Frank Serratore to Retire at Air Force

Another Serratore brother will be hanging up his whistle at the end of the 2026-27 NCAA campaign.

Frank Serratore (Bemidji State), who has guided the Air Force Academy for the past 29 years and led the Falcons to seven NCAA tournament berths, has announced he will retire at the end of the current season. His younger brother, Tom Serratore, just announced his season-end retirement at Bemidji State last month.

Frank Serratore has led Air Force to a 490-473-106 overall mark in his tenure in Colorado Springs, including tonight's 4-1 defeat against Omaha. His accolades with the Falcons included seven 20-win seasons, seven Atlantic Hockey playoff titles/seven automatic NCAA tournament berths ,and two Atlantic Hockey regular-season championships since taking over in 1997-98. Factoring in his four years at the helm of the University of Denver from 1990 to 1994, Serratore's overall collegiate head coaching record stands at 539-565-115. 

A native of Coleraine, Minn., Serratore, 69, played two years and 46 games as a goaltender at Western Michigan before transferring home to Bemidji State for two NCAA Division III seasons. Prior to taking the head coaching reins at DU, he served as a GM/coach in the USHL with Austin, Rochester, and Omaha, and two years as an assistant at the University of North Dakota. After leaving Denver, he spent three seasons in pro coaching/hockey operations with the IHL's Minnesota/Manitoba Moose before moving on to Air Force, where his 2008-09 team came within a double overtime goal of advancing to the NCAA Division I Frozen Four.

Wayne Wilson Retires at RIT

Rochester Institute of Technology men's hockey head coach Wayne Wilson has announced his retirement, effective immediately, after more than 35 years of coaching at the NCAA Division I level. 

A Bowling Green graduate who was a member of the Falcons' 1984 NCAA championship team, Wilson compiled a 471-337-82 overall record with RIT, including its transition from Division III to Division I in 2005, and its move from the Frank Ritter Memorial Arena to the Gene Polisseni Center in 2014. His ledger includes nine conference regular-season crowns, six conference tournament championships, and six NCAA tournament appearances, including four national tournament berths at the Division I level. 

Wilson's 2023-24 RIT team finished 27-11-2 overall and won both the Atlantic Hockey regular-season and playoff titles while making the NCAAs. The 2009-10 Tigers won both Atlantic Hockey titles, and also advanced to the NCAA Division I Frozen Four in Detroit.

A native of Guelph, Ont., Wilson, 62, began his coaching career at his alma mater, serving as an assistant coach at BGSU from 1988 to 1999 before taking the top job at RIT.

ADDENDUM: RIT has chosen alumnus Matt Thomas as its new head coach. Thomas, 49, who played for the Division III Tigers from 1994 to 1998, previously served two seasons as an assistant coach with Maine (2000-2002), and then coached in the ECHL for 12 seasons. He then spent five years as head coach at Alaska Anchorage (2013-18) where he led the Seawolves to a 48-105-21 overall mark and one WCHA Final five berth. The Maple Ridge, B.C. native then coached Cincinnati (ECHL) for two seasons before spending the last four years as an assistant with Providence (AHL).

NCAA Hockey Coaching Ranks Changing

The head coaching carousel has begin spinning in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

Longtime Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels oversaw the final game of his long career with the Bulldogs' 4-1 loss at St. Thomas in the first round of the CCHA tournament. Daniels, a Michigan State graduate, began coaching FSU in 1992-93 and amassed a 510-625-117 record with the Bulldogs. Included among those numbers were six years with 20 or more victories, three CCHA regular-season championship, one CCHA tournament title, and four NCAA tournament appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2012.

Rensselaer recently relived Dave Smith of his duties after eight years at the helm of the Engineers, as he compiled an 87-152-19 mark overall. An Ohio State graduate, Smith and his 2019-20 RPI team went 17-15-2 overall and sat fifth in ECAC Hockey at 13-8-1 before the remainder of that season was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. He had previously manned Canisius from 2005 to 2017, taking the Golden Griffins to the 2013 NCAA tournament while also earning one Atlantic Hockey regular-season title and one tournament championship. His career record stands at 259-375-78.

American International's Eric Lang saw his NCAA Division I tenure at his alma mater end with Sunday's 4-3 loss at Holy Cross in the second round of the Atlantic Hockey tournament. The Yellowjackets are reclassifying to Division II beginning next season. In nine years, Lang led AIC to an overall mark of 168-148-33, plus four Atlantic Hockey regular-season championships, three tournament titles and three national tournament appearances, including an upset of No. 1 St. Cloud in the 2019 NCAAs.

