We all know COVID-19 made a mess of the 2020-21 Hockey East season. But, to borrow a line from noted scribe Bill Shakespeare, all’s well that ends well.
Under first-year commissioner Steve Metcalf, Hockey East in fits and starts slogged through the regular season and postseason tournament, before ending on the highest of high notes when UMass rolled to its first NCAA title with a dominating win over the NCHC’s St. Cloud State.
“To crown the season on the men’s side with a national championship and on the women’s side with a national championship game that went to overtime (Northeastern losing to Wisconsin), those are obviously two metrics that say you’ve had some success. At the end of the year, I’d have to say it was a pretty good year,’’ he said.
The UMass victory – the first time a Hockey East men’s team had won the NCAA title since 2015 – was gratifying for the rookie commissioner, who took over for Joe Bertagna.
“Absolutely thrilled. It’s obviously great for the league. When you are the national champ and you can hold that crown for a whole year, it’s great. I know a lot of people in the college hockey business and I got an incredible amount of congratulations from all over the country,’’ said Metcalf.
A national championship for a member of the league made the trials and tribulations of the regular season easier to swallow.
“Perhaps at the beginning of the year, we were a little too optimistic that we would play the schedule as outlined, even though we built in breaks for makeups, but as you well know it wasn’t long before we got into a routine where we were doing the schedule every week, which I thought was a good idea,’’ Metcalf said.
“It turned out to be the best way for Hockey East to play the most amount of games because we would have that flexibility based on availability. Although it made for some long weekends and some days trying to get the right combination, I think it was a successful strategy.”
As far as COVID is concerned right now, the league looks to be in solid shape for ‘21-22 as schools prepare for their first games in a few weeks.
“We have very, very, very high vaccination rates. We have our officials vaccinated. We’re feeling as confident as we can be that we’re going to play a full slate of games as scheduled, and not getting in the weeds every single week about who’s going to play who, what game is going to be on TV,’’ he said.
“NCAA has issued guidelines. If you are not vaccinated, there are some testing protocols that are recommended. But we’ve got a number of teams that are 100 percent. We’ve got a couple that are one or two (players) away. It’s going to be a very small population of kids across the league in the testing protocol.’’
This season there should be greater opportunity for Metcalf to concentrate on aspects of league business that fell by the wayside last year.
“There’s time to focus on other things, like promoting our league and expanding the brand. The kind of things you try to do during the season. Last year was just so many reactions to all things COVID. It was seven days a week trying to keep up with it. This year we can take that out of the equation of what gets done every week. That’s something I’m really looking forward to,’’ he said.
“Winning games, national championships, post-season awards, player of the year awards are all things we’re trying to help our schools accomplish. Trying to get as much exposure as possible. That’s good for the league and also good for recruiting.’’
When NCHC schools won four national championships in a row from 2016 to 2019 it took over as the top league in college hockey. Breaking that streak last April was important for Hockey East.
“For a couple of years when the NCHC had the national champion in the league, that’s really a strong indicator of where your league is. Now that national champion resides in our league,’’ Metcalf said.
“I don’t think I have to tell you, we are a deep league. Sometimes that is a challenge – you’ve got to play each other. I’d say we’re a deeper league than some of the other power conferences, but I put our top six or seven up against anyone’s.
“We are deep and we are strong and right now we are the national champ, so that’s what I would hang my hat on.’’
Adam Fox gets his degree
Adam Fox kept a promise to his mother, Tammy, by recently completing his Harvard degree.
The 23-year-old defenseman turned pro in 2019 after three seasons at Harvard, and at the time he vowed to his mom that he would finish school. Now, after completing two online courses over the summer, he’s the proud owner of a Harvard degree in psychology.
All in all, it’s been a very productive summer for Fox, who in June won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman after tearing it up in his second season with the New York Rangers.
Next summer could be even more productive. This season will be the final year of his Entry-Level Contract and he’ll get a gigantic raise in his next deal.
Huskies to represent the USA
There’s an interesting twist to Northeastern’s trip to Lucerne, Switzerland, to play in the World University Games in December.
The Huskies will be representing the United States, which means the nine Canadian players on the roster will not be eligible to play.
That includes No. 1 goalie Devon Levi and the Jackson twins, Ty and Dylan, along with two defensemen and four forwards.
Coach Jerry Keefe is taking a glass-is-half-full approach.
“It does give other guys an opportunity. I’m pretty positive about that part of it, maybe some guys that don’t play as much, guys that maybe don’t play in your top nine, power play, penalty kill, things like that. So I think it is good to get some of those guys in and get them the repetitions and have some other guys step up a little bit for you,’’ Keefe said.
Northeastern is scheduled to play Canada in its first game on Dec. 11, followed by Slovakia (Dec. 13), Estonia (Dec. 15) and Latvia (Dec. 17). Their opponent on Dec. 19 is yet to be determined. The championship game is Dec. 22.
“One thing I do love about it is the timing,’’ Keefe said. “I like the fact that we’re home for Christmas. One of the things we’re going to have to deal with is whether our players will have to take exams early or take them over there.’’
For many of the players, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to wear the USA uniform.
“It will be a really good experience for a lot of our guys,’’ Keefe said.
