Ivan Barbashev and his wife, Ksenia, are about to become parents. The Blues forward exited the Edmonton bubble and hopped on a flight back to St. Louis for the birth of the couple’s first child.
That means two things for Barbashev:
• Before he can re-join the team he must quarantine in his Edmonton hotel room for at least four days. He cannot practice or play during that time.
• While in quarantine, he will need to test negative for COVID-19 four times before he can exit.
The Blues have played one round-robin game so far -- a 2-1 loss to the Avalanche on Sunday. St. Louis finishes up their three-game schedule with games against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday (6:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN) and Sunday against the Dallas Stars.
When the NHL and NHLPA finalized the Return to Play plans, Barbashev knew this was a possibility. But even though he’ll miss a few days, this was always the plan for the family.
“We didn’t even talk about it, [whether] to opt out or not,” Barbashev said via the Blues. “It was actually really simple. I’m still 24, I have a full career ahead of me. After winning [the Cup] last year, I want to do it all over again. That feeling has been stuck in me for a long time and you just get even more hungry after winning.”
[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]
Western Conference round-robin schedule
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Avalanche vs. Stars, 6:30 p.m. ET – NBCSN
Thursday, Aug. 6: Golden Knights vs. Blues, 6:30 p.m. ET - NBCSN
Saturday, Aug. 8: Golden Knights vs. Avalanche, TBD
Sunday, Aug. 9: Stars vs. Blues, TBD
MORE:
• 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.