One Big Thing: College Cancellations
What’s Happening: For the first time in its 68-year history, the Beanpot will not take place in Boston on the first two Monday’s in February. The tournament was officially canceled after Harvard and the five other Ivy League schools with men’s hockey called off their seasons.
Tell Me More: “The Beanpot certainly isn't the first tournament cancelled this year, and it won't be the last. But it's been around the longest, and for in-season tournaments, it has huge esteem, especially in New England. So news of the cancellation was just another tough blow in a year filled with them,” writes Greg Cameron from College Hockey News.
Blizzards in 1969, 1978 and 2015 threatened the tournament, but the COVID-19 pandemic is the first thing to officially cancel the annual event where Harvard, Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern battle for the right to be named the best team in Boston.
Tuesday, Union College announced it would cancel its season, bringing the total number of men’s teams that have canceled to nine. ECAC Hockey, the league the Ivy League schools play in, has just four teams still planning to play: Clarkson, Colgate, Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence.
What will this season look like? According to CHN’s Adam Wodon, “optimism is not a potent enough elixir for a pandemic.” He writes, “In hockey, there are six conferences, and that is small enough to facilitate a lot of cooperation between them. There were frequent conference calls among the league commissioners, communicating ideas and plans back and forth to each other. Constantly changing. Ultimately, the decisions on returning to play are up to each conference — and, really, each school — but there were ideas they could at least share with each other, and cooperate where possible.”
He concludes by saying, “The biggest issue right now is the constant anxiety permeating through the locker room, wondering if the team's season can be shut down at any time. Given all that's going on, there's no way to get around that. You can't lie and say it won't happen.”
Insider Updates & Analysis
Breaking: Brett Peterson has been hired by the Panthers to be their next Assistant General Manager. The Panthers say Peterson — a Boston College graduate and former professional player who most recently served as the Vice President of Wasserman Hockey — is the first Black assistant GM in NHL history.
Update: The Ducks are considering trading Ryan Getzlaf and his $8.25 million salary in order to get under the salary cap.
Update: The NHL wants players to defer 13% of next year’s salary, the New York Post reports.
Style Points: Check out the NHL’s new reverse retro jerseys.
A Question for the Peanut Gallery
Will the ECAC cancel its season this year?
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