2020–21 NCDC season
Sports season
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The 2020–21 NCDC season was the 4th season of the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC) Division of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL). The regular season ran from September 2020 to March 2021 with an unbalanced schedule. The Jersey Hitmen won the regular season championship and went on to defeated the Rockets Hockey Club 5 to 2 to capture the Dineen Cup.
LeagueUnited States Premier Hockey League
National Collegiate Development Conference
National Collegiate Development Conference
SportIce hockey
DurationRegular season
September 22, 2020 – March 11, 2021
Postseason
March 13 – 28, 2021
September 22, 2020 – March 11, 2021
Postseason
March 13 – 28, 2021
Games45–29
| 2020–21 NCDC season | |
|---|---|
| League | United States Premier Hockey League National Collegiate Development Conference |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | Regular season September 22, 2020 – March 11, 2021 Postseason March 13 – 28, 2021 |
| Games | 45–29 |
| Teams | 13 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Jersey Hitmen |
| Top scorer | Liam McLinskey (Jersey Hitmen) |
| Dineen Cup Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Jersey Hitmen |
| Runners-up | Rockets Hockey Club |
COVID precautions
Due to restriction levied at both the state and federal levels, the NCDC was forced to implement unique rules for this season. Games that were cancelled for any reason would not be made up. Because this could easily lead to an unbalanced schedule, the league also altered its playoff structure to allow all league members to participate. The particular regulations in Massachusetts for quarantining also forced the USPHL to have separate North Division quarterfinals; one for Bay State teams and another for the clubs located in Maine and New Hampshire.
Member changes
- In November of 2019, the Boston Bandits sold the rights to their Tier II club to the Philadelphia Hockey Club.[1] The team began play this season.
- In early 2020, the Rochester Monarchs were notified that their franchise would be removed from the NCDC due to poor on ice performance. After finishing the year with just 3 wins, the club dissolved and was soon followed by its Premier division affiliate.[2]
- In June, the Boston Advantage were officially welcomed as members of the USPHL.[3] While the flagship franchise would join the NCDC, the organization would also found several other clubs at the lower levels.
Regular season
The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:[4]
Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched regular season title
Standings
North Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – Boston Junior Bruins | 42 | 30 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 63 | 160 | 99 |
| x – South Shore Kings | 39 | 22 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 116 | 123 |
| x – New Hampshire Junior Monarchs | 34 | 18 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 111 | 118 |
| x – Islanders Hockey Club | 43 | 16 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 127 | 169 |
| x – Twin City Thunder | 31 | 12 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 27 | 91 | 106 |
| x – Boston Advantage | 43 | 10 | 26 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 107 | 164 |
| x – Northern Cyclones | 29 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 74 | 109 |
South Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xyz – New Jersey Hitmen | 45 | 37 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 78 | 197 | 87 |
| x – Rockets Hockey Club | 44 | 35 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 74 | 176 | 80 |
| x – P.A.L. Jr. Islanders | 41 | 20 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 47 | 143 | 127 |
| x – Connecticut Jr. Rangers | 35 | 17 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 37 | 96 | 113 |
| x – Utica Jr. Comets | 36 | 13 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 104 | 140 |
| x – Philadelphia Hockey Club | 40 | 10 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 101 | 168 |
Dineen Cup playoffs
Due to exigent circumstances, the three non-Massachusetts teams in the North Division played a Round-Robin series in the first round. The teams played each other once with the top two finishers advancing to the Division Semifinal.
In the semifinal round, teams were arranged so that the top northern qualifier played the second southern qualifier and vice versa.
