It's Been a Blur!

This year is already starting to go by fast! I can't believe it's already almost halfway through September. This short week has kind of thrown me off, too. It doesn't seem like it should be Friday tomorrow. But anyways, the practices are going well. We have a very skilled team. The level in practices has dropped off a little bit as we've started to get into systems work, but that's understandable. We play to a system. It's a proven system and everything we do works. From our breakout, to our forecheck, to our backcheck, to our defensive zone coverage, everything is drilled into our heads until it becomes second nature. And the new kids on the team are just learning, so it might take a little while for them to feel more comfortable doing systems drills. But we have our first game this Sunday in Boise against the Southern Oregon Spartans, a team from the NORPAC, another Tier III Junior A league based in the northwest. It should be interesting to see what kind of players we have. I mean, it's hard to really tell what kind of players you have in practice. A lot of times, underlying characteristics of a person come out in a game. I'm excited to see who shows up and who doesn't, and I'm excited to prove myself too! It should be interesting to see how we mesh as a team, and our coaches have made it clear that they expect us to play very well in our first game this weekend. I've been a little hesitant in practice these past two weeks. Not super hesitant, just a little bit. My coach told me he wants me to work on being a tougher player to play against, and it's something I've focused on, but I need to be better. I need to be a leader on the team in the physical play because I can be. And when people are playing the body in practice, it brings up the level of play. I'm really going to focus on being more physical in the next few weeks; my coaches have told me they need me to play tougher because we lost the toughest defenseman in the league this year, who was my D partner last year. There's a big hole left in our defensive unit, and they need someone to fill it. I know I can be more physical, but I really need to focus on it because that's not how I play naturally. I do like how I play when I play physically, though. I tend to play more confidently and aggressively. I've been doing OK in practice, but I know I can be better.

BSU Mania

I'm sitting here, watching the Boise State football game as I'm writing this post...I think everyone else in the whole city is also sitting in front of their TV's, watching the Broncos take on the Georgia Bulldogs. Needless to say, it's a big game. Every BSU game is a big game in Boise. But when BSU has a chance to take out an SEC opponent, the game takes on even bigger importance. It's been the talk of the town here in Boise on the radio, commercials, on billboards in downtown, and even at the Boise hot air balloon festival this morning (more to come on this later.) The BSU football team is a BIG deal here in Boise. Almost every car I see has a Broncos sticker. It's wild, but I guess that's what happens when there is no major professional sports team in a city. People rally behind their teams. At the moment, the score of the game is 28-7...should I jump on the bandwagon?? Ah, what the hell. I'm already a Denver Broncos fan, and the BSU Broncos are not that far off, even in team colors. Go Broncos!

Today, we had a day off from on-ice practice, but we went on a team hike. Before the hike, my billet family and I went to the Boise hot air balloon festival...we had to wake up at 5:15 to be there on time and beat the traffic. It was worth it! I've been to the balloon festival in Steamboat, but it was a long time ago, and I forgot how cool it is to be so close to the balloons as they're getting blown up and launched. It was a beautiful morning.

My favorite part of the morning was watching a certain balloon get blown up. This ballon was designed to look like the famous blue turf at the BSU home stadium. There were field numbers all the way around the big, blue balloon and a huge BSU logo on the side, with a bucking bronco. When it was completely inflated and ready to get launched, the packed park cheered very loudly for their Boise State Broncos. That's some BSU mania!

The hike we went on was great too. It was a long hike, but it was very pretty. We started at about 8:30 AM, hiked for 3 hours or so as a team, and went way up into the hills behind Boise. There were a lot of great views overlooking the whole city and its green trees--Boise is French for "City of Trees" by the way, if you didn't already know. It really is a beautiful city, and I realize how lucky I am that I get to live and play hockey in a city that I might never have discovered had it not been for my junior hockey career. Anyway, it was a great team bonding event, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when we head up to McCall for the first time to do some community service and participate in a community parade. We're really going to try as a team this year to get more involved in the community and gain some interest with people who don't know what the Idaho Junior Steelheads and junior hockey are all about. Should be fun!

