Players on Pause: Michael Grabner

While the NHL continues its break in play due to the ongoing developments resulting from the coronavirus, 'Players on Pause' catches up with different Coyotes players to see how they're spending their time.
Michael Grabner is currently in his second season with the Coyotes. During the hiatus in play, the veteran forward has been spending time at home with his wife and two kids, Adin and Olivia, making sure they're following proper homeschool procedures, while finding the necessary time to work out in his custom-built gym.
"Well it's been definitely different, I don't think a lot of people have experienced anything like this, probably no one," he said, from his Scottsdale home. "It's tough to explain, I don't think we really realize what's going on, I think when all of this is said and done we're going to look back and see what's transpired."

He, like many of us, has been taking a day-by-day approach.
"Just trying to stay here in the moment, trying to keep busy, keep the kids busy, and make the most out of it."
How have you been passing the time?
"For me right now, to be honest, it's kind of been like my summer, like everything I do. I haven't really seen outside what's going on too much, I haven't seen the empty shelves and everything out there. I wake up, get a workout in sometime in the morning, lay by the pool, play with the kids in the yard, play some Xbox. I went golfing a couple of times, it's pretty safe if there aren't any people around. For me, it's been kind of the same routine as I'd normally have in the offseason."

Any particular TV Shows or Movies you're binge watching?
"We've started watching "Designated Survivor", that's been a pretty good show, then the new show "Tiger King" that everybody's watching, we've started watching that. We have some shows saved up, like "Homeland" has started up again, and a couple of others too that we'll get caught up on."
Any books you're reading?
"I haven't yet, I've read a few books over the last year here, but honestly with the kids, when you have kids it's a whole different thing, you don't really have that time because you have to keep them entertained, they've been home, you've got to get them going with a little bit of homeschooling and keep their brains sharp, keep them doing stuff, not just playing Xbox and sitting around all day."
As far as video games, have you been playing any to stay entertained?
"I used to play a lot of "Call of Duty" back in the day, I've tried the new game a little bit, "War Zone" it's called, pretty hard though. I play "Fortnite", a lot of the guys on the team play Fortnite, so I started that. I suck at it though, it's fun to just run around, I'm usually just the medic on the team that collects all the stuff you need to heal."
What's life been like at home with more time to spend with the family?
"It's been good, obviously the season involved a lot of road trips so I haven't been home a whole lot this year. It's nice to be able to spend some time with the family, but at the same time it's weird because I'd usually go to the kids' soccer games and see them there, but obviously all of that stuff is cancelled too. We're just trying to make the most out of it."
Have there been challenges to staying in shape? What have you been doing to stay conditioned?
"I built my own home gym last year, so right now it's probably the best money I've spent, especially with what's going on, so I can do pretty much everything at home that I was doing at the rink, besides skate of course. I've been doing almost the exact same thing as if I was in summer break, the only thing different right now is you don't know when you're going to play, if you're going to play, so you've got to stay in game shape. The hardest part is not knowing what's going to happen, are we going to play in a month, two months, or are we done? A lot of things that are mentally wearing on you."

Have you taken up any new cooking skills in the kitchen during this time? What have you focused on diet-wise?
"The diet part, it's not that hard, especially if you're cooking at home. Some guys like to eat out a lot or order from restaurants, so when you're forced to cook at home it's generally healthier anyway, I find, depending of course what you're cooking. For us, we've just done the same thing, we try to cook at home a lot anyway, you know what's going in your food. I haven't really picked up any new skills, we recently made an elk roast with a sauce from back home. We'll see how many different meals we can come up with."
What steps have you been taking to keep you and your family safe? Any particular message you'd like to pass along to fans?
"Everyone's in a different situation, but for us we try to stay out of people's way as much as we can, we only go shopping when we have to. I've gone to the golf course, but I don't come in contact with anyone. We just try to stay away from people, keep clean, wash your hands. The most important part is just staying away from people, you don't know who has it or doesn't, so I think the best thing you can do is keep to yourself and your family."

Lead Photo Credit: Len Redkoles - NHLI via Getty Images // Footer Photo Credit: Jared Silber NHLI via Getty Images