Stars won’t miss the NHL bubble life one bit as they look forward to a return to normalcy

After more than nine weeks at the JW Marriott in Edmonton, the Stars, eliminated in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday, will be released by the NHL back into the bubbleless outside world this week, and they’ll say goodbye to one of the most unique experiences in hockey history.

At times, it’s been an onslaught of hockey, replete with playoff back-to-backs and minimal rest between series, a shelter from the coronavirus that allowed them a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Other times, it’s been a concrete and fence-bound boring existence away from families and friends, more than two months rotating through the same restaurants.

On Monday morning, a few Stars were asked whether there would be anything from bubble life that they would miss.

“Not one bit,” interim coach Rick Bowness said. “I’ve already told my wife, ‘Don’t even expect to go to a restaurant for a while.’ No, there’s not one bit. Actually, you make the best of it and that’s what we’ve done. It is what it is. We knew coming in, and we were all prepared to be here nine, 10 weeks and that’s where we are. No, there won’t be one bit of this bubble life that I’m going to miss.”

When Corey Perry was asked, his first reaction was to look around in disbelief and laugh. Then he responded.

“We just hope everything in the world gets back to normal, and we can have fans back in the building and get back to our regular schedule,” Perry said. “That’s what we’re looking forward to.”

Across the last 65 days, the Stars have spent copious amounts of time together: at the practice rink, at Rogers Place for games, at the hotel, in the team lounge. Bowness said the team’s coaching staff hasn’t “gotten away from each other for nine weeks, plus training camp.”

“We have these meetings, and everyone voices their opinion,” Bowness said. “We walk out of those meetings all on the same page. It’s a great group to work with, I’m fortunate that way. We haven’t had any fistfights yet, so that’s a good thing.”

For most of the Stars, the bubble hasn’t changed since the start of it July 26. But for forward Justin Dowling, he’s welcomed his wife, Meg, and newborn daughter, Perri, into the Edmonton bubble and has been able to spend more time with them than in the first month in Alberta.

“I think when she gets old enough to be able to look back at pictures and ask what’s going on, it’s going to be a unique story to tell her, that part of her life or her early stages of life, she spent inside the NHL bubble during the Stanley Cup Final,” Dowling said.

On Sunday, Dowling said, they went to a restaurant for breakfast and a golf simulator to have Perri socialize with people. Otherwise, Dowling said he’s been changing diapers and laying on the floor playing with her.

“I don’t know how it feels to be a baby, but I feel like she wouldn’t want to be cramped up in a room all that long,” Dowling said.

Soon, they won’t be cramped up at all.

“Probably the best part of this whole thing is going to be when we check out,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

Power play change: Looking for a spark on their power play, the Stars switched their units over the weekend, putting John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen on the top unit and bumping Alexander Radulov to the second one. Justin Dowling and Esa Lindell were also on the second unit.

On Monday, Klingberg ran the second unit with Heiskanen on the first.

“You’re missing guys that have worked together for a while,” Bowness said. “Sometimes it gets a little out of sync, and you have to try to make little adjustments to see if we can find some chemistry out there.”

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