Carlson Holds Midweek Conference Call

Like the rest of us, Caps defenseman John Carlson has taken up residence in an alternate universe. Instead of getting ready for what might have been the opening game of the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight, he's nearing the end of his first month as a stay-at-home quarantine dad with his wife and two young children.

Nobody knows how or when the quarantine will end, or whether the ongoing coronavirus crisis will abate in time for the NHL to resume its nearly completed 2019-20 regular season or not, and whether the League will be able to crown a Cup champion from this campaign.

Like his coach and a teammate or two have done previously, Carlson agreed to spend some time fielding questions from the hockey media at large on a Wednesday conference call from his home. Here are his thoughts on some of the questions he took.

On being home with his young family:

"We've been doing our best trying to come up with as many activities as we can. I think we're almost down to none of our Easter stuff that we got the kids just from pulling things out and trying to find some ways. It's been great to spend a lot of time with them but it's a change."

On trying to stay in shape:

"It's definitely difficult. Just trying to do as much as you can. I think timewise - for me anyways - it has to kind of be done in the morning or else things get too squirrely as the day goes along with the kids and things to do and whatnot. It's a little bit different at least from maybe if this happened at the beginning of your training portion in the summer it would be a lot more difficult. But since where we were at in the season and everything, I think that's the only savings grace in terms of trying to keep that level as high as you can to where it's not a real tough training camp coming out of this thing."

On how he would like things play out post-virus, in terms of finishing season and playoffs:

"There's obviously a lot of factors in that question that that none of us can predict, especially not right now I would say. I think there has to be probably some sort of abbreviated regular season I would say, in terms of teams that haven't played the same amount of games. That's a real tough, tough way to end the season. And at the same time as a player, we're in a playoff position; I don't think you would want to your first game to be Game 1 or the first round of the playoffs. So, how do I see it playing out? If I had to guess, maybe we maybe do half of the remaining games in the regular season but that's all up for debate and depends on the timeline and what we're able to fit in, if at all."

On the challenge of returning after not skating for so long, as is typical of the early portion of most players' offseason routine:

"I think that's the biggest hurdle that everyone's going to have to deal with. For most people in the NHL, I would say that the first, beginning portion of the summer is all off the ice and in terms of doing some cardio and all that, but also training your body in different ways that you can't really do during the season. And it doesn't matter how hard you work, that first week on the ice is always really tough. Hopefully this won't feel the same as it does the first day on the ice in the summer, but we're all dealing with the same things. I don't think too many people have access to rinks or anything like that, and that's a huge hurdle for a player. It doesn't matter how hard you train, the on-ice stuff is different and we're going to have to pick it up pretty quick when things turn around here."

On advice to youth hockey players whose own seasons and tourneys also ground to a halt last month:

"That's even more of a unique situation because a lot of other leagues from minor hockey all the way up to us have already canceled the rest of their seasons, and maybe that's a lot of kids' last chance to play on that team or they're moving on to something else and those are big moments as a kid. I enjoyed my youth hockey experience a lot, and I think you just stay as sharp as you can. As a kid, I didn't have an ice rink to skate on all the time so practices and games were the only time I would be able to get out there and just be a kid. Maybe play other sports and do other things that you can do at home to change things up so that when hockey does come back you'll miss it even more."

On the possibility of concluding the season and the playoffs at one centralized location, such as North Dakota, and how that might compare to his Olympic experiences:

"I think it seems like a long shot, but any option is a good option at this point, with all the uncertainty going around. I think it would be cool to [do that]. "We've all been away from each other for a while now, and it'd be nice to have that abbreviated training camp and maybe play as many games as we need to. Something like that that would kickstart everyone back into gear and get ready for the rest of the season and the playoffs."

On the blessing of being able to spend time with family that he otherwise would not have:

"It's interesting and great just being able to see what my wife has had to deal with for the last couple months is pretty sobering, I would say. But yeah, it's fun to get to do a lot of things although we are quarantined to the house. It is fun to see them more and to hear my name screamed around the house a lot more is fun. I think when we look back and hopefully this thing turns around and everything's going to be able to finish out like it was, it'll definitely be a moment that that I'll remember that I got to spend that much more time with them and see them grow and turn into real human beings. It's pretty special."

On coping with the emotional swings related to the "pause" and the uncertainty ahead:

"I just try to leave it out of my hands. There is nothing that I can say or read or watch that's going to change the outcome of anything, so it's good to be informed but I'm also not going to get in the way of myself and thinking things that probably aren't realistic. I think hockey players, there are different phases of the year for us and especially when you have a family, there are a lot of abrupt changes in our lives at the end of the season with where you're at and what's at stake, and winner-go-home and all this stuff. In one way or another you know what to expect, but with this obviously a little different and a little harder to get acclimated. It took me a little while to get used to being at home all the time, dealing with things all the time with the kids and my wife. It's tough for everybody, but you make it work and now we're kind of over that, you know, in between phase and starting to really have some fun."

On how he sees things playing out upon returning, in terms of momentum and picking up where he and the team left off:

"I think it'll be a little funky and I think it'll feel like a brand new slate. It doesn't matter if you were playing good or bad, we're all going to kind of be at the same level in terms of what we're dealing with now, what we're dealing with in a training camp, or games or whatever happens gets decided and what happens. It'll definitely feel like a new season almost, although not being that far removed from the day-to-day normalcy that we had before. It'll definitely be new."

On whether he has considered what the first home game in DC might be like in terms of atmosphere after such a long layoff:

"I think that will be a pretty special moment. I hope that it's coming, but I have a feeling it might be a little far off for something like that, but we'll see, and that's just one of those things. But me as a person, I can't wait for sports to come back. It's tough trying to find some stuff on TV at night right now. And as a player, obviously we want to do what we're supposed to do, do what we signed up for. That's the hard part, just waiting and trying to stay as fresh and keep your mind as fresh as possible to adapt to whatever happens, whether it's quickly or in the long term."

On the individual milestones and the team goals that are also on pause for the time being:

"I'm just worried about playing at this point. I don't want to be too optimistic of coming back so quickly and being able to finish the regular season and all that. So all I'm thinking about right now is trying to keep myself in the best shape that I can with the circumstances and whatever the rest of the season holds. I'll worry about that when I lace the skates up again."

On the possibility of playing in an empty arena or a partially empty arena:

"I think the whole dynamic will be different. I think whether you're playing good on the road or at home, that the buildings are a big contrast in terms of who's cheering and who's not and booing and all that, so there are so many factors. I think it'll be so weird with all that happened, that that will just be the new normal for whatever that period of time will be. But yeah, it'll be challenging. I think you feed a lot off the crowd, whether it's for you or against you. You're just used to that; we haven't played in an empty building in a long, long time. But it will be weird for all of us, so I think in that sense, it'll start to feel normal pretty quickly."

On what he is doing specifically to try to stay in hockey shape:

"Our trainers have given us programs every week from when we left the arena, and I think all types of different cardio - shuttle runs, turnovers, some longer, drawn out stuff just to try to keep different types of capacities in us. And trying to use what whatever you can to stay in shape weight-wise, whether that's a lot of bodyweight only exercises, or the few weights that you do have lying around that you've never used until now. Just trying to mix things up as best as you can and trying to stay as fresh as you can."