This isn't the first time Bill Guerin's hockey career has been put on ice.
He experienced two lockouts as an NHL player, missing out on roughly a season and a half of games, and was a development coach when the beginning of the 2012-13 campaign was wiped out.
But in those cases, players didn't have to be holed up at home. They could work out in gyms and skate together, get out in the community.
Now, life is different.
"I've never seen anything like this," the Wild general manager said. "The whole world's on hold. It's not just Minnesota. It's not just the United States. It's the whole world, and that's what's really bizarre about the whole thing. We've got to do what's right. I think there's just so many things at stake. The biggest thing is people's health.
"... All the sports leagues are doing the right thing. This is bigger than a hockey game or a basketball game. This is serious."
NHL action has been paused for almost a week, with the league suspending its season Thursday in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Players have been asked to self-quarantine, and the hope is the NHL might be able to reconvene with training camps at the end of April before potentially playing again.
Other than that, though, questions outnumber answers, and it's amid this newfound uncertainty that Guerin continues to navigate his first season as general manager of the Wild.
"We'd just love to be back doing what we do," Guerin said. "But it's just not the right time yet."
