ECAC Men's Hockey Resumes Play to Close Out 2020

ECAC Hockey finally began play today on the men's side when 12th-ranked Quinnipiac skated to a 2-2 tie at St. Lawrence in Canton. N.Y. 

It was the first game of the season for the host Saints, who got 33 saves in net from Emil Zetterquist. The visiting Bobcats, who played their first eight contests this fall out of conference, improved to 6-2-1 as Odeen Tufto scored one goal and set up the other.

Only Clarkson, Colgate, Quinnipiac and SLU are playing out of ECAC Hockey this season. The other eight members, including the six Ivy League schools, opted out of playing in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 concerns.

SLU and Quinnipiac will renew their series on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Hamden, Conn.

U.S. Blanks Czechs, 7-0, in WJC Action

Trevor Zegras (Boston University) scored two goals and set up three others as the U.S. National Junior Team blanked the Czech Republic, 7-0, in 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship action in Edmonton, Alberta this afternoon. The win also clinched a quarterfinal round berth for Team USA, in a game to be played on Jan. 2 against an as-yet undecided opponent.

Bobby Brink (Denver) scored twice for Team USA in the rout, including the game-winner that opened the scoring in a three-goal U.S. second period, while Cam York (Michigan) tallied three assists on the day. Cole Caufield (Wisconsin) scored one goal and assisted on another for the Americans, while Matthew Boldy (Boston College) notched his fourth goal in two games. Three of the U.S goals came on power plays.

The victory (and shutout) was the second straight for the United States in this year's WJC, following a tournament-opening loss to Russia on Christmas Day. Spencer Knight (Boston College), who took the loss in net in that contest, earned the win today by stopping all 22 Czech shots. The U.S. had blanked Austria, 11-0, in its second game of the tournament.

Team USA will close out the round-robin portion of Group B play at the WJC against Sweden on Thursday night (9:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network).

USA Blanks Austria at WJC for First Win

Following a 5-3 opening game loss to Russia on Christmas, the United States rebounded tonight for a 11-0 victory over Austria in Group B play at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton. 

Matthew Boldy (Boston College) paced the U.S. with three goals, while Alex Turcotte (Wisconsin) set up three goals and Trevor Zegras (Boston University) had two goals and two assists as Team USA outshot Austria, 73-10. Spencer Knight (Boston College) sat out Sunday's game in net, after absorbing the loss against Russia by surrendering four goals on 12 shots against that night.

The U.S. will return to EJC action on Tuesday against the Czech Republic, a 2-0 winner over Russia tonight.

Hockey Christmas 2020

 

NCHC Concludes Bubble Experiment in Omaha

The bubble experiment in Nebraska for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference came to an end this week, with North Dakota emerging on top when all was said and done. 

The league's eight schools played 10 games apiece in a pod-style format at Baxter Arena in Omaha beginning at the start of December, as a guard against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, similar to what the NHL did in Canada in August and September.

Fourth-ranked North Dakota finished first with 20 points on the strength of five regulation wins (three points apiece,) two overtime wins (two points each), and an overtime loss (one point). The Fighting Hawks, who were ranked atop the national polls prior to the beginning of this season, finished a point ahead of host Nebraska Omaha, and two points ahead of St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth. Rounding out the bottom four were Denver, Colorado College, Miami (Ohio) and Western Michigan.

Shane Pinto (North Dakota) and teammate Jordan Kawaguchi lead all NCHC scorers to date with 13 points apiece, while Carter Savoie (Denver) has scored a league-high seven goals. Adam Scheel (North Dakota) is pacing all league netminders with six wins, including overtime victories, while Ludvig Persson (Miami) is atop the NCHC statistical scroll for goaltenders with a 1.19 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage.

The NCHC, which is slated to return to playing on campus sites next month, has won the last four NCAA men's Division I hockey national titles, beginning with UND in 2016. Denver then won it all in 2017, followed by UMD in both 2018 and 2019. The 2020 NCAA tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.

USA Edges Finland in WJC Tune-Up

Cole Caufield (Wisconsin) scored two goals in the second period as the U.S. overcame an early deficit to top Finland, 3-2, in an exhibition warm-up at the 2021 World Junior Championships in Edmonton. For his efforts, Caufield was named player of the game for the American side.

Team USA, which finished in sixth place in the Czech Republic in last year's tournament, opens this year's Pool A round-robin schedule against Russia on Christmas night.

Alaska (Fairbanks) Cancels 2020-21 Hockey Season

The college hockey season is over in Alaska, before it even began.

The administration at the University of Alaska Fairbanks cancelled the men's hockey campaign on Friday due to COVID-19 concerns, along with the UAF men's and women's basketball seasons. The University of Alaska Anchorage, which has been soliciting funds to keep several of its athletics programs alive, including hockey, had opted out of playing hockey earlier this fall. UAF was supposed to start play next month.

A proposal to have UAF play its 2020-21 hockey season in Marquette, Mich. for at least part of this season did not come to fruition. Nanooks head coach Eric Largen, who seemingly did not agree with the decision to cancel the season, has pointed supporters of the hockey program towards an online petition to have the team play this year.

The Nanooks and UAA Seawolves are both now sitting out the last season of the WCHA, after which they will likely revert to NCAA Division I independents along with fellow conference member Alabama-Huntsville. The other seven WCHA schools are leaving the conference after this season to re-form the CCHA.

Wisconsin-MSU Hockey Series Postponed

The Big Ten hockey conference has suffered its first COVID-19 cancellation of the 2020-21 campaign.

Wisconsin's two-game series on Nov. 8-9 against Michigan State at MSU's Munn Arena has been postponed and is expected to be be rescheduled for a later date.

Wisconsin is 5-5-0 overall (5-3-0 Big Ten) to date, having last played in a split at Ohio State on Dec. 3-4. The Badgers have no further games, NCAA or otherwise, scheduled for the remainder of the calendar year. MSU is 2-3-1 (1-3-0), having suffered a two-step sweep to visiting Minnesota in its last action on Dec. 3-4. The Spartans will next skate at Notre Dame on Dec. 19-20 to close out the first semester.

The spring portion of the 2020-21 Big Ten hockey schedule is expected to be released in the coming weeks.