The snowstorm blanketing parts of the East Coast Sunday into Monday has canceled one game and is impacting other teams’ travel plans.
Holy Cross canceled its exhibition game against the Russian Junior United Team that was scheduled for Monday night.
Travel delays are an annual issue around college hockey as players return to their teams after the holidays. With a blizzard hitting the east coast, though, there might be more of an impact than normal.
Some teams are changing plans amid the storm, which has dumped more than a foot of snow — close to 2 feet in some areas — and closed the major airports in New York.
Whole teams have been impacted, too.
Maine left its Orono campus at 6:30 a.m. en route to Boston for a flight to Florida that was later canceled, sports information director Laura Reed said. The Black Bears are scheduled to play in the Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla., on Wednesday and Thursday.
The team was advised to keep driving south at that point. After a six-hour bus trip, the team ended up at a rink in Exeter, N.H., where it was able to practice.
Reed said the team has been told it should be able to fly to Florida on Tuesday.
“We have had an interesting day,” she said via e-mail.
Tuesday update: Maine made it to Florida via charter airplane.
Seven non-exhibition games are on the schedule for Wednesday as college hockey resumes play after the holiday break.
Two of those games are in the Toyota UConn Classic at Connecticut, which canceled its intersession classes Monday because of snowfall. But Bowling Green, which is part of the tournament field, has not had any change to its schedule.
Princeton, another team in the UConn tournament, has pushed back its practice times for Monday in hopes of having more players return to campus, said Yariv Amir, the school’s director of athletic communications.
The Tigers may also delay their departure for the trip to Storrs, Conn., to Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, Amir said.