Mercyhurst's Rick Gotkin, who has guided the Lakers since 1988-89, has announced that he will retire following the 2025-26 season. The only coach to take a school to the NCAA tournament at the Division I, II and III levels, Gotkin, who played collegiately at Brockport, has fashioned a 611-551-111 record through 37 seasons so far. His ledger includes four MAAC/Atlantic Hockey regular-season titles, three conference tournament crowns, and six NCAA tournament berths overall, plus 11 seasons with 20 wins or more.

AIC to Return to Division II Next Year

According to multiple online sources, American International College will be leaving the NCAA Division I men's hockey ranks at the end of the 2024-25 season to return to the Division II level, due to budgetary constraints. All other AIC athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division II level, although there is no women's varsity hockey team.

AIC has spent the past 27 years at the Division I level. It has posted six straight winning seasons, which included four Atlantic Hockey regular-season championships, three Atlantic Hockey playoff titles, and three NCAA tournament berths, all achieved under head coach and alumnus Eric Lang. In 2019, the Yellowjackets advanced to the NCAA West Regional Final after upsetting top-ranked St. Cloud State in the regional semifinals.

AIC moved to the Division I level in 1998-99 as part of the then-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), which became Atlantic Hockey in 2003-04. The program was established in 1948-49 at the Division II level, and moved to the MassMutual Center as its home ice in 2016-17 from the Olympia Ice Center.

AIC is currently 2-6-1 overall and 2-2 in the conference, which is now known as Atlantic Hockey America.

Riley to Step Down at Army After Season

Add Army West Point to the list of NCAA Division I men's hockey schools that will be introducing a new head coach following the upcoming season.

Brian Riley (middle, above), a West Point, N.Y. native who has guided the Black Knights since 2004-05, has announced that he will step down as Army's head coach following the 2024-25 NCAA campaign. In 20 seasons at the helm, he has complied an overall 242-359-92 mark, including the 2008 Atlantic Hockey regular-season championship. He has also been named Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year four times in his career. Riley follows Cornell's Mike Schafer and Notre Dame's Jeff Jackson, who will also retire next spring from their respective positions.

A 1983 graduate of Brown, Riley skated in 97 games in all at forward for the Bears, tallying 28 goals and 35 assists for 63 points. He began his coaching career as an assistant at SUNY-Plattsburgh in 1984-85, before spending one year at UMass Lowell in 1987-88, where he helped the then-Chiefs to the NCAA tournament. He then moved on to Army in 1989-90 and remained there for seven seasons. After a two-year stint as head coach at Shattuck St. Mary's in Minnesota, Riley returned to Army in 1999, where he again served as an assistant to his older brother, Rob, before ultimately taking the head coaching reins himself in 2004.

Riley, 65, is expected to be succeeded by current assistant coach and former Black Knights defenseman Zach McKelvie in 2025-26. It will mark the first time since 1949-50 that a Riley will not serve as the head hockey coach at Army, as Rob Riley guided the Cadets from 1986 to 2004, after father Jack Riley oversaw the program from 1950 to 1986.

Atlantic Hockey America to Begin Play in 2024-25

Two conferences have become one, as the men's Atlantic Hockey Association and the women's College Hockey America unit have combined to form a single new entity in Atlantic Hockey America. The 14 NCAA Division I schools involved will compete under the new AHA banner beginning with the 2024-25 season.

Joining the new conference from Atlantic Hockey are Air Force, American International, Army West Point, Bentley, Canisius, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Niagara, RIT, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart. Transitioning from the CHA are Mercyhurst, Penn State, Lindenwood, RIT, Robert Morris and Syracuse.

Atlantic Hockey began as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 1998-99, before reorganizing as the AHA in 2003. The CHA commenced play in 1999-2000 as a men's only conference which disbanded in 2010, with the women's league starting up in 2002-03 and continuing ever since.

The colors for the new league, which will be headquartered in Boston, are blue and gold, while the logo is a melding of the two previous league symbols. The commissioner is former college hockey player Michelle Morgan (St. Thomas). The new league's website is located at atlantichockeyonline.com.

Conference Championships Conclude Tonight

It's the last night of conference championships in NCAA Division I men's hockey.

