The 2020-21 regular season begins this weekend for 11 of our 20 NHC teams (6/7 Red, 2/7 White, 3/6 JV).

Several visiting teams from other conferences have had to cancel in the past few days. Some of these matches were replaced with local teams in non-league tilts. Some games are starting earlier to finish before the curfew.

We originally had 6 league games planned for this weekend, but 2 have been postponed because of COVID and will be rescheduled.

Red Division play starts tonite when Bowling Green visits St. Francis. On Saturday, St. Francis is at Northview. On Sunday. St. John’s plays at BG.

The lone White Division game on the opening weekend is Whitmer at Lake (at the Ice House) on Saturday.

Cleveland-area teams who are visiting the region include Walsh Jesuit, Gilmour, Padua, and St. Edward. Findlay is the only team traveling outside the Toledo area this weekend.

We will post scores of league and non-conference games as soon as we get them.

There is no league action next week, as teams set it aside for Thanksgiving tournaments. The Cold Turkey Tournament at Tam-O-Shanter is still on but we expect changes.

High school teams were able to hit the ice this weekend, starting with tryouts and practices. Scrimmages are scheduled for next two weekends, with the regular season starting on November 20th. Teams are still adjusting their schedules because of COVID. The NHC website will be continually adjusted as we get updates.

Scrimmage Schedule

Subject to change. Canceled in strikethrough.

November 6, Friday

• Trenton @ Northview (7pm, Tam-O Rink 1)
• St. Xavier @ Perrysburg (8pm, Tam-O Rink 2)
• Kent (Cyclones) @ Northview JV (9pm, Tam-O Rink 1)
• Lake (club) @ St. Francis JV (9:30pm, Tam-O Rink 2)
• St. John’s (Varsity & JV) @ St. Charles

November 7, Saturday

• St. Xavier @ Anthony Wayne (3pm, BGSU)
• Springfield (club) @ St. Francis JV (4:30pm, Tam-O Rink 1)
• Lenawee United @ Lake (club) (6pm, Ice House)
• Findlay (Varsity & JV) @ St. Charles
• Perrysburg @ Strongsville

November 8, Sunday

• Springfield (club) @ Anthony Wayne JV (Noon, BGSU)
• Avon Lake @ Anthony Wayne (1:30pm, BGSU)
• Perrysburg @ Mentor

November 13, Friday

• Olentangy Liberty @ Findlay (Varsity & JV) (5 & 7pm, Cube)
• DeSales/Columbus @ Whitmer (7:30pm, Ice House)
• Beavercreek @ Perrysburg (8pm, Tam-O Rink 1)
• Clay @ Southview (8pm, Tam-O Rink 2)
• Lake (club) @ St. John’s JV (9:30pm, Tam-O Rink 1)
• St. Francis (Varsity & JV) @ Hartland
• Bowling Green @ Padua

November 14, Saturday

• Beavercreek @ Whitmer (5pm, Tam-O Rink 1)
• Dublin Jerome @ Findlay (Varsity & JV) (5 & 7pm, Cube)
• Gilmour JV @ Anthony Wayne JV (5:30pm, BGSU)
• Lake (club) @ Anthony Wayne (7pm, BGSU)
• Alter @ Perrysburg JV (8pm, Ice House)
• St. Edward “Gold” @ St. John’s (8:30pm, Tam-O Rink 1)
• Northview (Varsity & JV) @ St. Charles
• St. Francis @ Upper Arlington & @ New Albany
• Bowling Green @ Holy Name & @ Strongsville

November 15, Sunday

• Clay @ St. John’s JV (8am, Ice House)
• Alter @ Whitmer (11:30am, Ice House)
• Dayton Stealth @ Anthony Wayne (11:30am, BGSU)
• Bedford @ Bowling Green (1:30pm, BGSU)
• Dublin Jerome @ Perrysburg (Varsity & JV) (2 & 4pm, Tam-O Rink 1)
• Trenton JV @ St. Francis JV (2:30pm, Tam-O Rink 2)
• Northview (Varsity & JV) @ Upper Arlington

A new website for the Northwest Hockey Conference debuts today. Mostly, you will find the same information and may only notice the visual design changes.

We switched to a new web server, migrating results from 2016-2020 from the old website.

Some additional historical information (from past years on nhchockey,com and nwhockey.org) was added, with more information from past NHC season to be slowly added over time.

The 2020-21 season schedule is accurate and being regularly updated as teams add more non-conference games and possibly adjust their league games. With COVID-19, there might be additional changes to the upcoming season, of course.

Contact Keith Instone at instone@nhchockey.com for questions and comments.

A TENTATIVE version of the NHC league schedule was released today. We expect adjustments to dates and times for league games as teams continue to book non-conference games, rinks fine-tune their schedules, and so on. Other teams can use this information to help find non-conference match-ups with NHC teams, for example.

There are also many uncertainties because of COVID-19. We will keep the website up-to-date as things change, including adding non-conference games and tournament commitments once we find out about them.

