UPDATE: NCHC Cancels Conference Tournament
UPDATE: 3/12/20 - 1:10 pm
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference announced Thursday that they are cancelling the conference tournament, effective immediately. Ticket refunds are being offered. In a release to media, the NCHC said the following:
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference and its member institutions, in coordination with Xcel Energy Center, have announced the 2020 NCHC Tournament has been cancelled effective immediately.
NCHC Frozen Faceoff ticket refunds are available at point of purchase. Online orders will be automatically canceled and refunded. Fans looking for a refund of their NCHC Quarterfinal round tickets should contact their athletic department's ticket office.
More information will be provided to fans in the coming days.
UMD addressed refunds for the quarterfinal games, which can be found here.
ORIGINAL STORY: 3/11/20 - 9:18 pm
In a release from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, to which the UMD Bulldogs Men's Hockey Team belong, it has been announced that the conference quarterfinal games at Amsoil Arena and the rest of the host sites will not be open to the public, with "restricted attendance".
Refunds to ticketholders are being offered, and the conference will offer free streams of all games via NCHC.tv, which is normally a paid streaming service.
UPDATE: UMD Shares refund procedures for ticketholders for this weekend's games. More information here.
The release, which was published Wednesday night, reads as follows:
Following the lead of the NCAA, best practices of others, and at the recommendation of local and state health officials regarding COVID-19, the NCHC and its member institutions have decided that the four NCHC Quarterfinal Series this weekend (March 13-15) will be closed to the public. Attendance will be restricted to only student-athletes, coaches, event and team staff, credentialed media and student-athlete family members.
Fans looking for a refund of their NCHC Quarterfinal round tickets should contact their athletic department’s ticket office. Because the NCHC Quarterfinal round games are closed to the public, the conference has made the decision to make all streams this weekend free to the public on NCHC.tv.
The decision to have limited attendance was made for the safety and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, media and fans. The conference, in consultation with member school leadership and health agencies, is constantly monitoring all relevant information regarding COVID-19 to make any further decisions about the future of the NCHC Tournament.
Host locations for the quarterfinal games include Amsoil Arena in Duluth, where the Bulldogs will take on Miami-Ohio; Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, MI, where Western Michigan will host St. Cloud State, Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, where the the University of North Dakota will host Colorado College; and Magness Arena in Denver, CO, where Denver will host Nebraska-Omaha.