Players adjusting to role of stay-at-home dad during pause in NHL season

Ryan Getzlaf looked up, his eyes diverted from the camera in front of him. He was participating in a work conference call, as millions of people are doing in their own homes these days, in self-quarantine due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

But for the moment, his attention was elsewhere.
"Oh boy," the Anaheim Ducks forward and father of four said on Friday during on a video call arranged by the NHL. "I just saw my 9-year-old driving our golf cart in the street. That's not ideal at the moment."
Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar, on the call with Getzlaf, quipped, "Parenting 101. What's the worst that can happen?"
It has never been easier to relate to NHL players.
At this time of year, most players are on the road, ramping up for the Stanley Cup Playoffs or winding down seasons. They may not have seen their kids in a few days or a week. Their day jobs call, until the offseason, when they get to see their kids more often.
But now, it is all day, every day at home. It is intense and exhausting and, amusingly, makes their experience easier to understand to non-players, and opponents, with children than potentially some of their own teammates who don't have kids and are passing the time by binging Netflix and playing with their dogs and catching up with old friends.
"I think I go to bed more tired now than when we were playing hockey, with the kids running around all day," said Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who has three children.
"School is a blessing," joked Getzlaf. "We're really missing school."

Said Kopitar, "We had our first Zoom class session today. So that killed about 45 minutes of the day. Things are looking up."
There is a balance for these players, given that they're getting time with their families that they would not have otherwise. They're cherishing it, enjoying it, basking in the time with their kids that they might otherwise have missed.
"That first week you're just excited to be around the family," said Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno, who has three kids. "We don't really get this time. March, when you're gearing up for a playoff race, you're not really gearing up to be with the family. Your mind starts to stay with the team a little more.
"So I've enjoyed the past little while with my family, my kids. They definitely don't really understand why I'm home so much, but it's been nice. But it's getting to a point now where you just start to feel now like things aren't right."
And when the exhaustion is setting in. It has been almost three weeks since the NHL paused its season on March 12, and at least a week or more since most schools closed. That has left parents trying to entertain, educate, and occupy their children for many more hours than they typically would.
"We're full-time teachers, nannies, it's a full-day job," joked Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler, who has three young kids. "I'm more tired now than I was a few weeks ago."

They've been creative in passing the time -- and in trying to get their workouts in.
Fleury admitted to trying to combine childcare and working out by rollerblading with his baby in the stroller. Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise said he's been playing on the sports court in his basement. Getzlaf has been playing baseball and running around with his brood. Pietrangelo has been using his home gym, but only when his kids go down for their 2.5-hour naps in the afternoon. Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog, who has a five-and-a-half-month-old daughter, said has been using his workouts to get a break from diaper duty.

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber has also turned into a referee in his own home.
"I've been pretty busy," said Weber, who has three kids. "Busy with them and a little bit of schoolwork and then obviously trying to keep them from killing each other throughout the day."
And the next day. And the next.
It's a bit like Groundhog Day.
"I was laughing last night because I said there's not enough time in the day," St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "I'm not even working right now and I can't even find enough time to do something for myself."
Like watch TV.
So what is on TV at his house? "Tiger King"? "Ozark"?
"Cartoons," Pietrangelo said. "That's literally all we have on our TV."
The other option in the Pietrangelo household?
Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final from last season, when his Blues defeated the Boston Bruins. Because, as Pietrangelo said, "That keeps them quiet for maybe 45 minutes or an hour, lets you get something done."
Parise had his son, Jaxson, on the call with him on Tuesday. Jaxson, one of Parise's 6-year-old twins, sat quietly for the call, mostly engaged. It seemed a welcome respite for Parise, who said that his day typically starts at 5 a.m. when his 2-year-old wakes up. The other two get up at 7.
"It starts cooking," Parise said. "They do a little schoolwork and then we all look at each other, 'What are we going to do next?'"
Wheeler, whose son, Louie, and daughter, Leni, each wandered into the frame of his video call at times, was able to relate.
Wheeler said it's a race to the end of the day, when he and his wife get their kids to bed around 8 p.m.
"Then there's like a half-hour of just numbness," he said. "Our wine collection's getting low."
Said Parise, "I know what that numbness feels like. Once they're finally down at 7, we usually don't even speak to each other. It's just silence for a good hour."
They both laughed.
Ultimately, though, it comes down to what Landeskog is experiencing.
"It's been fun being a full-time dad for a change."