“When your son calls you crying, it’s not easy. I don’t know if you have children, but it’s hard to remain insensitive when this happens to you… ”
The one speaking is Sébastien Bordeleau. In life, he is a player development coach for the Nashville Predators. But this time, it was as Thomas Bordeleau’s father that he was speaking.
Physically, Thomas Bordeleau is doing better. The San Jose Sharks prospect has COVID-19 and must remain in isolation until Wednesday.
It was on December 11 that he received his fateful test. He was experiencing symptoms, but had received his booster dose against the virus five days earlier. So he hoped his discomfort was a side effect of the vaccine. It was ultimately not.
“From Friday to Sunday [du 10 au 12 décembre], I had a lot of muscle pain, a little fever. It was like the flu, but with more muscle pain, ”he explained in a telephone interview with Press, Sunday.
He is better physically, but mentally, it is something else.
The US-born Quebecer was deprived of participation in the World Junior Championship with the US team for the second year in a row. And since he will be 20 on January 3, this was his last chance to participate.
That’s why he sobbed when he spoke to his father on the phone.
At the wrong time
Decidedly, fate is hitting Thomas Bordeleau.
His exclusion from the World Juniors last year is still heavy on his heart. The reason: his co-room, John Beecher, had tested positive for COVID-19. Bordeleau had therefore been excluded because he was a close contact, even if he had ultimately not been contaminated.
We then understood why he had not been contaminated: the Beecher test was in fact a false positive!
This year the situation is different. But when it comes to bad luck, take this: Michigan teammate Kent Johnson also contracted the virus, but he got his result about five days before Bordeleau. Johnson was therefore able to come out of his 40s in time to enter the “bubble” of the World Junior Championships, where he plays for Canada.
The build-up is hard. Last year it was unfair. The tournament handled it in a very ordinary way. But this year I really had a positive test so I have no complaints. USA Hockey really explored all the options, but I had to get into the bubble on December 15th and it was impossible. Either way, it’s beyond my control.
Thomas Bordeleau
His positive result hurts, however, because the young man believes he has taken all precautions. We mentioned above its booster dose, but there is more.
“We had to leave on Sunday for camp, and with my coach, we decided that I would not play the Friday and Saturday games at Ohio State to put the odds in my favor. I stayed at home, and on Saturday I had my positive test.
“I wanted to prove to the world what I could do. It pissed me off to be drafted in the second round last year. I’m having a good season in Michigan, but I really wanted to send a message to the tournament. It was my goal all year because I had another chance. And I can’t go. It kills me that I can’t help them win. The coach believed in me. ”
In quarantine alone
Bordeleau shares a student residence with two University of Michigan Wolverines teammates, Matty Beniers and Jacob Truscott. The first is precisely with the American team in Alberta, while the second has returned to his family for the holiday season.
Bordeleau is therefore alone in the residence for his quarantine. To pass the time, he does what any young adult would do: “Lots of shows and movies! ”
What about training, to keep in shape while waiting? “I’m a little too depressed to do this. “
The first days of my forties, I stayed in my room, even though I had the apartment to myself. I was no longer eating. But I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I tell myself that people have it worse than me with COVID.
Thomas Bordeleau
Bordeleau now plans to return to Quebec for the Holidays to spend time with family. He doesn’t know yet if he will be in high spirits enough to watch tournament games. “But if they make it to the final or the semi-final, I’m sure I’ll watch! ”
And of course he hopes to come out of it grown because, as he himself points out, “that’s the only thing to say!” “
“My life is bigger than just hockey. I’m going to go to our house for the holidays. There, I’m not just a hockey player. I am the son, the boyfriend. I’ll focus on that. And after the holidays, I’m going to focus on my second half of the season. ”