The Providence Bruins, the minor league affiliate of the Boston Bruins, announced their 26-game American Hockey League schedule on Friday. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the P-Bruins will play games against three teams, the Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers), Bridgeport Sound Tigers (New York Islanders), and the Utica Comets (Vancouver Canucks).
Providence will play in the Atlantic Division against Hartford and Bridgeport 12 times during the season, while they will also play Utica twice. There was no word on whether there would be the annual Calder Cup playoffs following the shortened campaign.
February
2/5/21: vs. Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
2/11/21: vs. Hartford, 1 p.m.
2/13/21: at Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
2/19/21: at Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
2/21/21: at Hartford, 1 p.m.
2/25/21: vs. Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
2/27/21: at Hartford, 1 p.m.
March
3/2/21: at Hartford, 1 p.m.
3/4/21: vs. Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
3/8/21: vs. Hartford, 1 p.m.
3/10/21: at Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
3/12/21: vs. Hartford, 1 p.m.
3/15/21: vs. Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
3/20/21: at Hartford, 1 p.m.
3/25/21: vs. Hartford, 1 p.m.
3/31/21: at Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
April
4/3/21: at Utica, 3 p.m.
4/5/21: vs. Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
4/10/21: at Hartford, 1 p.m.
4/16/21: vs. Utica, 3 p.m.
4/20/21: at Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
4/22/21: vs. Hartford, 1 p.m.
4/29/21: vs. Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
May
5/1/21: at Hartford, 1 p.m.
5/6/21: vs. Hartford, 1 p.m.
5/8/21: at Bridgeport, 1 p.m.
The Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, the normal home of the P-Bruins, is not available due to it being used for various coronavirus initiatives. Instead, Providence will use the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts as their home rink.
The 2021 AHL season is broken up into Atlantic, North, Central, and Pacific Divisions in the United States, while the Canadian teams will form their own division because of travel restrictions at the U.S./Canada border.
The 2021 hockey season is one like we have never seen before, both in the NHL and AHL. With some members of the Bruins’ on the taxi squad, there are several others who will benefit from a 26-game minor league season during the pandemic.