The 2020-21 men's college hockey season is going to happen. On Friday night in South Bend, Indiana, Wisconsin will face Notre Dame in the first official game of the season -- only about a month after the season would normally start. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, this did not always seem possible.
Players have been on campus since August or earlier, training under each university's own protocols. There have been stops and starts over that time, with teams often practicing in smaller pods and sometimes having to pause for quarantine and positive cases within their ranks.
While there is a small sigh of relief that the season is upon us, it's worth remembering that it does not take much for derailments to interrupt the season, as the college football season has already shown. Several schools have had to postpone or cancel football games, including the University of Wisconsin, after outbreaks. Cautious optimism appears to be the order of the day.
But assuming things go to plan, or at least close to it, here's a preview of what to expect this season, including how conferences are approaching this season, the top teams to watch, an early Hobey Baker Award watch list and the NHL prospects who will stand out.
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HOW THIS SEASON WILL LOOK
The many conferences in men's college hockey have worked together as best they can on return-to-play plans. The opportunity for teams to play non-conference games, however, appears minimal at best with each conference looking at a shortened season. Here's a brief look at how each conference plans to enter its season. Return-to-play dates are in parentheses.
Big Ten (Nov. 13)
The first conference to return to play, the Big Ten will have games on campus sites following the conference's medical protocols. Many games are expected to be played without fans. Additionally, the Big Ten, which includes five full-fledged member institutions and Notre Dame as a hockey-only member, has a scheduling agreement with Arizona State, which will play all of its games on the road. The full schedule includes 24 conference games, with each team playing Arizona State four times apiece.
Atlantic Hockey (Nov. 14)
Atlantic Hockey is a bit of a unique conference, with Air Force Academy being a geographical outlier among mostly Eastern-bound teams. The conference announced in October a return-to-play plan for Nov. 13-14, but only one game has been scheduled.
The conference struck a scheduling agreement with a new DI program at Long Island University, which will not be able to compete for a conference title but will get guaranteed games against Atlantic Hockey schools. And the Rochester Institute of Technology announced Monday that none of its teams will compete this season, including the men's hockey team.
Hockey East (Nov. 20)
In terms of geographic positioning, Hockey East is pretty well situated, with all teams easily being able to bus to and from games. The conference announced that both men's and women's hockey will return to competition on Nov. 20, but a full schedule has not yet been made available.
WCHA (Nov. 20)
The WCHA, based primarily in the upper Midwest, has announced the first half of its schedule, due to begin Nov. 20. It will have each member play eight league games until Dec. 19, at which point it'll go on break until at least Jan. 1.
NCHC (Dec. 1)
The home of two-time defending national champion Minnesota Duluth, the NCHC will play the first portion of their schedule in a "pod" in Omaha, Neb. All eight member schools will enter the pod and play 10 games there. The remaining 16 regular-season conference games for each team will take place at campus sites.
ECAC (TBD start)
The ECAC has made no formal announcements about return-to-play plans. As the conference that holds each of the six Ivy League universities with hockey programs, scheduling has to be difficult. Ivy League schools have suspended all athletics until January at the earliest. As a result, many players have left those programs to sign NHL contracts, play on pro deals in Europe or transfer schools. It remains unclear when ECAC will play and if it will be able to count on all of its member institutions fielding teams.
TEAMS TO WATCH
North Dakota
One of the most impressive teams last season got major buy-in from all of its would-be returnees in staying in school. Hobey Baker finalist and leading scorer Jordan Kawaguchi will be back to headline one of the nation's most potent and balanced scoring attacks. Top defenseman Matt Kierstad, who like Kawaguchi held off signing an NHL deal for one more chance at a national championship, also committed to return. And the Fighting Hawks will also add an impressive recruiting class -- led by Ottawa Senators No. 5 overall pick Jake Sanderson.
Boston College
The Eagles are looking to be impacted by World Juniors camps. They will be without top returning scorer Alex Newhook for an undetermined period of time while he attends Canada's World Junior camp, and a few others will likely to make Team USA. But regardless, they've got a lot to be excited about this season.
Though Boston College lost some key seniors, the youth movement will be key. Led by Newhook and fellow sophomores Matt Boldy and Spencer Knight, BC has the chance to be a force. Knight, in particular, is the X factor for this team as a legitimate game-stealing goalie.
Denver
The Pioneers sustained two big losses from last year's team in Emilio Pettersen and Ian Mitchell, each of whom signed NHL deals after 2019-20. However, they add a very exciting recruiting class led by Detroit Red Wings second-rounder Antti Tuomisto, who should slide into a big role on the team's defense. Additionally, Bobby Brink (Philadelphia Flyers), Brett Stapley (Montreal Canadiens) and Cole Guttman (Tampa Bay Lightning) are among the returnees who can carry the offense. And the Pioneers can lean on goalie Magnus Chrona (Lightning) pretty heavily after his standout freshman season.
Quinnipiac
This is my sleeper team for the season. While we don't know what the ECAC season will look like yet, Quinnipiac returns its top two scorers in Odeen Tufto and Wyatt Bongiovanni. And most importantly, it has Keith Petruzzelli in net. The senior goalie finally had his breakout NCAA season last year with a .920 save percentage in 34 appearances. When he's on, he's tough to beat.
