Post #17 — 12/18/20
IN THIS POST…
- Weekend Schedule/Polls
- Series Previews
- Sifters
Weekend NCAA Schedule…
It’s a light schedule of games until Dec. 23rd, just 10 games. There is 1 weekend series postponed due to COVID: Ohio State @ Wisconsin. Here is the schedule as of 12/18/20 at 6:45am. Thursday had one contest–Bemidji and MSU-Mankato. The complete slate of games is below.
National Polls for the week of Dec 14…
What the Top 10 are up to…
The Polls… The USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 polls came out Monday. Both polls have some flip-flopping with Northeastern dropping a spot to #3 in the USCHO poll and #4 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. Providence moves up to #7 and Clarkson drops a spot to #8. Boston University has dropped out of both polls. Mercyhurst debuts in at #10 in the USCHO poll while Quinnipiac claims #10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
Where Is The Top 10 This Week… Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Colgate, MN-Duluth, Clarkson, Boston College, as well as Mercyhurst/Quinnipiac are all idle until play picks up after Christmas. The only two Top 10 teams to skate before the holiday break are Northeastern who takes on Holy Cross and Providence will host Maine. Ohio St. and consensus #1 Wisconsin were supposed to play in Madison, both games are postponed due to COVID.
Series Previews…
| Bemidji & MSU-Mankato | Preview |
| Merrimack & UCONN | Preview |
| Maine & Providence | Preview |
| Northeastern & Holy Cross | Preview |
| New Hampshire & Vermont | Video |
| Holy Cross & New Hampshire | Coming |
Sifters…
This time of year is always interesting to play games. Mid-December usually means exam time and this year shouldn’t be much different. While COVID has presented challenges with online classes, students are still facing end-of-semester work loads. Players’ attention is more divided than ever with so much going on. The challenge of staying focussed as a player becomes that much harder. End of semester fatigue is real and so is the stress that comes with it. These players will be ready for a much deserved break when games are done and they can go home.
Vermont is set to play its first games of the year vs. New Hampshire at home. Vermont was set to start earlier in November but its athletic administration decided to postpone things until now. With the exception of Sacred Heart, the five remaining teams in the NEWHA are still waiting to commence play which will take place after the holidays.
New Hampshire will host Holy Cross for one game on December 23rd. This usually is not the norm to play this late into December. Most teams finish up early after the first weekend or around mid-month due to exams or institutional rules. Never have we seen a game played so late in the month. Of course, this hasn’t been your normal year.
Streaming for each conference is listed below at the bottom of the page. All Hockey East games are streamed for FREE. ECAC, CHA, and WCHA are all paid subscription based services that require a fee to watch. We haven’t found a NEWHA streaming service for the conference yet. Please refer to each teams website for stream details.
Streaming Info
-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the ECAC.
-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE for homes games at Bemidji, MSU-Mankato, MN-Duluth, and St. Cloud. Streams for home games at Minnesota, Ohio St., and Wisconsin can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the WCHA.
Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE and all streams FREE of charge for the 20-21 season.
-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. home games can be found HERE. Penn St. home game are streamed on the Big Ten Network + and can be found HERE.
Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!