The 2020 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game originally scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 17, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville has officially been postponed and moved to the new date of Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have been closely monitoring the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and have tried to work through multiple scenarios, but after much consideration, we have made the decision to officially postpone the Nashville event and reschedule it to October 30, 2021,” said Ralph Engelstad Arena GM Jody Hodgson. “We are still going to Nashville, we’re just going a year later than we had originally planned. The philosophy that the show must go on is in our DNA and we never imagined postponing this event only a few short months ago.
“However, postponing the event is clearly the most prudent thing to do based on the information available to us today. All of our options were complicated and uncertain. We tried to approach it in a methodical way and think we’ve done that.”
The 2020 version of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game will now be played at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. The opponent for the 2020 event in Grand Forks has yet to be determined.
“Our hockey program is very much looking forward to the rescheduled Hall of Fame Game in Nashville,” UND coach Brad Berry said. “We are grateful to our loyal and passionate fans that will proudly participate in this unforgettable experience with us. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”
Penn State will be UND’s opponent at the 2021 Hall of Fame Game to be played in Nashville. Game time in Nashville for the 2021 game is set for 7:07 p.m. CST. The Fighting Hawks and the Nittany Lions will square off at a sold-out Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
“The Nashville game is not a normal regular-season game because of all that is involved with a destination event, including the extensive travel required for fans that have already purchased game tickets,” said UND director of athletics Bill Chaves. “With tickets sold to UND fans in 45 of 50 states and five of 10 Canadian provinces, our destination games have become national events and our fans deserve the opportunity to gather and celebrate en masse without limitation, restriction, or fear for their health and safety. We believe that moving the Nashville game to October of 2021 was the only way to check all of the boxes necessary to have another great destination event.
“We intend to continue to be patient with the rest of the 2020-2021 schedule while the pandemic evolves, but felt it was imperative to give our fans at least 90 days of advance notice for the Nashville destination game.”
All fans who purchased tickets for the original 2020 event in Nashville need to hold on to their tickets as all tickets purchased for the 2020 event will now be honored for the rescheduled 2021 game in Nashville.
