The Rink Live

It was one of those moments where Mark Frankenfeld will not forget where he was. Frankenfeld, the NAHL commissioner, was in an airport in March when he got the news that most sports were shutting down because of the coronavirus pandemic. He ended up holding a Board of Directors meeting from the airport as the NAHL decided what to do.

Frankenfeld tells that story, talks about how the league was able to hold its combine, protocols in place to keep players safe, the difficulty of putting together a season and more. He also discloses a proposed start date for the rescheduled NAHL Showcase and when its Top Prospects events will be held with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.

University of Michigan head men's hockey coach Mel Pearson played high school hockey in Edina for iconic coach Willard Ikola, then at Michigan Tech for legendary coach John MacInnes and then began a coaching career that included being a long-time assistant for Wolverines Red Berenson. Berenson coached the Wolverines for 33 seasons and led them to two national titles. MacInnes led the Huskies to three national titles. Ikola led Edina to a record eight state titles.

So Pearson had some good coaching mentors. He talks about leaving Michigan to be the head coach at Michigan Tech, returning to Michigan to replace Berenson, his playing career, why you should not climb on the roof to shovel snow off it, picking up pucks beneath the stands at Braemar Arena and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.

United States Hockey League commissioner Tom Garrity said he missed a meeting and that's how he ended up moving into the Tier I junior league's top position in 2018. Joking aside, he took the position on an interim basis and it ended up becoming a permanent appointment.

Garrity, like all hockey commissioners, is faced with a number of tough questions when looking at trying to put together a 2020-21 season. The league plans to open on Nov. 5 and 14 teams will play a 54-game regular season. Typically, the league plays a 62-game schedule and there would have been 16 teams this season.

But Cedar Rapids and Madison have opted not to play this season, but plan on returning for the 2021-22 season. Garrity discusses why those franchises aren't playing, player safety during the coronavirus pandemic, fighting in the league, will there be another league franchise in Minnesota and more with The Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.

Mark Wick has been involved with college hockey as a player and coach for more than 30 years. He played for Gustavus Adolphus College for two seasons (1981-83) and two seasons for the College of St. Scholastica (1983-85).

As a graduate student, he was involved in coaching club hockey at Bowling Green. He was an assistant coach at St. Scholastica (1986-88), Augsburg (1988-96) and University of Wisconsin-Superior (1996-2000) before becoming the head coach at St. Scholastica (2004-18). He is beginning his third season back as an assistant at Augsburg.

During the 2014-15 season, Wick took a leave of absence to seek help for anxiety and depression. He has become a mental health advocate and on Sept. 29, he will attempt to golf 132 holes on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at Bulrush Golf Club in Rush City for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in September. Wick said that there are an estimated 132 suicides per day in the United States.

He is looking to raise money for Face It Foundation in Minnesota.

There are a number of places that help people with depression and Wick also said that people can contact him (@coachwick23 or [email protected]) if they are looking for help.

The Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association is looking to avoid a delay to the beginning of the boys hockey season. MHCA president Jon Ammerman, Moorhead High School's head coach, joins The Rink Live podcast to discuss the proposals the association is planning to present the Minnesota State High School League for the 2020-21 season.

Ammerman talks about how the association came to some unique ideas, the frightening prospect of the high school league not being willing to sponsor a season and contingency plans if they don't.

He also discusses his playing career at Moorhead and St. Cloud State and his teaching and coaching career at Moorhead and Windom.

Bob Nygaard's position as sports information director at the University of Minnesota Duluth was eliminated on April 2. It was not long before people started asking him to work for them.

The Duluth Amateur Hockey Association ended up winning the Nygaard lottery and he is their new executive director.

Nygaard talks about his new position, moving forward with a 2020-21 youth hockey season and shares numerous memories of his 37 years with the Bulldogs.

The 2019-20 youth hockey season ended in early March with some age levels not able to have their state tournaments in Minnesota because of the coronavirus pandemic shutting things down.

The good news is that the 2020-21 youth season is beginning, though there are some changes to keep players, coaches, fans and referees safe. Minnesota Hockey executive director Glen Andresen talks about some of the challenges of the last few months.

Besides dealing with the pandemic, Minnesota Hockey has been addressing race and equity in the game and discussions on contingency plans if there is no boys and girls hockey sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League this season.

All this and more with The Rink Live hosts Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.

When Tom Palkowski was asked to help the University of St. Thomas women's hockey team as an assistant coach, he turned it down. But persistence paid off for Kevin Gorg, who was the program's first varsity head coach.

Palkowski agreed to be an assistant coach in 1998. He spent nine seasons as an assistant coach and is about to begin his 14th season as the Tommies head coach and could not be happier he decided to leave life as a boys hockey coach.

Palkowski, a former St. Thomas standout in the 1980s, talks about his coaching and playing career and some of the challenges that moving up to the NCAA Division I level from Division III will post. St. Thomas moves up to Division I in 2021 and the Tommies women's team will play in the WCHA.

East Grand Forks was named one of four finalists in the Kraft Hockeyville USA competition on Aug. 17.

The other finalists are the El Paso (Texas) Event Center, the Wichita (Kan.) Ice Center and the Wildcat Centre Arena in River Falls, Wis. The winner will get $150,000. The runner-up gets $30,000. The other two finalists get $10,000.

East Grand Forks put forth a $13.42-million list of ideas to upgrade the baseball fields at Stauss Park and fix the most pressing problems at the East Grand Forks Civic Center and VFW Memorial Arena earlier in August. So the timing of the online voting competition is excellent.

East Grand Forks Park & Recreation Superintendent Reid Huttunen and East Grand Forks boys hockey coach Tyler Palmiscno talk about the competition, the facility and history of hockey in the city. The voting for the Kraft Hockeyville USA competition will be Aug. 29-30 and people can vote at www.krafthockeyville.com.

Darby Hendrickson is about as embedded as a person can be to hockey in the state of Minnesota.

As a senior at Richfield High School, he was named Mr. Hockey. He played two seasons at the University of Minnesota, scored the first goal for the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center and now is an assistant coach for the Wild.

Hendrickson shares experiences from his playing days, his work with the Hendrickson Foundation, what it was like growing up as the kid of a hockey coach and what it is like to be a hockey dad. All this and more when he joins the Rink Live's Jess Myers and Mick Hatten on this episode.