| Division Quarterfinals (Best-of-3, Round-Robin) | Division Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-1) | Championship (Best-of-1) | |||||||||||||||
| S1 | Jersey Hitmen | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Connecticut Jr. Rangers | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| S3 | P.A.L. Jr. Islanders | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| S6 | Philadelphia Hockey Club | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Jersey Hitmen | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
South Division | ||||||||||||||||||
| N5 | Twin City Thunder | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Rockets Hockey Club | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| S3 | P.A.L. Jr. Islanders | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Connecticut Jr. Rangers | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| S5 | Utica Jr. Comets | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Jersey Hitmen | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Rockets Hockey Club | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Boston Junior Bruins | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| N6 | Boston Advantage | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Boston Junior Bruins | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
Massachusetts Quarterfinal | ||||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Islanders Hockey Club | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| N2 | South Shore Kings | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Islanders Hockey Club | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Boston Junior Bruins | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
North Division | ||||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Rockets Hockey Club | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| N5 | Twin City Thunder | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| N5 | Twin City Thunder | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| N7 | Northern Cyclones | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| N7 | Northern Cyclones | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| N3 | New Hampshire Junior Monarchs | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Division Quarterfinals
Best of three
South Division
(S3) P.A.L. Jr. Islanders vs. (S6) Philadelphia Hockey Club
| March 10 | P.A.L. Jr. Islanders | 6 – 3 | Philadelphia Hockey Club | Ice Vault Arena | ||||
| March 11 | P.A.L. Jr. Islanders | 4 – 3 | Philadelphia Hockey Club | Ice Vault Arena | ||||
| P.A.L. wins series 2 – 0 | |
(S4) Connecticut Jr. Rangers vs. (S5) Utica Jr. Comets
| March 11 | Connecticut Jr. Rangers | 4 – 3 | OT | Utica Jr. Comets | Chelsea Piers Sky Rink | |||
| 15:34 - Liam Connors (1) | First period | John Gutt (1) - 4:16 Charles Landshof (1) - 14:36 | ||||||
| 8:12 - Jason Marsella (1) 9:50 - Robert Barrasso (1) |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | Charles Landshof (2) - 13:43 | ||||||
| 11:52 - Liam Connors (2) | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joe Sharib (28 saves / 31 shots) | Goalie stats | Cameron Whitehead (53 saves / 57 shots) | ||||||
| March 12 | Connecticut Jr. Rangers | 7 – 4 | Utica Jr. Comets | Chelsea Piers Sky Rink | ||||
| 2:30 - Wyatt Pastor (1) 13:26 - pp - Reilly Connors (1) 16:23 - Reilly Connors (2) |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| 12:28 - pp - Briggs Gammill (1) 13:08 - pp - Andrei Lyovushkin (1) |
Second period | John Gutt (2) - 2:57 | ||||||
| 14:27 - pp - Andrei Lyovushkin (2) 15:08 - pp - Philip Quetell (1) |
Third period | Nick Ahern (1) - 2:11 Walter Baumann (1) - pp - 16:39 Jesse Galassi (1) - pp - 19:05 | ||||||
| Joe Sharib (37 saves / 41 shots) | Goalie stats | Cameron Whitehead (44 saves / 51 shots) | ||||||
| Connecticut wins series 2 – 0 | |
North Division
(N1) Boston Junior Bruins vs. (N6) Boston Advantage
| March 13 | Boston Junior Bruins | 4 – 5 | Boston Advantage | New England Sports Center | ||||
| 7:39 - Collin Graf (1) | First period | Ryan Kuzmich (1) - pp - 4:04 Ryan Kuzmich (2) - 19:30 | ||||||
| 12:19 - Collin Graf (2) 15:58 - Bradey Farrell (1) |
Second period | Trevor Smith (1) - 8:10 Trevor Smith (2) - pp - 12:06 Jonny Hammel (2) - 13:33 | ||||||
| 9:40 - Ian Carpentier (1) | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| T.J. Semptimphelter (36 saves / 41 shots) | Goalie stats | Connor Bradford (44 saves / 48 shots) | ||||||
