Forced to scatter all around the world
Admirals hope they’ll play together again
Earlier this week the American Hockey League instructed teams to send their players home.
If only it were that simple. When play was suspended, the Milwaukee Admirals roster included two Eurasians, Eeli Tolvanen of Finland and Yakov Trenin of Russia, got out with no assurances of when or how they would return.
The 13 Canadians were advised they had a couple of days. Still, they could feel the border closing like a distant elevator door while they carried an armful of belongings.
Even the nine Americans faced challenges.
“We have a house in Edmond, right outside Oklahoma City, but it’s being rented out right now by a family so we’re kind of just staying here and waiting it out for now,” defenseman Matt Donovan said.
During every season Donovan rents to short-term tenants instead of leaving his home empty for six months. This season he imagined a long playoff run and the youth camp he runs in Milwaukee would keep him away into early July. Now he and his family will wait, at least for a couple of weeks, to see how the coronavirus pandemic evolves and social distancing guidelines change.
The AHL announced March 12 it was suspending the season, following the lead of the NHL, and four days later it sent players home bewho
cause the suspension would last at least until May. On Tuesday, the Ottawa Senators said one of their players, left unidentified, had tested positive for COVID-19, making him the first in the NHL and presumably in North American pro hockey.
“We got word before it all kind of started, and we've just been sitting at home trying to stay occupied,” Donovan said. “It's kind of easy with two kids for me. I'm sure other guys just living by themselves are kind of going crazy.”
There may not be a greater group of vagabonds than the athletes who make up the rosters in minor-league hockey.
Virtually every player's goal is to pass through to the NHL, not buy a house and settle with a family in Rockford, Illinois, or Utica, New York, or Scranton, Pennsylvania, or Milwaukee. Some end up with a home in one city, an apartment in another and a hotel room a few days at a time if they're called up by the parent club.
Goaltender Troy Grosenick is the exception on the Admirals roster. He grew up in Brookfield, so Milwaukee is his home, even if he also owns a house in Minnesota.
Grosenick has seen his closest friends from the past few months suddenly scatter.
“Just kind of all over the map, wherever anybody wants to hunker down, wherever they're most comfortable to do it – at least until May – that's where the league will let them do it,” Grosenick said.
“If the season starts up again, I'm sure we'll get them back however that may be. Humanity has just got to (be more important than) hockey at some point.”
Canada closed its border Monday to all foreign nationals except Americans, and on Wednesday restrictions were expanded by Canada and the U.S. to cover all non-essential travel.
Admirals right wing Mathieu Olivier was scrambling to pack up his apartment Tuesday to get to suburban Quebec City, where his family and girlfriend are.
“I'm going to go home and stay ready and kind of enjoy that time with family that probably when we're all going to look back at this in a few years we're going to be grateful we had that,” said Olivier, who also spent time this season with the Nashville Predators.
“I want to get close to the family and do the quarantine with them and hopefully we can get this out of the way.”
When play was suspended, the Admirals (41-14-5-3) led the league in victories and points and were one win from clinching a playoff berth.
That makes this unanticipated, extended break even more frustrating to a close-knit team.
“They haven't canceled the season, so there's a little hope that we might come back and finish the season and try and win a championship,” said Donovan, a 10-year pro. “But it sucks.
“Especially guys who are older, like me (29), we know that and realize it's hard to come by a season like this. To end like this – hopefully it doesn't – it's not a good feeling, but at the same time everyone's going through this. You have to realize what the world's going through right now and realize that it's kind of bigger than hockey.”
If the season does resume, teams will need some sort of abbreviated training camp, the three players said. Hockey requires ice, and rinks are closed.
Strength and conditioning coach Jason Nordby has set up a training program, and many players also use personal trainers.
Grosenick has hand-eye coordination drills he can do at home, but that's not the same as stopping pucks flung in his direction by shooters hidden in a crowd. The skaters can do some stickhandling, but with isolation come limitations.
“You're using totally different muscles to skate than you are to run, and it's a different cardio than it is running,” Donovan said. “You can emulate anything you want off the ice, but it's still going to be totally different once you step back on the ice.”
Payroll coincides with the regular season and the players will receive their final few checks, Olivier said.
The next step is for the league to follow self-quarantine guidelines beyond April before establishing a date for the season to restart, assuming it does, and setting the remainder of the schedule. Then players who've spread across continents will have to get back to their teams. And then they'll need time to get sharp.
“I figure they're going to do some sort of accelerated schedule,” Olivier said. “Especially with no skating, (we need) at least a week, and I'm thinking training camp is going to be miserable for us because we're going to have to be back in shape real quick, and there's nothing like game shape.
“Ideally probably at least two weeks. (But) I'm trying to think logically here, and I'm thinking they're probably going to give us a week.”
Until then, wait at home … wherever that is.