MINNEAPOLIS – The Hockey Commissioners Association – representing the 11 Division I men's and women's hockey conferences – have announced that the start of the 2020-21 season will be delayed due to COVID-19 public health concerns.

Statement from the Hockey Commissioners Association:
"The eleven Division I men's and women's ice hockey conferences, represented by the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA), are committed to providing memorable competitive experiences for our student-athletes during the upcoming season. The conferences have been working together on plans to return with a focus on the health and safety of everyone associated with our campus communities. Due to the impact COVID-19 continues to have across the country and within higher education, the start of competition for the Division I college hockey season will be delayed. Each conference will announce details on game schedules, including the start dates, individually. We look forward to our players and fans enjoying the college hockey experience this season."

Statement from Men's Hockey Coach Bob Motzko:
"Clearly everyone in college hockey wanted to be playing games next month, but we knew this delay was likely to happen and the health and safety of our student-athletes is what's most important. We all believe there is a path forward and look for that to come soon. The good thing is that this delay will not affect our team's preparation for when we do start the season. We're confident that day will come, and we will be ready to compete when it does."

Statement from Women's Hockey Head Coach Brad Frost:
"While we are disappointed that the start of our season is delayed, we trust in our leadership to make the best decisions for the health and safety of our student-athletes. When the time comes to drop the puck, I can promise that we will be ready."

Statement from the WCHA Men's Commissioner Bill Robertson: 

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Sept. 10, 2020 – The Men’s League of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will delay the start of its 2020-21 season, WCHA Men’s League Commissioner Bill Robertson announced today.

“We continue to engage in thorough evaluation and discussion of various options for safely opening the 2020-21 season, both nationally and within the WCHA, as the health and safety of everyone associated with our league is our top priority.” Robertson said. “There was a strong desire to open the season as scheduled on October 3, but that is not possible given the realities we are facing. While we are still finalizing plans for our season at this point, we owe it to our student-athletes, coaches, officials and great fans to acknowledge the fact we will not begin play on time.”

With 10 teams in five states, WCHA member institutions are currently operating under multiple state, local, university system, institutional and NCAA COVID-19 mandates. Delaying the start of the season will provide league and member administrators the opportunity to continue detailed discussions regarding the implementation of a return to play plan that addresses the diverse guidelines all WCHA institutions must adhere to and recognizes the rapidly-evolving medical and safety environments that exist today.

The new 2020-21 league schedule and details regarding non-league play and the WCHA postseason tournament will be announced later this fall.

Statement from WCHA Women's Commissioner Jennifer Flowers: 

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Sept. 10, 2020 – The Women’s League of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will delay the start of its 2020-21 season, WCHA Women’s League Commissioner Jennifer Flowers announced today. The move comes following approval by the Women’s League Board of Directors.

“From day one, our discussions have centered around providing our student-athletes safe, meaningful competition opportunities,” Flowers said. “While our desire was to begin the season as scheduled, our Board and the leadership at our member institutions recognize that is not an option given the current climate.

“Our primary focus continues to be the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, support staffs, officials and fans. We are actively engaged in the crafting and implementation of a return to play model that includes a new start date, addresses the diverse guidelines our member institutions are operating under and recognizes today’s ever-evolving medical and safety environments.

"This decision comes as our member institutions, which have only recently seen students return to campus, are concentrating on fulfilling their educational mission in the current landscape. Their success in tracking and meeting those challenges, coupled with rapid advances in COVID-19 testing, provide new data that inform our efforts. The League office and membership are working tirelessly to develop protocols allowing us to safely drop the puck on our season. We look forward to announcing a start date as soon as it is reasonable to do so.”

In addition to the return to play plan, WCHA staff are finalizing the 2020-21 league schedule options and details regarding the 2021 WCHA Final Faceoff. Full details on the new schedule will be announced later this fall.

Statement from the NCHC:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After thorough discussion and thoughtful planning over the past few months, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) has announced a delay to the start of the 2020-21 hockey season. The NCHC Board of Directors unanimously approved this action on September 8.

As of today (Sept. 10), the conference anticipates that competition for NCHC programs will commence on or after November 20. Conference leadership has been working closely with all Division I college hockey conferences to plan for a safe and responsible return to competition.

"The health and safety of all involved across the campus communities, particularly our student-athletes, is the top priority," said NCHC Commissioner Josh Fenton. "We fully expect NCHC hockey to be back this season. As COVID-19 continues to have an impact on higher education, we have an obligation to host athletic competitions in a safe and responsible manner. We are committed to doing everything we conceivably can to provide competitive experiences that our student-athletes deserve. This delay affords us valuable time to continue formulating plans to start the season successfully."

As part of the conference efforts to begin the 2020-21 season, campus constituency groups have been engaged numerous times to gather feedback. Some of those groups include Student-Athlete leaders, Presidents/Chancellors, Athletic Directors, Faculty Athletics Representatives, Head Coaches, and Medical Professionals. Additionally, the conference has constructed a Health & Safety Competitions Committee, made up of sports medicine professionals and athletic administrators representing all eight member institutions. The committee has met numerous times to develop consistent standards and protocol for hosting safe competitions. Beyond internal conference or institutional protocols, member institutions will also refer and adhere to current and future NCAA Resocialization Collegiate Sport Standards for Practice and Competition.

Numerous scheduling models with a variety of start dates are being considered. The specific details regarding the new schedule, start date, number of games, matchups, and other details will be released later. Teams will be able to commence in-season countable athletically related activities (e.g. in-season practice) with their student-athletes based on existing NCAA rules and in conjunction with local, state, and institutional restrictions and guidelines for various types of activity.

All plans and schedules may be adjusted as more information becomes available, with complete team schedules to be released at a later date.