On Saturday, in front of what’s expected to be a good crowd at the MassMutual Center, Springfield and Hartford will play an AHL hockey game like they’ve done so many times before.
For decades, AHL hockey has been what happens downtown on Saturday nights in October. The name of the team and the arena and the parent club have changed but hockey has been a fixture, And after a 19-month COVID shutdown, it’ll be back. Fans will start getting to know a new crew of players sent by the St. Louis Blues. They’ll scan the schedule looking for good games and good promotions and they’ll watch a hockey game.
It will look and feel familiar.
“Other than the testing we do weekly, it’s pretty normal. It’s back to normal,” said Thunderbirds coach Drew Bannister, who was the associate coach at Utica last year. “We want to get the guys comfortable and settled into their places in Springfield, which is important for the players and their families.”
It wasn’t easy to get there. It’s been almost 600 days since the Thunderbirds beat the Wolfpack on March 8, 2020. After that, the 2019-20 AHL season, like most sports, shut down abruptly due to the pandemic. The Thunderbirds were one of three AHL teams who opted not to play in the 2020-21 season for “numerous safety and logistical concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Charlotte Checkers and Milwaukee Admirals also opted out, while four other teams relocated to be either closer to or in the same state as their parent club.
Further complicating matters was that it was supposed to be the first year the Thunderbirds were a Blues affiliate. Some St. Louis prospects played in Europe. Many of the others played in Utica as part of a shared agreement between the Blues and the Canucks.
The teams who did play had a heavily abbreviated schedule that began in February with no postseason. Bannister, who was an associate coach on a combined staff, was proud of the way the Blues and Canucks worked together for the good of all involved. Still, he was looking to having everything streamlined under one umbrella again.
“I thought our working relationship with the Vancouver staff and our players was outstanding. The development side was good for both teams,” he said. “Was it an ideal situation? Probably not, but we certainly made the best of it while we were there.”
The strange arrangement was a bonus for Nolan Stevens, whose father John Stevens was the captain of the last Springfield Indians team (1993-94) and the first Springfield Falcons team (1994-95). His brother John is in the Canucks organization. They were Utica Comets together in 2020-21.
“It was nice. It made that transition a lot easier,” said Stevens, who starred at Northeastern. “We were fortunate to be able to play. There were a lot of people in a lot worse situations than us. We were grateful to be playing and didn’t take it for granted.”
Sam Anas, whose scoring potential could make him a fan favorite in Springfield was over a point per game (20 goals, 50 assists in 63 games) for the AHL’s Iowa Wild when things paused abruptly in 2020.
“We had a good team and we were excited to go on a playoff run,” said Anas, who used the downtime in 2020 to get stronger. “You grind with a team for seven months and the reward is usually playoffs. I think that was the most frustrating part of getting shut down.”
After signing with St. Louis last year, he had four goals and 19 assists in 23 games last year in Utica. He was looking forward to getting to Springfield and hopefully catching the Blues’ eye.
“I’m just trying to make the most of every situation,” said Anas, a Quinnipiac grad. “A lot of it with this staff is your work ethic. If you compete as hard as you can on a nightly basis they’re going to respect that. I hope my work ethic shines through and I can be rewarded for it this season.”
Bannister expects his entire roster to be completely vaccinated. But he’s encouraging players not to let their guard down.
“We know the disease can still spread so they need to be careful out in the public,” said Bannister, whose Utica team had to pause in March for an outbreak. “The mandates are different in Massachusetts and Connecticut and we have players living in Connecticut too. We want to make sure our players are aware of the people they’re around and the places they’re in. We want to make sure they protect themselves.”
Even with that in the back of their heads, having hockey feel normal is a big step.
“It’s nice coming to the rink. There’s a lot less restrictions than there has been,” Stevens said. “It’s getting a more normal feel. It’s nice for all of us to get back to it. Having some energy in the building is something we’re going to really look forward to. We’re hoping to have a ton of fun together and hopefully a lot of success on the ice. We’re excited I think we’re going to have a good team.”
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