The New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres are set to face off in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal, starting the regular season with two games at O2 Arena in Prague on Oct. 4 and 5.
Devils forward Erik Haula will be keeping a blog this week with NHL.com throughout the Global Series, giving fans a taste of what life is like on the ground as they go through the Global Series experience. Haula's second entry was written from the Devils locker room at O2 Arena following their third practice since arriving in Prague on Monday.
I can't believe we're just one day from the start of our regular season. Everyone is pretty ramped up.
Wednesday night was pretty chill. We had a team dinner with the staff, and I saw my wife (Kristen) and dad (Tomi) before dinner. We walked back to the hotel after dinner and tried to go to sleep but, honestly, it's still a guessing game. I want to fall asleep at 10 p.m. (local time), but I really can't sleep until 12 a.m.
It was nice to catch up with my dad a little bit. He just came over from my house in Minnesota. There was a hockey tournament being held there where my brother played, so that was cool.
I think we were all happy to practice at O2 on a natural ice sheet. Skoda ICERINK was fine and suited its purpose, but the 30-minute bus rides, dressed always, and not being able to practice where you're going to play was tough. We'll probably have another morning skate tomorrow. Some guys might not skate, but personally, I'm going to hop on again and just try to prepare the best I can for the game.
There were times during practice today when coach (Sheldon Keefe) stopped the drill. When he does that, he's just providing us a message that has to do with our game, our systems. It's good to be thorough. It's nothing over the top, ever. He has a message and brings the guys in so everyone can hear it and, boom, it's done, and then we move on and do it better, or whatever we need to do. I mean, that's always the goal every time you step on the ice -- be better. I think he's doing a good job with that.
Personally, I'll treat tonight as I would any normal regular-season game on the road. I'm going to grab a bite to eat around 6:30 and then go back to the hotel and just relax and try to get some rest. You really don't know how your sleep will go, but you just have to try your best to get that 8-10 hours in, stay hydrated and feel rested. I'm not going to do anything differently than I would on the road. We've had time to look around and go out to eat. I'll have dinner with my mom (Minna) when I return to the hotel and probably watch some TV shows and just relax.
It certainly looks like defenseman Seamus Casey will make his NHL debut Friday. I know he's coming over this season after his sophomore season in college (University of Michigan). I had no idea of his abilities until training camp. Usually when you hear that somebody's a good player in college, or he's a good prospect and they played college, what does that really mean? But he came to camp, and although I missed the early part of camp due to a sickness, I heard he was having a good camp.
I obviously watched the games, and was impressed by his poise, his maturity, his escapability as a smaller defenseman. Clearly he's been working with our power-play unit and that's great for him so it should be an exciting day for Seamus tomorrow.
I hope to file my next blog after our first game of the season Friday.
