Islanders' Ryan Pulock can see virus fallout from Manitoba

Ryan Pulock returned to Brandon, Manitoba, shortly after the NHL season was paused on March 12 because he believed it would be safer than more densely populated Long Island during the COVID-19 outbreak.

But the Islanders defenseman is not immune to coronavirus concerns and understands the difficulties that health-care providers face. His longtime girlfriend, Paige Friesen, is an emergency-room nurse at the local hospital.

“It honestly hasn’t been that bad just because there haven’t been the cases here,” Pulock told Newsday this week. “It’s a little different than New York. If she was a nurse working in New York, it would be a lot different. Part of it is just everyone is so spread out. The population [48,859 as of 2016] is a lot smaller and I just don’t think it got around like it has in the bigger cities.

“There is that fear of the unknown — when is it going to get bad?” Pulock added. “Everyone was just trying to follow the guidelines and be prepared and be prepared for the worst. So far, it hasn’t been that stressful here just because it’s been pretty quiet.”

Pulock said it’s that fear of the unknown that is the most stressful aspect.

“The health-care workers in New York have put in tremendous work and they’ve been right in the middle of it for a while,” he said. “Some of the other places that maybe haven’t seen it, there’s that uncertainty of they don’t know if it’s going to get bad. So I think that’s stressful for them as well.”

The couple, along with their three dogs, have property in Brandon with a sizable backyard and “a lot of open spaces to do stuff if you need to,” Pulock said.

Pulock shared video in March of him skating on an outdoor rink, making him one of the few NHL players to be on the ice since the season was halted. But he said the weather turned warmer and that he was able to skate for less than two weeks after returning home.

Pulock has followed the home workout program sent to him by the Islanders’ training staff and said he has tried to spend as much time outdoors as possible, either playing with his dogs, landscaping or doing odd jobs around the house.

When play was stopped, Pulock, 25, was on pace for a career season with 10 goals and 25 assists in 68 games. That matched his career high for goals. He was two shy of matching his career high of 37 points and three assists short of tying another career high.

It seemed like good timing for Pulock as he completed a two-year, $4 million deal. He likely was looking at a hefty raise as an arbitration-eligible top-pair defenseman.

But COVID-19 has altered the NHL’s economic landscape. The salary cap, once projected to rise between $84 million and $88.2 million for 2020-21, might remain flat at $81.5 million.

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s going to affect me in some way,” Pulock said. “This is affecting everyone. This goes beyond hockey. This goes beyond sports. It’s affecting people losing their jobs. People aren’t able to work, so I can’t really sit here and complain about that.”

He added that preliminary discussions about a new deal with Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello have not been held yet.

“I just think there’s so much uncertainty on everything going forward, for both sides it’s probably better off that we wait,” Pulock said. “Just figure out what the league is going to do before we jump the gun. For myself, there’s not really a big rush. There’s a lot more important things to figure out right now.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.