Ex-Penguins forward Eric Fehr already dealing with ramifications of coronavirus in Switzerland

The ID on the text message was a familiar one.

After helping Canada win the Spengler Cup, a quirky invitational tournament held in Switzerland which involves international and professional teams, Eric Fehr received congratulations from a former Penguins teammate, and, probably one of the few people who had a detailed interest in the somewhat obscure event which was staged in December.

Sidney Crosby.

“He’s definitely a proud Canadian,” Fehr said of Crosby, who has led Canada to multiple international championships. “He definitely pays attention to it.”

A bottom-six forward on the Penguins’ 2016 Stanley Cup championship team, Fehr has spent the past seven months in Switzerland playing for Genève-Servette HC in that country’s National League A (NLA).

But for the past few weeks, Fehr and the rest of the NLA have not been playing due to the coronavirus that has impacted seemingly every walk of life around the globe. On Thursday, the NLA announced it was canceling the remainder of the season. Leagues in neighboring Germany (DEL) and Austria (EBEL) canceled earlier in the week.

Switzerland’s federal government has banned any sporting events with more than 1,000 spectators until March 15.

“I can’t imagine that we would be able to continue with the rate that it’s climbing in Switzerland,” the 34-year-old Fehr said in a phone interview with the Tribune-Review on Wednesday. “It’s something that I don’t think we’ll be able to travel from state to state and play these games. I’m not sure what the league is going to decide. Obviously, we’re at their mercy.”

According to the country’s Federal Office of Public Health, Switzerland has 645 confirmed cases of the disease as of Wednesday, one of the highest totals in the world.

Neighboring Italy has 10,000, according to that country’s health authorities.

On Thursday, the NHL announced it was indefinitely suspending play indefinitely. It remains to be seen if fans will be allowed to attend games, when or if they resume.

The NLA’s final games this season took place in vacant buildings. While resting an injury, Fehr took in a game as a spectator in a nearly empty Les Vernets arena in Geneva which can hold 7,135 fans.

“It was really weird,” Fehr said. “It kind of felt like it was a practice or a scrimmage. It didn’t really feel like it was a league game just because you’re missing the fans. You don’t really realize how important they are until you don’t have them and how it kind of ups the intensity of the game. It makes everything more entertaining.”

This is a first for me. @officialGSHC closing out a big 4-1 win with no fans in attendance due to the #Coronavirus. #Switzerland #Geneva pic.twitter.com/jbpE3luIf7

— Eric Fehr (@EricFehr) February 28, 2020

“They still had music, they still announced the goals, and there was still media allowed at the game. Everything felt like a normal game except for the fact that there’s no fans. You can tell there’s a little bit of lack of intensity. There was maybe not as much adrenaline as there would be in the middle of a game. For those reasons, I felt it looked like it was a practice out there. Kind of a dead atmosphere.”

Away from the rink, Fehr and his family have had to make adjustments to daily life.

“It’s definitely something you have to think about before you leave the house,” Fehr said. “For my daughter’s school, a lot of events are getting canceled, parent-teacher meetings, things like that. Nothing too crazy. But for us, just thinking about taking the tram (train) downtown, we try to avoid taking the tram now. We drive everywhere and try not to touch anything when you’re there. It’s definitely something you think about a lot of the day.”

Fehr has largely enjoyed his post-NHL life in Switzerland and labels it as “being a tourist while enjoying hockey.”

Having spent parts of 14 seasons in the NHL and approaching his mid-30s, Fehr’s prospects for an NHL contract were hardly certain as he remained an unrestricted free agent in August. He jumped at the opportunity to play in Switzerland when it became available.

“When my career was coming to an end, I wanted to see the country and I’ve heard a lot about this league and how it’s a great league,” said Fehr, who owns a potato farm in his native Manitoba. “I wanted to come here and bring my family. … I thought it was better to be safe and take a job in the (NLA) rather than see what’s available come camp time and all the jobs here (in Switzerland) would be taken.”

In 44 games this season, he has 34 points (15 goals, 19 assists).

Fehr isn’t under any misconceptions over how many years he might have left at this stage of his career. At the same time, he still thinks he has something left as a player.

“I’m not exactly sure what way it’s going to go,” said Fehr, who played for the Minnesota Wild last season. “I definitely feel like I can still play hockey. But you get to the point where at some point, family has got to be the priority. Trying to balance that right now and seeing if it’s worth traveling places or whether it’s time to just settle down. It’s something that I’ve put a lot of thought into.”

His immediate thoughts are directed towards the ongoing situation in Switzerland. Given how severe the outbreak has been in that country and the region, Fehr has concerns on when and if he’ll be able to return to his full-time home in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

“If the season got canceled, we would hopefully be able to get home and get back to living life back in Canada,” Fehr said. “But if the season goes on, I could see a lot of restrictions. Hopefully, it doesn’t get to the case like Italy has where they shut down the whole country. But we are on a neighboring border to Italy, so you’ve got to think that could be a worst-case scenario where you are trapped here for a little while. It definitely makes you feel a little bit uneasy.”

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