# 2020–21 Hockey East men's season

The 2020–21 Hockey East men's season was the 37th season of play for Hockey East and took place during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The start of the regular season was delayed until on November 20, 2020 and conclude on April 10, 2021. Massachusetts won its first national championship.

## Season

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Hockey East was forced to delay the start to its season until mid-November. Even when team's began to play games, several programs were adversely affected by the virus. Boston University was particularly hard-hit by COVID and couldn't play their first game until January. Due to the strange nature of the season, Hockey East decided to use a Power Index to determine the conference standings. Additionally, all eleven members schools would be included in the conference tournament rather that the normal 8-team format.
Throughout the season, Boston College led in the standings and was in the top 3 for the national rankings. Behind the Eagles, the conference had at least 4 other teams with a national ranking. While it appeared that Hockey East could get as many as 6 bids into the tournament, several programs faded as the year progressed and only three conference teams ended up making the NCAA tournament.
Boston University, who had played well in their small number of games, fell to St. Cloud State in their opening match. BC was advanced to the second round after a COVID withdrawal and opened with a match against the same team. The result was much the same as St. Cloud overcame an early BC lead to take the game by a comfortable margin. In the Eastern region, meanwhile, Hockey East champion Massachusetts ran roughshod over their opponents. The Minutemen blew the door off of Lake Superior State in the first round and then dominated Bemidji State in the quarterfinals, surrendering just 1 goal in 120 minutes.
Entering the Frozen Four, UMass received awful news when several members were placed in COVID protocols due to contact tracing. Even worse was the fact that their starting goaltender, Filip Lindberg, was one of the players and would be forced to miss the rematch with defending national champion Minnesota Duluth. Massachusetts was able to keep the game close despite missing key players and managed to push the game into overtime. backup netminder Matt Murray played a masterful game, keeping UMD from scoring in the final 29 minutes of regulation and an additional 14 minutes of overtime. His stellar play enabled Garret Wait to score the winning goal for UMass and sent the team to their second straight championship match.
Prior to the final game, Lindberg ended up testing negative and drove overnight from Amherst to Pittsburgh so he could play in the title tilt. Lindberg turned in a solid performance but the entire team was responsible for Massachusetts' shutting down St. Cloud State. UMass took the game 5–0, the largest margin of victory in 11 years, and took home the program's first national championship. The win was the first for the conference since 2015 and ended the reign of the NCHC, who had possessed the crown ever since.

## Standings

2020–21 Hockey East Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | SOW | HEPI | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #6 Boston College | 21 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 58.61 | 82 | 46 | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 91 | 58 |
| #11 Boston University | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 56.36 | 49 | 37 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 52 | 45 |
| #1 Massachusetts * | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 55.44 | 76 | 42 | 29 | 20 | 5 | 4 | 103 | 48 |
| Connecticut | 22 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 52.01 | 69 | 63 | 23 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 70 | 69 |
| #16 Providence | 23 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 50.80 | 63 | 61 | 25 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 71 | 67 |
| Northeastern | 20 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 49.94 | 68 | 60 | 21 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 69 | 64 |
| #19 Massachusetts–Lowell | 16 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 48.00 | 46 | 53 | 20 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 59 | 63 |
| Maine | 15 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 46.66 | 41 | 61 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 43 | 68 |
| Merrimack | 18 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45.38 | 47 | 66 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 47 | 66 |
| New Hampshire | 21 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 43.66 | 51 | 83 | 23 | 6 | 14 | 3 | 60 | 88 |
| Vermont | 12 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38.02 | 17 | 37 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 20 | 42 |
| Championship: March 20, 2021 No Regular Season Champion Awarded * indicates conference tournament champion (Lamoriello Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll ||||||||||||||||||

## Coaches

Todd Woodcroft was hired as the 5th head coach for Vermont after the resignation of Kevin Sneddon.

### Records

| Team | Head coach | Season at school | Record at school | Hockey East record |
| Boston College | Jerry York | 27 | 624–323–80 | 363–193–69 |
| Boston University | Albie O'Connell | 3 | 29–31–12 | 22–18–8 |
| Connecticut | Mike Cavanaugh | 8 | 93–124–31 | 36–51–14 |
| Maine | Red Gendron | 8 | 100–126–31 | 62–87–20 |
| Massachusetts | Greg Carvel | 5 | 74–70–6 | 43–46–5 |
| Massachusetts–Lowell | Norm Bazin | 10 | 205–110–32 | 116–71–27 |
| Merrimack | Scott Borek | 3 | 16–46–6 | 11–32–6 |
| New Hampshire | Michael Souza | 3 | 27–30–13 | 17–22–9 |
| Northeastern | Jim Madigan | 10 | 165–130–36 | 104–99–26 |
| Providence | Nate Leaman | 10 | 192–113–44 | 112–72–28 |
| Vermont | Todd Woodcroft | 1 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 |

