'Miracle Mike' one of many who have helped lift up the Skylights during multiple quarantines

There's been nothing easy about the coronavirus pandemic. It has been a grind for everybody. And that includes the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team.

While the Skylights have enjoyed time on the court this season and have had some exciting games, they've also had to endure plenty of isolation. Like so many, Northern players have been in quarantine at different points this school year and this season.

In fact, head coach Chris Mouat's team has had to quarantine due to positive COVID-19 tests on four different occasions since October, and that includes just last week, where the Skylights had to cancel games at the University of Providence.

So again, it's been hard. But Mouat, being a coach all the time and not just some of the time, has done everything he possibly can do to help his players and assistant coaches during the quarantine periods, including making use of technology, and good old-fashioned generosity.

"Biggest thing was, when we went into quarantine the first time, I just tried to figure out what I can do to help our kids," Mouat said. "So we got together every single day on Zoom. I wanted to make sure we were staying connected and staying engaged with each other. I also wanted to make sure I was using it as a way to do wellness checks on our kids, for both physical and mental health checks. And then it just kind of evolved from there, where I would try to find some guests to talk to our kids about what we're all going through, and we also started doing things like games and quizzes where we had fun prizes and stuff like that.

"Basically, I'm just trying to do whatever I can to take care of my team because they've been through a lot."

Guest speakers have been a powerful tool in helping the Skylights remain positive, upbeat and even motivated through their isolation times. Included in the speakers to have showed up on the Skylight's quarantine Zoom calls were Oregon women's head coach Kelly Graves, former Montana Grizzly and NFL safety and now coach Colt Anderson, Mouat's good friend, legendary women's coach Russ Davis and even a little known sports editor from the Havre Daily News.

"All of the people who have been willing to come on and talk to our kids, they've just been awesome, and so gracious with their time," Mouat said. "They've all had a great message in their own way. Obviously, my good friend Russ Davis, who has been battling throat cancer, he was so inspirational because there was a time when he didn't know if he would ever be able to eat or drink on his own again. And on our call, he took a drink of water, so that was a really huge moment, it was emotional and it was inspiring.

"And everybody who has spoken to our team, they've been willing to share their experiences and just be so honest with our kids," Mouat continued. "So that's been really special."

And the most recent guest to the Skylight's daily Zoom call was certainly uplifting. Last week, captain of the 1980 U.S.A. Hockey Team, Mike Eruzione spoke to the Skylights, sharing stories about the "Miracle on Ice" historic win over the Soviet Union, the 1980 gold medal, the movie "Miracle," famed head coach Herb Brooks, and even his own dealings with quarantine and the pandemic, as Eruzione is currently working at his Alma mater, Boston University.

"We've been so lucky to have so many different people take time out of their day to help our kids," Mouat said. "And having Mike on was a cherry on top. I reached out to him and he said he'd do it, but then I was just so excited that day, waiting for him to come onto the call. I'm a huge fan, I remember everything about that team and that Olympics and that game, and then I loved the movie and all of it. So I think I was probably the most excited of anyone when he came on."

And Eruzione is talk was certainly inspirational. He spoke to the Skylights about perseverance, about being a team and about life. He also answered questions about his experiences, as well as about the movie "Miracle."

"He just had so many great things to say," Mouat said. "I mean, talk about just having so many great experiences to draw on, and they all translate to what we're going through right now. His message is just so uplifting, talking not only about Team USA and everything they went through, but he also told us all that we'll get through this, that we'll be stronger as a team for having gone through these tough times, and perhaps the biggest message is, it can always be worse. So his words meant a lot and I think it really hit home with our kids."

That's been the point of Mouat's daily Zoom calls and guest speakers, to deliver a positive message to his Skylights in a time when it's been hard to stay positive. Northern, as with so many others, has been through the toughest of the tough times during this pandemic, and Mouat knows first-hand just how tough it's been, as not only has he been through quarantine four times, right along with his team, but had also tested positive for the virus himself.

"It's hard, it's been really hard," he said. "But my main concern is always our kids. We have a lot of kids who are in the dorms, so when we go into quarantine, they're very alone. It's tough, and it's weighed heavy on my mind through all of this, so I've just tried to do anything I can do to be there for them.

"The school has done a great job of being there for them and supporting them academically, and more," he continued. "But I just knew, from the very beginning, that I needed to really figure out how to help get them through this. I wanted to do whatever I could to keep our team together when we weren't together, and from there, make sure they were staying healthy, physically and emotionally. We've probably lost about 40 practices since October over this. So that's all time we would have been on the floor together, so these Zoom calls and these speakers who have been so generous with their time, that's really helped make up for all that time we've lost together."

Together. That's the point, and technology has certainly helped the Skylights stay together. And through that technology, Mouat has also been able to deliver and have amazing people like Mike Eruzione deliver the message that, it's going to be OK. We're going to get through this. And we'll be better for it on the other side.

"I just feel like I'm a coach on and off the floor," Mouat said. "So anything I can do to help these kids get through their day during this, I'm going to try and do that. I hope, through speakers like Mike Eurzione and others and just through the stuff we've been doing, that I've been able to make these kids' day a little better through this. I hope I've just been able to help them get through these tough times. I hope they know, we're all in this together."

The Skylights are hoping to be back together this weekend when they take on Carroll College in Helena.