Rosie DiManno: Leafs captain John Tavares returns and recounts ‘very difficult’ COVID-19 ordeal

A pounding headache, body aching all over, enervating fatigue. Loss of smell. Then a red-eye flight back to Toronto, among the Maple Leafs pandemic-plagued, and self-isolating at the cottage.

At the end of that COVID-positive tunnel, no Olympics on the horizon for another four years.

It's been a lousy stretch for John Tavares, as the Omicron variant has bushwhacked the NHL and created havoc with the schedule, 67 games postponed coming out of the weekend.

But among the first stricken on the team, the captain was also among the first restored to practice certified on Sunday afternoon. He hadn't been on the ice with teammates - and there was only a skeletal complement at the Ford Performance Centre - in 11 days.

Very difficult," admitted Tavares of having to separate from loved ones, with Christmas bearing down. You obviously want to be with your family, especially when you've been on the road for a while, anticipating and waiting to get home. So, just nice to be with them again and see my two boys and see my wife, spend time with them, catch up when you've been away that long. It takes a toll, but it was necessary to protect the people around you."

The Leafs had seemed to be navigating this most recent COVID surge fairly well, until they got to Calgary more than a week ago. Then the positive tests began racking up during the road trip from hell. By the weekend, 14 players and seven staff members, including coach Sheldon Keefe, were on the protocol list, their farm team even more severely impacted - 24 players and five who tested positive. Which would have left the Leafs with a case of the roster shorts, on defence and in goal, if they had to play the Penguins Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena. That one, though, was postponed late Sunday.

This, as Tavares emphasized, is the nature of the pandemic beast, teams scrambling and the league schedule-makers presented with the enormous mess of reslotting games. Obviously, you don't want to go on protocol. But also knowing the world we're living in here, for a while now, and what things have looked like for us as players in the league, what's gone on this season and previous years."

He woke up two Saturdays ago, after testing positive, feeling like his head was in a vise, sore all over. Things improved as the day went on. I had a much better sleep Saturday night." Some symptoms began to recede the next day, although that was when taste and smell went poof. Segregated from teammates who hadn't yet been infected, the positives had been booked on a separate flight. Until, at the last minute, the plane's pilot declared discomfort with ferrying those Leafs home. More helter-skelter and finally an overnight flight was secured, landing early Monday morning. Except home" was still a faraway place for those with families waiting.

So Tavares took himself off to a cottage north of the city until the contagion risk passed, able to work out alone a few days, get a sweat on. Fortunately it wasn't too bad for myself. It's been a lot more difficult for others at times."

Yet dismay when it became evident there would be no Beijing Games for NHLers, the Olympic break used to accommodate scuttled games. Tavares had worn his eagerness to participate on his sleeve. In Sochi, 2014, a knee injury had bounced him out of the medal round - and the rest of the regular season. Then Pyeongchang was a no-go for the NHL in 2018.

Heck, Tavares had even been a designated model for the Canadian Games fashion kit.

Disappointed we're not going to get that opportunity. The whole hockey community is feeling it, not just us as players. Especially when you get a best-on-best tournament, we know how unique and how rare they are and what the Olympic Games are from an athlete's standpoint. How special that experience is, to be an Olympian and to play for your country, to be part of a bigger team.

All the intentions were there. As things started to develop, we saw what had happened in Calgary and other teams started to have significant outbreaks. Then our team started to go through it. As games started getting postponed it just became less and less likely, more difficult to pull off.

For myself, obviously it doesn't get easier as you get older and the chances go by," said the 31-year-old. So, definitely a tough pill to swallow."

The Leafs might have sent upwards of 10 players to the sports showcase, representing their native countries. Auston Matthews had already been named to Team USA.

I was really, really looking forward to it," lamented Matthews of making his Olympic debut. It only comes around every four years, so the opportunities are very slim. I was really looking forward to playing with guys I've never played with before, guys that I've looked up to. So, yeah, it's frustrating, but it's out of our control."

They did try fiercely, the NHL Players' Association, before bowing to the inevitable. And if team executives are turning cartwheels - owners certainly weren't keen on exposing their stars to risk of injury on the other side of the planet - they're keeping their glee on the down low.

I don't know if I would call it relief," said general manager Kyle Dubas in his Sunday Zoom with reporters. I feel for the guys. Some of them may be at the end of their window to go and compete in that event. Certainly you want players to have that opportunity. They relish the opportunity, they want to represent their countries at the Olympics."

Instead, Dubas acknowledges an alleviation of anxiety over the unknowns that had loomed, with Olympic officials still providing no certainty about how long an athlete who tests positive after arrival would be required to quarantine in-country. Up to five weeks has been speculated. Meaning players would be stuck in China, prevented from a pronto return to the NHL and resumption of league play.

That's where the relief comes from," said Dubas, the certainty one way or another that the players will be here and there won't be any prolonged quarantine going to or coming back from the Games. Otherwise I'm probably like every person, a bit sad that there won't be a best-on-best event this year as was planned."

Hey, at least Tavares will get to keep his spiffy Games gear.

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @rdimanno