Derek Damon became the Iowa Heartlanders’ assistant coach in August, but he took the helm of the bench for Wednesday’s game against the Toledo Walleye.

The Heartlanders announced that head coach Gerry Fleming, along with two players on the squad, entered the ECHL’s health and safety protocol after testing positive for COVID-19. So, Damon assumed head coaching responsibilities in the Heartlanders’ 4-0 loss at Xtream Arena.

The COVID-19 problems in the organization started when an undisclosed player reported symptoms on Tuesday. The Heartlanders administrated a COVID-19 test, which came up positive.

That led the club to test all authorized hockey personnel, leading to the three members to enter the league’s health and safety protocol and the cancelation of the team’s Tuesday night show at Brick & Iron restaurant in the Iowa River Landing. The Heartlanders are fully vaccinated.

“You’re always planning, and you always try to take the necessary steps to keep that from happening,” Damon said postgame while wearing a mask and keeping a six-foot distance from reporters. “But it’s a part of the world we live in nowadays, and we try to be diligent as we can, but unfortunately we got whacked with it.”

Damon added he thinks it’s no coincidence that their opponent from Friday and Saturday, the Fort Wayne Komets, have been dealing with COVID-19 issues also.

Fleming and Damon have been in constant communication since the head coach went into isolation. They chatted minutes after the defeat where the Heartlanders were outshot, 40-19, and outplayed.

“That guy is one of the closest people in my life,” Damon said. “I talk to him just as much as I talk to my wife. So, we’ll go over the video here in the next 24 hours and find a way to make some tweaks. But at the end of the day, it just comes down to effort, and we need guys to bring a better effort, bring more will and desire, and make this environment a tough place to play against.”

Wednesday’s game was the first time Damon served as a head coach in his career. The 41-year-old from Bangor, Maine, skated professionally for 14 seasons — including two with Fleming as his head coach.

He transitioned into the next step in his hockey career last season as the associate coach and director of player development for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the British Columbia Hockey League — a junior circuit in Canada.

As Damon stood behind the bench in a suit and purple-striped tie, he has assistance from one of his players. Forward Ryan Kuffner, who was scratched from the game, stood with Damon dressed in a suit.

Damon said he needed someone to help him run the defense. He trusted Kuffner because he’s an experienced player who has 10 games of NHL experience.

“We talked about it beforehand on how we wanted to go about it and how we wanted to run the D,” Damon said. “He did a good job of trying to manage the bench with the D. I gave him some ideas of what he wanted to see and who I wanted to go out there at certain situations.”

The organization will retest for COVID-19 on Friday, according to the Heartlanders communication staff. The Heartlanders are scheduled to finish off the home series against the Walleye on Friday and Saturday.