The 2020–21 Hockey East men's season was the 37th season of play for Hockey East and took place during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The start of the regular season was delayed until on November 20, 2020 and conclude on April 10, 2021. Massachusetts won its first national championship.
Season Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Hockey East was forced to delay the start to its season until mid-November. Even when team's began to play games, several programs were adversely affected by the virus. Boston University was particularly hard-hit by COVID and couldn't play their first game until January. Due to the strange nature of the season, Hockey East decided to use a Power Index to determine the conference standings. Additionally, all eleven members schools would be included in the conference tournament rather that the normal 8-team format.
Throughout the season, Boston College led in the standings and was in the top 3 for the national rankings. Behind the Eagles, the conference had at least 4 other teams with a national ranking. While it appeared that Hockey East could get as many as 6 bids into the tournament, several programs faded as the year progressed and only three conference teams ended up making the NCAA tournament.
Boston University, who had played well in their small number of games, fell to St. Cloud State in their opening match. BC was advanced to the second round after a COVID withdrawal and opened with a match against the same team. The result was much the same as St. Cloud overcame an early BC lead to take the game by a comfortable margin. In the Eastern region, meanwhile, Hockey East champion Massachusetts ran roughshod over their opponents. The Minutemen blew the door off of Lake Superior State in the first round and then dominated Bemidji State in the quarterfinals, surrendering just 1 goal in 120 minutes.
Entering the Frozen Four, UMass received awful news when several members were placed in COVID protocols due to contact tracing. Even worse was that their starting goaltender, Filip Lindberg, was one of the players and would be forced to miss the rematch with defending national champion Minnesota Duluth. Massachusetts was able to keep the game close despite missing key players and managed to push the game into overtime. backup netminder Matt Murray played a masterful game, keeping UMD from scoring in the final 29 minutes of regulation and an additional 14 minutes of overtime. His stellar play enabled Garret Wait to score the winning goal for UMass and sent the team to their second straight championship match.
Prior to the final game, Lindberg ended up testing negative and drove overnight from Amherst to Pittsburgh so he could play in the title tilt. Lindberg turned in a solid performance but the entire team was responsible for Massachusetts' shutting down St. Cloud State. UMass took the game 5–0, the largest margin of victory in 11 years, and took home the program's first national championship. The win was the first for the conference since 2015 and ended the reign of the NCHC, who had possessed the crown ever since.
Standings
Coaches Todd Woodcroft was hired as the 5th head coach for Vermont after the resignation of Kevin Sneddon.
Records Boston College 27 624–323–80 363–193–69Boston University 3 29–31–12 22–18–8Connecticut 8 93–124–31 36–51–14Maine 8 100–126–31 62–87–20Massachusetts 5 74–70–6 43–46–5Massachusetts–Lowell 10 205–110–32 116–71–27Merrimack 3 16–46–6 11–32–6New Hampshire 3 27–30–13 17–22–9 Northeastern 10 165–130–36 104–99–26Providence 10 192–113–44 112–72–28Vermont 1 0–0–0 0–0–0
Statistics
Leading scorers GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Player Class Team GP G A Pts Junior 22 14 14 28 Sophomore 19 10 14 24 Senior 20 11 13 24 Junior 22 8 16 24 Junior 21 9 14 23 Junior 21 8 15 23 Junior 23 10 12 22 Junior 22 3 18 21 Sophomore 20 10 10 20 Senior 22 4 16 20
Leading goaltenders Minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played in conference games.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average Player Class Team GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA Junior 9 558:43 4 1 4 15 2 .937 1.61 Sophomore 18 1087:35 15 2 1 36 3 .937 1.99 Senior 13 776:27 9 4 0 26 3 .913 2.01 Sophomore 21 1274:46 10 6 5 47 4 .915 2.21 Sophomore 20 1195:41 9 8 3 53 2 .912 2.66
Conference tournament
NCAA tournament
Northeast Region
Regional semifinal After seeding, Notre Dame, Boston College's opponent in the first round, was forced to withdraw due to COVID-19 positive tests. BC was automatically advanced to the second round by a no-contest decision.
