WAKEFIELD, Mass. – Hockey East announced the 2020-21 men's and women's hockey league schedule on Wednesday afternoon. League play will begin on Friday, November 20 featuring a double round robin format.
 
RELATED LINKS
Hockey East Release
2020-21 Schedules: Men | Women
 
"We're excited to make this announcement today, and very appreciative of all the hard work by so many in making it happen," said Hockey East Commissioner Steve Metcalf. "We've worked closely with all our member institutions in establishing protocols in an effort to play as safely as possible, while also giving our teams a complete and meaningful season."

In developing the men's and women's schedules careful consideration was given to minimizing travel and providing maximum flexibility to respond to changing conditions throughout the region.  In the case of UVM, a robust testing protocol, travel restrictions and game management safety measures have been designed in conjunction with campus and state health officials to ensure the well-being of student-athletes, coaches, staff and the local community.
 
Each of the 11 men's teams will play 20 league contests while the 10 women's programs will compete in 18 games that will count toward the final Army ROTC Hockey East Regular Season Standings to determine the 2020-21 Hockey East Regular Season Champion. Both the men's and women's schedules feature weekend home-and-home series and day-of-game travel, with the exception of games involving Maine and Vermont, to allow for consistent testing protocols throughout the season while adhering to all state guidelines.
 
While spectators will not be permitted at UVM, Hockey East will once again partner with NESN and ViacomCBS Digital to provide fans across the world the opportunity to view every single Hockey East game in the 2020-21 season. Today, Hockey East announced a slate of games that can be seen on NESN through January 1, as well as news that all other streamed games will be made available to fans for free on one of ViacomCBS Digital's platforms. Full television schedule details and How-To-Watch information about streamed games, as well as specific game times, will be announced in the coming days. Games broadcast by NESN will be blacked out on ViacomCBS Digital platforms in New England.
 
Three of the final five weekends of regular season play in each league are designated as Flex Weekends. These Flex Weekend contests are tentative and opponents may be adjusted in order to maintain a competitively balanced schedule for each team. If games are postponed during the regular season, these Flex Weekend games will be rescheduled with those postponed games. Any games played during Flex Weekends will be designated as "non-conference" games and will not count toward the Army ROTC Hockey East Standings. Additional Flex Dates have been added throughout the schedule where availability allowed to maximize flexibility to play a full regular season schedule and prioritize the student-athlete experience.
 
Team schedules were created to best ensure a double round robin regular season for each program. Efforts were also made to align men's and women's schedules to mitigate instances where multiple campus populations come into close contact in a single weekend. The schedules were created in consult with Hockey East's Return to Play Task Force.
 
The Hockey East Return to Play Task Force, comprised of conference and school administrators, team physicians, athletic trainers, facility staff, and equipment managers met consistently over the last several months before making recommendations to league Athletic Directors. A critical component of the RTP protocol was a vigorous testing program for the teams, staff, and officials. The group's work, recommendations, and guidance will be released at a future date prior to the start of the season and published on the league's website, HockeyEastOnline.com.
 
SCHEDULE NOTES

• The men will get the conference slate underway against UConn with a two-game set on November 20-21. It will be first year head coach Todd Woodcroft's debut behind the bench. The women will travel to UConn the same weekend.
• The women will host seven league opponents – Boston College, New Hampshire, Holy Cross, Northeastern, Merrimack, Boston University and Providence.
• The men will also welcome seven teams to Gutterson Fieldhouse – UConn, Boston University, Northeastern, Maine, Merrimack, UMass and UMass Lowell.
• The men's team will also be featured on NESN three times during the opening weeks of the 2020-21 campaign. Vermont's contests at UMass (Nov. 27, 7 p.m. and Nov. 28, 6 p.m.) and at Providence (Jan. 1, 7 p.m.) will be broadcast throughout New England and nationally on DirecTV and Dish Network. Additional men's and women's games in January and February on NESN will be announced at a later date.

2020-21 VERMONT WOMEN'S HOCKEY SCHEDULE
Nov. 20-21 – at UConn
Nov. 27-28 – vs. Boston College
Dec. 12-13 – at Boston University
Dec. 19-20 – vs. New Hampshire
Jan. 1-2 – vs. Holy Cross
Jan. 8-9 – at Maine
Jan. 15-16 – at Merrimack
Jan. 29-30 – vs. Northeastern*
Feb. 5-6 – at Northeastern
Feb. 12-13 – vs. Merrimack*
Feb. 19-20 – vs. Boston University*
Feb. 25-26 – vs. Providence
 
2020-21 VERMONT MEN'S HOCKEY SCHEDULE
Nov. 20-21 – vs. UConn
Nov. 27-28 – at UMass
Dec. 4-5 – vs. Boston University
Dec. 12-13 – at UMass Lowell
Dec. 26-27 – vs. Northeastern
Jan. 1-2 – at Providence
Jan. 8-9 – vs. Maine
Jan. 15-16 – vs. Merrimack
Jan. 29-30 – at Boston College
Feb. 5-6 – vs. UMass*
Feb. 19-20 – at Merrimack*
Feb. 27-28 – vs. UMass Lowell*
Mar. 5-6 – at New Hampshire
* denotes flex games

Windjammer is the presenting sponsor of Vermont women's hockey and Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of Vermont men's hockey.