Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky doing his best to stay in shape while self-isolating during coronavirus pandemic

SUNRISE, Fla. – Like many of his National Hockey League peers, Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is trying to make the best of his new life under quarantine.

Bobrovsky and his wife, Olya, have been spending their time at the couple’s new Fort Lauderdale home while the NHL, and the rest of the sports world, remain on hold due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Like so many others, Bobrovsky is just trying to fill the time.

“We stay at home in self-isolation,” Bobrovsky said. “We can’t go outside, so we go in our backyard. We have a pool, so we can spend some time in there. There’s not much to do.”

Remaining at home every hour of the day can be a challenge for just about anyone, but professional athletes, like Bob, have to find a balance between trying to relax and fill the time with staying in shape as best they can, despite being limited to whatever equipment they have inside their homes.

Afterall, as of the time of this writing, the hope is that the 2019-20 NHL season will resume at some point. While some may think that’s a far-fetched goal, it’s still the responsibility of each player to stay as ready as possible.

“I have the bikes and all the equipment to be in shape,” Bobrovsky said. “It’s not an easy time because we don’t know when we’re going to play, but just one day at a time, do the basic things; cardio, weightlifting, stretching, and all that stuff.”

As any athlete will tell you, working out and training can be a very specific process to each individual player.

That is especially true when it comes to goalies.

There is only so much off-ice work that can be done, but eventually, as Bobrovsky explains, a goaltender has to get out there and take some shots.

"As a goalie, it's a little bit harder to train alone," he said. "You need somebody to shoot on you, you need to see the puck and read the players. At this moment, I don't have that possibility, so I can only build my body to be strong and to be quick."

FILLING THE TIME

As much as Bobrovsky might like to spend his entire day training and exercising, allowing the body time to rest is just as important to staying healthy.

He said that his day usually includes a couple of training sessions, one in the morning and one after lunch, but aside from that, he hasn't done much in terms of finding new hobbies or ways to keep busy.

"No, not really," he said when asked if he's doing anything new or different during his isolation time. "I just more do (things around the) the house better. The cleaning stuff. A little more time to keep the house neat, do the little things that I didn't have the time during the season. That's what I'd consider a new hobby."

Eventually, as the day turns to night, the Bobrovsky's like to slow things down and, as he puts it, "just watch a movie or hang out."

When pressed about what shows or movies he's been watching lately, Bob didn't have much information to provide, indicating that much of what makes it onto his television is content that most of us would need subtitles to understand.

“My wife usually picks the movies,” he admitted. “We’ve been watching…I don’t know how well it translates to English. We watch a little different kind of movies. Some smart movies, some easy movies, all different kinds of stuff.”