Helene St. James | Detroit Free Press
No one knew what was next when they landed.
Players drove home, wondering when they’d see one another again. Within days, some rushed to Canada, fearful of not being with their families as rumors of border closures heightened.
A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Detroit Red Wings recognize how fortunate they are. Like everyone they struggled with the unknown as the virus upended normal life, and the time since the NHL paused the 2019-20 season on March 12, 2020, “has been the strangest 12 months of our lives,” as one team member put it. But to be able to have any kind of season in still-uncertain times is a source of relief and appreciation.
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“It’s certainly different, all the different protocols we have to follow, from the testing to being distanced in the room, virtual meetings, no fans,” forward Sam Gagner said Thursday. “All those things are very different from a normal year. But you adjust as the year goes on, and I consider us very fortunate that we still get to play and do what we love.”
“Not everyone is in that same boat. We all understand that and we are enjoying playing hockey even under the circumstances. Hopefully things continue to get better and back to normal at some point.”
The Wings flew to Washington March 11, 2020, after what would turn out to be their last practice at Little Caesars Arena for the calendar year. They were scheduled to play the Capitals the next day and the Tampa Bay Lightning two days after that. But the NBA shut down its season the evening of the 11th, and the NHL followed suit at noon the next day. The Wings boarded their plane and flew home.
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“When we had kind of shut down international travel at that point, the NBA had shut down — I knew it was a big deal,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I didn’t know what that meant — I didn’t know if our season was going to continue or not continue. But I sure didn’t think I’d be sitting here coming up on St. Patrick’s Day and the world still not being close to normal. I didn’t think it would be 10 months before we’d be back on the ice. I didn’t think it would be a year and we’d still have limited fans. I really didn’t foresee that.
“It was as unknown as anything I’ve been a part of. I think unknown is a hard thing for lots of people. It can cause stress.”
The Wings didn’t meet as a team at Little Caesars Arena again until Jan. 1, 2021, when the NHL allowed the seven teams that weren’t in the playoff bubble to being training camps.
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When the 56-game season began two weeks later, the Wings were able to have 250 fans in the building — most of whom were family or friends of team personnel. On March 9, loosened restrictions allowed for 750 fans.
Limited fans is just one of the changes spurred by the pandemic. Here are some of the others: Face coverings are mandatory, except for players during games and practices. Distancing in the locker room. Virtual meetings. Daily testing for players, coaching personnel, select management (such as general manager Steve Yzerman), and training and equipment staff. That includes off days.
Darren Helm came down with the virus. A week into the season, Gagner was one of five players who spent two weeks in the NHL-mandated pandemic protocol after testing positive.
Patrik Nemeth was on the protocol list when the Wings played at Chicago on Feb. 28, but that turned out to be a false positive. The NHL added rapid testing on game days in mid-February in an effort to eliminate situations where players played because results from PCR tests had not been received in time.
The Wings point to that scenario as the reason behind losing 20% of their opening night lineup within days of playing the Carolina Hurricanes, who by Jan. 20 had five players in protocol.
“I don’t have proof of this, but it sure seemed to me like we got the transmission from the players that we played against with Carolina,” Blashill said. “So now the rapid testing was an adjustment by the NHL and now the rapid testing helped potentially eliminate that.
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“Now, we’ve had some false positives, and some guys missed a game that maybe they shouldn’t have. But it also could have potentially kept people out of games, so I think that’s a real positive move that the NHL has made. I thought we had done a really good job here of not getting infected from the outside.”
In order to minimize exposure, everyone is supposed to keep to their hotel room on road trips. Bobby Ryan took up reading classic works of fiction to offset boredom. Anthony Mantha downloaded a bunch of shows. Even when at home, there’s an emphasis on limiting exposure — but that’s not a burden given what’s at stake.
“Anything that we’ve had to go through has been minor compared to what other people have to go through,” Blashill said. “I don’t think any of us take it for granted, but it is easy in your day-to-day life to get used to things, and all of a sudden what we do for a living was shut down and we couldn’t do it. I think it definitely gives perspective of how important every day is.”
The Wings had 11 games left when the season was paused. On May 26, an announcement came the NHL would not finish the season.
“It seemed like it didn’t make much sense at one point just to finish those last few games, but we stayed ready,” forward Adam Erne said. “Guys did a good job of doing what they had to do to stay ready. We were definitely ready if we had to.”
For Erne, being home the rest of the year had benefits.
“I had two kids in 2020, so that kept me busy,” he said. “I’ve had a lot more time with them. That’s the one bright side of this, I’ve had a lot more time at home. I didn’t really miss any of those moments that a lot of the guys have missed being on the road.”
(Erne wasn’t affected by the great toilet paper shortage caused by hoarders. Neither was Blashill, but he did share the triumph of finding disinfect wipes early in the pandemic: “It was like gold at that time.”)
By the time the season was canceled, Gagner was in Edmonton, where he’d left his wife and children when he was traded Feb. 24. He drove to Toronto on March 14. Canada’s border closed four days later.
“I just figured getting into Canada before I flew to Edmonton was a good decision,” he said. “If we were called back, I could always come back. But I wanted to make sure before the borders closed that I was back in Canada, back with my family. Family is the most important thing, especially at a time like that.
“There was certainly a lot on everyone’s mind at that time. We’re a year out from it now and it’s still on everyone’s mind. You look at our situation, and you just kind of feel for everyone that is going through still a difficult time. We are just thankful to be back playing and do what we love to do.”
All media interviews are conducted via Zoom. The coaching staff also has come to rely on video to conduct, for example, meetings for special-teams players. That’s one advantage Blashill will carry forward from what he described as the strangest 12 months.
“Players can watch whenever they want,” he said. “It allows them to rewind if they need to, and cuts down on meetings.”
Halfway through their season, the Wings are on pace to miss the playoffs for what would be a fifth straight time. But given the uncertainty of the past year, this March elicits gratitude and encouragement.
“It’s been a long grind for everybody,” Blashill said. “Hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel here, and we can get as close to normal as possible.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.