UNION AWAITS CHANCE
Dutchmen practicing without contact for about an hour a day
Union College hockey coach Rick Bennett says his team is upbeat despite limited practices, just waiting to see when and where it can play this season./
In the past seven months, these words have been said way too many times by a whole lot of people.
If things were normal ... You can fill in the blanks. Over at Union College, you could say this: If things were normal, the Dutchmen hockey team would be in its third weekend of playing games. Of course, that’s not happening because no school in the country is playing college hockey because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It does feel weird that you wake up on a Friday and Saturday morning and we should be playing,” Union coach Rick Bennett said Friday. “But I don’t think about it. I think about the whole world and other people have things a whole lot worse than what we have.”
There is no schedule for the Dutchmen to look at, no games to look forward to. At least not now there isn’t. Bennett and his team are hopeful that will change sooner rather than later. For now, they wait. They hope. And they practice.
“You should see them out there,” he said. “It’s been really fun to be out on the ice with them.”
Union’s hockey team has been on the ice for three weeks. After being in groups of four at both ends of the ice for the first two weeks of practice, the number increased to 12 this week. Players are in full equipment, but
there is no scrimmaging. No contact. They are wearing plastic shields on their helmets instead of the traditional wire face guards. The team is on the ice between 45 minutes and an hour.
For now, it’s all they have and it’s welcome.
RPI, like Union, a member of the ECAC, has not been practicing. All intercollegiate sports at RPI have been on hold since the fall semester started because of the pandemic.
About half of the 31 players on the RPI roster are not on campus, opting to stay at home and take classes online and work out on their own. Athletic facilities on campus have not been made available to any students.
“We are doing everything within our control to prepare for an ECAC season that we believe is going to happen,” RPI coach Dave Smith said Friday.
Last week, RPI athletic director Lee Mcelroy told the Times Union that he declined to speculate why RPI’S athletes are not able to practice while other schools are. He also said last week that no decision has been made yet on RPI’S winter sports season, including hockey. There have been no fall sports played on the RPI campus.
At Union, Bennett said the players, coaches and training staff are all tested weekly for the coronavirus. When asked if there have been any positive tests, Bennett said, “I know all of our guys are practicing. The people who have been doing the testing have been excellent.”
He also praised the work done by head athletic trainer Cheryl Rockwood, who has been at the school for 34 years. She has put out the guidelines and protocols for the team to follow. So far, so good.
“Our leadership has been great,” Bennett said. “Our captains Josh Kosack and Sean Harrison have kept everyone positive and all the sessions have been positive. We have not had any issues.”
The hope is that eventually there is a full return to the ice with games. When that happens is the big question. Bennett does not anticipate there will be any nonleague games this season but he is staying optimistic for league games.
“That’s why we are practicing,” he said. “I think there is definitely a chance we will play. Is it December? Is it January? We just don’t know.”
There have been weekly phone calls with the ECAC office and the league’s coaches. ECAC commissioner Steve Hagwell is also hopeful that eventually the league will get back on the ice but there is no starting date.
The Ivy League, which has six schools in the ECAC, has announced it won’t play hockey before Jan. 1.
On Friday, CNN reported that 18 members of the Yale hockey team have tested positive for coronavirus.
Two leagues — the Big 10 and Atlantic Hockey — have released schedules with a target starting date being the weekend of Nov. 13.
“We are planning on having our league members play,” Hagwell said. “We are making plans and trying to do the best we can to move forward. We want to start league games for institutions that can. We want to make sure that when they take the ice that there is a safe environment for students, staff and the institutions.”
“Right now, everything is all over the map,” Bennett said. “Eventually, the map will get smaller and we will figure it out.”