Any other year Logan Flodell would be preparing for the Atlantic university hockey season.
But 2020 is unlike any other year.
The Acadia goalie was enjoying a memorable 2019-20 campaign. He was named the conference MVP and his Axemen were hosting the University Cup national championship when COVID-19 shut it all down in March.
The Regina native is back in Wolfville (he returned to Acadia on Aug. 15 and four of his five classes are online) but AUS hockey remains in limbo.
“Our season would be starting right now,” Flodell said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a long journey where we haven’t been able to skate or really do anything. It sucks. We’re missing half of the year of school and guys are getting older and wrapping up their hockey careers. They want to finish by playing so hopefully we can get some kind of season going. It’s not the best feeling but we’re making do and trying to make the most of it.”
The cancellation of national championships last season and with all Atlantic conference competitions suspended until at least January, AUS student-athletes like Flodell have found themselves in an unusual predicament during this pandemic.
That has drawn the interest of Saint Mary’s University researcher Dr. Cheryl MacDonald, who’s studying the impact of COVID-19 on the everyday lives of these student-athletes.
MacDonald, a sport sociologist whose work has been published in the Sociology of Sport Journal, was conducting a study on gender and sexuality education in hockey when the pandemic hit. She used the pause as an opportunity to change directions.
“The guys were worried about their classes, their hockey season and what was going to happen next,” MacDonald said. “The most useful thing I could do was to figure out how the pandemic was affecting the student-athletes I had been previously working with.
“I opened it up to all men’s and women’s sports across the AUS because I know Atlantic University Sport best. I figured this would be the best way to support them.”
The study, which launched on Sept. 8, asks participants between their second and fifth year of sport eligibility to complete an online survey and photo sharing exercise aimed at examining how their activities, relationships and mental health has been affected since last March.
The study will remain open until Oct. 16. MacDonald will release her report publicly in December.
“A lot of folks were frustrated because their classes were online, their sport participation had ended and they lost their routine," MacDonald said.
“But athletes, more than a lot of people, are really good at keeping a positive mindset. I do see them using the tools that they’re getting from competition to try to bounce back quickly and frame this positively. I’m seeing a small indication that for some of them, the pandemic actually provided a break from their very demanding schedule. It was a bit of a welcomed step back from their lives.
“However, now that we’re back into class, I’m not sure how all that’s playing out.”
While fall competition in the AUS was cancelled, there’s a sliver of hope some sports can be salvaged in the new year.
“When this project came to fruition, nobody was going to do any sports in the fall,” MacDonald said. “Now we’re seeing AUS is beginning to open up to at least practices and scrimmages.”
As gyms reopen and team workouts resume, Flodell – who’s in his third year at Acadia – remains hopeful a regular season in some form will be held in 2021. He cites the success of the NHL playoff bubble and the start of a shortened QMJHL season next month as reasons for his optimism.
“The NHL has done a great job of how they put everything on. And now the world juniors is a go and junior programs are starting up in October,” said Flodell, the 2019-20 Acadia male athlete of the year.
“Maybe this will move down the chain to the university level and we get the opportunity to play.”
