Taking it day-by-day
Eagles players used to uncertainty, stay motivated for second half of season
SYDNEY — Jérémy Langlois doesn’t let uncertainty bother him.
The Cape Breton Eagles defenceman has learned over the past year he can only focus on the things he can control and not what’s happening with the COVID-19 pandemic.
After an extended holiday break, the 17-year-old is back in Cape Breton and currently in the middle of his 14-day self-isolation period, which will end on Sunday.
“It’s tough on the body to be self-isolating in a hotel room,” said Langlois. “It’s pretty tough, but the suite is great and the food is good, so we’re getting through it.”
Langlois is one of eight Quebec players self-isolating in a Sydney-based hotel upon their return to the province in preparation for the second half of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season.
Eagles head coach Jake Grimes is also in self-isolation following his return from Ontario, while athletic therapist Justin Sonea is isolating after spending time outside of Atlantic Canada.
The Maritime players who returned last week are not required to self-isolate and have been taking part in practices with Nova Scotia-based assistant coaches Chris Culligan and Matt Anthony.
The QMJHL has targeted a Jan. 22 return to play for its 18 teams. The league has four protective environment locations in place for the Quebec teams — Chicoutimi, Drummondville, Rimouski and Shawinigan.
As of press time, the league had not announced a plan for its six Maritime-based teams given travel restrictions are in place for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Despite the uncertainty of what will happen in terms of the restart, Grimes is confident play will resume in the Maritimes.
“I think the Maritimes have done a great job from the start of this world problem,” said the second-year head coach.
“There’s some battles going on right now partially because of the holiday break and those type of situations, but I think it will be under control again relatively quickly.”
Nova Scotia recently extended its holiday restrictions until Jan. 24 at 11:59 p.m. while implementing a 14-day isolation period for people entering the province from New Brunswick.
However, people travelling from Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia don’t require self-isolation but are not allowed to stop in New Brunswick on route to this province.
Meanwhile, non-residents of P.E.I. must apply in advance to travel to the island and are required to make travel plans before receiving pre-travel approval. QMJHL teams would have to follow these guidelines for the time being. In New Brunswick, COVID-19 cases remain fairly high and the entire province is currently in the orange zone in its COVID-19 recovery plan. A 14-day selfisolation period is in affect for those entering the province, except for regular cross-border commuters.
Despite these restrictions, the Cape Breton Post has learned the QMJHL is not considering a protective environment format for the Maritime teams due to financial concerns. The league has not confirmed this report.
With plenty of uncertainty, Langlois said there’s not much the team can control right now, however, the players remain motivated and are continuing to stay in shape.
“We don’t know when we’ll play again,” he said, noting he trained with Mathieu Thibodeau while at home last month.
“I think everyone is working hard to keep in game shape and I know we’ll be ready whenever we can start again.”
Like Langlois, Grimes doesn’t know when the team will return to game action, however, he believes there are options to start again.
“In Quebec in the first half of the season, certain teams up north that were near each other played each other quite a bit to get going and there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Grimes.
“Is there a possibility that we stay in our own province for our first two to four games? There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Grimes said the players remain motivated and optimistic.
“They’ve grown a little bit used to this uncertainty in the first half of the season,” he said. “It’s up to us to produce quality practices that help skill level, help their compete level and produce practices they’re going to excel in and enjoy at the same time.”
As of now, the Eagles are scheduled to play the Charlottetown Islanders in backto-back games Jan. 22-23 at the Eastlink Centre in P.E.I. The games have not yet been postponed.
In an email to the Post on Wednesday, QMJHL spokesperson Maxime Blouin said the league is in discussion with public health officials in the Maritimes regarding the restart.
No timeline was provided as to when an announcement will be made.