Michigan Tech senior forward Raymond Brice shown in action against Northern Michigan during the WCHA quarterfinals on Friday, March 6, 2020, in Marquette, Mich. (David Archambeau/Daily Mining Gazette, File)

About 30 minutes north of the Twin Cities, in a Holiday gas station parking lot, Michigan Tech’s hockey season came to a cold, abrupt end.

The WCHA announced Thursday afternoon it suspended the postseason tournament, following suit with other college sports conferences and the NCAA canceling men’s and women’s national basketball tournaments.

“Never did I think my senior year at Michigan Tech was going to end in a Holiday parking lot.”

— Raymond Brice, Huskies co-captain, on WCHA canceling tournament.

A potentially thrilling WCHA semifinal matchup between the No. 6-seed Huskies and No. 1 Minnesota State (31-5-2) went from highly anticipated to dust.

And with that, the careers of five Huskies players entered the history books.

The Huskies end the season with a 21-15-3 record, having won

seven of their last 10 games.

When the announcement came, the Michigan Tech hockey team was in a gas station parking lot awaiting the news. It was a moment set up by conference calls the Michigan Tech coaches held, during the bus ride, with other WCHA schools and the league office, figuring out the best course of action.

On Wednesday night, the NBA suspended the remainder of the season. Shortly after, on Thursday, the NHL followed suit. Major League Baseball suspended spring training and pushed back opening day by two weeks.

“It was always something that was in the back of my mind that was possible,” Huskies head coach Joe Shawhan said. “Until we got the call, we were hoping that wouldn’t be the case. We have full support of the decisions that were made and the reasons they were made. It’s just a unique situation. You just keep going, keep moving ahead. These types of things are kind of — you want to play for the vanity of it. In the long run, people are more important.”

The writing was on the wall. At about 1 p.m. Thursday, the WCHA suspended postseason play. The NCAA shut down all postseason play across all sports.

“There were a variety of different solutions that were being presented, under the direction of the administration and all the universities,” Shawhan said of talks prior to the tournament’s suspension. “They tried everything they could to make it work. When you have NHL, NBA, Major League Baseball and so many different conferences in the different sports, it’s hard to sit out on an island and put your head in the sand. It’s obviously that important.”

And just like that, the season was over. Five Huskies seniors’ careers came to an end. They turned the bus around and the arrived to the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena at 8:26 p.m. Thursday, with neither a win nor a loss. Or even dull skate blades. No fans greeted the team. Players unloaded equipment, held a team meeting and parted ways.

“It’s very shocking to say the least,” Huskies senior co-captain Raymond Brice said. “Never did I think my senior year at Michigan Tech was going to end in a Holiday parking lot.”

Brice, a Houghton native who grew up coming to Tech games as a kid, said being a Husky was his dream come true. When asked of memories that stand out, he took a moment to think, and looked out at a pick-up hockey game inside the MacInnes Ice Arena.

“As a team, winning the WCHA championships and the GLI and individually just playing in your hometown is something so special,” Brice said. “There were a few times I got to start here and that was special. I’ll never forget that. Just being able to put on the Michigan Tech jersey is something so special to me and watching this program throughout my lifetime. To be a special part of it is something so incredible.”

The Huskies other senior co-captain, Alex Smith, said the season coming to an abrupt end is a cold truth, but one that was necessary.

“Everyone’s well aware of the coronavirus but I didn’t think in my wildest dreams it would escalate to what it has,” Smith said. “Obviously there are smart people in charge and making the right decisions. You just have to sort of go with the flow.”

Smith said he is looking into some opportunities to play hockey at the professional level.

“I’ve talked to my advisor and sort of go through that process and keep me in the loop of what’s going on,” he said.

Smith said he made a lot of special memories during his time at Michigan Tech.

“We were joking on the bus we were 1-for-1 in championships,” Smith joked of winning the GLI in December. “The GLI was a big tournament. We’ve been in the finals every year I’ve been here. To finally win it, it was a big deal. We were pretty happy about that.

“I enjoyed my time here. It’s been an awesome four years. I didn’t think it would end this way, but I’m grateful for my time here.”

Senior defenseman Keegan Ford said one of the positives out of all this, is that the Huskies’ last time on the ice was the 4-3 triple-overtime win in the WCHA quarterfinals on March 7.

“I was talking to my dad about that. With some of the guys it’s a good last weekend I guess to go out like that,” Ford said. “I thought we were playing well. To see what we could do against a top team in the country, but obviously didn’t get the chance to do it. To go out winning at Northern in a triple-overtime game is pretty cool for sure.”

Ford said he’s scheduled to report for Army basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, in May.

“I actually have to talk to my recruiter and see if this changes any of that,” Ford said. “That’s still a couple months away. I’m just going to be working out, preparing for that and hopefully this whole coronavirus thing gets cleared up by then and I’ll be able to ship out in May.”

Senior goaltender Matt Jurusik said he was upset at the decision to suspend the tournament.

“I was kind of riled, to be completely honest,” Jurusik said. “We worked pretty hard and we were facing a great opponent, a great task this weekend that would’ve really been a benchmark for the rest of the postseason. Getting it canceled and nothing you can do about it is tough, but public safety’s the utmost concern so it is what it is.”

Jurusik said he will talk to NHL teams in the coming days about a potential future in professional hockey.

“I’m going to figure that out here in the next couple of days,” he said. “Teams — we’ll see — I’ll sort that out. It should look good setting myself up. We should be good.”

Todd Kiilunen, the fifth Huskies senior, was unavailable for comment.

Ford, who transferred to Tech from the University of Wisconsin, said playing at Tech is unique.

“I think until you get up here, you don’t really understand until you’ve experienced it, experienced the town and the fans and stuff,” he said. “It’s a very unique place. I’ve always said that. Definitely going to cherish my time here.”