An empty Agganis Arena prior to a BU game earlier this season. Photo by Brady Gardner.
Per an official league announcement, Hockey East has cancelled its Men’s tournament, which was set to begin quarterfinal play this weekend, due to concerns of the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Multiple reports about the decision began circling earlier this afternoon.
Boston University was slated to travel to the University of Massachusetts Lowell for its best-of-three quarterfinals matchup; however, with the news BU’s season likely comes to a close.
The Boston Hockey Blog will report more details as they become available.
Brady wanted to thank you and your fellow writers for such a great job all year. I honestly thought bu would have a big post season unfortunately we will have to wait till next season. It’s a tough decision to make but as this pandemic becomes more clear I think all leagues are doing the right thing. I can’t wait to be back at the rink next year go bu 🐾
Thank you Colin 🙂 It was fun regardless. On to next year indeed!
Imagine how aggravated we would all be if BUH was firing on all cylinders LOL! If we were going to have an off year, this was the year to do it.
Brady et al,
Echoing Colin’s kudos, I am grateful for the continued resurgence of the BHB. What had fallen into disrepair, has been restored, not just to its former status, but elevated to a new level of excellence. The factual reporting, and the clarity with which it is written, is very much appreciated. Additionally, I am pleased to see that this rebirth has also generated increased participation from our “commentators”; whose keen insights, expressed in pithy banter and parry, I thoroughly enjoy. A mediocre season has been made more enjoyable by your efforts. Thanks! PSD
Thank you for your kind words PSD – we’ve enjoyed seeing the increased participation too, and I hope that continues!
The nation has gone mad for sure. THIS IS A VIRUS EVERYONE. We have had as bad or worse for years. Over 100,000 died one year from a virus and all games and other venues were filled. This is hyped by the media and the crazies with a political agenda and , as the saps they are, believed by the majority of people here. THIS WILL PASS as I have seen this flues before. As of this writing no young person here has died. Years ago we had the Ebola scare and that went away. Yes, some will die but that happens all the time with ordinary flu. When I was a little guy they said the earth was going to freeze. In all the mags and papers. Now the earth is warming out of control. Stop listening to all this BS. People here , you are smart. Start thinking for yourself and to the authorities that be, stop making a panic.
As to the hockey BU gets a break here and a season that will never be.
SoCC, with all due respect, aside from your last sentence about BUH getting a break from a season that was not going to end well (barring a miracle), your post in an extraordinarily ignorant one. To compare this pandemic to the Ebola outbreak and flu is completely invalid. Ebola was contained. COVID-19 is far from contained. I’m sure you still believe that bans and regulations regarding cigarette smoking are BS and that this whole thing about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is all BS and that there is no credible evidence that football and other high-collision sports have anything to do with it and that it’s all about politicians who want to make our young men sissies. Not to mention about global warming. What you’re saying is profoundly wrong, That’s all there is to it. The media has served this country and much of the world quite well by allowing the public, especially lay people, to get evidence-based information from people who have scientific credentials and use the scientific process in making their conclusions … as opposed to those who go by their life experience, hunches and gut feelings. People like you place a very high degree of importance on keeping things as they were for the sake of tradition and pride … and a very low degree of importance on protecting public health. On a closing note, I do agree that there are people out there who are panicking and I am not panicking at all. Those who panic I believe are generally prone to panic episodes due to their personality. For the general population, no need for panicking but there is a great need for precautions … which includes the cancellation of games that involve physical contact among its players and close physical proximity among its fans.
I am not ignorant . ALL MEDIA DRIVEN. You are like so many other people today who believe everything you hear. Sad. I HAVE BEEN THROUGH THESE IN THE PAST and NEVER have venues been closed. As I stated thousands die each year from viruses . I was at the store just now and one man had toilet paper in his cart packed to the roof. CRAZY. A doctor has stated that 80 % of those who get the virus will have hardly any symptoms . The young will not die. You are the one who needs to do some research and stop listening to the ultra liberal wack jobs at BU and other colleges.
Of course you’re ignorant! If you weren’t ignorant, you wouldn’t be saying ignorant things. So, please share what research you found that supports your point (you did say you wanted me to do research). As for the toilet paper, that is something we can agree upon, as it’s the easiest to do without. On any given day I have more than enough napkins and/or tissues in my pocket to take care of those sort of needs if I suddenly could not buy actual toilet paper. And, whoever said that the young will die? Nobody!!! You are showing your limitless supply of ignorance by repeatedly saying something like that. I feel like I am stooping way down by even responding but the reason they cancel the games and other mass gatherings is to try to contain the virus (or at least slow its spread) … which young people can and do spread better than anyone. Those “ultra-liberal wack jobs” and the high-quality research they produce are what protects smart people who care about their health from dopes like you who try their best to undermine health by spreading ignorance and misinformation. And on a final note, I suppose the growth rate of people getting infected, people dying and putting incredible capacity stress on some local hospitals (here in Westchester County) is all media driven? I guess if the media didn’t report it then it wouldn’t have happened in the first place. Silly me. Please, don’t ever think you’re not ignorant because you most certainly are!
Alrighty fellas, good chat but I think we can leave this political stuff at that.
I don’t say this on this blog but I had cancer treatment last year. The radiation has compromised my immune system. I am older and that is also a reason I should have concern. But I would go to a hockey game and not be afraid. As I stated. I HAVE LIVED THROUGH THIS TWICE BEFORE and the games and all this hype was not there. Yes, people will die and that is terrible but that ALWAYS happens with such virus. I have done research about this and commented on same on a TV show I do each week live and many supported what i have said.
Caesar you are partially correct. This virus attacks and kills the very old and those with multiple SERIOUS health conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, respiratory illnesses like emphysema from smoking. The average age for those who die , for example in italy is 81., where the # of deaths so far is close to that in China.
Studies in italy have shown this, and italy has the 2nd oldest population in Europe. However the italians were foolish to allow tourists from China to arrive and were very late to stop travellers from China, that’s also why it has escalated terribly there. My sister lives in Milan and is almost 79 but she’s staying home and is ok.
However the measures taken here, such as EARLY stopping travellers from china to arrive here and the virtual lockdown in The USA BEFORE the epidemic spirals out of control has kept the #’s down so far. “Only” 116 deaths so far, and 1.7 % mortality rate is due to the measures taken so far, SO IT IS NECESSARY. But what has been pointed out now by a Chinese doctor is that is has been overblown since there are exponentially more deaths from regular flu this year 600,000 vs 7500 world wide for coronavirus SO FAR, but of course we don’t know where it will go., but the measures in China has slowed new cases almost to a standstill, SO THIS WILL END IF here we can be as disciplined as the Chinese in a Communist society its easier to control. Newt Gingich, who is in Italy says the italians are showing remarkable discipline ( most since Roman Times he says). We can do the same here then.
I hope everyone here is still healthy. Let’s see if he still thinks that cancelling the games was a bad idea. As for the regular flu versus the Coronavirus, I know how many fatalities are caused by the former, but never have I heard that the regular flu has caused hospitals to exceed their capacity like the Coronavirus. Today I went shopping at Trader Joe’s and they are only allowing so many people inside at once. Kind of reminds me of my BU days when we would line up outside bars and would have to wait for others to leave before entering.
Brady, Many thanks for your solid reporting and good writing. It’s very sad to see all of these seasons end this way. Hopefully, these and other measures will slow (greatly?) the spread of this virus. Keep up the good work and please send my thanks to all of your colleagues! TK out!!
Thank you very much TK – we all appreciate that and hope the same.
I wish SoCC a sustained recovery from cancer, and a long and healthy life going forward.