This Thursday is Thanksgiving, or as it’s known in the hockey community, “American Thanksgiving.” Which means it’s time for an annual tradition in this column: What we’re thankful for in hockey.

As this is the 2020 edition of said tradition, I was a little concerned it would end up being slightly shorter than a tweet. This year has, to put it eloquently, completely sucked on several dozen fronts. If there was a way to create the “Men in Black” blinky thing and wipe 2020 out of our minds forever, I imagine a good portion of us would stare straight into the light and kiss this cursed epoch goodbye.

But then we’d forget about the positive stuff from this year, too. The broadening of hockey’s community. The voices of change that were amplified or discovered for the first time. Oh, and that time a Zamboni driver became an emergency backup goaltender and defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs. Especially that last one.

We asked some hockey friends and people whose takes we truly value to tell us what they’re thankful for this year. Here are members of the ESPN hockey fam, as well as R. Renee Hess, Julie Stewart-Binks, Brock McGillis, Sean “Down Goes Brown” McIndoe, Harnarayan Singh, Steve Dangle, Mike McKenna and many more. Enjoy!