2020–21 Hockey East men's season explained


Color:	color:white; background:#003882
Color Text:	white
Season:	2020–21
Season:	2020–21
Conference:	Hockey East
Shortconference:	Hockey East
Sex:	men
Division:	Division I
Sport:	ice hockey
Pixels:	250 px
Duration:	November 20, 2020– April 10, 2021
No Of Teams:	11
Draft:
Top Pick:	Josh Lopina
Picked By:	Anaheim Ducks
Regular Season:
Season Champs:	None
Mvp:	Spencer Knight
Mvp Link:	Hockey East Player of the Year
Top Scorer:	Jonny Evans
Tournament:
Tournament Champs:	Massachusetts
Tournament Place:	Massachusetts–Lowell
Mvp2:	Bobby Trivigno
Mvp Link2:	William Flynn Tournament Most Valuable Player
Top Scorer2:	Alex Newhook Bobby Trivigno
Ncaa:
Bids:	3
Conf Rec:	4–2
Best:	National Champion
Ncaa Team:	Massachusetts
Prevseason:	2019–20
Nextseason:	2021–22
Labelstyle:	background:#eeeeee;

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

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 the fact 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.^[4] 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.^[5] The win was the first for the conference since 2015 and ended the reign of the NCHC, who had possessed the crown ever since.

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	363–193–69
Boston University	3	29–31–12	22–18–8
Connecticut	8	93–124–31	36–51–14
Maine	8	100–126–31	62–87–20
Massachusetts	5	74–70–6	43–46–5
Massachusetts–Lowell	10	205–110–32	116–71–27
Merrimack	3	16–46–6	11–32–6
New Hampshire	3	27–30–13	17–22–9
Northeastern	10	165–130–36	104–99–26
Providence	10	192–113–44	112–72–28
Vermont	1	0–0–0	0–0–0

Statistics

Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points^[6]

Class	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

Class	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Junior	9	558	4	1	4	15	2	.937	1.61
Sophomore	18	1087	15	2	1	36	3	.937	1.99
Senior	13	776	9	4	0	26	3	.913	2.01
Sophomore	21	1274	10	6	5	47	4	.915	2.21
Sophomore	20	1195	9	8	3	53	2	.912	2.66

Conference tournament

See main article: 2021 Hockey East men's ice hockey tournament.

NCAA tournament

See main article: 2021 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey 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 final

Frozen Four

National Championship

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	align=center style=";"	UMA	Aaron Bohlinger (1) – GW	Sullivan and Farmer	align=center	7:26	align=center	1–0 UMA
1st	align=center style=";"	UMA	Reed Lebster (2)	Kiefiuk	align=center	18:56	align=center	2–0 UMA
2nd	align=center style=";"	UMA	Philip Lagunov (6) – SH	unassisted	align=center	25:10	align=center	3–0 UMA
2nd	align=center style=";"	UMA	Matthew Kessel (10) – PP	Chau and Gaudet	align=center	33:45	align=center	4–0 UMA
3rd	align=center style=";"	UMA	Bobby Trivigno (11)	Lebster	align=center	46:00	align=center	5–0 UMA
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	align=center style=";"	UMA	Anthony Del Gaizo	Slashing	align=center	15:27	align=center	2:00
2nd	align=center style=";"	STC	Seamus Donohue	Tripping	align=center	20:24	align=center	2:00
	align=center style=";"	UMA	Ryan Sullivan	Tripping	align=center	23:57	align=center	2:00
	align=center style=";"	UMA	Jake Gaudet	Elbowing	align=center	30:31	align=center	2:00
	align=center style=";"	STC	Bench (served by Zach Okabe)	Too Many Men	align=center	32:35	align=center	2:00
3rd	align=center colspan=5	None

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	T
align=center style=";"	St. Cloud State	align=center	3	align=center	12	align=center	10	align=center	25
align=center style=";"	Massachusetts	align=center	7	align=center	6	align=center	9	align=center	22

Goaltenders
Team	Name	Saves	Goals against	Time on ice
align=center style=";"	STC		align=center	17	align=center	5	align=center	60:00
align=center style=";"	UMA		align=center	25	align=center	0	align=center	60:00

Ranking

See main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings.

