Monsters dealing with COVID before home opener

The Monsters are going to try again to get their 2021 season underway, and this time Coach Mike Eaves is confident the game will proceed as scheduled.

The Monsters were supposed to start their season on Feb. 5 in Rockford, Ill., but one day earlier the American Hockey League, in succinct fashion, announced because of COVD-19 protocols the Monsters were not allowed to travel. The game scheduled for Feb. 6 also was not played. The games are rescheduled for Feb. 22 and 23 in Rockford.

Coach Mike Eaves in a Feb. 10 Zoom interview said the team is still dealing with COVID-19 issues, but he is certain the Monsters can put a full team on the ice when they open their season at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in a game with the Rochester Americans.

“That first phone call in the morning (with trainer Tom Bourdon) I anticipate with a little bit of dred,” Eaves said after the morning practice. “‘How did the (COVID) tests go? Are they negative?’”

“Our first two games were (postponed). I think our protocol has tightened. We’re taking new measures to make sure we stay healthy. We’re trending in the right direction. I think guys are coming off protocol by the weekend. They won’t play because they haven’t been on the ice. It’s kind of been a bucket of water right in our face because this happened right before a road trip.”

Eaves is prohibited from saying which players were impacted by the protocol issues. The list of scratches for the game with Rochester and the one for the home game with Grand Rapids at 4 p.m. Feb. 13 won’t be conclusive evidence because some players not in uniform could be healthy scratches or have unannounced injuries.

Regardless, Eaves is quickly learning what coaches or managers of all sports have experienced since the novel coronavirus first impacted our nation 11 months ago — expect the unexpected every day. If there is a positive to take from it, it is the Monsters are going through this rough patch now instead of potentially having playoffs affected if they qualify in the 28-game season.

“It seems everyday something is popping up unconventional,” Eaves said. “That’s the real challenge this year. The mentality is every day is a riddle and we have to solve that riddle because different stuff keeps popping up. My sentiment has to be, ‘Bring it on. We’ll see what we have. We’ll control what we can and get through the day in the best fashion we are able.’”

Dealing with COVID-19 isn’t the only challenge. Call ups to the Blue Jackets are normal, but NHL teams also have a taxi squad this year. Players from the Monsters could be sent to or from the taxi squad at any moment.

On top of that, and in part because players that might be with the Monsters are on the taxi squad, the team is very young this season. But they are learning. The Monsters will likely be better the second half of the season than in the first month of the campaign.