It was a Friday morning in early November when Anaheim Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin woke up with the swollen face that’s become all too common right now around the NHL.

He suspected the problem might be mumps, since teammate Corey Perry had already dealt with it, as had players with the Minnesota Wild. There was also a mysterious illness in St. Louis earlier in the season where mumps was never confirmed, but was suspected.

Beauchemin played that night, because that’s what hockey players do. Or, at least they did until mumps spread around the league and caution superseded playing through pain. Then he hoped whatever was invading his body would do it quickly.

“I was hoping not to get it too much,” Beauchemin said when we chatted Monday morning.

Every player is different. Every body reacts to a virus in different ways. Sidney Crosby's recovery from mumps will be on a different timeline than New York Rangers center Derick Brassard, who was also diagnosed over the weekend. With 14 NHL players now officially diagnosed or recovered from the mumps virus, the range of time missed varies.

For instance, Wild defenseman Keith Ballard missed eight games with the mumps.