The reality of UMass’ first two weeks of Hockey East play deviated wildly from expectations. When the conference initially announced its round-robin schedule, the Minutemen were supposed to visit Maine last weekend and host Vermont on Friday and Saturday.
Both programs announced delays in their return to play, which sent Hockey East into shuffling mode. The conference built flexibility into the schedule when it crafted it. UConn replaced the Black Bears last weekend, and the seventh-ranked Minutemen will face No. 2 Boston College in a home-and-home this weekend.
“If you’re able to play, someone will play you,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “That’s the beauty of our league as a bus league we can do this. Obviously if we had to fly it wouldn’t happen.”
The Minutemen’s two games against UConn were the only Hockey East contests played on the opening weekend due to COVID-19 related postponements. Their two contests against the Eagles may be the league’s only two this weekend, too, after Northeastern announced on Tuesday it was pausing team activities until Dec. 18.
“It’s a testament to how our university has handled the virus. I think UMass has done an outstanding job. The decisions they’ve made from the chancellor to our athletic director, I feel fortunate,” Carvel said. “You see more and more schools shutting down for a length of time. We feel fortunate to continue to play.”
Acknowledging that the opponent can change at any point, UMass hasn’t spent too much time preparing for opponent’s tendencies and rather focusing on its own development.
“The message has been that we’re gonna play hockey. We come into practice every day like we’re gonna play Friday,” senior captain Jake Gaudet said. “If we have a game at the end of the week, we’re gonna be happy.”
A VERY 2020 THANKSGIVING — UMass plans to practice Thursday morning then share a meal as a team at the Worcester Common Dining Hall.
“It is a brand new dining hall, so that’ll be the nice part of it,” Carvel said.
He and his staff wanted to invite the players into their homes for a more traditional celebration of the holiday, but the administration told them that they’d done too good a job staying virus-free to risk popping the bubble.
“These kids haven’t been home since August. They may not see their family until the school year is over. This is an extreme situation. We’ve tried to be very aware of the emotional well-being of the players,” Carvel said. “To be able to have them over at our houses and feel like they’re at home for a few hours would have been great for everybody.”
DEFENSEMEN WORKING OVERTIME — Ty Farmer was injured 10 minutes into Saturday’s shootout loss against UConn, and Marc Del Gaizo went out early in the second period. That left UMass with four defensemen (Collin Felix, Zac Jones, Matthew Kessel and Aaron Bohlinger) to play more than half the game.
“I couldn’t be more impressed with those guys. You keep expecting to look down the bench and have them look gassed,” Carvel said. ” I think Collin Felix could pay 40 minutes a night and not get tired. Aaron Bohlinger made a big statement about what he’s going to be for us.”
Carvel said Farmer is “out long term” and called Del Gaizo “day to day.”
MINUTEMEN AWARDED EARLY — Oliver Chau was named the Hockey East Player of the week after a goal and two assists against the Huskies, while Bohlinger won the league’s Defensive Player of the Week with two assists.
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UMass hockey going with the flow of an ever-changing schedule - GazetteNET
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