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	1
Massachusetts–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

^[7]

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	1
Massachusetts–Lowell	11	12	12	10	9	15	NR	NR	13	15	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Merrimack	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

^[8]

Awards

NCAA

AHCA All-American Teams^[9]
East First Team	Pos	Team
	align=center		Boston College
	align=center		Boston University
	align=center		Boston College
	align=center	F	Massachusetts
East Second Team	Pos	Team
	align=center	D	Boston College
	align=center	D	Massachusetts
	align=center	F	Connecticut

Hockey East

Award		Recipient^[10]
		Spencer Knight, Boston College
		Marc McLaughlin, Boston College
		Drew Helleson, Boston College
		Josh Lopina, Massachusetts Nikita Nesterenko, Boston College
		Spencer Knight, Boston College
		Patrick Grasso, New Hampshire
		Jonny Evans, Connecticut Aidan McDonough, Northeastern Marc McLaughlin, Boston College
		Jonny Evans, Connecticut
Charlie Holt Team Sportsmanship Award		Massachusetts
		Jerry York, Boston College
Hockey East All-Star Teams^[11] ^[12]
	Position	Second Team
Spencer Knight, Boston College	align=center	G	Filip Lindberg, Massachusetts
David Farrance, Boston University	align=center	D	Jordan Harris, Northeastern
Drew Helleson, Boston College	align=center	D	Zac Jones, Massachusetts
Matthew Boldy, Boston College	align=center	F	Jackson Pierson, New Hampshire
Jonny Evans, Connecticut	align=center	F	Zach Solow, Northeastern
Bobby Trivigno, Massachusetts	align=center	F	Tyce Thompson, Providence
	Position	Rookie Team
Tomáš Vomáčka, Connecticut	align=center	G	Drew Commesso, Boston University
Marc Del Gaizo, Massachusetts	align=center	D	Eamon Powell, Boston College
Matthew Kessel, Massachusetts	align=center	D	—
Angus Crookshank, New Hampshire	align=center	F	Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Northeastern
Jáchym Kondelík, Connecticut	align=center	F	Alex Jefferies, Merrimack
Marc McLaughlin, Boston College	align=center	F	Josh Lopina, Massachusetts
—	align=center	F	Nikita Nesterenko, Boston College
—	align=center	F	Luke Tuch, Boston University

Conference tournament

William Flynn Tournament Most Valuable Player
		Massachusetts
All-Tournament team
Player	Pos	Team
		Massachusetts
		UMass Lowell
		Massachusetts
		UMass Lowell
		Massachusetts
		Massachusetts

NCAA tournament

Most Outstanding Player
		Massachusetts
All-Tournament team
Player	Pos	Team
		Massachusetts
		Massachusetts
		Massachusetts
		Massachusetts

2021 NHL Entry Draft

See main article: 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		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^[13]

Notes and References

Web site: 2020-21 Hockey East Men's Composite Schedule . Hockey East . August 31, 2021.
News: Hockey East Unveils 2021 Tournament and Seeding Format . Hockey East . February 10, 2021 . September 21, 2021.
News: 2021 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey championship selections announced . NCAA.com. March 21, 2021. March 18, 2021.
Web site: Fanti Out for UMD Due to COVID Protocols . College Hockey News . April 8, 2021 . April 16, 2021.
Web site: St. Cloud State vs UMass Ice Hockey Game Highlights, 2021 NCAA national championship . NCAA . YouTube.com . April 11, 2021 . April 17, 2021.
News: 2020-21 Hockey East Conference-Only Category Leaders . Hockey East . September 21, 2021.
Web site: USCHO Division I Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
Web site: USA Today Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
News: Boston College, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin lead way with three All-American college hockey players apiece for ’20-21 season . USCHO.com . April 9, 2021 . April 10, 2021.
Web site: Spencer Knight Named Hockey East Player of the Year - Hockey East Association. 2021-03-17. hockeyeastonline.com. en.
Web site: Hockey East Names 2020-21 Men's All-Star Teams - Hockey East Association. 2021-03-17. hockeyeastonline.com. en.
Web site: Hockey East Names Men's Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team - Hockey East Association. 2021-03-17. hockeyeastonline.com. en.
News: NCAA player rankings, selections in 2021 NHL Draft . USCHO.com . July 24, 2021.