Flyers Center Sean Couturier and his dog, Mikkie.
Like many of us, Flyers Center Sean Couturier is trying to get used to his new normal.
“I feel like I’m 12 or 13 years old again, doing push ups and sit ups in the living room,” he says. “I try to run at least once a day. And I’m sleeping more. It’s almost as if I’m more tired by doing nothing.”
Before the hockey season went frozen last month, Couturier was feeling great about the team’s prospects heading into the playoffs.
“It’s too bad. We were on a roll and playing with confidence,” Couturier says. “We were getting better every day.”
But while he should be preparing for the start of the play-offs, the best thing he can do for the team, and really the world, is to lay low. The last three weeks have been like the off-season with a very strange self-isolation twist.
“I’m doing my part by sticking around the house and trying to keep healthy,” says Couturier, 27. “I’m spending more time with my wife, which is nice. It’s something we don’t get to do at this time of year with all the travel and all the hockey. But at the same time, we kind of wish we were going on with life as usual.”
When the season came to a halt on March 12, the Flyers were one point out of first place in the Metropolitan Division. Couturier was leading the team in scoring with 46 points in 52 games. Earlier this week, the league’s self-isolation period was extended to April 15.
While many of his teammates decided to leave for their off-season homes last month, Couturier stayed in the Philly area with his wife Laurence Dionne (they got married in June), two cats and a dog. He says he stays in touch with teammates through a group chat.
Like so many others who are sheltering in place and suddenly with a lot of time on their hands, Couturier has already binged-watched “The Tiger King” and other hot shows he probably would never have gotten to until the summer. His new hobby is online shopping and he’s helping around the house more, doing laundry and the dishes. “My wife is happy about that,” he says.
So yeah, April is far different from what he and the Flyers had been working for, but that’s life, Couturier says.
“We have to take care of ourselves,” he adds. “At the end of the day, hockey is just a game. I hope everything is going well with the fans and everyone is staying safe and healthy. We hope to be back soon to prove to you guys that we’re a pretty good hockey team.”
