After two weeks of do-or-die postseason hockey, UMass has a week and a half to catch its breath.
The Minutemen advanced to their second Frozen Four with a victory over Bemidji State in Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday and won’t play again until April 8 in Pittsburgh. The 12-day gap is one of the challenges UMass will have to manage, even before facing Minnesota-Duluth.
“That’s an area where experience is important. I look back at how we handled the gap two years ago. I’ve told myself I would have changed how we handled things,” Carvel said. “You have to have this gap. You can’t return from Bridgeport on a Sunday and get in a plane and be in Pittsburgh on Monday. We’re gonna have to sidestep COVID as well as we can.”
UMass has kept the virus at bay as well as any team in the nation. The Minutemen haven’t had any positives this season and only paused team activities due to a campus-wide increase in cases. How well they and the other three teams handle staying safe over the next fortnight may determine the national champion as much as results on the ice.
College hockey’s final remaining teams aren’t sealed in a controlled environment in one geographic location like their basketball counterparts. Except for UMass, the other three teams flew home from their regionals, while the Minutemen rode a bus. They’ll all be at home in their own environments following team and university protocols until they depart for Pittsburgh next week.
“We’re gonna quarantine as best we can. The guys will be at their apartment or the rink. We’re testing every day at the rink. We’re in a pretty tight bubble here at the rink,” St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson said. “The health and safety is a major concern considering what’s happened here in the last couple weeks.”
The virus has already claimed two of the 16 teams that were selected for the tournament. Notre Dame, the last team to make the cut, was removed Thursday due to multiple positive COVID-19 test results. Michigan dropped Friday hours before the Wolverines were scheduled to face Duluth in the opening round. Boston College and Duluth advanced because the games were declared “no contests.”
“It’s paramount. Without us being able to manage that, we don’t have the opportunity to play,” Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings said. “All of a sudden while we’re out practicing, Michigan popped. The anxiety level every time you walk into that testing center rose from there on out. It’s something we’ve addressed when we got back here immediately. We’re talking about it every day and trying to mitigate risk and making sure we’re putting a process together every day so that we can get to our next practice.”
The gap between games could also blunt any momentum or edge a team has built up late in the season. UMass hasn’t lost since Jan. 18, going 9-0-3 over that stretch. The Minutemen only allowed multiple goals three times in those 12 games and had four shutouts.
The last time UMass went this long between games was its two-week pause. The Minutemen demolished Providence 8-1 in their first game back from those two weeks away Feb. 23.
“This group likes to be rested. They know what they need to do,” Carvel said. “I’m not worried about them losing their edge. We’ll be in Pittsburgh before we know it.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.