Unfortunately, I'm not. Writing 2020 previews would be a fool's errand to a half-stocked grocery store. So much has changed. So much will change. So many "what ifs" will continue to happen.
No easy answers exist "in these uncertain times," a phrase frequently uttered these days in emails and television commercials. Everyone sits around to wait and see. Right now, exactly one month away from the official start of the 2020-21 men's hockey season, starting on time seems light years away.
These days what happens in between events are more interesting than the events themselves.
In these uncertain times, normal is anything but. Teams slowly announcing rookie classes for games that are TBD. Games being taken off schedules. Schedules being discussed as to how to fit in an unknown start date. Dates being discussed - Thanksgiving to New Year's in a bubble, New Year's Day onward - as how to safely play a college hockey season.
And that's just for what is currently happening. Normal is not taking the season happening as a given.
Following an abrupt end to 2019-20, the offseason continues to pick up where the craziness of March left off. Long Island University starting up a team from scratch and hoping to play four months later seems both a million years ago and something which would perfectly fit in 2020. (Although I will give props to LIU for pulling off getting head coach Brett Riley and roster in quick fashion.) The Sharks aren't even the newest D1 program.
That's 2020. What happens now may and likely will change tomorrow. In the time Dartmouth hired new head coach Reid Cashman to replace Bob Gaudet, LIU announced its program, Alabama Huntsville announced it was dropping its program, LIU hired its head coach, and the Chargers revived its program.
With the Chargers coming back, the score is now 3-2 on new/revived programs to programs dropped. Alaska Anchorage announced last month and it might not be a top-five event. St. Thomas will play in a conference led by Don Lucia. No one turns their head at the news. That's 2020.
In these uncertain times, everything remains in flux. Not being certain what's going on puts me in a difficult spot. I can't preview. I can't prepare.
Sammy Walker may be coming off a fantastic sophomore season. Jack LaFontaine continues to hold the net while Minnesota's upperclassmen feel comfortable in the role on a team that returns all six 20+ point getters.
The Gophers may have some questions as the team looks to be among the Big Ten's best after a solid second half and comeback playoff win against Notre Dame to end the season, but the biggest question of all deals with the season itself.
A number of international students decided to stay home rather than return to a covid-infested United States. The Ivy League already announced it will not start until January 1st, a move which cost Harvard the better portion of its elite returners and incoming rookies. (Cornell All-American Morgan Barron also left for the pros after the announcement.) Others may join. It's very possible 2020-21 ends up being a season where regional travel reigns supreme. Non-conference games may or may not happen.
At the very least, it's difficult to see a way where the Pairwise or any NCAA Tournament formula makes sense to use no matter the end result.
In these uncertain times may be an easy thing to say throughout this pandemic, but what makes sense is making and finding a measured response in all the uncertainty. 2020-21 will be different. Expecting any other result, or pretending things will quickly go back to normal, would be catastrophic.
To get through the season will take some creative thinking. College hockey is not a sport built for TV like its professional cousin. The college game's different cultures blend through and occasionally show up on TV. College fans are obssessed with one team. Each rink gives off a different feel with different fans, cheers and chants.
There's only so many times one can write about "_____ Beanpots" before driving unique culture and traditions into the ground.
It's not a coincidence one of the few times the sport works as a TV spectacle has been outdoors.
In these uncertain times, some teams are skating together in limited groups on the ice. Some teams have yet to put in any ice, not knowing when games will occur. Whether there are fans in the stands at any point or bubbles become the norm. Decisions do need to made while college hockey sits at the mercy of football and other revenue sports.
Or to be more specific, hockey sits at the mercy of a global pandemic, one that has left nearly 200K dead in this country and has yet to slow down. As teams practice, Alaska - the one from the 49th State which will play beyond next season - sits in quarantine after six players tested positive following an off-campus party.
Given the landscape, it would take anything short of a miracle for the Nanooks being the only case throughout Division 1 men's and women's hockey.
In these uncertain times, even my future remains uncertain. Like the teams I cover, I don't know what it holds. For all the ideas, all the outlets, and all the plans, it's tough to know where to go from here.
(Maybe a book? Maybe a newsletter? Who knows.)
Writing solely about Minnesota's upcoming season feels ingenuine. I look forward to seeing how Scott Reedy responds to a breakout junior year, whether Ryan Johnson and Jackson Lacombe avoid a sophomore slump on the blue line, Brock Faber's freshman campaign (along with where he gets drafted), and the number of times Brannon McManus being a senior makes me feel ridiculously old. It should be a fun, interesting season full of fantastic stories to write.
However, ignoring everything going around would be missing the biggest story of them all.
Again, I'm not sure where Minnesota and college hockey will be going in 2020-21. I'm not sure what I will be doing. A few months ago, in the middle of summer, I came across the 2013 Minnesota-Wisconsin Hockey City Classic game in Chicago. Sitting down and watching it, memories of the cold, windy February weather came to mind.
Memories of the first modern outdoor game Minnesota took place. Memories of being with friends and surrounded by hockey fans. Memories of what happened in the game down to the minute and how it summed up the Gophers' talented 2012-13 season.
Watching the outdoor game - a game that looked 20x better on BTN than the melting ice at the rink - in the middle of a pandemic made me reflect on today. Seven years later and I can still remember the last-second attempt, the weekend and culmination of years of planning, and it happening during the two weeks the Harlem Shake was a thing.
I'm not sure what will happen now in these uncertain times. I do know for certain this will be something I remember for the rest of my life.
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If you enjoyed this blog, you can follow Nate on Twitter and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. Thanks!
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