UMass hockey got some brutal news Tuesday morning as it prepares for Thursday's Frozen Four clash with Minnesota-Duluth.
The Minutemen announced in a statement that four players will be unavailable for that game due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocols, including star goalie Filip Lindberg and leading goal-scorer Carson Gicewicz.
Lindberg leads the country with a .946 save percentage and registered shutouts in both the Hockey East championship game against UMass Lowell and last weekend's NCAA regional final against Bemidji State.
Gicewicz, meanwhile, registered a hat trick in that game against Bemidji. His 17 goals this season are seven more than anyone else on the team.
The other two players who will miss Thursday's game are third-string goalie Henry Graham and forward Jerry Harding. Graham's absence further complicates the Minutemen's goaltending situation.
While senior Matt Murray is more than capable of stepping in to start, UMass doesn't have any other goalies on its roster who could back him up. It's unclear who they could use if an emergency situation were to arise.
"I feel for these players who have sacrificed so much over the last year and committed themselves to getting our team to this point," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "They have earned the right to compete for a national championship, and to have this unfortunate situation occur now is hard to comprehend. But nevertheless it's a result that we have to accept, and we will move forward together and utilize the depth of our roster for Thursday's game in Pittsburgh."
While it's unclear exactly what led to this situation, it's worth noting that the NCAA's plan for the college hockey tournament has come under criticism. While in basketball teams spent the entire tournament in Indiana in a quasi-bubble, hockey teams traveled to regional sites last weekend, then back to campus, and now to Pittsburgh for the Frozen Four.
Three teams -- St. Lawrence, Notre Dame and Michigan -- were all forced to withdraw from the tournament before it even began due to positive tests. In a field of just 16 teams, and now with this UMass situation added to it, it's fair to say it's been a disaster and extremely disappointing for the affected players.
The Minutemen face Minnesota-Duluth in a rematch of the 2019 national championship game (which UMD won) Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET. The winner will face either Minnesota State or St. Cloud State in the national championship Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.