Penalty Box Post
Monday, Oct 15, 2020
NCAA extends eligibility of all Division I winter sport athletes
Following two days of meetings by video conference, the NCAA Division I Council announced yesterday that “winter sport student-athletes who compete during 2020-21 in Division I will receive both an additional season of competition and an additional year in which to complete it.”
The decision provides the same flexibility to winter student-athletes as was granted to spring and fall season players after their seasons were seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Council also announced that “Division I schools will not be required to sponsor the minimum required number of sports for membership purposes, provided the school indicated on its Sports and Demographics Survey forms that it intended to sponsor the requisite number of sports but cannot due to COVID-19 challenges,” and “agreed to grant a blanket waiver for 2020-21 to allow conferences to earn an automatic bid in fall championships if a minimum of three member schools participated in conference competition in that sport.”
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Future NCAA championship site locations announced;
Gophers, Ridder Arena to host 2025 Women's Frozen Four
The NCAA also announced yesterday future site locations for championship events across multiple sports and divisions, with the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities named as host of the 2025 Women's National Collegiate Ice Hockey Frozen Four at Ridder Arena. Ridder Arena last hosted the event in 2018.
Two upcoming Frozen Four locations had been previously named, with Mercyhurst University hosting in Erie, PA, in 2021, and Penn State University hosting in University Park, PA, in 2022. Other host schools & cities announced yesterday include: Minnesota Duluth in 2023, the University of New Hampshire in Durham in 2024, and Penn State again in 2026.
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Bozek signs with KRS Vanke Rays for 2020-2021,
but new season starts with four postponed games
The Kunlun Red Star (KRS) Vanke Rays professional hockey team, based in Shenzhen, China, announced on social media on Tuesday, October 6 that Gopher Women's Hockey alumna Megan Bozek had signed with them for the 2020-2021 season. Bozek was a member last year's team which won the Russian Women's Hockey League championship. In 14 regular-season and five playoff games last season, Bozek recorded 9 goals and 11 assists, with a +29 plus-minus rating. She joins fellow Gopher alumna Noora Räty, who is starting her fourth season with the KRS squad. (Photo courtesy of KRS Vanke Rays.)
However, the new WHL season is getting off to an auspicious start for KRS. Their first four scheduled games – October 7 & 8 against Biryusa, and October 13 & 14 against Tornado – were postponed after the those opposing teams each recorded multiple positive COVID-19 tests. New dates are to be announced. KRS will make a third attempt at opening its year this coming Sunday, October 18 when they face MSMO 7.62.
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National Women's Hockey League announces organizational changes
Sticking with the professional leagues, the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) announced this past Tuesday, October 13 that they are adopting a new governance model but also changing commissioners.
The league announced that, effective immediately, it will use the approach leveraged by the NHL, NFL, and MLB, taking the form of an unincorporated association with a Board of Governors representing each member club.
Meanwhile, Dani Rylan Kearney is stepping down as NWHL Commissioner. Kearney will remain connected with the league, serving as President of the original ownership group overseeing operations and the process of establishing independent ownership of the group’s four teams (Buffalo, Connecticut, Metropolitan & Minnesota). Tyler Tumminia has been appointed as Interim Commissioner; she most recently served as Chairman of the Toronto Six expansion team which launched in April.
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