Jerry York, Tony Granato, Jenny Potter, Dean Blais Make Up 2020 Class Of U.S. Hockey Hall Of Fame

Like most everything else in the sports world these days, the induction of the 2020 class of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame will get a makeover.

Normally, the enshrinements take place each December at a gala dinner in Boston. Due to the ongoing challenges surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, the members of this year’s class will wait until December of 2021 before being formally inducted alongside next year’s honorees.

The announcement of a new class doesn’t usually happen during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, either. This year, with the NHL still in the midst of the tournament that will crown its 2020 champion, Eddie Olczyk of NBC Sports revealed the four new inductees last week, as part of NBCSN’s programming ahead of Game 5 of the Western Conference Final between the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights.

Olczyk himself was inducted in 2012. The class of 2020 is made up of Dean Blais, Tony Granato, Jenny Potter and Jerry York.

Blais, 69, made his mark in the coaching world. Most notably, he won two NCAA national titles as head coach at the University of North Dakota, in 1997 and 2000. He also coached Team USA to a gold medal at the 2010 World Junior Championship.

Blais wrapped up his career at the University of Nebraska Omaha, where he retired in 2017. He’ll spend this winter in Arizona, but hockey season still holds a special place in his heart.

“Jackie and I will be heading down in a couple of weeks, we golf every day down there,” he said.

“But I really really miss going on the ice with the guys. That’s probably the biggest thing that was the most fun for me. It wasn’t the games, it was going on the ice every day with the players.”

Granato, 56, played 774 NHL games on left wing with the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, and reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Kings in 1993. He turned to coaching after his playing days concluded, working with the Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings before taking the reins as head coach at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, in 2016.

This year’s Badgers have been back in Madison and were training in two small groups before taking a two-week pause, starting September 10, as a Covid-19 outbreak rolled through the campus.

“Things have to go right and there’s going to be some bumps along the road,” Granato said. “We don’t have a playbook for this.

“We’ve never been through an experience like this, so you’ve got to be flexible. But if we continue to think of the best interest of our student athletes’ health and safety, I think that there will be a time in the real near future where we’ll be back playing again and being able to participate and coach in the sport that we love so much.”

Granato joins a storied list of fellow Badgers in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

He also follows his sister Cammi, who was inducted in 2008.

Potter, 41, was a teammate of Cammi’s at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics, where the U.S. women’s team won gold and silver medals. In addition to playing at 10 Women’s World Championships, she also suited up at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Games, making her one of just three U.S. women to play in four Olympics. Potter holds the U.S. women’s record for most points in Olympic competition, with 32.

Potter also turned to coaching after her playing days were over. She currently serves as president and head coach of the Northeast Wisconsin Hockey Association and as chief executive officer of Potter Performance Group/Jenny Potter Hockey.

“It’s hockey as usual,” said Potter of her current duties. “As we all know, it’s different across the U.S. We will be coaching with the Junior Gamblers.

“I coach the U12 girls team and the 2010, ’09, ’08 and ’07 teams as well. So we’ve been playing games and we’ve been practicing.

“Who knows what the future will hold in the coming months? We just work with everybody and try and keep kids active. Kids are back at school, some online, some hybrid, some full time, so it’s just helping the kids manage some of this change and what life is right now, and life in Covid.”

York, 75, is the winningest coach in U.S. college hockey history and has won five national titles, first with Bowling Green in 1984, then with Boston College in 2001, 2008, 2010 and 2012. He has been behind the bench at his alma mater, Boston College, since 1994 and is entering his 49th season as an NCAA Division I men’s hockey coach in 2020-21 — a season like nothing he has ever seen before.

“It’s really trying times for all of us, and there’s no book on how to survive Covid, but also how to coach in the Covid season,” York said. “We’re all wearing masks, we’re trying to stay safe, but it’s so unusual.

“We have 12 players on the ice at one time. We have other players in the locker room. We’re trying to wade through this thing and be safe with our student athletes, but they want to play. We want to play.

“Hockey East feels with our protocols set in, and the testing, that we can start as early as November 6, but it’s such a different environment for us. We’re doing the best we can and each day brings new problems, new sets of problems. We keep our fingers crossed that everything goes smooth.”

Schedules for the 2020-21 NCAA hockey season have yet to be announced.

Less than a year ago, in November of 2019, York was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.