| March 14 | Boston Junior Bruins | 8 – 2 | Boston Advantage | New England Sports Center | ||||
| 6:08 - Shane Lachance (1) | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| 5:06 - pp - Domenic Garozzo (1) 8:25 - Jude Brower (1) 15:50 - Jack Pascucci (1) 16:17 - pp - Domenic Garozzo (2) |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| 2:44 - Frank Ireland (1) 7:27 - pp - Domenic Garozzo (3) 13:05 - sh - Chris Delaney (1) |
Third period | George Krotiris (1) - 12:46 Danny Magnuson (1) - pp - 17:47 | ||||||
| T.J. Semptimphelter (27 saves / 29 shots) | Goalie stats | Connor Bradford (26 saves / 31 shots) Nick Bevilacqua (11 saves / 14 shots) | ||||||
| March 15 | Boston Junior Bruins | 4 – 0 | Boston Advantage | New England Sports Center | ||||
| Frank Ireland (2) - 0:48 Foster White (1) - 9:02 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ian Carpentier (2) - pp - 7:53 Joe Solimine (1) - 8:27 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| T.J. Semptimphelter (32 saves / 32 shots) | Goalie stats | Connor Bradford (35 saves / 39 shots) | ||||||
| Junior Bruins win series 2 – 1 | |
Massachusetts Quarterfinals
(N2) South Shore Kings vs. (N4) Islanders Hockey Club
| March 12 | South Shore Kings | 1 – 2 | Islanders Hockey Club | Foxboro Sports Center | ||||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | Cy LeClerc (1) - 18:09 | ||||||
| 18:12 - Jack Luca (1) | Third period | Tyler Young (1) - 19:10 | ||||||
| Evan Szary (38 saves / 40 shots) | Goalie stats | Brandon Milberg (15 saves / 15 shots) Ford DeLoss (8 saves / 9 shots) | ||||||
| March 15 | South Shore Kings | 3 – 5 | Islanders Hockey Club | Foxboro Sports Center | ||||
| Islanders win series 2 – 0 | |
Round Robin
| February 9 | New Hampshire Junior Monarchs | 0 – 2 | Northern Cyclones | AdventHealth Center Ice | ||||
| February 12 | Twin City Thunder | 3 – 1 | Northern Cyclones | AdventHealth Center Ice | ||||
| February 17 | New Hampshire Junior Monarchs | 2 – 3 | Twin City Thunder | AdventHealth Center Ice | ||||
| February 18 | Twin City Thunder | 5 – 2 | Northern Cyclones | AdventHealth Center Ice | ||||
| February 19 | New Hampshire Junior Monarchs | 3 – 4 | OT | Twin City Thunder | AdventHealth Center Ice | |||
Division Semifinals
South Division
(S1) Jersey Hitmen vs. (S4) Connecticut Jr. Rangers
| March 19 | Jersey Hitmen | 6 – 3 | Connecticut Jr. Rangers | Ice Vault Arena | ||||
| 12:10 - pp - Sean Melso (1) 15:45 - pp - Dylan Lugris (1) |
First period | Mika Petersen (1) - pp - 18:22 | ||||||
| 8:10 - Sean Melso (2) | Second period | Jake Lanyi (1) - pp - 10:27 Andrei Lyovushkin (3) - pp - 19:47 | ||||||
| 3:40 - Patrick Keegan (1) 18:53 - Daniel Sambuco (1) 19:02 - Jin Lee (1) |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Damon Beaver (33 saves / 36 shots) | Goalie stats | Joe Sharib (26 saves / 30 shots) Derek Manzella (0 saves / 2 shots) | ||||||
| March 20 | Jersey Hitmen | 3 – 2 | Connecticut Jr. Rangers | Ice Vault Arena | ||||
| 6:18 - Alex Mozian (1) | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| 8:38 - pp - Jin Lee (2) | Second period | Philip Quetell (2) - 17:51 | ||||||
| 14:03 - Steven Townley (1) | Third period | Andrei Lyovushkin (4) - 2:09 | ||||||
| Chase Clark (42 saves / 44 shots) | Goalie stats | Joe Sharib (32 saves / 35 shots) | ||||||
| Jersey wins series 2 – 0 | |
(S2) Rockets Hockey Club vs. (S3) P.A.L. Jr. Islanders
| March 19 | Rockets Hockey Club | 3 – 2 | P.A.L. Jr. Islanders | Bridgewater Sports Arena | ||||
| 5:21 - Jake Bongo (1) 7:24 - Cole Vallese (1) |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| 17:06 - pp - Connor Tait (1) | Second period | Domenic Settimo (1) - 10:54 | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | Holden Hertog (1) - 6:16 | ||||||
| Matthew O'Donnell (28 saves / 30 shots) | Goalie stats | Thomas Gale (21 saves / 24 shots) | ||||||
| March 20 | Rockets Hockey Club | 2 – 0 | P.A.L. Jr. Islanders | Bridgewater Sports Arena | ||||
| 1:16 - Clark Kerner (1) 2:59 - Michael Fairfax (1) |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Matthew O'Donnell (19 saves / 19 shots) | Goalie stats | Thomas Gale (30 saves / 32 shots) | ||||||
| Rockets win series 2 – 0 | |
North Division
(N1) Boston Junior Bruins vs. (N4) Islanders Hockey Club
| March 20 | Boston Junior Bruins | 4 – 3 | OT | Islanders Hockey Club | New England Sports Center | |||
| March 21 | Boston Junior Bruins | 6 – 2 | Islanders Hockey Club | New England Sports Center | ||||
| Junior Bruins win series 2 – 0 | |