University of Michigan men’s hockey forced out of NCAA tournament due to COVID
2-seeded University of Michigan men’s ice hockey team will not be allowed to participate in the 2021 NCAA Championship due to positive COVID-19 test results, the NCAA announced Friday. Michigan (15-10-1) was set to take on No. AdThis is a disappointing finish for Michigan as there were high hopes for the Wolverines at this year’s tournament. There was belief that they could do some damage in the tournament despite a 4th-place finish in the Big Ten. The conference was very strong this season, with both Wisconsin and Minnesota finishing ranked among the top four men’s college hockey teams in the nation.
Ex-Minnesota coach Lucia picked to run new CCHA hockey league
Former Minnesota coach Don Lucia was named commissioner Wednesday of the newly formed Central Collegiate Hockey Association, an NCAA Division I league set to start in the 2021-22 season. Lucia won two national championships and made five trips to the Frozen Four over 19 seasons running the Gophers, until retiring from the bench in 2018. Before that, he was the head coach for six years each at Colorado College and Alaska-Fairbanks. This left Alabama-Huntsville, Alaska (formerly Alaska-Fairbanks) and Alaska Anchorage in limbo with budget crunches at their institutions exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lucia did not rule out adding any of those programs, but he stressed the financial advantage of the leagues smaller footprint in three Midwestern states: Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio.