Cirelli staying busy with the League still on pause

Move over Gordon Ramsay.

There's a new contender to the MasterChef title.

Since the National Hockey League season paused indefinitely March 12, the Tampa Bay Lightning center has been whipping up new dishes in the kitchen of his Tampa home, the time off giving him plenty of chances to perfect his cooking skills, which, admittedly, weren't the sharpest before the break, the schedule of a hockey player not exactly lending itself to the culinary arts.

Cirelli can now make a mean chicken parmesan.

His chicken teriyaki, however, could use some work.

"It didn't turn out the way I wanted to," Cirelli told local media during a video conference call Thursday. "It wasn't that good at all. I'm going to have to try and redo that one and get it right."

Cirelli will certainly have lots of time to straighten out his teriyaki. The NHL pause entered its fifth week Thursday with no clearer picture when or if it will resume now than when it started.

Cirelli said his parents brought their "Taste of Home" cookbook down to Tampa from their suburban Toronto home for their son to use during the season.

He's gotten a lot of mileage out of the borrowed book of late.

"Obviously, this sucks, but I'm learning some good cooking skills which I think will help me out later in life," he said.

So, what else is the 22-year-old Cirelli doing to stay occupied while the world self-quarantines? He's working out of course, preparing for the day when the NHL season hopefully restarts and the Lightning can continue their quest for the Stanley Cup. They were ranked tied for third overall in the NHL and second in the Eastern Conference standings at the time of the pause.

Cirelli gets daily workouts from Lightning director of high performance and strength coach Mark Lambert or assistant strength and conditioning coach Brandon Rogers to perform at home.

"A lot of things that we do is more body weights and stuff like that, but l have a couple weights here, a lot of core, a little bit of strength," Cirelli said. "The biggest thing is I got some roller blades, so I've been rollerblading just to get out and get some cardio in. Or going for a run. Nothing creative really, just kind of stick to my routine Monday through Friday. Go outside a little bit, stick handle, just some things to stay in shape."

He's keeping in close contact with his teammates too, although electronically rather than face-to-face. The Lightning have a group text chat going among the players that's very active according to Cirelli. There's video games too. Cirelli, Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson, Victor Hedman and Mathieu Joseph, who started the season in Tampa Bay but is currently with their AHL affiliate in Syracuse, are all big-time gamers. Johnson's a wiz at Fortnite. Point's the best at Call of Duty: Warzone.
"I'm not that good at either of them," Cirelli admitted. "They've got to pick me up every time. I die; they've got to save me. I think I'm just in their way most of the time."

His teammates might be picking him up virtually, but on the ice, Cirelli leads the charge for the Lightning as one of the top youngsters in the NHL. After recording 19 goals and 20 assists during his first full NHL season in 2018-19, Cirelli pushed those totals to a career-best 28 assists and 44 points at the pause (with 16 goals). Despite his youth, he's regarded as one of the game's top two-way forwards, his defensive prowess earning him consideration for the League's Selke Trophy. In Tampa Bay's final game prior to the break in Toronto, the local media there asked Lightning head coach Jon Cooper of Cirelli's chances of winning the coveted award.

"Being in Toronto and the fact that you're asking me that is a good sign because that means people are noticing," Cooper replied.

Cirelli said he's not concerned the league won't be able to conclude the 2019-20 season, thwarting his Selke push and the Bolts' quest for the Stanley Cup. There's optimism among the players and NHL officials the season will be finished.

And when it does, the Lightning will have their full complement of players available to them, a silver lining in an otherwise trying time. Bolts captain Steven Stamkos was likely to miss part, most or all of a first-round playoff series as he underwent surgery March 2 to repair a core muscle injury. Jan Rutta was out 16-straight games with a lower-body injury but should be fully healed by now and certainly by the time the season restarts. And Ryan McDonagh returned for Tampa Bay's final two games before the pause but was still feeling the effects of a lower-body injury that forced him to sit 14 games. He should be back to 100 percent when the season resumes too.

"To have this little break here is good for them to come back in and have a full, healthy lineup, not just for us but around the whole league," Cirelli said. "I think when we do get back, it'll be great hockey. Every team will be healthy and a good battle to decide (a Stanley Cup champion)."

It's important to remember the Lightning won't be the only team that benefits from the time off and the chance for injured players to heal. But even if every team has every player on its roster available to them, the Lightning still boast one of the deepest, most talented lineups in the NHL comparatively and would be a favorite to win it all.

"From what happened last year, we've got something to prove this year," Cirelli said. "We got to go through another regular season, and we got to be better and try to be better with our game. I thought we were doing it down the stretch there. Obviously, you want to get to the playoffs. It's the most fun playing hockey is that playoff atmosphere and playing in those games. We're optimistic we're going to be able to play again, and we've just got to be ready for when it does."