Secrets learned from the NHL playoff bubble will be applied by the University of Denver when the Pioneers begin the season next week inside the National Collegiate Hockey Conference “pod” in Omaha, Neb.
DU coach David Carle spoke to his predecessor, Jim Montgomery, the former Dallas Stars head coach now working as an assistant with the St. Louis Blues, about playing 10 games in 18 games. And two former Pioneers who went deep into the NHL bubble in Edmonton — Derek Lalonde, a former DU assistant now with the Stanley Cup-champion Tampa Bay Lightning, and Paul Stastny, a then-center for the Vegas Golden Knights — addressed the team on Zoom calls.
DU assistant coach Dallas Ferguson also leaned on Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, whose team lost in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals to Dallas.
“We’ve tried to expose ourselves and our players about what it’s like to be in the bubble,” Carle said.
But it’s not really a bubble.
It’s being called a pod because security won’t be as tight as a bubble. The Pioneers, who are currently in a seven-day quarantine before departing for Omaha on Sunday, will stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in Omaha — along with Colorado College and Miami. Only players, coaches, and staff will be allowed inside the hotel, but security won’t be as tight as it was in the NHL bubble. In fact, players will be allowed to walk to nearby Baxter Arena, where all 40 games will be played from Dec. 1 to Dec. 20.
All pod personnel will be tested regularly for COVID-19. One positive test will lead to 10-day isolation for that person, plus a 14-day quarantine for any person deemed a close contact.
To that end, Carle is preparing for more than 25 players to play a role in Omaha — a possibility that appears all the more likely given that DU could lose two key players to World Junior duty on Dec. 10 and the Pios haven’t played a game in eight months.
“We expect a lot of uncertainty in the pod,” Carle said. “I think guys are going to be comfortable playing with other guys. So we’ve been doing that quite a bit with forward-line combinations and D-pairings. I think we’re going to need everybody in the pod. Everyone is going to have to play, and play in different moments and different roles.”
Carle, 31, is the NCAA’s second-youngest head coach. Brett Riley, 29, is now the youngest since being hired as the head coach of Long Island University in May.
Carle has a litany of NHL contacts and a grand plan to play in the pod.
“The biggest things will be managing their rest and recovery,” Carle said. “If you can manage those two things well they’re going to be rested and be able to perform at a high level of energy and emotion in the games, which is ultimately the two most important things in this environment.”
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