{"id":124397,"date":"2020-12-17T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T15:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=124397"},"modified":"2020-12-16T23:24:12","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T05:24:12","slug":"this-week-in-hockey-east-conference-continues-to-navigate-2020-21-with-maximum-flexibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/12\/17\/this-week-in-hockey-east-conference-continues-to-navigate-2020-21-with-maximum-flexibility\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Hockey East: Conference continues to navigate 2020-21 season with ‘maximum flexibility’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Providence senior Greg Printz scored a key goal last weekend in the Friars’ 4-2 win Sunday at UMass Lowell (photo: Rich Gagnon).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While over the last two weekends, more Hockey East games have been played on the ice than in the previous two, the biggest news across the league continues to come from decisions of the league\u2019s commissioner and the athletic directors.<\/p>\n

Such was the case on Tuesday when Hockey East announced that any and all games that are played by men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams will count in the Hockey East standings.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a significant change from the double round-robin which was first announced, but a necessary one. Since the season began on November 20, less than a handful of originally-scheduled games have been played.<\/p>\n

Teams either had to halt play because of COVID cases or cancel games because of government restrictions. Over the four-week period, the league has worked swiftly to help teams find opponents among those eligible to play.<\/p>\n

And from that, a total of 15 games have been played by nine of the 11 Hockey East teams. This weekend, Vermont will be the 10th team to begin their season and Boston University will be the final team to return in early January.<\/p>\n

Thus, Tuesday\u2019s decision to allow any game that is played to count in the league standings was done out of necessity if there is hopes of having as many teams as possible for a full slate of games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a sensible pivot,\u201d said Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf. \u201cThere\u2019s some uncertainty in the schedule and the fluidity of the schedule and the teams\u2019 availability, it seemed like the best decision to count every game this year, not knowing what the schedule might bring.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result when (if?) this season plays to a completion in early March will be an unbalanced schedule. We see that already. Teams like Boston College and Massachusetts already have played six games, while Vermont and BU haven\u2019t played a single game.<\/p>\n

That begs the question how standings will be handled. Using a percentage of total available points seems like the most likely solution, but Metcalf admitted there is still discussion should there be an imbalance in how many teams play one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re probably going to have some more conversation on [the standings],\u201d Metcalf admitted. \u201cNot knowing the unevenness of total games played and against whom, strength of schedule, stay tuned on how to best seed everyone [for the postseason].\u201d<\/p>\n

The postseason is the next area of major change. Whereas Hockey East was scheduled to have only eight of its 11 teams on the men\u2019s side qualify for the postseason, Tuesday\u2019s announcement amended the tournament with all teams now qualifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like the sensible thing to do this year,\u201d said Metcalf about the expanded tournament. \u201cAll teams that are eligible make the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The key word there is “eligible.”<\/p>\n

Currently the NCAA is requiring teams to play a minimum of 13 games played to qualify for the national tournament and that is a target for Hockey East as well. Metcalf said, though, exceptions could be made (see: Big Ten football and Ohio State).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 13-game number is the number for the NCAA tournament; our number is the same,\u201d said Metcalf. \u201cWe have to see if there are any extenuating circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actual format of the tournament is still up for debate, Metcalf says. Other conferences have discussed using a bubble and possibly conducting the entire tournament inside a bubble. That\u2019s not something on Metcalf\u2019s radar right now, but it is possible that instead of a best-of-three format for the opening and quarterfinal rounds that it could be morphed into a single-elimination format and possibly condensed. That\u2019s not something that will be decided until the league sees more success in getting games played safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last two weekends, we played 24 of the 25 expected games on the men\u2019s and women\u2019s side combined,\u201d Metcalf said. \u201cThis is a season that takes maximum flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broken glass wasn\u2019t going to slow down UConn\u2019s upset of No. 2 BC<\/h4>\n

On Friday night, Connecticut lost a heartbreaking game to No. 2 Boston College, one where they rallied from two goals down in the third period only to lose in the 3-on-3 overtime.<\/p>\n

Huekies coach Mike Cavanaugh knew his team had played extremely well in defeat for the final two periods of regulation. He then challenged his players to replicate that.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things we talked about was picking up where we left off,\u201d Cavanaugh said, \u201cand put together three periods like we played in the second and third period [on Friday].\u201d<\/p>\n

After a scoreless first period, UConn struck three times quickly in the second, swarming the Eagles net.<\/p>\n

Then an errant shot over the net by Jonny Evans went through the pane of glass, causing an extended delay.<\/p>\n

Cavanaugh admitted that keeping his players focused and not losing all the momentum his team had created was its biggest challenge.<\/p>\n

\n

? Jonny Rockets @Jonny_Evans97<\/a><\/p>\n

And stick taps to our fantastic ops team and rink staff!<\/p>\n

? ? pic.twitter.com\/NlXZ1Nzrnf<\/a><\/p>\n

— UConn Men's Hockey (@UConnMHOC) December 13, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n