One automatic bid to this year's NCAA tournament has already been awarded, and the rest of the field of 16 will be decided tonight, with the official bracket to be announced live tomorrow night (ESPNU, 6:30 p.m. ET).

Atlantic Hockey: American International @ RIT

Big Ten: Michigan @ Michigan State

CCHA: Michigan Tech (defeated Bemidji State, 2-1)

ECAC Hockey: Cornell vs. St. Lawrence (Lake Placid, NY)

Hockey East: Boston College vs. Boston University (Boston, MA)

NCHC: Omaha vs. Denver (St. Paul, Minn.)

The 2024 NCAA Division I women's hockey title will be decided in Durham, N.H. tomorrow afternoon (ESPN, 4 p.m. ET), when Ohio State takes on WCHA rival and defending national champion Wisconsin in a rematch of last year's national championship contest.

ADDENDUM: RIT, Michigan State, Cornell, Boston College and Denver all won their respective league tournaments and earned automatic berths to the NCAAs. 

Soderquist Steps Down at Bentley

Bentley University's Ryan Soderquist stepped down earlier this week as men's hockey head coach at his alma mater, after 21 seasons at the Falcons helm.

Soderquist, 46, had served as Bentley's head coach since the 2002-03 campaign, and led them to a 277-377-85 mark (.432) in that time. His best season came in 2013-14, when he guided the Falcons to a 19-14-4 overall record. Bentley also advanced to the 2006 Atlantic Hockey championship game under his watch, where it fell to Holy Cross, while the on-campus Bentley Arena opened in Waltham, Mass. in 2017-18, also during his tenure.

The Falcons finished 11-21-2 overall and 8-16-2 in Atlantic Hockey in 2002-23. The season ended with a 5-4 overtime win against Army on Feb. 25, in what turned out to be Soderquist's final game behind the bench.

A native of Stoneham, Mass., Soderquist played four seasons at forward for the Falcons from 1996 to 2000, the first three at the NCAA Division II/III level. He tallied 65 goals and 60 assists for 125 points in 71 games his first three years, before adding 19-29—48 points in 28 contests as a senior as Bentley moved up to NCAA Division I. He finished with 84-89—173 points in 99 career collegiate outings.

2023 NCAA Hockey Selection Sunday

The field appears to be set for the 2023 NCAA Division I men's hockey championship.

The following schools earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship games on Saturday:

Atlantic Hockey: Canisius

Big Ten: Michigan

CCHA: Minnesota State

ECAC Hockey: Colgate

Hockey East: Boston University

NCHC: St. Cloud State

Holy Cross (Atlantic Hockey), Northern Michigan (CCHA) and Colorado College (NCHC) were eliminated from NCAA contention with championship game losses. All three needed to win their conference to gain an automatic NCAA berth.

Judging by the Pairwise Rankings, the following schools will receive at-large berths: Minnesota, Quinnipiac, Denver, Harvard, Penn State, Western Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan Tech, Cornell and Merrimack. Alaska (Fairbanks) was in the running for an at-large berth as an independent school, but was ousted by Colgate's victory.

The NCAA selection show is today at 6:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU), with four-team regionals to be contested in Allentown, Bridgeport, Fargo and Manchester from March 23-26. The only regional host school in the mix is Penn State, which must be placed in Allentown.

The four regional winners advance to the NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa on April 6.

2023 Conference Championship Matchups Set for Saturday

The championship games are set for Saturday for the six NCAA Division I men's hockey conferences:

Atlantic Hockey: Holy Cross @ Canisius

Big Ten: Michigan @ Minnesota

CCHA: Northern Michigan @ Minnesota State

ECAC Hockey: Colgate vs. Harvard (Lake Placid, NY)

Hockey East: Merrimack vs. Boston University (Boston, MA)

NCHC: Colorado College vs. St. Cloud State (St. Paul, MN)

The winners of those contests will each earn an automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA tournament that will begin on March 23-24.

Five of the six semifinal games contested on St. Patrick's Day were decided in overtime, as Colgate, Harvard, Merrimack, BU and St. Cloud all advanced in extra time, with SCSU netminder Jaxon Castor (above) making 23 saves for the Huskies in victory. Colorado College scored the only goal of the game in its meeting with Denver. 

Losses on Friday by North Dakota, Providence and UMass Lowell essentially eliminated them all from NCAA tournament consideration, while Cornell, Denver and Quinnipiac remain alive for at-large berths.

