TSN's Abbott, Tomlinson and Price prepare for a strange world juniors
Crew headed to Edmonton must isolate in hotel before being allowed into bubble
Jon Abbott says bring on the jokes: His wife Rachelle is due to give birth to their third child in early January. The world changed thanks to COVID-19 in mid-March.
You do the math about how they filled the empty time when there was nothing else to do.
It's come up more than once at work, he admits. Even the Abbotts themselves have laughed about it.
“I've joked with Blake Price that we are considering naming the child Blake,” Abbott said. “Blake laughed and pointed out that it's a good name for a boy or a girl.”
For the first time in six years, Abbott won't be travelling to the site of the world junior championship. For the last five he's been the lead play-by-play caller on the TSN-produced radio broadcasts.
Because of the imminent arrival of baby Abbott, he asked his bosses at TSN national radio if he could stay home and handle the hosting duties and let Price, who has plenty of play-by-play experience in his own right, travel this year.
“I couldn't imagine not being there for her,” Abbott said. “I was prepared to understand that things would be different, so this is pretty cool that they were willing to keep me on because (TSN's top brass) didn't have to.”
Price, analyst Dave Tomlinson and producer Mike Whittingham are flying to Alberta on Tuesday, where they be quarantined in their hotel rooms for four days and tested daily for COVID-19. Should they clear, they'll allowed to enter the tournament bubble, which is centred around Rogers Place in Edmonton, just as the NHL did in the summer for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Price, who will have been tested three times before he even leaves for Edmonton, said he's not worried about getting infected, even if the ongoing rise in case counts, especially in Alberta, keeps him nervous.
“I've been very public about my feelings around how people should be staying safe and behaving during the pandemic,” Price said. “But if the health board says we're on, we're on.”
There were plenty of discussions in the Price household — he and his wife have four kids — but in the end they agreed it was all right for him to spend Christmas away from the family, in the strangest of circumstances.
To pass the time in quarantine in his hotel room and even after, he's picked up an Xbox and also bought a new Portal TV for video calls back home. He's also bringing a yoga mat to encourage himself to keep up his fitness.
There's one concession to reality: “I've brought a box of wine. We can't order in groceries or booze while we're quarantining, we can only eat what's delivered to us by the hotel. It's like luxurious camping.”
Assuming they pass quarantine, TSN will have a common room in the hotel for their staff to use, but they're being discouraged from using it too much, he said.
“Go spend a little time playing cards down there, they're telling us, but they don't want us there for hours.”
Tomlinson has been working on the new Mighty Ducks Disney Plus series since August, so he's been following a pretty restricted life as it is. He gets tested twice a week and has to follow all kinds of protocols around the set and travelling to and from his home.
“I will feel comfortable being in the bubble,” he said. “I know how much effort Hockey Canada has put in.”
He's excited to cover the games, but will definitely miss the chance to talk hockey with familiar faces from all over.
“The toughest part for me, as the guy who likes to talk hockey with other people, that's going to be restricted. I won't be able to wander the corridors during breaks talking to people I know, scouts, directors of development,” he said. “And talking with the players, that will be different, I won't be able to talk with them on the side.”
All three acknowledged this was a challenging time for young players, but expressed confidence in the people making the decisions.
“I would be more concerned if there weren't such strict controls in place,” Tomlinson said. He pointed to how seriously the Canadian team took their own exposure in mid-November as an example.
They quarantined for two weeks in Red Deer, Alta., after two players and a staff member tested positive.
“The IIHF said anyone who tested positive after Nov. 29 would be an automatic deletion,” Abbott pointed out as another example of how he felt hockey's leadership had set a correct tone for everyone involved.
And while some of Canada's competitors are missing key players because they are dealing with COVID exposure or infection, they all believe it will be just as energetic a tournament as ever.
“There's pressure on these young men, they probably put on themselves, they want to be there, it could change their arc,” Abbott said. “Look at Marco Rossi. Austria's back in it this year. ... To hear him be so proud that not only is his country in it but that they can show what it means to play at this level, it's inspiring.”
The thrill of covering the event, of speaking to a national audience, never subsides, he insisted.
“Each time you get to do one of these things you pinch yourself. The first one you never thought would happen. You can't let that feeling escape. You're nowhere near Gord Miller, who's been doing it for 20 years, but six is pretty amazing,” he said. “It means a lot to be involved. There's so many people that aren't who'd love the opportunity. We're going to be speaking to the homes of everyone.”