by Penn State & Robert Morris with shutouts to begin & end their road trip. The looks on the faces of their coaching staff tells the tale best, but at least they're playing hockey again ...

One hopeful sign: It looks like RMU allowed a few fans in the stands. I'm hoping that will be the case back here at home next weekend & beyond.

 

[JMCx4]

A Sunday morning snapshot of men's D1 hockey active conferences so far ...

• Atlantic Hockey: Robert Morris has a head start on the rest of the conference, largely due to several game postponements for the rest of the pack. RMU leads the standing with a 3-1 conference record (5-2 overall). Independent guest team Long Island U are on a pause until at least next weekend's pair @ RIT, after splitting a season-opening pair vs. Holy Cross before Thanksgiving.
• Big Ten: Minnesota leads the standings with a 6-0-0-0-0 conference record, with Wisconsin sitting at 5-3-0-0-1. The Gophers have the best defensive stats so far among the B1G teams, including a 15/15 penalty kill record. Michigan leads in scoring stats, including the top power play. Guest independent Arizona State is 3-4-1 so far, having upset Wisconsin with a sweep in Madison in late November then splitting a pair @ Notre Dame this past week.
  
• Hockey East: Only BC & Providence have played conference games so far, with the Eagles sweeping the Friars in a home-and-home series this weekend by a 12-0 composite score. UConn, UMass and Merrimack have seen some non-conference play. ETA: Merrimack is hosting UMass on Sunday afternoon for their initial HEA games of the season.
  
• NCHC: The Great Pod Hockey Experiment continues, with daily action in Omaha since the first puck dropped on December 1. Minnesota-Duluth & St. Cloud are tied at 6 points, with UNO & NoDak gaining 5 points. Colorado College begins their Pod Play on December 8th, facing Western Michigan.
• ECAC: Only Colgate & Clarkson have begun 2020-21 play, with just 4 teams scheduled to compete this season. The Raiders are 2-1 in ECAC play, 4-1-1 overall. The Golden Knights are 1-2 in conference play (go figger), with an overall season record of 1-2-1.
• WCHA: Just non-conference play so far, with Alaska & Ferris State & Northern Michigan still idle. Alaska-Anchorage is an opt-out, accelerating their program's demise by a season.

 

[JMCx4]

And equal time for the women’s side ...

• CHA: Conference play for 2020-21 started on the Thanksgiving weekend, with Syracuse hosting the resurrected RIT team. The Orange beat the Tigers in the opening game, but Game #2 was postponed due to “COVID protocols” for the RIT ladies. At this early point in their shortened season, the Pennsylvania teams are leading the pack with Penn State at the top of the conference standings at 3-0-1 followed by Robert Morris at 2-0.
• ECAC: With the Ivy League winter sports programs skipping the 2020-21 season along with RPI & Union, there are only four ECAC women’s teams playing: Clarkson, Colgate, Quinnipiac & St. Lawrence (the latter delaying their start until after Christmas). Clarkson & Colgate have gone head-to-head four times in the only ECAC women’s action so far, with the Raiders going 2-1-1.
• Hockey East: Women’s conference play began on November 20th, but 3 of the 10 teams still await conference match-ups (Merrimack, Northeastern & Vermont). The HEA women’s composite schedule & game results don’t sync up with their standings page content, so I’m not quite sure what’s what with their season so far. But the Providence Lady Friars games have been on the CBS College Sports Live free stream the last couple of weekends, so those are signs of life & hockey.
  
• WCHA: Women’s conference play began the weekend before Thanksgiving, with Minnesota State hosting MN-Duluth for a pair & Minnesota hosting OH State for two games. The Bemidji State @ St. Cloud State opening weekend double header was postponed due to several positive COVID test results for the Huskies’ program. A half-dozen more postponements dot the current WCHA women’s schedule. Meanwhile in the conference standings, the Duluth Bulldogs lead with a 4-2-0-0-0 record, followed by the Golden Gophers at 3-1-0-0-0. The Lady Bulldogs have 6 of the top 10 goal scorers, with 8 of the top 10 point-getters early in the season. The team’s conference dominance is spread across several statistical categories.

 

[JMCx4]

From: FloHockey > News > WCHA

Bowling Green & Lake Superior Dish On Road-Tripping During COVID-19

Dec 11, 2020
Tim Rappleye

A year ago, college hockey travel often resembled professional luxury: flights, hotel suites, catered meals, and morning skates in the enemy rink. But now, in the time of COVID-19, it’s back to basics: busing in and busing out on the same day. ...

Gameday travel has inherent risks. The era of ticking off half a dozen deadlines with military precision is a distant memory, as schedules are often disrupted by daybreak. Simply getting out of the parking lot on time can be challenging.

“With COVID testing and all the things you need to do in order to follow your protocol, sometimes you gotta wait for people to get their test results back,” said (BGSU coach Ty) Eigner. Starts delayed by last-second test results leave teams vulnerable to traditional road trip headaches. ...

Up in Sault Ste. Marie, Lakers coach Damon Whitten is sweating out holiday travel on a global scale. His players have just been given their two-week leave with orders to be back on campus the day after Christmas. The simple command is fraught with uncertainty for Damon’s “United Nations” roster. His squad has 10 players from foreign countries — nine from Europe and one from Japan. All those nations have different COVID protocols, most containing two-week quarantines. This poses a serious dilemma.

"In this environment, it’s challenging for our guys to travel,” said Whitten. “Do you go home, do you not go home? Tough decisions.” ...

Read more at: Bowling Green & Lake Superior Dish On Road-Tripping During COVID-19

 

[JMCx4]

USCHO.com: Hockey East announces schedule updates for men’s, women’s games being played Dec. 18-23

ETA: Eleven Hockey East games (women & men) will be streamed for free on Friday, Saturday & Sunday this weekend by the CBS Sports SportsLive network.

 

[JMCx4]

This week's NCAA Division I men's conference play previews, courtesy of USCHO.com's Feature section ...

• This Week in Atlantic Hockey: ‘You make your adjustments and plan accordingly,’ says Air Force coach Serratore, on ‘different’ 2020-21 season
• This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Notre Dame captain Clurman says Irish has ‘a little more to give’ up front from its ‘forward firepower’
• This Week in Hockey East: Conference continues to navigate 2020-21 season with ‘maximum flexibility’
• This Week in NCHC Hockey: After sluggish start, Denver answering challenge to ‘turn the page’ by winning three of last four

 

[JMCx4]

From: College Hockey News

More than the Standings
CC, Miami Head in Different Directions

by Avash Kalra/Senior Writer

Since its inaugural season in 2013-14, the NCHC has been unforgiving — in particular for Colorado College and Miami, who have finished in the bottom two positions in the regular season standings in four of the league's seven years, including three of the last four.

CC arrived late to the NCHC 'pod' in Omaha, after a mandated quarantine that followed a positive COVID-19 test within the program. And the Tigers, perhaps as expected after limited practice time, got off to a slow start, winless in their first three games while allowing 14 goals over that stretch.

But Mike Haviland's young team turned heads on Sunday with a stunning 4-1 win over first-place Minnesota-Duluth, handing the Bulldogs their first loss of the season. ...

Miami, on the other hand, was left with more questions. The RedHawks have scored two goals or less in all but one game this season. ...

Read more at: More than the Standings