Barnes And Gardiner Find Themselves Together Again With The Montreal Victoire

Cayla Barnes and Jennifer Gardiner spent last season as teammates, each helping Ohio State win a national title. This season they'll be together again with the PWHL's Montreal Victoire. Here's a conversation between Barnes, Gardiner, and The Hockey News' Cee Benwell.

It’s been a longer break this summer, with a lot of downtime. Have you found it a little bit too long?

Cayla Barnes: Almost at this point. I think it has been a different adjustment. I mean, I was in college for basically six years, so I've been on the same pattern/time period for the past six years. So not being back in school right now or practicing and lifting with your team, and knowing that we still have over two months still until our season starts is kind of crazy. I mean, obviously we have training camp in mid-November, but it's still a really long period of time, so it has definitely been an adjustment because we're not used to that. It has been a long, long period of time. But the training has been nice and like almost like you're getting extra reps in and stuff that maybe you might not have had time for in previous summers because you're trying to get in game shape. So that's been kind of nice. There's pros and cons to both, I would say.

I want to ask about about the championship season at Ohio State, and the eight players that were drafted into the PWHL. Can you tell us a little bit about your your championship season?

Jennifer Gardiner: I think that it was an unbelievable season. I think we all had a pretty good feeling from the start of the year, just looking at our roster. We obviously got a lot of incredible players, freshmen and transfers, and we had the pieces, we just needed to put them together and that was the big question all year was, were we going to be able to do it?

And I don't think any of us had a doubt, to be honest. So I think that it was really rewarding to win at the end of the year because of how many players like Barnes and Bilka who came to Ohio State with a huge goal of winning a national championship, and to get to do that with them and share that with them. And like just most importantly, we had such a good group of girls as well throughout the season. It's like our team is so close and in every which way. So that's just it makes it so much better when you do win a national championship because you look around the room and you know that every girl poured their their heart into that game, and the entire season. So yeah, to go out on a note like that and our to end our college career, it was the best the best possible thing for us for sure.

Cayla Barnes : Yeah, we (Barnes and fellow transfer Hannah Bilka) had a great four years at BC. It was a great experience. But, you know, with that fifth year of eligibility, we were just, you know, looking for something a little different. And Muzzy and Ohio State offered all those things that we were looking for. And we came in and were immediately welcomed into the team. And it took a matter of days to feel like I had been there for five years.

So like Jenn said, we had just such an amazing group of girls and we worked really hard and had an amazing season. But we also went through a lot of things together and I think that brought us really close and why we still are really close today. So I would consider a lot of those girls some of my best friends, and I was only there for a year, so just to have that experience and to go out and end your college career on a high note like that was something that I will always cherish and I will look back on. I'm always constantly texting with girls and looking forward to the next time I get to see all of them. And luckily, a lot of us got drafted, so I'll be seeing them around the league when we play them, just on opposite sides this time. But I'm super lucky to have been given that opportunity and I loved every second of it.

And can you talk a little bit about draft day and what that experience was like?

Cayla Barnes: I think the entire day was just a lot of nerves – not bad nerves, but like you said, this is the first time we've never got to choose [where we are going to play].

So you just don't know what's in store for you. And just not knowing what's going to happen or where you're going to go, there's just a lot of uncertainty. But it was also really fun. A lot of us got ready together and we had those little moments and that was really fun to be able to just calm down a little bit, be with people that you love and care about and people going through the same thing.

So that was really fun, and I think the purple carpet was super fun. I'm so happy that my family could be there and I could share that moment with them. And then, ultimately when I got drafted to Montreal, I was so excited. But I was also in shock and there's so many different emotions that were going through.

Your heart's racing and you're like, I have to stand up and I have to go walk on stage right now. Like you kind of like black out a little bit. And I'm like, sweating and all this stuff. But once I kind of got through, you know, the stage part and I got to talk to some people from the Montreal organization, it kind of all started to calm down a little bit, and I got to know them and they're great. Everyone's amazing. So I'm super excited to go there and be a part of such a strong organization that really values their players and the development of their players as well as team culture . And those are a lot of values that I look for in a team, so I'm really excited. And at the end of the day, you want to go somewhere that you know they want you and see potential in you, so just super blessed to be able to have been drafted by them and excited to get going here soon.

