It's really exciting to be here. For me, this is my second time doing the NHL Global Series, after playing for the Edmonton Oilers in 2018 against the New Jersey Devils in Gothenburg, Sweden, when we also had an exhibition game against Kolner Haie in Cologne, Germany, so I know a little bit what to expect.
There's so many moving parts. There's the trainers and all the staff having to pack up ship and put it on a plane. Some things they bring, some things they don't bring. I hope they get to enjoy some time and to explore the city a little bit.
But as players I think we're really excited. It was cool getting on that airplane, they had a nice set up for us there. Thus far we've been treated unbelievably. It's exciting to come to Berlin and play a team that, if you look at that roster over there, a lot of those guys have been in the NHL or we played growing up through the ranks. I worked out with Brendan Guhle -- he hasn't played a game yet for Eisbaren -- but he's been in Anaheim's system for a good amount of time now. I work out with him in the summer, skate with him, and know he was excited to make that jump.
I remember in Edmonton playing on the big sheet, which we'll experience tomorrow. It's a completely different game. Even today at practice, grabbing the puck, it was different. We're so used to NHL standard-sized ice that you kind of know where the net is depending on where you are on the ice without even looking at the net, whereas today it was like you grab the puck and you're like, OK, the net's way over there and I thought it was right here. Just little things like that.
Yesterday was great. I'm not much of a soccer guy, but I appreciate how good those athletes are. They're so good with their feet -- they're insanely fast -- and I think a lot of that you kind of lose sometimes on TV. It's very similar to hockey. You experience a hockey game right at the glass and it's completely different than what you see on TV. So that was really cool. Unbelievable stadium, at Olympiastadion Berlin. Tons of history there, with the blue track and the Olympics in 1936. That was really fun. It was my first-ever soccer game and there were two really good goals and one was just offside.
I haven't gotten a chance to walk around Berlin yet. For me, it was a struggle yesterday with the time change. During the soccer game, I started to hit a wall. Our training staff had given us a schedule to stick to to help us get accustomed to the time zone as quickly as possible, so I grinded until 10:30 p.m. and then shut it down just to wake up at 4 a.m., wired. I got to FaceTime the family back home when they were just going to bed. So that was weird for me, waking up at 4 a.m. and staying awake. I was staring at the roof, realizing I'm not going to sleep again. I'll try to grind it out today again until 10:30, 11 and then shut it down. But everyone's going through it. Nashville's going through the same thing.
