I've been here a little more than 24 hours now and it's been great. I've been meeting a lot of new guys and seeing some old friends. It's definitely cool to be around this group of guys and it's cool to be a part of.
I'm sitting next to Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, so I got to know them a little bit, just talk to them a bit. They're pretty cool and it's just nice. You never get to talk to them outside of battling on the ice, and it's cool to actually get a chance to do that.
I caught up with Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid a little bit. We were linemates with Erie of the Ontario Hockey League during the 2014-15 season. I saw a couple of buddies that I know in passing and a couple of Detroit guys, so it was cool to see them too.
I'm here with my wife Lyndsey, which is cool. It's definitely a unique experience to be able to experience it with her and our families. My mom Tracey came, and a family friend came with us and Lyndsey's parents. So, we've got a good crowd here and just getting together with them was pretty great.
With my breakaway challenge, we had a couple of people brainstorming for me. So, they came to me with the idea of doing "The Hangover" with me as Alan (Zach Galifianakis' character) and I thought that was pretty funny, so we kind of rolled with it. And then they were able to bring, you know, some of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders out including quarterback Derek Carr. So, you get a little bit of two storylines there. But I think it worked out well.
We didn't do any practice. We just talked a little bit before and, you know, it was a short pass from Carr, so I don't know if I could drop it. The beard and wig weren't very comfortable, so I took them off right away, but it was fun.
We ended up telling a couple of Blackhawks what I was doing. Forward Patrick Kane thought it was pretty good, but I should have just stolen his Superman cape that he wore for the 2012 NHL All-Star Skills Competition's Breakaway Challenge. Maybe that'll be my next one.
Outside of the All-Star responsibilities, we've had a little bit of time to walk around. We went to lunch with my family, and it's been fun. Not too busy, so it's definitely been good.
I'm looking forward to Saturday because I think 3-on-3 is really fun. We'll see how it goes, but it should be a good time and hopefully I can score some goals.
It's just a lot of fun here. It's nothing too serious, you get to meet a lot of new guys, so it's a cool experience for me to be in. Hopefully I can come back again.