Jennifer Gardiner: I feel like most players at the draft would probably have a similar experience just because the weeks leading up to the draft, there was so much stress and anticipation and just wanting to know what was going to happen. And so finally, on draft day, you were only hours away from everything unfolding, and I think that we all just were talking and we're like, you know what? We can't control it, and it's out of our hands, so we just had fun getting ready together, like Barnes said. And then when we all got to the draft we just kind of soaked in every moment of the walk-in and then sitting with your family and friends.

Obviously, quite a few Ohio State players were all there together with family. So for all of us to be able to sit together and then after each name was called to stand up, you had seven, eight or nine hugs waiting for you, that was pretty cool before you walked up on stage. And just to be surrounded by the girls who I played with for up to five years at Ohio State, it was pretty special to have them there. And to have our head coach Muzzy there as well was just incredible because she's obviously somebody who has gotten us all to where we are. So, yeah, it was it was a super fun day. And then obviously I knew Barnes went to Montreal in the first round, so when I was called, I knew that I was in for a good one. I had a roommate, I had a friend, I had everything – or two roommates, I should say, because we have Hulk, of course [Cayla’s dog]. So it was just a very special day overall and I wouldn’t have wanted it to go any other way.

You found each other pretty quickly and it was recorded when one of you said, ‘We get to be roommates!’ Can you tell us about that? It was just so heartwarming.

Cayla Barnes: I was already back there. I was doing interviews or photos or something. There's a bunch of different stations. And the media lady that was taking me around was like, 'Do you want to see our second pick?' And I said, yeah. And I saw Jenn's name and I literally almost started crying just because, like I said, these are some of my best friends. I would have had the same reaction for any of my Ohio State teammates, just to know that you already have an immediate friend going in there and someone that you've been with all year, it's just a level of comfort and I was just so excited. Jenn’s one of my best friends, so I think on top of all the emotions of getting drafted and being with your family and all that, that was also another really emotional, like a good, emotional, exciting moment. And that's where all those videos came in because I was just so happy and I was like, oh my god, like we can be roommates, like, ‘Yay!’

Because in my head I was thinking, there's not a ton of Americans on Montreal, and I don't know a ton of players, not only on that team, but in the league in general aside from like maybe my USA teammates, so just to have that level of comfort right off the bat, it was nice.

Jennifer Gardiner : But I think it's it's funny, too, because at the draft, we were like, yeah, we're going to be roommates, and all these posts went out, and then a couple weeks later I was like, okay, we need to get the apartment, I texted Barnes and said, wait, are we really actually living together? – I just assumed. And then we were like, yeah, of course! So that's kind of how it all unfolded after that. But yeah, like Barnes said, it was just awesome to know you have a Buckeye and a best friend with you where you're going.

Have either of you been to Montreal before? Or was that your first time going?

Cayla Barnes: I’ve been there a couple of times, actually. My brother loves Montreal, and his favorite team is actually the Canadiens. So he's been up there a bunch of times and I've gone with him a couple of times,

So he lives in Boston and he's a Montreal Canadiens fan?

Cayla Barnes : I know, it's crazy. it's a wild mashup. He gets a lot of hate for that.

When you face your Ohio State teammates, like Hadley Hartmetz and Hannah Bilka in Boston, what’s that going to be like to be on opposite sides?

Jennifer Gardiner : I feel like it's more exciting because when you get to play against your friends, you probably get to visit with them after and we're all pretty close, so just to be able to see familiar faces will always be helpful when you're away from home. But as much as I want them to succeed, obviously when you're wearing different colors and different jerseys, it's game on, and they're going to have the same mindset as well. So I think that we're all pretty competitive and when we're on the ice, it's going to be a battle, but then off the ice, obviously you’re normal, you’re best friends, and it's all fun.

Cayla Barnes: Yeah, I agree. I think we're all super competitive and at the end of the day, we all want to win. But off the ice, it's not personal, this is our job, and we want to win just as much as they do, so I think that'll make it really fun. And you know the saying, you’re friends off the ice, but not on the ice. So I think it'll be great – these are the best players in the world in the league, so I'm just really excited to play against everyone and see the atmospheres. Season one was great and I watched a lot of the games and just the fans and everything were phenomenal, so I'm just excited to take it all in and be a part of that as well.

Visit the Puck Drop Podcast to watch the full conversation.