December 7, 2020
To: CHF Members
From: Jon LaRochester, Director of Hockey Operations
Re: Updates to Potential CHF Abbreviated Schedule Program
In recent weeks the CHF has positioned itself in conjunction with its strategic partners to begin preparations for a condensed season beginning in January of 2021, culminating with the 2021 Federation Cup in April. It was and still remains our sincere hope that we will be able to embark on this journey with all of our members beginning in January. However, we have yet to see the clarity and information regarding competitive restrictions and member participation we hoped to have by this time for the entirety of our organization.
In general, there appears to be too much uncertainty across the college community at this point in time on the continued progression of COVID-19 for them to definitely determine options for what hockey (and other club sports programs) will look like starting in January. We have started to see some decisions, for example, in the Northeast and New England NCAA DIII which look like conferences will not be playing this season - and therefore will have an impact on how those same schools make the same decisions for club sports.
Therefore, the leadership team of the CHF has begun to develop a series of comprehensive contingency options aimed at best serving our member organizations and student-athletes for this season. It is our hope that member conferences can schedule and plan meetings to review these options, encouraging members to lobby their schools for information so that conferences could report their decisions by the week of December 1st. The leadership team of the CHF, in conjunction with the conference Board of Governors and the CHF Board of Directors, will look to make a comprehensive decision regarding the 2020/21 season by December 15th.
It is our sincere hope that we will be able to play a condensed season for a majority of our schools, culminating with the Federation Cup during the second week of April, and we continue to plan accordingly. Therefore, we expect to make a formal announcement prior to the winter holidays if we get confirmation from the majority of our schools regarding their intent to participate in hockey starting in 2021.
Stay tuned and please continue to be safe and healthy.