Right Back Into It

So we've had on-ice practice for the past two days, and we haven't hesitated to get things going at all. We are right back into it. These last two practices have been very intense. It's been a lot of fun. It's good to get things going right away, and I think our team has responded really well to learning new drills and getting worked hard in practice. Our practices have had a high intensity, but people are also doing drills right and making tape-to-tape passes, which can be unusual this early on in the season. It's a good sign that we're able to do those things now.

The first day of practice was the hardest for me because I think I was still a little run down from the beep test the day before. Also, we did a lot of defense-oriented battle drills, and I think that made me feel even more tired. We did one of our coach's favorite drills for evaluating defensemen. It's called the North Dakota 1-on-1 drill, and it is hard, especially for defensemen because you have to skate backwards at the same speed a forward is skating forwards at full speed, and you can't touch the puck or the forward until a certain point, while maintaining a stick length gap or closer with the forward. I don't know if I did a good job explaining it, but it's essentially a drill that works on gap control, footwork, and composure for defenseman--three very important things for good defensemen to have. At one point during the drill, I felt really lightheaded, and that usually doesn't happen to me. But I battled through, and I think I had a good practice, considering that it was the first day of practice of the year. Everyone is understandably a little rusty, but it'll take some time to get the wheels going again.

Today, I felt a lot better on the ice already. And we had another hard practice. We did a lot of battle drills again, but they're fun because they require all of your concentration. If you let up for a second, you will get beat, and that's what it's like in games. I'm having a lot of fun being back out on the ice because I really like the drills we do. I feel like I could do some of the drills for hours and get better every time, with my active stick, my shot, my gap control, my footwork, or anything else. The drills we do here really push you to think about things while still being in an all-out battle. It's fun! But also tiring. It's fun getting your ass kicked on the ice, though. It feels good to work hard and get tired, but still be able to find another level to perform well in practice.

I will say that I'm noticing a difference this year. I'm not getting told about my mistakes as much as I was last year. That could mean two things: the coaches have given up on me and moved on to help younger kids, or I'm just a lot better than I was last year, and I'm actually doing some things right! I think it's the latter option. I know they haven't given up on me. I think I'm just a much better hockey player, and I know I'm still getting better. It's a good feeling.

After practice today, we had a team outing at a Boise Hawks game, which is a Class A professional baseball team in town. It was fun to be with the guys. And we actually got to do some of the in-between inning games that they have fans participate in...I was in the spud race from first to third base, and I got to be a french fry. It was pretty funny.

But it's been great to be busy with work, hockey, and family life with my new billets! I'm having a blast! I almost have no more time to blog anymore, so sorry if this post seems a little rushed. It's a combination of tiredness and rushing to get to bed so I can make it to work early tomorrow!

First Impressions

Well, we're back on the grind. Today was our first day of "practice." We had off-ice testing from 3 to 5 at Qwest Arena in downtown Boise, and we also had a team meeting where the coaches went through expectations and rules. I think we're going to have a good team. We have a lot of new faces, but I know for sure our coaches are going to put together a good team. They work hard to recruit good players with good character. It was great to see some of the returning vets and meet all the new players, and I think it's going to be really fun to be one of the leaders on the team. In the meeting before the testing, our coaches briefly stated our goals for the season. They said we had a great year last year with a good result at the national tournament, but we're looking to take another step forward this year, and it starts today. That statement and getting our brand new gear (CCM pants, gloves, and helmet) made me so excited to get on the ice tomorrow. I can't express how much I'm looking forward to this year. We got our schedule for September, and we have a few preseason games in Boise and McCall and then our regular season schedule starts in Park City, Utah later on in the month.

They also said there's only one rule for our team this year. They're not going to shove rules down our throats like some other teams do. The one rule is, "Do the right thing." I like it because it's an easy rule for me to follow.

