Hello hockey fans.
I'm coming to you from the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo!
It was a great process, something you look forward to, especially having the chance to talk to 26 NHL teams and getting to know those people. While you're doing the testing, you get to meet some of the other guys in this class that you haven't met before, so it's fun and I enjoyed every moment of it.
I don't know anyone who likes doing the Wingate bike test or the VO2 max bike test so, in a way, I'm glad it's over but the challenge of doing it was fun. I'm a competitive guy. I think the VO2 was harder because it was so much longer. You kind of had to struggle on the bike for about four minutes, whereas, with the Wingate, you had the first 10 seconds where you felt pretty good, but then the last 20 seconds you were fighting it. Overall, I think you had to fight it a lot longer on the VO2.
The Wingate was 30 seconds total, but the first 10 you feel pretty good and then you kind of hit a wall.
I'm definitely trying to look at where I stack up on the board with the other prospects while doing the testing. A lot of this stuff, especially the strength stuff, upper body, is something I need to improve on so I'm working on that this summer. Whether good or bad at it, I'm competitive and I'll try to do it better than other guys.
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I honestly feel I did my best on the VO2 max bike test on Friday because I was fresh. I took the test at 10:30 a.m. ET and felt really good. I really left it all out there so (on Saturday) my legs were a little gassed from that on the explosive tests. It didn't go as good as maybe I would have wanted it to, but it was still fun.
Now that the Combine is over, my plan is to go back to Canada and visit my cousins, my grandma, aunts and uncles in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Then it's back to training with Gary Roberts and his team in Toronto for a couple of weeks before the 2022 draft. I plan to work on my overall strength and speed with them.
I need to get a lot stronger; that's the biggest thing. Gary is obviously a great strength coach and he has me eating great, which is something you need to focus on. It doesn't matter how many hours you spend in the gym, if you're not eating or sleeping right, you're not going to get better.
Finally, it's nice knowing this is kind of the final step before the draft. The draft is a month away and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going to do everything I can up until the draft to just improve as a player and as a person, and just get better and work hard.
It's an exciting time. Until next month, enjoy the remainder of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Photo credit: Tomi Natri, Pelicans