The NHC home page lists the league games for all 3 divisions. The Red, White, and JV pages list only league games for each of those divisions. Team pages include non-conference game and tournaments: this is incomplete and will be updated as teams release additional information about their full schedules.

Looking ahead to the 2020-21 season, the Red Division will conduct its 2nd season with 7 teams. This year, each Red team will play a complete league schedule, 2 games vs. the other 6 teams (12 divisional games).

The White Division continues with the same 7 teams and the JV Division has 6 teams again. The league schedule for both is 2 games vs. each division opponent.

The pre-season is currently set to begin on November 6th, with 2 weekends of scrimmages. The regular season begins on the weekend of November 20th, with a few league games taking place before Thanksgiving. The regular season ends on Sunday, February 14th.

Special this year are 2 league games as part of the Walleye Winterfest (December 17 – January 3), outdoor at Fifth Third Field in downtown Toledo.

Any team interested in scheduling non-conference games with NHC teams should contact Keith Instone at instone@nhchockey.com. Keith will give you access to additional information to help you connect with our teams and figure out opportunities to play during the 2020-21 season.

Last week at the Northwest Hockey Conference Spring Meeting, consensus was reached on restructuring the league. A Red Division of 7 teams and a White Division also of 7 teams was determined to be the best solution for increasing the quality of hockey in the conference overall. Athletic Directors approved the change.

The new Red Division is made up of the 4 teams from last season (Findlay, Northview, St. Francis, and St. John’s), Bowling Green (returning after a season without a program), and 2 new teams, after playing in the White Division for many years: Anthony Wayne and Perrysburg.

The new White Division consists of the 4 remaining teams (Clay, Maumee, Southview, Whitmer) and the 3 club/USA Hockey teams (Fremont, Lake, Springfield), who competed in the Blue Division by themselves last season.

All of the JV teams will compete in a 3rd Division, with Perrysburg JV joining 5 other teams for the 2019-20 season.

Red Division Anthony Wayne Bowling Green Findlay Northview Perrysburg St. Francis St. John’s

White Division Clay Fremont Lake Maumee Southview Springfield Whitmer

JV Division Anthony Wayne JV Findlay JV Northview JV Perrysburg JV St. Francis JV St. John’s JV

“As a conference, we are trying to grow high school hockey in NW Ohio. We think this structure provides an opportunity for more teams to compete against four of the best teams in Ohio. It also provides for more competitive balance in the White Division. I want to thank the teams from the Red Division who have embraced this change and made adjustments to their schedules in an effort to grow the game in our area.” — Markus Rasmus, NHC Commissioner

“St Francis approves the proposal. We look forward to working with the NHC and the other members of the conference in building Northwest Ohio hockey.” — Justin Edgell, Athletic Director, St. Francis de Sales School

“The Bowling Green Bobcat hockey team is extremely grateful and excited to be back in the conference we helped establish over 40 years ago. The objective in establishing the league was to upgrade the caliber of high school hockey in Northwest Ohio. BG is proud that we are a part in making Northwest Ohio high school hockey stronger.” — Jamie Ruffner, hockey coach, Bowling Green High School

“The Anthony Wayne hockey program is honored and excited to be a member of the new NHC Red Division. This is a huge step in establishing a stronger, deeper pool of high school teams and talent in Northwest Ohio. Our players, parents, and staff have worked extremely hard to build a program that can be competitive at the highest level in the state. We look forward to the challenges of playing the elites of our area regularly and hope to continue to elevate high school hockey in Northwest Ohio.” — Steve Boehme, hockey coach, Anthony Wayne High School

“This area of the state, this conference specifically, has had a great impact on Ohio HS hockey history. Perrysburg is working and training to compete with the very best of the best in Northwest Ohio. Playing in the new Red Division is the next step. We are excited about the challenge ahead and the seasons to come.” — Kevin Fisher, hockey coach, Perrysburg High School

“As part of the new White Division, Springfield will be able to play more games against teams that we were competitive with last season. This is another step in our journey to return Springfield to varsity hockey status.” — Butch Leon, Springfield club hockey coach

Each team will play the other teams in its division twice, with total points (2 for a win, 1 for a tie) earned in the 12 games (10 in JV) used to determine regular season champions. The exception, for the 2019-20 season only, is in the Red Division, where some past Red Division teams have already committed to a full non-conference schedule and do not have 12 games remaining for the expanded Red Division schedule. With an unbalanced schedule, special rules will be developed for league standings.

The league schedule will be announced in June.

For questions about the restructuring and plans for the 2019-20 season, contact Markus Rasmus, NHC commissioner, at rasmus@nhchockey.com.

Do you want to invite an NHC team to your tournament or play an NHC team in non-conference games, but are not sure which team? Contact Keith Instone, NHC director of information, at instone@nhchockey.com. He will help you connect with NHC teams that fit your schedule.