from Emily Kaplan of ESPN,

This Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the NHL suspending its 2019-20 season amid COVID-19. The pandemic upended everyone's daily lives and routines, and it put the NHL season on pause for four months before returning for a postseason -- though some teams went 10 months without any game action. ESPN asked more than a dozen people around the game to share what they learned over this past year.

Nick Foligno, Columbus Blue Jackets forward: "I learned how much the game is ingrained in me. It made me realize, hopefully, I'm not ready to get out of the game soon. I realized how much I missed just playing hockey. The NHL can sometimes become a grind when you play this long, but it refreshed my feelings toward the game. Because when it gets taken away from you, and you don't have anything you really set yourself up for, you realize how much it is part of you. And I'm proud of that. I realize how much I truly love it."

Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings forward: "I've really realized how much of a homebody I am. I really appreciate being home. I just bought a house a couple years ago, and I think with our lives as professional athletes, there's a lot of coming and going. A lot of packing bags, trips. So just to have that first three or four months of lockdown and quarantine, I was home and I just appreciated it. I got a Bernedoodle puppy, so that obviously helped make it feel a lot like home."

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