‘Fab Five’ Flames not sick of each other yet
Some day, Mark Giordano, Michael Stone, Mark Jankowski, Matthew Phillips, and Dillon Dube are going to be sick of each other.
It won't likely be soon. The five Calgary Flames teammates are simply excited to be out of their houses, together with their crew and back on the ice, trying to inject some normalcy back into their daily routine since the start of the National Hockey League's ‘Return to Play' Phase 2 officially kicked off last week.
“It is what it is right now,” Dube said, following the team's first ice time this week at Scotiabank Saddledome which remains closed except for a select group of team personnel. “Guys are ready to come back. We're just waiting to see more of a plan, but I think guys are going to be on their way really soon. I like the group right now. But it doesn't really matter who all is here, we're all just happy to be back on the ice. I know guys that aren't here are doing whatever they can to be ready to go.
“We're going to take strides and get ready to go, regardless. But I definitely just enjoy being back right now.”
Three months ago, when the COVID-19 outbreak put the entire world on pause, including the NHL, players and teams — not to mention the city, province, country and continent — had no idea what to expect.
Many of the Flames' players stuck around the city for a bit, until eventually receiving word they could head back to their hometowns, cities, and countries. Giordano, who calls Calgary home yearround, hunkered down with his wife Lauren and their two young kids Jack and Reese. Jankowski, his girlfriend Rachel, and their puppy Lucy headed back to Ontario, only recently returning when the NHL's plans began solidifying and the province of Alberta began its' relaunch program.
Dube and his brother Jake made regular trips from their Calgary apartment to their family's home in Cochrane, where they were able to work out and see their grandpa.
Meanwhile, Stone's family quarantine bubble consisted of his wife Michelle, their twins Wyatt and Jolie and young son Rhett, along with Michelle's parents.
“It was not normal to be stopped so suddenly,” Stone said. “We didn't say goodbye to anyone and didn't really end things because things aren't done. That was weird. So it's nice to get back.”
But now, their daily routines include commuting back to the Saddledome where they are just beginning Phase 2 which includes small group skates and workouts at the team facilities — a back-to-action, skate-offthe-summer-rust, return-from-off-season series of ice times.
Except it wasn't the offseason. And it's only the start of summer.
“It's different, being the middle of June and we're just getting started again,” Stone said. “This is when I would start skating to get ready for the next season. And it doesn't feel like a normal offseason because we haven't been training like a normal off-season.
“It's completely different than normal.”
The Flames are expecting players to filter into Calgary as the days roll on, a large portion of them awaiting Canada's quarantine rules regarding international travel and mandatory isolation for 14-days. That could change, should the NHL receive an exemption to include their facilities as part of the quarantine ‘bubble.'
So, right now, it is just a small group so far. Hence the quality time between the ‘Fab Five.' No goalies.
“I think getting on the ice is the best part of it, regardless if there are goalies or not,” Dube said. “That's the least of my worries. You just want to get your touches back. It's been two days in, maybe if it's two weeks in you would get annoyed by it. But I don't think it's bothered anybody else.”
Outside of the normal creakiness, after being off the ice completely for three months, Dube reported that it wasn't as bad as he thought.
And that he wasn't completely in off-season mode; that the season is just getting ready to heat up again.
“You're going to expect it, especially how the season ended right away,” he said. “You didn't have a chance to mentally regain yourself and go into normal summer mode. When you're back on the ice, you're ready for it. The whole time (during the pause) you were just waiting. I was wanting to get back for so long.
“But mentally, it was a bit different … I actually felt better Friday than I did (Monday).”
Because, in many ways, the reality is starting to sink in.
Just like every day of quarantine felt a bit like Groundhog Day on repeat, the Flames will be starting to feel the same way about a month of voluntary workouts and skates before training camp starts on July 10.
However, Phase 2 is necessary — especially given the stakes on the horizon and how fast things are going to ramp up, even if it is in an unorthodox fashion.
“I'm really excited for this phase,” Dube said. “I'm going to need it. I think everyone's going to need it. I think it's really big for us to have this Phase … I really need to get myself ready, so I don't want to jump too far ahead. We've had two skates so far. Obviously, we're really excited to play but I need to get my game back to where it needs to be.