Conference Call: Ben Chiarot

MONTREAL - Defenseman Ben Chiarot took some time on Thursday to chat with reporters.

The seven-year NHL veteran, who is currently in Waterloo, ON, shared his thoughts on a variety of topics, including the best parts about being a member of the Canadiens, possibly playing games in North Dakota if the season resumes, and his training philosophy right now.

Here are a few excerpts from his Q&A session.

Question from Jean-François Chaumont, Le Journal de Montréal

I'd just like to know, during the summer, last summer, you decided to sign with Montreal for three years. The season is not over yet, but for you, personally, it's probably your best season in the NHL. What could you say to a player who might go to Montreal during the summer as a UFA, but he's not sure or he might be afraid of a big city like Montreal? What would be your advice?

I would say, I mean, if you like playing in front of a full building in a place where they love hockey, and there's so much history in the city, around the team, and in the Bell Centre, I would say that it's a perfect place to play as a hockey player. For me, there's no better place to play than in Montreal. Hockey is everything there. I think as a hockey player, that's what you want. You want a place that cares and a place that loves hockey, and that was a big reason why I signed there. That would be the first thing that I told, I would tell someone if they were trying to decide on coming to Montreal.

Questions from Jessica Rusnak, CBC Radio

I was just wondering if you could describe what the day was like on March 12 for the players when the NHL went on pause? It was game day for you guys. What was that like, and did you have a feeling that the NHL might go on pause seeing how the NBA postponed the season late that night before?

Once we'd seen that the NBA had put a stop to everything, players were being separated, it was kind of assumed that we'd follow suit. We came in that morning for morning skate, and as soon as we got to the rink, it was pretty much just tell everyone to go home and we all have to be isolated, stay in our houses, stay away from each other, no meetings, no bringing the team together for anything. That was really the last time that you saw anyone from the team was that day. We just kind of all went our separate ways and that was it. It was a weird day, obviously, and something I won't forget probably looking back at my career. It was the day that this all started and kind of changed everything for everyone.

The NHL is floating around different ideas to try and get back to playing, and one of the ideas out there is to centralize the games, possibly in North Dakota, for example. But that would mean that players would have to be away from their families for maybe months, depending on how long it would take to go through a playoff series. How comfortable would you feel about doing that? As you mentioned, you've got a 10-month-old daughter, to be away from your family, kind of sequestered in a way. Would that be something that you would be on board doing if that's an idea the NHL was looking at?

I mean, I think you'd have to think about it a little more seriously if it came to that, if the League presented that as the best option to finish the season and award a Stanley Cup. If they brought that to us as "This is our best option for getting it done," then I think we'd have to put more thought into it and really consider it. Obviously it's not ideal for anybody, but if this is our best way to get the season done and get the Stanley Cup handed out, then that's what we have to do. I mean, it's not ideal, but I don't think anything about this whole situation is ideal and works for anybody in any way. So if that's our best option, then that's what we have to do. We've had lots of time with our family for this past month and months going forward we're going to have lots of time, so if we have to be away for a little bit in order to get our jobs done, and realistically that's what our job is, then I think that's what we have to do. But that's hypothetically speaking, obviously, right now.

Question from Martin McGuire, Cogeco Media

You were on your way to your best season in the NHL. You're 28 years old now. Do you think that you reached your best potential, you're at your best?

Yeah, I think, especially this year, I've realized I have, you know, new levels to get to as far as my play goes. I think I found a new level this year in Montreal with the help of Luke [Richardson] and Claude [Julien] and Kirky [Kirk Muller], and I think I still, it helped me realize that I still have more that I can do, and I can still get better and there's areas of my game that I can still improve on. That was exciting for me this year in Montreal was realizing that, and I think that kind of getting into a new environment in Montreal really helped me realize that, kind of get out of my comfort zone and do new things and be put in new situations, and I think that helped me realize that there's more I could do out there.

Question from Pat Hickey, Montreal Gazette

Just following up about the question on free agency and things like that, do you foresee, obviously with the shutdown, they're talking about probably losing a billion dollars, do you foresee the whole landscape as far as salaries and things changing?

As far as I know, or as far as what I hear on TSN, is that the salary cap's probably not going to be going up anytime in the near future. It's going to affect how teams spend, especially with teams losing money and the League not generating any income. Teams aren't going to be as willing to spend, so for sure you could see some impact on the guys as far as salary goes. I think it's only natural in any business that if you're not making any money, you're probably not spending as much, willing to spend as much, so as far as free agents go, I think it's going to be a little different for the guys, probably not getting exactly what they expect to get, or the money is just not going to be out there for guys to get because teams aren't going to be willing to spend as much.

Question from John Lu, TSN

You mentioned earlier that you started your summer training. I'm wondering, are you preparing with the mindset of resuming the regular season after the pause or some form of a playoff format that the League devises following a potential resumption of the season, or preparing for the long haul for next season?

It's a mix of everything kind of. I'm just trying to be prepared for whenever it starts. I kind of looked at it as a good way to get a jump on my training. It's mid-April now. I wouldn't have even started training yet had we played out the full season. I'd still kind of be just recuperating from the season, so I had that chance in the first couple of weeks of the quarantine period, and just kind of sitting around on the couch. And then you get home and when you're sitting in your house all day, you've got nowhere to go and nothing to do. You've got the gym downstairs, I thought it was a good chance to take advantage of it and get into my training. I just want to be prepared, whether it starts end of July, August, September, whenever it is, next season. I'll be prepared no matter when it starts.

Question from Arpon Basu, The Athletic

I'm just wondering how, you know there's been a bit of time where the team was kind of looking for sort of the ideal partner for Shea Weber. I just wondered what you learned about being his partner and what are sort of the unique aspects that his ideal partner should have?

What did I learn about being his partner? Well I guess offensively, on the blueline, always try and get it to him so he can get his shot off. That would be the biggest thing. And I mean other than that, it's not much different than playing with anyone else. He's a great player, so he's easy to play with. I thought we read off each other pretty well, we're generally on the same page with what we want to do out there. Two big, strong guys who like to play physical, so I think that it was a good matchup, a good pairing for us. As far as what his partner should look like, obviously someone who can move the puck and skate and kind of move with him out there. I think that's what's ideal for him. I thought we had a good run last year together.

Question from Josh Clipperton, The Canadian Press

Just following up on one of the first questions about sort of sequestering teams, what would it be like if they were to resume without fans, and what would that be like as a player?

A big bonus of playing in Montreal is our fans, and that's something I love about playing in Montreal, playing at the Bell Centre in front of our fans. It would be a missing aspect of being a Montreal Canadien, but if it's what we have to do to finish the last season, then that's what we have to do in order to keep everybody safe and healthy. If it's the right thing to do, then that's what we have to do.