More NCAA Division I Schools End 2022-23 Seasons

Nearly a dozen NCAA Division I men's hockey schools saw their 2022-23 seasons end with playoff losses on Saturday:

- Boston College

- Clarkson

- Connecticut

- Ferris State

- Miami

- Michigan State

- Northeastern

- Princeton

- St. Lawrence

- Vermont

- Yale

Independent schools Arizona State, Alaska Anchorage, Lindenwood and Long Island all completed their seasons on Saturday as well. 

There will be two deciding games in best-of-three conference series today, two in Atlantic Hockey and two in the NCHC:

- Holy Cross @ No. 20 RIT; Niagara @ Canisius 

- Minnesota Duluth @ No. 8 St. Cloud; North Dakota @ Omaha

Conference championships will be decided on March 18, with NCAA tournament bids announced the following day. NCAA regionals will be contested on March 23-26, with the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four set for April 6-8 in Tampa.

Atlantic Hockey Altering Postseason Format

The Atlantic Hockey Association, one of the the six NCAA Division I men's hockey conferences, has shifted its postseason tournament fully to on-campus sites beginning with the 2022-23 season. 

The first round will be best-of-three series, starting with the top eight teams, followed by best-of-three semifinals with the four remaining schools. The single-game championship contest will then be held in mid-March at the host of the highest-remaining seed, similar to what the revamped WCHA did before its demise last year.

Atlantic Hockey, which began play in 2003 after six seasons as the hockey arm of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), had previously held its championship game at such neutral sites as West Point, Rochester, Buffalo and Utica in New York. It has also been held in Hamden, Conn, along with Worcester and Springfield, Mass.

Atlantic Hockey's current roster consists of Air Force, American International, Army West Point, Bentley, Canisius, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Niagara, RIT, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart. Robert Morris will not resume on-ice play until the 2023-24 campaign, after the program was dropped and then subsequently brought back, along with its women's program, which competes in College Hockey America. 

AIC has won the last three AHA postseason titles, earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in the process each time. The 2020 AHA tournament was ultimately canceled due to COVID-19.

2022 Men's Conference Championships Decided Tonight

Following semifinal round games in four of the six NCAA Division I men's conferences yesterday, the conference championship games are set for today:

Atlantic Hockey: Air Force vs. AIC (Utica, NY)

Big Ten: Michigan vs. Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN)

CCHA: Bemidji State vs. Minnesota State (Mankato, MN) 

ECAC Hockey: Harvard vs. Quinnipiac (Lake Placid, NY)

Hockey East: UConn vs. UMass (Boston, MA)

NCHC: Minnesota-Duluth vs. Western Michigan (St. Paul, MN) 

The winners will all receive automatic bids to the 2022 NCAA Tournament that will commence with regional play next weekend. 

In women's NCAA Division I hockey, tomorrow's national title game will feature Ohio State versus Minnesota-Duluth, in State College, Pa. Both schools won by 2-1 counts in semifinal contests on Friday, with OSU outlasting Yale, and UMD edging Northeastern in double OT.

RIT's Wilson Wins 400th Career Game

Head coach Wayne Wilson of the Rochester Institute of Technology has joined college hockey's 400 club.

Wilson, 60, a graduate of Bowling Green State University who was a senior captain on the Falcons' 1984 NCAA title team as a player, earned his 400th career victory as a college head coach, all at RIT, following the Tigers' 1-0 overtime victory at Princeton University on Saturday that completed a two-step sweep. Jake Hamacher scored the only goal of the game 35 seconds into overtime on a power play, while Tommy Scarfone made 21 saves in net for his first career college victory and shutout.

A native of Montreal, Wilson took over as RIT's head coach in 1999-2000, after serving as an assistant at both BGSU and New Hampshire. He led the Tigers to the NCAA Division III championship game in his second season at the helm, which earned him the Edward Jeremiah Award as the nation's top Division III coach. He guided RIT to 116 victories in all, a combined seven ECAC West regular season/postseason crowns, and three NCAA Division III tournament berths before overseeing the program's transition to NCAA Division I beginning with the 2005-06 campaign. 

He has since directed the Tigers to four Atlantic Hockey Association regular-season championships, three Atlantic Hockey playoff titles, and three NCAA Division I tournament appearances, including a run to the NCAA Frozen Four in Detroit in 2010 that earned him the Spencer Penrose Award that year as the top Division I coach. Wilson, whose overall career record now stands at 400-279-75 (.580), is the only coach to win both the Jeremiah and Penrose awards.