## Statistics
### Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
| Player | Class | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Jonny Evans | Junior | Connecticut | 22 | 14 | 14 | 28 |
| Matthew Boldy | Sophomore | Boston College | 19 | 10 | 14 | 24 |
| Zach Solow | Senior | Northeastern | 20 | 11 | 13 | 24 |
| Bobby Trivigno | Junior | Massachusetts | 22 | 8 | 16 | 24 |
| Marc McLaughlin | Junior | Boston College | 21 | 9 | 14 | 23 |
| Jackson Pierson | Junior | New Hampshire | 21 | 8 | 15 | 23 |
| Tyce Thompson | Junior | Providence | 23 | 10 | 12 | 22 |
| Jáchym Kondelík | Junior | Connecticut | 22 | 3 | 18 | 21 |
| Aidan McDonough | Sophomore | Northeastern | 20 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Oliver Chau | Senior | Massachusetts | 22 | 4 | 16 | 20 |

### Leading goaltenders

Minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played in conference games.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Class | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Filip Lindberg | Junior | Massachusetts | 9 | 558 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 2 | .937 | 1.61 |
| Spencer Knight | Sophomore | Boston College | 18 | 1087 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 36 | 3 | .937 | 1.99 |
| Matt Murray | Senior | Massachusetts | 13 | 776 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 26 | 3 | .913 | 2.01 |
| Jaxson Stauber | Sophomore | Providence | 21 | 1274 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 47 | 4 | .915 | 2.21 |
| Connor Murphy | Sophomore | Northeastern | 20 | 1195 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 53 | 2 | .912 | 2.66 |

## Conference tournament

Teams are reseeded after the Opening Round and Quarterfinals
| Opening Round March 10 | Opening Round March 10 | Opening Round March 10 | Quarterfinals March 14 | Quarterfinals March 14 | Quarterfinals March 14 | Semifinals March 17 | Semifinals March 17 | Semifinals March 17 | Championship March 20 | Championship March 20 | Championship March 20 |
| | | | 1 | Boston College | 3 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Massachusetts–Lowell | 5 | 9 | New Hampshire | 2 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Vermont | 3 | | | | 1 | Boston College | 5 | | | |
| | | | | | | 7 | Massachusetts–Lowell | 6** | | | |
| | | | 2 | Boston University | 1 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Massachusetts–Lowell | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 7 | Massachusetts–Lowell | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Massachusetts | 1 |
| | | | 3 | Massachusetts | 4 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Maine | 2 | 6 | Northeastern | 1 | | | | | | |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 7 | | | | 3 | Massachusetts | 5 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Providence | 2 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Connecticut | 1 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Providence | 6 | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## NCAA tournament
### Northeast Region
#### Regional semifinal

After seeding, Notre Dame, Boston College's opponent in the first round, was forced to withdraw due to COVID-19 positive tests. BC was automatically advanced to the second round by a no-contest decision.

#### Regional final
### Frozen Four
#### National semifinal
#### National Championship

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | UMA | Aaron Bohlinger (1) – GW | Sullivan and Farmer | 7:26 | 1–0 UMA |
| 1st | UMA | Reed Lebster (2) | Kiefiuk | 18:56 | 2–0 UMA |
| 2nd | UMA | Philip Lagunov (6) – SH | unassisted | 25:10 | 3–0 UMA |
| 2nd | UMA | Matthew Kessel (10) – PP | Chau and Gaudet | 33:45 | 4–0 UMA |
| 3rd | UMA | Bobby Trivigno (11) | Lebster | 46:00 | 5–0 UMA |
| Penalty summary ||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
| 1st | UMA | Anthony Del Gaizo | Slashing | 15:27 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | STC | Seamus Donohue | Tripping | 20:24 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | UMA | Ryan Sullivan | Tripping | 23:57 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | UMA | Jake Gaudet | Elbowing | 30:31 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | STC | Bench (served by Zach Okabe) | Too Many Men | 32:35 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | None | None | None | None | None |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| St. Cloud State | 3 | 12 | 10 | 25 |
| Massachusetts | 7 | 6 | 9 | 22 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| STC | Dávid Hrenák | 17 | 5 | 60:00 |
| UMA | Filip Lindberg | 25 | 0 | 60:00 |

## Ranking
### USCHO

| Team | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Final |
| Boston College | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | N/A | 6 |
| Boston University | NR | 20 | 20 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 15 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | N/A | 11 |
| Connecticut | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 20 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | N/A | NR |
| Maine | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | N/A | NR |
| Massachusetts | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | N/A | 1 |
| Massachusetts–Lowell | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 20 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 19 | N/A | 19 |
| Merrimack | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | N/A | NR |
| New Hampshire | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | N/A | NR |
| Northeastern | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 20 | NR | NR | N/A | NR |
| Providence | 17 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 19 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 16 | N/A | 16 |
| Vermont | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | N/A | NR |

### USA Today

| Team | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Final |
| Boston College | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| Boston University | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 15 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| Connecticut | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 15 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Maine | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Massachusetts | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Massachusetts–Lowell | 11 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 15 | NR | NR | 13 | 15 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Merrimack | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| New Hampshire | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Northeastern | NR | NR | NR | 15 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 14 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Providence | NR | 15 | 13 | 12 | NR | NR | 13 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 14 | NR | NR | NR |
| Vermont | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |

