After teasing its return last Friday, Hockey East unveiled its full schedule and plan Wednesday.
Each team will complete a double round robin playing all 10 other teams twice in home-and-home, two-game weekend series, except when Maine or Vermont are involved. Those games will both be either on the road or at home over the course of a weekend. Teams will travel on game days to allow for consistent testing protocols except when dealing with Maine or Vermont.
Three of the regular season’s final five weekends will be designated “Flex Weekends.” Games scheduled then are considered tentative and may be adjusted to accommodate postponements.
UMass, the No. 7 team in the nation, opens Nov. 20 at Maine on NESNPlus. Seven of the Minutemen’s first nine contests will be broadcast on NESN.
Their first home game is Nov. 27 against Vermont, one of two at the Mullins Center against the Catamounts.
UMass will not host fans at its home events “until further notice,” the school announced Wednesday. “The decision was made following consultation with local public health and university officials and in accordance with the Governor’s Executive Order prohibiting large capacity venues from opening to the public,” the release said.
The regular season will run through March 6. The dates and format for the 2021 Hockey East Tournament will be determined at a later date.
“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,” Hockey East Commissioner Steve Metcalf said in a release.