The Bobcats also added freshman Ty Smilanic, a third-round pick of the Florida Panthers, who may be the school's most high-profile recruit in years.
Michigan
The Wolverines have one of the best recruiting classes I've seen in college hockey. Ten freshmen are on the roster this season, and three of them were ranked in my early top 10 for the 2021 NHL draft: Owen Power (No. 1), Kent Johnson (No. 3) and Matty Beniers (No. 10). Add in Brendan Brisson, who was selected in the first round by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020, and Thomas Bordeleau, who was an early second-round pick by the San Jose Sharks, and you've got yourself a dandy class.
Of course, first-rounders John Beecher (Boston Bruins) and Cam York (Philadelphia Flyers) are already on the roster, too. Youth can be a blessing and a curse in college hockey, so we'll soon find out which the Wolverines have for the 2020-21 season.
Minnesota
The Golden Gophers were picked to finish first in the Big Ten in the coach's poll, showing the respect other programs have for Bob Motzko. Minnesota was a really young team last year, and it showed a lot. With more experience on the roster and an influx of exciting recruits, don't be shocked to see Minnesota bring the heat in its 100th season.
TEAMS MOST IMPACTED BY EARLY DEPARTURES
Harvard
Before the Ivy League announced that all athletics would be suspended until Jan. 1, it looked like the Crimson were going to return a team capable of contending for a national title. But then top defensemen Jack Rathbone and Reilly Walsh signed NHL contracts, second-leading scorer Jack Drury signed a contract to play in Sweden, and top recruit Matthew Beniers made the decision to de-commit and enroll at Michigan.
Cornell
The Big Red were No. 1 in the country when their 2019-20 season was cut short. They're going to have a competitive team once again, but leading scorer Morgan Barron signed his pro deal with the New York Rangers. Barron wanted to come back, but the delay in the season was going to be a little too challenging with his NHL career in the balance. The team also lost top returning defenseman Alex Green, who signed with the Lightning in September.
Minnesota Duluth
The Bulldogs' hopes for a three-peat likely ended with last season's abrupt stoppage. The two-time defending national champs said goodbye to Hobey Baker winner and top defenseman Scott Perunovich, who signed with the St. Louis Blues, and No. 2 defenseman Dylan Samberg inked a deal with the Winnipeg Jets. Additionally, top defensive center Justin Richards joined the Rangers on a free-agent deal. UMD also had multiple seniors graduate, most notably defensive defenseman Nick Wolff and goalie Hunter Shepard.
Wisconsin
Losing a promising young center and your top two defensemen is a tough pill to swallow for Wisconsin. Alex Turcotte, the No. 5 overall pick in 2019 (Los Angeles Kings), signed a pro deal shortly after Wisconsin's season ended, as did Rangers prospect K'Andre Miller. Wyatt Kalynuk waited until later in the summer to become a free agent, as his draft rights with the Flyers expired in August. He then promptly signed with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Badgers also lost offensive threat Sean Dhooghe to transfer (Arizona State).
That puts a lot of pressure on first-round NHL draft picks Cole Caufield (Canadiens) and Dylan Holloway (Edmonton Oilers) to bolster the offense, and Arizona Coyotes prospect Ty Emberson to hold down the defense. The Badgers will have a completely new goaltending trio, too, led by Robbie Beydoun, a graduate transfer out of Michigan Tech.
HOBEY BAKER WATCH
Jordan Kawaguchi, C, North Dakota
As the only returning player from last year's Hobey Hat Trick, Kawaguchi is the odds-on favorite heading into the season. He finished second in the country with 45 points. With the Fighting Hawks looking like a national title contender, Kawaguchi's stock should remain high. He led the team in scoring by 16 points and should drive the offense for UND again.
David Farrance, D, Boston University
If BU had had a better season in 2019-20, Farrance would have gotten a lot more attention than he did. He finished sixth in the nation with 43 points. The Nashville Predators' prospect averaged 1.26 points per game, a higher rate than Cale Makar had in a Hobey Baker winning season and the sixth-highest rate for a defenseman in the last 20 years. Getting Farrance back for his senior season was a huge coup for the Terriers.
Cole Caufield, RW, Wisconsin
After leading the Big Ten in scoring as a freshman, Caufield is going to need to be an even bigger presence for a Badgers squad that lost a significant portion of its production from last season. Caufield is a goal-scoring machine and generates chances with stunning regularity. If Wisconsin is going to do much this season, it will be on the back of Caufield.
Alex Newhook, C, Boston College
This one comes with a major caveat. If Newhook makes Canada's World Junior roster -- and he at least has a very good shot of doing so -- he could miss a significant portion of Boston College's early schedule. If that happens, it would be hard for him to make up the ground necessary to challenge. That said, I don't think there was a single player in the country who was as good as Newhook in the second half of last season. Once he put it all together, he went from great to elite and carried BC on some nights. He's a special player.
Others of note:
Nick Abruzzese, C, Harvard (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Tyce Thompson, C, Providence (New Jersey Devils)
Spencer Knight, G, Boston College (Florida Panthers)
Odeen Tufto, C, Quinnipiac
Alex Limoges, C, Penn State
Johnny Walker, RW, Arizona State
Shane Pinto, C, North Dakota (Ottawa Senators)
Dryden McKay, G, Minnesota State
Zac Jones, D, UMass (New York Rangers)