In the actual off-ice testing, I did really well. I was the heaviest on the team, the tallest on the team, and I did the best by far in the beep test, a fitness test where you run 20 meters forward then have to make it back to the starting point before a beep. The beeps get increasingly faster as you go farther in the test. I made it to the 52nd level, so I figured I ran 2080 meters, which is about 1.29 miles, and that's hard when you're continuously increasing your speed with very little rest.

Anyway, I'm really excited for the season to start, to get to know all the new guys, and just to keep learning. It's going to be a great year.

"Hey Dad"

So, I thought I'd just share this funny thing that happened to me while I was skating today. I came off the ice for a drink of water and in the lobby of the rink, a little boy saw me and said, "Hey Dad." It was funny because a) He thought I was his dad, then quickly realized his mistake and b) Last year, my teammates in New Mexico called me Dad, so I actually responded to him calling me that. By the way, the kids in New Mexico called me Dad because of how I looked late at night with my glasses on during road trips, how they thought I was always reading, and always trying to go to bed early. Anyway, I thought it was funny.

Practice Starts in a Week, Goals for Upcoming Season

Official practices start one week from today! I can't wait to get back out there! I've probably said that in every post for a while, but I don't care. I'm excited! I want to keep getting better and get this year started because I have a lot of expectations for myself and for the team this year, and I'm tired of just thinking about it; I want to start doing!

My Team Goals:
1.) Go undefeated at home.
2.) Win our regular season division title.
3.) Repeat as league champions.
4.) Win nationals.

Now, after being on the team last year, I realize that all of these goals are well within reach, and, I think, for all of the returning vets it would be a disappointment if we don't accomplish them. I also realize that for our team to reach these goals, our leaders are going to have to lead, and lead well. I'm up for it. I want to get back to nationals, and I want to win it all this year. But it's not going to happen just because I want it to happen. We're going to have to work hard as a team to get it done.

My Individual Goals:
1.) Commit to a school by the end of December.
2.) Work my way up to the first power play and penalty kill units.
3.) Be a leader on and off the ice.
4.) Score 30 points or more.
5.) Be our team's best defenseman in games and in practice.
6.) Play tough every shift.
7.) Play smart every shift.
8.) Get better every day.
9.) Read as many books as I can. (You might laugh at this one, but it's a legitimate goal. I have to keep my brain active because I will be going to school at this time next year.)
10.) Have more fun than I did last year!

It's always good to make goals to hold yourself accountable during the year. These goals aren't set in stone, but I'm going to hold myself to really high standards this year. I want this to be an awesome year for me, and I'm so ready to meet all the challenges that this season holds and most importantly to have fun.

Hittin' It Hard

My roommate and I have really been hitting it hard the past few days in the gym and on the ice. We've gone to the gym every day this week and skated whenever we can with a few other guys on the team who are in town. It's been really awesome to get settled in, start working, and start getting focused on the upcoming season. We've gone to the gym really focused and ready to work lately. It's not like we go to the gym to talk or babewatch--although there is a little of that, not going to lie--but we go in and tire ourselves out and do meaningful exercises. Two days ago, we did an arm workout, and I told Justin during the workout that my arms didn't feel like they were a part of my body anymore. They felt like they were just floating away from my body because we had worked them so hard. Yesterday, we went to the gym and told ourselves that we were just going to go in and do a short workout, but once we got to the gym, our short workout quickly turned into a 2 hour and 15 minute workout. I can tell already that it's going to be a great year. It's going to be great to have a workout partner who will push me to do better and to work harder, and it will be really fun to live with someone who I like to hang out with and who I have fun with.

Another one of our workout partners who is actually leaving to play for the Corpus Christi Ice Rays in the NAHL in a few days, but who was my D partner here last year, said the other day during a workout, "Tomorrow, if you're not sore, you're a whore." (Sorry for the offensive word--I know there are families reading this--but if you keep reading, you will see the connection to what I'm about to say.) And I've been really sore all week, so I guess I'm doing something right. But I have a feeling that all this hard work we are doing now will have tremendous payout in a few months when we are tearing through this league, on our way to a national championship.