Regional final
East Region
Regional semifinals
Regional final
Frozen Four
National semifinal
National Championship
Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st UMAAaron Bohlinger (1) – GWSullivan and Farmer 7:26 1–0 UMA UMAReed Lebster (2)Kiefiuk 18:56 2–0 UMA 2nd UMAPhilip Lagunov (6) – SHunassisted 25:10 3–0 UMA UMAMatthew Kessel (10) – PPChau and Gaudet 33:45 4–0 UMA 3rd UMABobby Trivigno (11)Lebster 46:00 5–0 UMA Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st UMAAnthony Del GaizoSlashing 15:27 2:00 2nd STCSeamus DonohueTripping 20:24 2:00 UMARyan SullivanTripping 23:57 2:00 UMAJake GaudetElbowing 30:31 2:00 STCBench (served by Zach Okabe)Too Many Men 32:35 2:00 3rd None
Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T St. Cloud State 3 12 10 25 Massachusetts 7 6 9 22
Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice STC Dávid Hrenák 17 5 60:00 UMA Filip Lindberg 25 0 60:00
Ranking
USCHO Boston College 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 N/A 6 Boston University NR 20 20 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 15 15 13 11 8 10 9 11 10 N/A 11 Connecticut NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 20 NR NR NR NR NR NR N/A NR Maine NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR N/A NR Massachusetts 7 7 7 8 10 10 10 9 8 6 9 10 10 9 10 9 6 7 6 6 N/A 1Massachusetts–Lowell 11 12 11 10 8 15 17 15 15 15 16 20 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 19 N/A 19 Merrimack NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR N/A NR New Hampshire NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR N/A NR Northeastern 19 18 16 15 17 12 12 13 14 14 13 14 14 18 16 17 18 20 NR NR N/A NR Providence 17 15 13 12 19 19 15 15 16 16 18 17 16 16 15 14 15 17 14 16 N/A 16 Vermont NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR N/A NR
USA Today Boston College 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 3 7 6 Boston University NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 15 15 13 12 8 11 10 11 11 12 12 Connecticut NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 15 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR Maine NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR Massachusetts 7 7 8 9 12 13 10 9 8 6 8 10 9 9 9 9 6 8 7 5 2 1Massachusetts–Lowell 11 12 12 10 9 15 NR NR 13 15 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NRMerrimack NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR New Hampshire NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR Northeastern NR NR NR 15 14 10 11 10 15 13 13 12 14 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR Providence NR 15 13 12 NR NR 13 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 14 NR NR NR Vermont NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Awards
NCAA AHCA All-American Teams East First Team Pos TeamSpencer Knight G Boston CollegeDavid Farrance D Boston UniversityMatthew Boldy F Boston CollegeBobby Trivigno F Massachusetts East Second Team Pos TeamDrew Helleson D Boston CollegeZac Jones D MassachusettsJonny Evans F Connecticut
Hockey East Award RecipientPlayer of the Year Spencer Knight, Boston CollegeBest Defensive Forward Marc McLaughlin, Boston CollegeBest Defensive Defenseman Drew Helleson, Boston CollegeRookie of the Year Josh Lopina, MassachusettsNikita Nesterenko, Boston CollegeGoaltending Champion Spencer Knight, Boston CollegeLen Ceglarski Sportmanship Award Patrick Grasso, New HampshireThree Stars Award Jonny Evans, ConnecticutAidan McDonough, NortheasternMarc McLaughlin, Boston CollegeScoring Champion Jonny Evans, ConnecticutCharlie Holt Team Sportsmanship Award MassachusettsBob Kullen Award (Coach of the Year) Jerry York, Boston CollegeHockey East All-Star Teams First Team Position Second Team Spencer Knight, Boston College G Filip Lindberg, Massachusetts David Farrance, Boston University D Jordan Harris, Northeastern Drew Helleson, Boston College D Zac Jones, Massachusetts Matthew Boldy, Boston College F Jackson Pierson, New Hampshire Jonny Evans, Connecticut F Zach Solow, Northeastern Bobby Trivigno, Massachusetts F Tyce Thompson, Providence Third Team Position Rookie Team Tomáš Vomáčka, Connecticut G Drew Commesso, Boston University Marc Del Gaizo, Massachusetts D Eamon Powell, Boston College Matthew Kessel, Massachusetts D — Angus Crookshank, New Hampshire F Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Northeastern Jáchym Kondelík, Connecticut F Alex Jefferies, Merrimack Marc McLaughlin, Boston College FJosh Lopina, Massachusetts — FNikita Nesterenko, Boston College — FLuke Tuch, Boston University
Conference tournament William Flynn Tournament Most Valuable Player Bobby Trivigno Massachusetts All-Tournament team Player Pos Team Filip Lindberg G Massachusetts Anthony Baxter D UMass Lowell Zac Jones D Massachusetts Matt Brown F UMass Lowell Jake Gaudet F Massachusetts Bobby Trivigno F Massachusetts
NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player Bobby Trivigno Massachusetts All-Tournament team Player Pos Team Filip Lindberg G Massachusetts Zac Jones D Massachusetts Matthew Kessel D Massachusetts Bobby Trivigno F Massachusetts
2021 NHL entry draft
1 10 Tyler Boucher† Boston University Ottawa Senators 2 40 Scott Morrow† Massachusetts Carolina Hurricanes 3 88 Stiven Sardarian† New Hampshire Buffalo Sabres 3 91 Taige Harding† Providence Chicago Blackhawks 3 92 Andrei Buyalsky† Vermont Colorado Avalanche 3 94 Aidan Hreschuk† Boston College Carolina Hurricanes 4 98 Josh Lopina Massachusetts Anaheim Ducks 4 101 Guillaume Richard† Providence Washington Capitals 4 115 Ryan Ufko† Massachusetts Nashville Predators 6 171 Cal Thomas† Vermont Arizona Coyotes 6 186 Shane Lachance† Boston University Edmonton Oilers 6 192 Alex Gagne† New Hampshire Tampa Bay Lightning 7 205 Arsenii Sergeev† Connecticut Calgary Flames 7 213 Andre Gasseau† Boston College Boston Bruins 7 217 Ty Gallagher† Boston University Boston Bruins 7 220 Taylor Makar† Massachusetts Colorado Avalanche † incoming freshman
References
External links