Josh Manson is a popular man in Anaheim. Twitter/Josh Manson

By Jeff D'Andrea

New dad

New dad Josh Manson won’t have to find things to do during long pandemic offseason

May 31, 2020 | 10:28 AM

Anaheim Ducks assistant captain Josh Manson won’t be playing hockey for a while.

His Ducks were officially eliminated when the NHL ended its regular season this week and looked to plan its 24-team playoff format to be played without fans during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ducks last played on March 11 and it’s unknown just how long they will have to wait until next season gets underway.

But regardless of how long the wait will be, Manson will have his hands full.

He and his wife Julie had their first child together, Gemma Grace Manson on April 23. It can be a nerve-wracking experience to welcome a newborn into the world, but those nerves were only amplified in the midst of the global pandemic.

“We were a little nervous, because it was set up right at the end of my wife’s pregnancy. So we didn’t really know what to expect. You’re playing it by ear, everything was changing so rapidly. Everything worked out great, the hospital was great, the nurses and doctors, everybody was great,” Manson said. “They wore masks, you were isolated from everybody else in the hospital. I was allowed to be in the room, no other family was allowed to be in the room or at the hospital. It was just me there, but it was great. We had a great experience with everything and everything went smoothly. Looking back on it, it would have been weird to have more people in the room. It was a great experience for me and my wife to go through together.”

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Life changes a lot when one becomes a parent. Josh and Julie are figuring that out in the first five weeks of parenthood—especially that caring for a newborn is truly a 24-hour commitment.

“The sleep is the big one, that changes. My wife is a trooper, she’s been doing such a great job looking after the baby and feeding her whatever she needs,” Manson said. “I’m just kind of there as a backup role to support and do whatever I need to do. We’ve been trying to tag-team it a little bit. I’m up in the morning so my wife can sleep in because she’s up a lot throughout the night to take care of the baby.”

The Mansons are still in California, deciding to stay put during the pandemic. They’ve been doing a lot of face-timing and video calls back home, especially to show off little Gemma to friends and family.

But on top of being a new dad, Manson is still doing his best to keep in game shape and enter his seventh full season with the Ducks.

Manson grabbed a few pieces of fitness equipment from the Ducks’ facilities to workout at home and stay in shape as he and the rest of the NHL waits for the COVID cloud to be lifted.

“It’s going to be different. I think I’ll golf a little bit to kill off some time. I’ll train. It will be a good opportunity to get that extra bit of work in, that rest but also the training to rehab my little injuries. My shoulders that I’ve had problems with in the past, [I’m] getting those right,” the 28-year-old Manson said. “You can start to really finetune certain things so when you get on the ice, coming September when you’re usually on the ice, you can use those extra couple months to prepare for the season. There’s a lot of opportunity here for our team to really take a huge step coming next season.”

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW