COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-- The National Collegiate Hockey Conference today announced the schedule for the shortened 2020-21 season, a slate of 26 league games for each school. As revealed earlier, the season will begin for all eight schools in Omaha, Neb., as 40 games from Dec. 1st through the 20th will kickoff the season with each team playing 10 times in that three-week span. 

The conference has been arranged into two divisions-- an East and a West Division for scheduling purposes only-- to help mitigate long travel during the season.  Everyone will play its cross-division foes two times (eight games total), all of which take place in the pod at Baxter Arena in Omaha.  Divisional schools will play each other six times, 16 of which take place during normal travel starting in January, the other two coming in the pod schedule. 

The schedule contains a few non-traditional dates for UND, including a Thursday New Year's Eve tilt at Omaha to open the post-pod slate. That series will be a Thursday-Friday set while the teams' home-and-home series that would have been Feb. 26-27 will be split and occur on consecutive Fridays to end the season. Both Colorado College series will be Friday to Sunday three-game series with the first at home Jan. 22-24 and the second Feb. 12-14 three weeks later. No changes in the postseason schedule as the NCHC Quarterfinals will be on campus sites (top four seeds hosting) with the NCHC Frozen Faceoff set for Mar. 19-20 in St. Paul, Minn. The NCAA Tournament starts Mar. 26-27 with North Dakota hosting the Midwest Regional in Fargo, N.D., at SCHEELS Arena. The NCAA Frozen Four is slated for Pittsburgh, Pa., at PPG Paints Arena.

All NCHC games will be available on nchc.tv with television announcements coming as soon as this week. 

North Dakota is the reigning NCHC champion, going 17-4-3 in the league last season to claim its third Penrose Cup in the seven years of the league's existence, tied for the most of any school. UND was well-positioned for a deep NCAA Tournament run after a 26-5-4 overall mark and the top spot in the NCAA PairWise Rankings when the season was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Nearly every underclassman returns to the mix for the loaded Fighting Hawks, including Hobey Baker Award Hat Trick finalist senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi, who finished second in the NCAA in points last season with 45. Joining him are a league-high 12 NHL draft picks, including newcomers Jake Sanderson (1st round, fifth pick) and Tyler Kleven (2nd round, 44th overall) by the Ottawa Senators.

UND goes into the new season atop both national polls (USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine). The NCHC poll will be released closer to the beginning of the season. 

MODIFIED 2020-21 SCHEDULE (WITH NCHC POD)
Date    Opponent
Dec. 2    vs. Miami *&
Dec. 4    vs. Denver *&
Dec. 6    vs. Western Michigan *&
Dec. 8    vs. Denver *&
Dec. 10    vs. Minnesota Duluth *&
Dec. 12    vs. St. Cloud State *&
Dec. 13    vs. Western Michigan *&
Dec. 16    vs. St. Cloud State *&
Dec. 19    vs. Minnesota Duluth *&
Dec. 20    vs. Miami *&
Dec. 31    at Omaha *
Jan. 1    at Omaha *
Jan. 8    OMAHA *
Jan. 9    OMAHA *
Jan. 15    at Denver *
Jan. 16    at Denver *
Jan. 22    COLORADO COLLEGE *
Jan. 23    COLORADO COLLEGE *
Jan. 24    COLORADO COLLEGE *
Feb. 5    DENVER *
Feb. 6    DENVER *
Feb. 12    at Colorado College *
Feb. 13    at Colorado College *
Feb. 14    at Colorado College *
Feb. 26    at Omaha*
Mar. 5    OMAHA*
Mar. 12-14      NCHC Quarterfinals (home venues)    
Mar. 19-20      NCHC Frozen Faceoff    St. Paul, Minn. (Xcel Energy Center)
Mar. 26-27      NCAA Regionals    Fargo, N.D. (Scheels Arena)
Apr. 8-10      NCAA Frozen Four    Pittsburgh, Pa.

& - NCHC pod (at Omaha- Baxter Arena)
# - U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game
* - NCHC game
• All times Central (schedule subject to change) |  Home games in bold | Additional TV info to be announced at a later date