Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1273865
various stages of dress, are escorted inside 15 minutes before their practice session. Social distancing is practiced in the locker room, on the benches and on the ice as much as possible. There are no competitive games or scrim- mages. Instead, practices consist of skill enhancing drills that limit the amount of physical contact. "Coaches have to be creative and use all the things they 've learned in the coaching education process so they make the most out of their 60 minutes on the ice," Guzdek said. "By the time kids get off the ice, what we've seen is that they're exhausted because they're working hard for that full 60 minutes." Back In Business In Blaine Many of the safety precautions put in place in Amherst are happening at rinks around the country. Pete Carlson oversees the eight-sheet facility located on the sprawling grounds of the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn. They opened June 1 for practices consisting of two pods of 10 players and two coaches each occupying half of an ice sheet. In keep- ing with the governor's orders, no games or scrimmages were allowed and no spectators were allowed in the building. "The good news was everyone was on the ice and you heard the whistles and the pucks hitting the boards and the doors were open," Carlson said. "But for hockey camps and hockey clinics, let's just say operating with those kinds of numbers doesn't pay the bills." After three weeks, the number of kids expanded to 25 kids per pod and scrimmages could begin to take place. And in early July the first tournament took place with a limited number of parents and spectators allowed into the building after passing a temperature check at the front door. As is the case at the Northtown Center, Carlson's facility requires 100 percent of its participants to wear a mask everywhere in the building but on the ice. Carlson said comments about mask wear- ing tend to run along political and philosoph- ical lines and span the gamut from "I can't believe you're making us do this" to "Thank you for being over protective and keeping our kids safe." "With everything that we've been through, I can't believe some people still feel this way," he said. "They should just be thankful that the building is open and their son or daughter is back on the ice and having fun." Back To Normalcy Fo r n i n e l o n g w e e k s , t h e d o o r s t o t h e Aerodrome Ice Skating Complex in Houston were closed. When Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the second phase of open- ings on May 18, it was game on for T.C. Lewis and his crew. "It's good to start getting some normalcy back," said the facility 's general manager. "They're happy to come back for the exercise, and they're happy to come back to see their friends. Without question, there's a camara- derie that they 've missed. They 're tired of being cooped up." Art Trottier has noticed the same thing as the Great Park Ice & FivePoint Arena in Irvine, Calif., finally welcomed back skaters on July 8. Capacity inside the sprawling 280,000-square foot four-sheet facility has been dramatically restricted, but the excite- ment inside its gleaming walls is noticeable. "I think people were missing the camarade- rie and skating. They hadn't been on the ice for a couple months down here," said the vice president of ICE Management that oversees a number of rinks in southern California for the Anaheim Ducks. "As people came back, we thought the demand would come as well, and it has. We have limited capacity and limited ice times available. We really pared back the hours and the amount of people on the ice to keep it safe." What Hockey Will Look Like As rinks open and find their stride heading into the fall, it's hard to say what hockey will look like in a post-pandemic age. Will travel teams be able to jump on planes to compete in tournaments against teams from around the country? Will body checks and puck possession battles be permitted? And will the locker room scene that is such an integral part of the hockey experience will be dramatically altered? For those working on the frontlines of getting rinks reopened, there is little doubt that players of all ages will be back on the ice this fall. Things may not look the same as last year, but the seeds that have been planted this summer with measured responses at rinks around the country will continue to blossom into the fall. "Hockey will be back," Erlenbach said. "It may not look like it did before the pandemic, but we are confident that kids will continue to get back on the ice. And that's really what matters." P ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET "Hockey will be back. It may not look like it did before the pandemic, but we are confident that kids will be back on the ice very soon." Depending on state and local guidelines, rinks have different rules in place regarding the number of players and coaches that can be on the ice and what type of activities can take place. Some rinks are allowing skill based practices that limit body contact, while others are allowed to have scrimmages and games. 20 // AUGUST 2020 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PHOTO BY Don Egdorf