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After nine long months, Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey is officially back after the team announced the first half of its schedule for the upcoming 2020-21 season on Thursday.

The Bobcats open up their season at home for the second straight year against the American International Yellow Jackets on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. This game was supposed to be against defending Connecticut Ice Tournament champions Sacred Heart, but positive COVID-19 cases for the Pioneers led to a postponement to be made up at a later date.

The Bobcats and Yellow Jackets will face off a second time, Dec. 27 in Springfield, for the Bobcats’ first road game of the season. Quinnipiac has won the last four meetings between the two, in a series that stretches back to 1986.

Following their opening date with the Yellow Jackets, the Bobcats will welcome in the Long Island University Sharks who will be playing in their fourth ever Division I game.

LIU is playing in the Atlantic Hockey conference after being announced as a Division I program back in late April. The Sharks will bring a mix of Division I and II transfers as well as fourteen freshmen to Hamden on Nov. 25.

Clarkson has given Quinnipiac fits for the better part of the last five years. The Bobcats are 4-5-1 over their last 10 games against the Golden Knights, which is their second-lowest winning percentage against an ECAC team over that same time.

The Bobcats and Golden Knights will open up their season series on Nov. 29 at the Frank Perrotti Jr. Arena.

Rand Pecknold’s squad will welcome the Bowling Green Falcons to Hamden for a two-game set on Dec. 18 and 19. Quinnipiac and Bowling Green have never faced-off with each other, even though both programs have played over 1,300 games. The last WCHA team Quinnipiac played was Alaska Anchorage back in 2013.

Closing out the six-game homestand to start the season, Quinnipiac will do battle with Holy Cross on Dec. 22. This is the first of two meetings with the Crusaders, the second one being seven days later in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The Bobcats are unbeaten in their last 11 matchups with the Crusaders (10-0-1), with Holy Cross’ last win in the series coming back in February of 2005.

The Battle of Whitney Ave. will have to be postponed for the 2020-21 season as ECAC Hockey’s Ivy League members have officially cancelled their competition for the winter sports.

On top of the Ivy’s, RIT and Union have also cancelled their seasons leaving ECAC Hockey down to just four teams: Quinnipiac, Clarkson, Colgate and St. Lawrence.

Half of the schedule is set for a very weird 2020-21 season, and if we have all learned from professional sports, these dates are tentative until the day of the game.