RIT is currently 9-5-2 overall, and tied for first in Atlantic Hockey at 5-3-2-1. The Tigers will return to action on Dec. 11-12 with two league games against visiting Army West Point.

RMU Off Ice Until at Least 2022-23

 

The Robert Morris University men's and women's hockey programs will not play in 2021-22. It was announced last week that both teams will be on hiatus until at least the 2022-23 season.

The Colonials hockey teams were discontinued by the university back in May. Since then fundraisers, which will be ongoing, were started to help revive the programs, along with the threat of potential legal action.

The 2021-22 Atlantic Hockey (men's hockey) and College Hockey America (women's hockey) composite schedules were previously released without the Colonials on either of them.

Robert Morris Drops Varsity Hockey Programs

 

The plug has been abruptly pulled on both the Robert Morris University men's and women's hockey programs.

The university announced on Wednesday that both programs were being discontinued immediately as part of a "series of strategic initiatives."

RMU began play in NCAA Division I men's hockey in 2004-05, and skated all 17 of its seasons under head coach Derek Schooley (Western Michigan). Under his tutelage the Colonials won 275 games, and claimed three Atlantic Hockey regular-season crowns, including this season. They also made the NCAA tournament in 2014 after winning the league playoff title that year, but fell to Minnesota in the first round.

The RMU women's team got started in 2005-06 and played in the NCAA tournament this past season after winning the College Hockey America conference, although the Colonials fell in the first round of the NCAAs to eventual national runner-up Northeastern. RMU also qualified for the national tournament in 2017, and altogether won a combined six CHA regular-season and postseason championships, while recording a total of 240 victories all-time, under four different head coaches.

RMU becomes the first men's Division I hockey program to be discontinued since Wayne State did so in 2008, although Alabama-Huntsville and Alaska Anchorage are both on hiatus for the 2021-22 campaign and may not return. The Colonials are the first women's Division I hockey outfit to fold since North Dakota dropped its women's program in 2017.

RMU, which is located in Moon Township, Pa. outside Pittsburgh, is expected to retain control of the Colonials home ice of Clearview Arena in Neville Island, Pa., and is also expected to retain its three ACHA men's club teams.

UAH Suspends Hockey Program For Now

The University of Alabama-Huntsville will not play hockey during the 2021-22 season.

UAH, which went 3-18-1 this past season in its final WCHA campaign, will not play next year due to a lack of a conference affiliation. The Chargers were apparently rejected in applying to the new CCHA that will begin play this fall, and have yet to hear back from the Atlantic Hockey association.

The UAH hockey program was in danger of being dropped a year ago, but got a reprieve of at least one season after a week-long GoFundMe fundraising campaign that ultimately netted over $750,000 in private donations. The Chargers had previously faced the chopping block before, when the program was shut down temporarily in the fall of 2012 before being revived soon after.

There is no definitive timetable for Atlantic Hockey to accept UAH or not, although UAHHockey.com noted it will be at least the middle of this summer for a decision to be made. According to the university, the Chargers hockey program will be promptly reinstated if a conference home is secured.

The Chargers began life as a club program in 1979, winning three national club championships, and then had a brief foray in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics before originally joining the NCAA in 1985 as a Division II independent. UAH then moved up to Division I in 1987 before dropping down to Division II in 1992 and subsequently winning two national titles there, before returning to Division I in 1998.

NCAA Men's Hockey Regular Season Ends

The NCAA Division I men's hockey regular season has come to a close, with conference tournaments already underway or slated to begin soon.

American International College finished in first place in Atlantic Hockey, with the Yellowjackets going 13-3-0 overall. Holy Cross was forced to forfeit its Atlantic Hockey first-round tournament game at Sacred Heart due to COVID-19, a move that also ended the Crusaders' 2020-21 campaign. SHU subsequently receives a bye into the second round, and will now play at Army West Point.

Boston College defeated Northeastern on Friday to finish first in Hockey East, although the conference had previously announced it would not crown either men's or women's regular-season champions this year. BC won last year's Hockey East regular-season title before the entire postseason was canceled by COVID-19

North Dakota dropped its regular-season finale on Friday against Nebraska-Omaha, but still earned its second straight NCHC regular-season championship, and will host the NCHC championship at Ralph Engelstad Arena from March 12-16. The Fighting Hawks are also all but assured of earning a berth in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, and will host the the 2021 NCAA Regional at Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D. later this month. The Denver and Colorado College home-and-home NCHC series scheduled for March 4-6 was canceled by COVID issues within the CC program. 

