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When I was growing up in St. Albert, Alberta, I pretended I was playing for the Stanley Cup lots of times.
Me and my buddies would play on outdoor rinks, in the house playing mini sticks, out the in driveway shooting the puck against the garage door or whatever. I remember my one friend, Connor Hoekstra, had a lake that we'd scrape off and we'd stay out there for hours.
There were so many different times that you envisioned this opportunity, and it's kind of crazy to think that it's here now.
These past two days since we won Game 5 on Thursday have gone by pretty quick. We had a travel day and I got to spend some time with my family yesterday.
My mom and dad, my two sisters, Kendra and Kennedy, my brother Bryce and Kendra's two kids are all here, so there's seven in my house, not including myself. From my standpoint as a player, it's nice because you have a little bit of time to get away from hockey and think about something else.
Obviously, right now it's an exciting time for us. All we think about is hockey, hockey, hockey. Different scenarios run through your head, so it's cool to have the chance to think about and do something else.
Kendra's kids are 3 and 1, and it's fun to spend some time with them. They want to play games at the house or have some fun like that. Getting away from hockey and thinking about hockey is nice, for sure.
I'll spend this afternoon with my family after practice and then we'll head over as a team and spend tonight at the hotel. We've been doing that throughout the playoffs. It's just to make sure we are focused and get the proper rest. A lot of guys have kids or other things they'd be doing. I know if I stayed at my house I'd want to play with my sister's kids, so it's a good opportunity for us.
We get the family time during the day and at night we focus on the game and get prepared.
There hasn't been a lot of talk among the guys about being one win away from winning the Cup. We're really focused on making sure we have a good game in Game 6.
We understand what's on the line, obviously. We just want to come with our best game because we know this is going to be the toughest one, for sure, and if we come with a good game I think that's going to give us a good advantage to.
I might be a little more nervous before the game, but I think once it starts it will be hockey as usual. It's still a game.
We're expecting them to come hard and fast, so we have to be sure we're prepared. That will make us confident when we know we're done our homework and it should be good.