## Awards
### NCAA

AHCA All-American Teams :
| East First Team | Pos | Team |
| Spencer Knight | G | Boston College |
| David Farrance | D | Boston University |
| Matthew Boldy | F | Boston College |
| Bobby Trivigno | F | Massachusetts |
| East Second Team | Pos | Team |
| Drew Helleson | D | Boston College |
| Zac Jones | D | Massachusetts |
| Jonny Evans | F | Connecticut |

### Hockey East

| Award | Award | Recipient |
| Player of the Year | Player of the Year | Spencer Knight, Boston College |
| Best Defensive Forward | Best Defensive Forward | Marc McLaughlin, Boston College |
| Best Defensive Defenseman | Best Defensive Defenseman | Drew Helleson, Boston College |
| Rookie of the Year | Rookie of the Year | Josh Lopina, Massachusetts Nikita Nesterenko, Boston College |
| Goaltending Champion | Goaltending Champion | Spencer Knight, Boston College |
| Len Ceglarski Sportmanship Award | Len Ceglarski Sportmanship Award | Patrick Grasso, New Hampshire |
| Three Stars Award | Three Stars Award | Jonny Evans, Connecticut Aidan McDonough, Northeastern Marc McLaughlin, Boston College |
| Scoring Champion | Scoring Champion | Jonny Evans, Connecticut |
| Charlie Holt Team Sportsmanship Award | Charlie Holt Team Sportsmanship Award | Massachusetts |
| Bob Kullen Award (Coach of the Year) | Bob Kullen Award (Coach of the Year) | Jerry York, Boston College |
| Hockey East All-Star Teams |||
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Spencer Knight, Boston College | G | Filip Lindberg, Massachusetts |
| David Farrance, Boston University | D | Jordan Harris, Northeastern |
| Drew Helleson, Boston College | D | Zac Jones, Massachusetts |
| Matthew Boldy, Boston College | F | Jackson Pierson, New Hampshire |
| Jonny Evans, Connecticut | F | Zach Solow, Northeastern |
| Bobby Trivigno, Massachusetts | F | Tyce Thompson, Providence |
| Third Team | Position | Rookie Team |
| Tomáš Vomáčka, Connecticut | G | Drew Commesso, Boston University |
| Marc Del Gaizo, Massachusetts | D | Eamon Powell, Boston College |
| Matthew Kessel, Massachusetts | D | — |
| Angus Crookshank, New Hampshire | F | Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Northeastern |
| Jáchym Kondelík, Connecticut | F | Alex Jefferies, Merrimack |
| Marc McLaughlin, Boston College | F | Josh Lopina, Massachusetts |
| — | F | Nikita Nesterenko, Boston College |
| — | F | Luke Tuch, Boston University |

### Conference tournament

William Flynn Tournament Most Valuable Player :
| Bobby Trivigno | Bobby Trivigno | Massachusetts |
| All-Tournament team |||
| Player | Pos | Team |
| Filip Lindberg | G | Massachusetts |
| Anthony Baxter | D | UMass Lowell |
| Zac Jones | D | Massachusetts |
| Matt Brown | F | UMass Lowell |
| Jake Gaudet | F | Massachusetts |
| Bobby Trivigno | F | Massachusetts |

### NCAA tournament

Most Outstanding Player :
| Bobby Trivigno | Bobby Trivigno | Massachusetts |
| All-Tournament team |||
| Player | Pos | Team |
| Filip Lindberg | G | Massachusetts |
| Zac Jones | D | Massachusetts |
| Matthew Kessel | D | Massachusetts |
| Bobby Trivigno | F | Massachusetts |

## 2021 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | College | NHL team |
| 1 | 10 | Tyler Boucher$^†$ | Boston University | Ottawa Senators |
| 2 | 40 | Scott Morrow$^†$ | Massachusetts | Carolina Hurricanes |
| 3 | 88 | Stiven Sardarian$^†$ | New Hampshire | Buffalo Sabres |
| 3 | 91 | Taige Harding$^†$ | Providence | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 3 | 92 | Andrei Buyalsky$^†$ | Vermont | Colorado Avalanche |
| 3 | 94 | Aidan Hreschuk$^†$ | Boston College | Carolina Hurricanes |
| 4 | 98 | Josh Lopina | Massachusetts | Anaheim Ducks |
| 4 | 101 | Guillaume Richard$^†$ | Providence | Washington Capitals |
| 4 | 115 | Ryan Ufko$^†$ | Massachusetts | Nashville Predators |
| 6 | 171 | Cal Thomas$^†$ | Vermont | Arizona Coyotes |
| 6 | 186 | Shane Lachance$^†$ | Boston University | Edmonton Oilers |
| 6 | 192 | Alex Gagne$^†$ | New Hampshire | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 7 | 205 | Arsenii Sergeev$^†$ | Connecticut | Calgary Flames |
| 7 | 213 | Andre Gasseau$^†$ | Boston College | Boston Bruins |
| 7 | 217 | Ty Gallagher$^†$ | Boston University | Boston Bruins |
| 7 | 220 | Taylor Makar$^†$ | Massachusetts | Colorado Avalanche |
† incoming freshman