Hedman, Barkov doing their best to stay in touch with family in Europe

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman and Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov are doing their best to stay in touch and up to date with family members who are nearly 5,000 miles away from them during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

"I obviously wish I could be there too," Hedman said on a video call arranged by the NHL on Monday. "You want to be close to your family at this time, but you just have to make sure it's safe enough to get back there."
Some European NHL players have returned to their home countries while the season is on pause because of the concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, but Hedman and Barkov are still in Florida.
Hedman is self-quarantined at home in Tampa with his wife and three dogs, including two dogs they're fostering. Most of his family is in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, which is six hours north of Stockholm. His brother, Johan, lives in southern Sweden.
Barkov is self-quarantined with his mother, Olga, at his home in Boca Raton, Florida, but the rest of his family and friends are in Tampere, Finland, which is about three hours north of Helsinki.
"We might have one or two cases [of coronavirus] up there [in Ornskoldsvik]," Hedman said. "So they've been kind of lucky so far, but they're still very, very careful with what they do and trying to stay inside as much as they can, social distancing."

Barkov said it's similar in Tampere.
"I know Helsinki is shut down, you can't really go from there to anywhere," Barkov said on the same video call arranged by the NHL. "[Tampere] has a couple cases, but still everything is the same. Restaurants are closed except for takeout. It's a similar situation to where I am now. I'm just trying to stay home, and all my friends are doing that too."
Barkov said he is staying in touch with friends by playing video games with them. He also said it helps having his mother by his side so he doesn't have to be alone.
Hedman seemed encouraged that his family members and friends back home are doing what they can to self-quarantine even though Sweden's government and Public Health Agency hasn't yet put in the same strict recommended guidelines as many other countries, including Finland.
"Not all of the schools are closed, but I think less and less kids are at school, they're home and parents are taking care of them," Hedman said. "But it's the same for them, unprecedented times and nothing you can control other than what you do yourself. They're all very, very knowledgeable about this and they know what's going on."