The NCHC and WCHA were among many college hockey seasons to announce that the start of the 2020-21 season will be officially delayed.

In a statement released Thursday morning, the NCHC said they are targeting a November 20 start date for the season to begin.

"The health and safety of all involved across the campus communities, particularly our student-athletes, is the top priority," said NCHC Commissioner Josh Fenton in Thursday’s statement. "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."

According to the NCHC, “numerous scheduling models with a variety of start dates are being considered.“

St. Cloud State University Athletic Director Heather Weems issued a separate statement Friday.

“This morning the NCHC and WCHA announced delays to our competitive men's and women's hockey schedules. In both cases, we worked with our conference peers to identify reasonable goals for return to play. These goals were also influenced by decisions made in each institutions' multi-sport conferences (for us, the NSIC) and within NCAA Division I,” Weems said.

“With the continuing advances in COVID research and testing, we are hopeful that we will play later this fall. Decisions around fan attendance require further discussion, at which time we will return with options related to ticketing (including any pricing adjustments).”

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