“Yet we still managed to work that out,” Sue DeBoer said. “The five of us, we still stayed connected, and we were able to still maintain that core even with that little bump. We were still strong.”

Peter DeBoer said the situation was probably tougher on him than on his family.

“It’s funny, their lives really don’t change,” he said. “They’re living in the same house, with the same friends. The only difference is I’m not there. For me, it’s been a dramatic change. You come home from work and you’re used to your wife and three kids and that daily busyness and connection. And you don’t have that anymore.”

But it’s not as if his wife lacked experience being the lone parent at home.

DeBoer is in his ninth season as an N.H.L. coach, with long road trips over the course of 82-game seasons that stretch from October to April.

“It’s harder because it’s longer stretches of time,” Sue DeBoer said, “but it’s always been what he does. He’s been gone, and I’ve been here with the kids. We’ve managed that.”

They have managed it even as her husband spends the winter in Northern California’s temperate climate while the rest of the family is 2,920 miles away and dealing with cold and snow.

“He’s calling us with the sun shining in the background and we have three feet of snow down here in the East,” Sue said. “But, again, it’s just a little sacrifice that you have to make to be sure everybody is doing what they need to be doing.”