Mark Giordano is doing ‘old school exercises’ and other conference call notes

Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano was part of a special video conference call organization by the National Hockey League on Friday morning. He was joined by Connor McDavid, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Bo Horvat and provided an update on how he’s coping with the pause in the 2019 NHL season.

Giordano in self isolation in Calgary with his family right now. He has some cardio equipment there but not a extensive home gym, so he’s had to get creative with his workouts.

“I’ve been doing a lot of bodyweight stuff,” said Giordano. “And when it comes to strength and all that, a lot of push-ups and old school exercises. I think as long as you put in a good half-hour to an hour a day, you can maintain a lot of what you have with even just simple body weight exercises.”

He noted that he’s used to being on skates all the time, so he’s focusing on finding different ways to be active.

The call also featured some good-natured ribbing, as Giordano joked that McDavid was slow so the challenge in defending him is having to slow down to check him. Both Giordano and McDavid were amped up for the Battle of Alberta, with both expressing appreciation that the games are meaningful now.

If hockey does return, Calgary and Edmonton may be on a collision course for a playoff match-up. Or at least one more regular season meeting.