The ASU hockey team's 2019-20 season ended in heartbreak after months of hard work resulted in a postseason that wouldn't be played because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the pandemic still posing a threat within the ASU community, the team has returned to Tempe with a logistical roadblock prohibiting them from having normal practices.
To maintain public health and safety compliance under University guidelines, the team of 24 skaters and three goalies has to be split up into separate groups for practices on the ice and in weightlifting sessions.
Sophomore defenseman Jacob Semik and his groupmates have been adapting to the different style of practice. He said players are grouped to help with contact tracing.
"You can’t go into the rink until the next group is out of the rink," Semik said. "The way we’ve been doing that is you can’t come to the rink until 20 minutes before your skate, so we just wait outside in our cars until all the guys clear out of the locker room."
Practices consist of groups of six to nine players participating in set drills and stations led by the team's four coaches. Though the team is unable to have large group practices, Semik believes the format is satisfactory for himself and his teammates.
"With the small groups, it actually helps us think in a way that we are not used to," he said. "Everyone is really on each other to make sure the details are dialed ... all of the coaches are involved and they all help in a different way, so it’s good because you get pointers from every single coach and what they bring to the table."
The implementation of smaller groups has been beneficial for the Sun Devils goalies, too. Junior goaltender Evan DeBrouwer, who played in net for the vast majority of ASU's games in 2019-20, sees the upside in smaller practices.
"Usually, you can use the whole ice and there’s no restrictions; (we) can’t really do that now so it’s kind of fallen to the coaches to get creative and come up with drills we haven’t done before, and they’ve done a great job," DeBrouwer said. "You work on skills, but you also want to make sure (you’re doing) drills you can implement into a game right away."
However, DeBrouwer misses "the flow drills and the high-pace" of large group practices he grew up participating in and the energy practicing with the entire team brought.
"It’s different, but under the circumstances, the coaches have done a great job and everyone is staying positive," DeBrouwer said. "It’s just nice that we are lucky enough to actually be skating."
Over the past few weeks, each group has been allowed eight hours of practice during the week: four hours in the gym and the other four on the ice. On Thursdays, DeBrouwer and his other two goaltending teammates spend some of that ice time in a private session with volunteer goaltending coach Eddie Läck.
"We will have our own end of the ice and we will be working with him," DeBrouwer said. "That’s been awesome ... it’s nice to get one day of the week with Eddie to focus on goalie-specific stuff.”
Senior forward and alternate captain Dominic Garcia knows the high intensity level in practices now will pay off for ASU in the long run.
"Since we don’t know when we are going to be playing, I think our main mentality is that we don’t want to waste any days," Garcia said. "You can practice as much as you want, but eventually, you’re ready for the games and looking forward to it and that’s really all that’s on your mind."
Garcia and the rest of his teammates, although not together as a team on the ice, have a unified sense of purpose ahead of whenever the 2020-21 season will come.
As a team that had a 98% chance to receive an at-large bid for the 2020 NCAA Tournament, ASU has entered the fall with the mindset knowing what they are capable of in the future, despite the fact they needed to adjust their preparation for the upcoming season.
"The bottom line for all of the returners is we got stripped of the tournament last year; we would’ve been in the tournament," Semik said. "We are trying to win a national championship. I know that sounds cliché but that is our motivator ... and that is why we are practicing as hard as we are practicing and we’re preparing like we are playing a game tomorrow.
Reach the reporters at aklatsky@asu.edu and follow @averyklatsky on Twitter.
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