Quinnipiac finished as ECAC Hockey champion, aided by the fact that second-place Clarkson's last four games, all against rival St. Lawrence, were canceled due to coronavirus protocols at SLU. It marks the fifth time the Bobcats have won the Cleary Cup in the last nine seasons.

Minnesota State won its fourth consecutive McNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champion. The Mavericks are also two victories away from their ninth straight 20-win season.

Wisconsin used a two-step sweep of Michigan State over the weekend to capture this year's Big Ten title. It's the Badgers' first regular-season conference crown since they won the old WCHA back in 2000, and completes a "worst-to-first" scenario after they placed seventh in the conference in 2019-20. 

Concerning the two Division I men's independents, Arizona State finished at 7-16-3 overall, having played all 26 of its games on the road against Big Ten competition, while recording wins against five different opponents. First-year NCAA program Long Island University went 3-10-0 in its abbreviated inaugural campaign, and notched victories over Holy Cross, RIT and Army.

ADDENDUM: Merrimack's season was cut short last week by COVID-19. Clarkson's season has also ended, and now so has Bentley's.

2021 NCAA Men's Hockey Conference Tournament Formats Finalized

With the NCAA tournament fast approaching, the six NCAA Division I men's hockey conferences have revealed their respective individual tournament plans.

Atlantic Hockey will feature all 11 of its schools in its postseason, with some modifications to the tournament itself, which will take place from March 12-20. The first round will now be single-elimination, followed by a best-of-three championship weekend with the four remaining schools.

The Big Ten Conference will invite its seven schools to a single-elimination tournament from March 14-16 at the Compton Family Ice Arena on the University of Notre Dame campus.

All four schools participating in ECAC Hockey this season will qualify for its single-elimination playoffs, to be held March 18-20.

Hockey East will also utilize a single-game elimination tournament with its top 10 schools, with seedings determined by the newfound Hockey East Power Index formula. The tournament will take place from March 10-20.

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference will host its eight-team, single-elimination postseason tournament entirely at Ralph Engelstad Arena, on the campus of the University of North Dakota, from March 12-16.

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association will allow all eight schools competing this season into its playoffs on March 12-20, starting with a best-of-three round-robin quarterfinal round. The winners will advance to a four-team semifinal round.

Except as noted above, each conference tournament will be contested solely on campus sites. The winner of each of the six conference tournament will receive their respective conference's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Also, it was revealed on Monday that Albany, New York and the Times Union Center has been chosen to replace Manchester, New Hampshire and SNHU Arena as host of the 2021 NCAA Northeast Regional. Manchester had earlier opted out due to COVID-19 concerns.

NCHC, Atlantic Hockey Preparing to Start Seasons

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference announced over the weekend that it will play the first half of its 2020-21 season in a bubble environment at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb. beginning on Dec. 1. 

The second half of the season is expected to be contested on campus sites, according to USCHO.com. The conference will be split into East and West divisions, with the East featuring Miami, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan, and the West containing Colorado College, Denver, North Dakota and Omaha. Each school is scheduled to play its divisional opponents six times apiece, and the teams in the other division twice each.

Atlantic Hockey also recently announced that it will begin its 2020-21 campaign on Nov. 13, with 24 games being played per school this season, according to collegehockeynews.com. That slate will include two games per team against NCAA Division I newcomer Long Island University, which will skate as an Atlantic Hockey affiliate member this season, similar to how Arizona State will play as a part of the Big Ten this winter. 

Atlantic Hockey will be split into two regional scheduling pods, with the east consisting of AIC, Army, Bentley, Holy Cross, and Sacred Heart, while the western pod will employ Canisius, Mercyhurst, Niagara, RIT, and Robert Morris, with schools facing pod opponents five games apiece, presumably at campus sites. Air Force will play the other 10 teams twice, and will face off against LIU four times.

In other men's college hockey news, both Yale and Boston University have suffered COVID-19 spikes lately. It is not known how that might affect scheduling in ECAC Hockey and Hockey East, respectively. 

ADDENDUM: Soon after, the WCHA announced it plans to play an 18-game regular season.