Justin Barron hasn't gone stir crazy out in Alberta yet.
The Halifax Mooseheads captain is in the thick of a two-week quarantine in Red Deer, along with the rest of the players and staff at Canada's world junior team tryout camp. He hasn't breathed outdoor air or seen anyone else in person in more than a week but said it's been going reasonably well, all things considered.
"We're literally not allowed to leave our rooms," Barron said. "We wake up every day and we get breakfast dropped off in our room usually around 8:30 or 9, then we have a team workout on Zoom at 10 o'clock. They've been really good to us. They dropped off bikes for all the players and staff, and I think they're getting us some (exercise) bands and rollers too.
"After our workout at 10, we just hang out for the afternoon and then we have another team meeting at 3:30 or 4 every day. We get dinner delivered at 5 or 6 and then we do kind of a team-builder meeting at around 7 o'clock; just something fun together. After that we get our snack around 9, then it's back to bed and we repeat."
Barron, 19, is a candidate for the Canadian defence corps and is used to balancing a busy lifestyle between playing for the Mooseheads and going to university part-time. He joked that he's never had more of an opportunity to study than during the enforced isolation.
"I'm taking two classes at Saint Mary's and that's all online so that part of it has actually been good," said the Halifax native. "The last week and a half before the quarantine I was pretty busy here so it's actually been nice to catch up on my school work.
"It's obviously not ideal but everyone on the staff has been reaching out a lot to see how we're doing and we have a lot of group chats with the guys. And the meetings really help; just having that interaction with people every day. Even though it's on Zoom, it's better than not having any. I've also been talking with my parents and facetiming with friends back home, just trying to keep busy. We're about halfway done and I'm looking forward to when it's all over."
Prior to the camp shutting down, Barron had been skating well and had a goal and an assist in two intrasquad games. He's a first-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche but knows that guarantees nothing.
Jamie Drysdale and Bowen Byram were on the Canadian blue line at last year's tournament in the Czech Republic, while there are another three defencemen at camp who are also NHL first-rounders for a total of six. The eight other defencemen in camp were all picked between the second and fourth rounds so the level of competition is fierce.
"We had two intrasquad games before the shutdown and a good week of practice before we shut down," Barron said. "We were skating two times a day at the start of the week and the practices were great, a lot of intensity and a lot of teaching and trying to get the systems here in place. And it was nice to play those games.
"I was one of the lucky ones because I'd been able to play with the Mooseheads in the Q where we are playing games. But it was good for the other guys to get back into it where they haven't really played since March. I think overall it was a good week and a bit. It looked like it was going really well and in the right direction but then obviously we hit a little speed bump. But I have no doubt we'll come out of this and be ready to go again."
This year's world junior tournament is in Edmonton. Teams from around the world are expected to enter the bubble there on Dec. 13. The tournament will start on Christmas day and end on Jan. 5.
