For mens college hockey players, the appeal of the Olympics may not be there this time – The Boston Globe

On Monday, USA Hockey named John Vanbiesbrouck general manager and former Boston University coach David Quinn head coach of the mens Olympic team as it looks to regroup after last weeks announcement that NHL players would not participate in the Winter Games.

The topic of putting together a roster to travel to Beijing was front and center during the press conference.

I think were going to have a good balance of players that are playing overseas right now, and maybe a couple from AHL and the NCAA as well, said Vanbiesbrouck, who acknowledged there might be some reluctance from players, but that the opportunity to represent their country would sway them.

Its the same approach USA Hockey took in 2018 in PyeongChang, when four NCAA players were on the roster: Will Borgen (St. Cloud State), Ryan Donato (Harvard), Jordan Greenway (BU), and Troy Terry (Denver). Donato led the squad with five goals no other player scored more than once while Terry led with five assists, leading some to believe that a greater number of college players would be sought this time around.

Id be shocked if any kid on my team wanted to leave and not defend the Hockey East title, and not play for a national championship, so they can go play in China and get stuck in quarantine over there. . . . I know its the Olympics, but is it really the Olympics this year?

Greg Carvel, UMass men's hockey coach

But coaches might not be clamoring for their players to be selected.

I talked to a couple of guys in our league about it, said New Hampshire coach Mike Souza. Its an incredible honor for any young man or woman to go over and represent the country on that stage, and you certainly wouldnt stand in the way of anyone having that opportunity, but you lose that player for the rest of the year.

Souza has been advocating for his brother-in-law, Chris Bourque, who was on the squad in PyeongChang and is currently playing in Germany.

Its certainly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most people, said Souza. Me personally, I would never stand in the way of a young man if they had the opportunity to do it.

Four years ago, Donato and Greenway were able to return to their teams to finish out the regular season and play in the postseason. The 2022 Beijing Olympics run Feb. 4-20. USA Hockey hopes to set a roster by mid-January.

A lengthy quarantine is expected at the conclusion of the Games, meaning college players would miss the regular season, and best-case scenario would be available only if their team made a deep run into the postseason.

If Im a kid playing college hockey, its the last thing on my mind, that Im going to leave this team that Ive invested all of my time and energy in, to go play in this random tournament against random players, thats patched together, said UMass coach Greg Carvel.

On Tuesday, Team USA was forced to forfeit its preliminary-round game of the World Juniors when it had a pair of players test positive for COVID-19. On Wednesday, the tournament was scrapped altogether after two more teams were forced to forfeit games, perhaps increasing concerns players may have about heading to Beijing.

Id be shocked if any kid on my team wanted to leave and not defend the Hockey East title, and not play for a national championship, so they can go play in China and get stuck in quarantine over there, said Carvel. To me, thats a pretty sketchy situation.

Ive not had that conversation with anyone. I know its the Olympics, but is it really the Olympics this year?

All of this serves as a backdrop as the surge of the Omicron variant continues to wreak havoc across the sports landscape, with professional leagues as well as college conferences adjusting their COVID-19 protocols.

The NBA, NFL, and NHL are reducing isolation time for players who test positive and are asymptomatic, including unvaccinated players, to five days from 10. The leagues are doing so after the CDC changed its guidelines for those who are asymptomatic, recommending a five-day isolation period and masking over the second five days.

Hockey East could follow suit, depending on the state-level data and guidance that the leagues state schools follow. As it did last year, the league could revise its policy for requiring teams to complete conference games, with 15 skaters, two goaltenders, and one coach needed to compete.

But thus far, the league has not had to institute those protocols. Nor is it changing its forfeiture policy as some conferences have done for their basketball teams, with Hockey East instead relying on the procedures already on the books that allow schools to reschedule if a team is affected by an outbreak of a health-related situation like MRSA or other contagious infections/viruses.

For now, schools are just focusing on returning to play. Last year, many teams were isolated on campus and did not go home for the holidays. This season, the rest of the student population has returned to campus, and some players may have returned home briefly over the the break. While the league reports a vaccination rate of 99 percent, players and coaches will be tested on reentry.

So far, so good. It was all systems go for Providence, which competed in the Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee, coming away with a 6-2 win over Bowling Green Tuesday, followed by a 2-2 tie against Wisconsin. UMass Lowell was also in action Wednesday, winning, 3-2, at St. Lawrence. Boston College and UNH are hoping to get in a pair of games at the Ledyard Bank Classic at Dartmouth, while other teams are scheduled to return to action later in the weekend.

Follow Andrew Mahoney on Twitter @GlobeMahoney.

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For mens college hockey players, the appeal of the Olympics may not be there this time - The Boston Globe