John Carlson spoke to the media on Wednesday for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic paused the NHL’s 2019-20 season. While quarantined at home, Carlson revealed that he and wife Gina have given their kids their Easter presents early because his family is running out of things to do.
Carlson also spoke about how he thinks the season should restart. In a best-case scenario, the likely Norris Trophy finalist believes some regular-season games must be played, but Carly seemed skeptical overall that the season would be completed.
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“None of us can predict (how the season will be completed), especially now,” Carlson said. “I think there has to be probably some sort of abbreviated regular season in terms of teams that haven’t played the same amount of games. That’s a real tough way to end the season I would say. And at the same time, as a player you know we’re in a playoff position. I don’t think you want your first game to be Game One of the first round of the playoffs. So how do I see it? Maybe we would do half of the remaining games in the regular season. But that’s all up for debate and it depends on the timeline and what we’re able to fit in, if at all.”
On Tuesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman admitted for the first time that completing the regular season “may not be possible,” but still believed the league was well-positioned to crown a champion.
“I do believe we can play into the summer — well into the summer,” Bettman said. “And even on NBC platforms, since the Olympics have been postponed, gives us a broader window to focus on when and how we can play.”
“Yeah, I think it seems like a long shot, but I think that having any option is a good option at this point with all the uncertainty going around,” Carlson said. “I think it would be cool too. We’ve all been away from each other a while now, and it’d be nice to have that abbreviated Training Camp and maybe play as many games as we need to. That’s something that would kickstart everyone back into gear, and get ready for the rest of the season and the playoffs.
“I’m just worried about playing at this point,” he added. “I don’t want to be too optimistic of coming back too quickly and being able to finish the regular season and all that. All I’m thinking about right now is trying to keep myself in the best shape that I can with the circumstances. Whatever the rest of the season holds, I’ll worry about that when I lace the skates back up again.”
Headline photo courtesy of the @Capitals
