
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has restricted most of us to our homes, as the country and world attempt to mitigate the drastic effects through social distancing. Hopefully, you're surrounded by the people that make you feel better about the situation, and not ones that drive you up a wall. However, it's likely you didn't have much of a choice as to who you've been quarantining with. In times like these, safety takes priority over preference, and rightfully so.
Sharks captain Logan Couture has remained in the Bay Area ever since the NHL season was indefinitely paused on March 12. He is holed up with his girlfriend, who apparently makes for a much better quarantine partner than one of his longtime teammates.
As part of a video call with the NHL and a few Pacific Division rivals Friday morning, each of the participants was asked which of their respective teammates they would most and least want to be quarantined with, and why. Couture had no trouble coming up with his answer for the latter.
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"The least one's easy," Couture said. "[Joe Thornton]. I don't know how he's surviving right now. The guy has ADD, for sure. If he can't go to the rink, he's lost."
Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf, who has played with Thornton on Team Canada, agreed with that assessment.
"That's 100 percent true," the longtime Sharks nemesis chimed in.
"I don't know what he's doing," Couture continued. "I've texted him a couple times throughout this just to check in on him, see how he's doing."
At last update, Thornton, 40, insisted he has multiple seasons left. As in, plural. Maybe he is going a little stir crazy.
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As for who Couture thinks would make for a great quarantine partner, he took a bit longer to arrive at an answer, but ultimately landed on someone who, technically, isn't his teammate.
"I'll say Barclay Goodrow, even though he was just traded," Couture responded. "I think him and I have the most in common, and I still count him as being a Shark. He's only been in Tampa for a little bit, so he'd be my guy."
It has been just over a month since Goodrow was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a first-round draft pick, nearly half of which has occurred since the league halted play. He and Couture spent five-plus seasons as teammates in San Jose, so one would imagine they know what makes each other tick.
Best of luck to you and yours as we each do our part to help flatten the curve. If you're anything like Thornton, hopefully there's a socially-distant rink nearby.