The sounds of family life rattled in the background as Washington Capitals defenseman Jason Doig talked about what he is doing during the National Hockey League's lockout, which has discontinued the game for the foreseeable future.
"We're about to have lunch," Doig said during a phone conversation last week, as his wife, Faye, set the table and their children, Jaggar, 11 months, and Kyla, 3 1/2 years, clamored.
He and his family are living in an apartment in Baltimore while he is in rehab at the Maryland Sports Care and Rehab Clinic in Westminster for a wrist injury he suffered near the end of last season.
If this were any other season, he wouldn't be home yet from the team's Piney Orchard training facility, where he would probably skate with his teammates and do some of his rehab work while the rest of the team practiced during the regular season.
But this is the year the NHL owners have decided to take a hard-nosed stand and locked out the players with negotiations stalled over a new collective bargaining agreement.
Autumn leaves turn brilliant shades of red and temperatures begin to drop, but NHL hockey is nowhere to be seen - unless you count the 1,230 games that are to be simulated on G4techTV, complete with an NHL Virtual Hockey Update hosted by veteran Los Angeles Kings star Luc Robitaille.
And that means Doig can be home for lunch with his family and the Detroit Red Wings' Chris Chelios can try out for the U.S. Olympic bobsled team and the Colorado Avalanche's Matthew Barnaby can give something called the Original Stars Hockey League, a four-on-four competition, in Ontario, Canada, a try.
"You've worked your whole life to play in the NHL," said Caps center Trent Whitfield. "Now, there is nothing we can do but wait it out. I think when we do get back, it will take a couple years for the league to recover. ... The fans don't forget, and they don't understand why things like this happen."
Many of the Capitals, like others in the NHL, have headed for Europe to play professionally. There are 237 NHL players who have taken that route, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation.
But others have chosen a different path. Caps goalie Olie Kolzig is among 513 players who decided not to go to Europe. He's in Tri Cities, Wash., near the Oregon border, where he is working out regularly and staying in peak condition, according to his agent, Art Breeze.
"He's spending his time very happily as a full-time father and husband, and he's also a part-time volunteer goaltender coach with the Tri-Cities Americans of the Western Hockey League," Breeze said, naming the team Kolzig played for before joining the Capitals in 1989. "He's attending to a myriad of family and business pursuits."
Whitfield played 44 games for the Capitals last season. But today, he and Caps teammates Steve Eminger and Darcy Verot are in Maine with the Caps' top affiliate in the American Hockey League, the Portland Pirates.
"The lockout is definitely scary ... but, from a personal standpoint, I'm fortunate," Whitfield said. "I'm playing in Portland and making a living."
Whitfield, 27, and his wife discussed his playing in Europe, but decided to stay on more familiar ground.
"It's great for us to have them here," said Portland coach Tim Army. "Our team is young, and Trent and Darcy provide experienced leadership and Eminger is a very talented young defenseman.
"Once the CBA is settled, I'm sure they and several of their teammates will be called back to Washington. But until then, they're getting the benefit that comes from playing hockey regularly and their presence enhances our club."
With Doig, the Capitals are paying for his rehab, and until he is cleared to play, they are also paying his salary because the injury occurred before the lockout.
Once his wrist is back to normal, though, Doig said he will pursue other opportunities just like his NHL peers.
Two weeks ago, Caps center Jeff Halpern, 28, a native of Potomac, decided to play in Switzerland. And Caps defenseman Josef Boumedienne is in Sweden. Both men say they have found comfortable alternatives to the NHL, though both long for the lockout to end.
"There are two benefits from being where I am," Halpern said by phone from Porrentruy, where he is playing for HC Ajoie of the Swiss B-League. "On the hockey side, it gives me the chance to do what I do and what I enjoy doing. I'll also be playing for the U.S. team in the Deutchland Cup competition in mid-November.
"From the cultural, life experience side, it is providing an opportunity to see another side of the world. Porrentruy is definitely in the Swiss country, a real small town. The people here have been very friendly and on my days off I'm trying to travel and see the rest of the country."
Boumedienne, a Sweden native, is playing for Brynas in Gavla, about 90 minutes from his family's home in Stockholm.
"We knew last season that the lockout could happen," said Boumedienne, 26, who joined the Capitals in 2002. "We started finding out then, asking if there is a lockout, would teams be interested. This was a good choice for me.
"The Swedish league, right now with Peter Forsberg and several other NHL all-star players here, is a real competitive league, but we'd all rather be playing in the NHL," Boumedienne said by phone. "The NHL is the best hockey in the world, and the salaries here are not comparable. It's good money, enough to get by on, but not NHL money."
How long players will be in Europe is anyone's guess, but they've been advised the lockout could last the entire season.
"I'm extremely worried about this," said Halpern. "As a fan of the game it's a horrible, horrible thing."
