Under normal circumstances, James Melindy would be playing hockey today, and probably hacking and whacking some unimpressed opponent as the rugged rearguard is known to do every now and again.
But these are not normal times, and Melindy isn’t playing hockey. Won’t be for a while, either.
Instead, he’s banging metal, part of his offseason work as a welding inspector.
The Newfoundland Growlers captain is resigned to the fact he won’t be skating this year, for the first time in a long time.
That’s because the Growlers are sitting out the 2020-21 ECHL season, one of six teams in the North Division voluntarily suspending play this year under the League’s COVID-19 policy.
Each of the half-dozen teams, including the Growlers, are set to return for the 2021-22 ECHL season, and the players are now considered free agents.
But Melindy has no interest going elsewhere, either in the ECHL or overseas.
“I’m not going to leave the island,” he said of his native Newfoundland. “There’s too much of an unknown. I don’t feel comfortable going to States or another country right now, with the way pandemic is proceeding.
“And then you think about how well you’re treated here. I know other teams don’t treat their players as well.
“So to take a step a step back in that regard just doesn’t appeal to me, either.”
This would have been the Goulds native’s eighth professional hockey season since he was drafted 88th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in 2012.
Instead, he’s home this time of year for the first time since 2007, the year before he went away to Wilcox, Sask., and Notre Dame to skate with the Hounds.
He’s getting a taste of real life these days, and enjoying the moment working side by side with his dad, at Glenn Melindy’s welding inspection business.
“I’ve been working with him since we shut down last season,” said Melindy, a 27-year-old Growler original, with the squad since Day 1. “We were in Labrador doing an inspection up there. It’s something I’m interested in, as well.”
After spending so many years away from home, during the fall, winter and spring, Melindy is enjoying the new routine , working with his father, which he describes as, “super cool.”
“It gives us a lot time to bond which we have not been able to do in years past.”
Not to mention the fact it’s allowing him to pursue his second passion, next to hockey — firefighting.
A trained firefighter — he completed training four years ago in Ontario through sponsorship from the PHPA, the minor league hockey players union — Melindy has been toiling as a volunteer firefighter in the Goulds for over two years, even while playing professional hockey.
“Some nights after a game, the pager will go off three in the morning. Or the night before a game, it’ll go off and I’ll go and help out,” he said.
“It was good for me, actually. Every Thursday night is a training night, which has helped me stay on top of my training.”
The St. John’s Regional Fire Department is expected to do some hiring soon, and Melindy wants to be ready for when the time comes.
So, in a way, the Growlers’ shutdown this season is rather timely.
“I’m taking a stab at it, and hopefully I’m able to get it,” he said.
“It’s a dream job. There are so many similarities to being a hockey player and a firefighter. You’re part of a group, and everybody has responsibilities.”
But there’s no question he still misses hockey. The Growlers lost some key parts from last year’s roster — among them former Newfoundland leading scorer and ECHL second-team all-star Brady Ferguson, former playoff MVP from two years ago, Zach O’Brien, and two-time 20-goal scorer Marcus Power. But Newfoundland was nonetheless expected to ice a competitive squad this season.
Since 2010-11, his first season of major junior with the Quebec league’s Moncton Wildcats, Melindy has not missed a full year of hockey.
“The weird part is you miss going to the rink every morning, seeing the boys, and something as simple as having a cup of coffee,” he said.
“You miss all that stuff.”
He’d love to find it again at the Fire Hall.
Robin Short is The Telegram’s Sports Editor.