Dear Panthers fans,
It's been a great start for us, but there's still a lot of season left.
We've talked about it all year, but we're taking a shift-by-shift mentality in this room. With where we're at in the standings, we know that every team is going to be ready for us. We know that it's never going to be an easy night on the ice and that we're going to have to work for every point.
But I think it's fun getting everybody's best. We want that. Facing that kind of competition every game is a good confidence builder for us as we make our way through this season. We've just got to get better each and every game, pick up as many points as we can and move forward.
As good as we've been at home playing in front of you guys, we know that we've kind of been just an average team on the road here early on. We know we need to be better, and it starts on Friday against the Coyotes. We want to get off to a good start, get the two points and build up some confidence heading into the last game of our road trip against the Avalanche on Sunday.
For myself, the body's feeling good. We've gotten off to a good start and everyone is playing well. Ekky's obviously off to another hot start for himself, so it's easy to play with him. We want to just keep building on that from here on out. It's great being back with Ekky. We always talk about wanting to play together forever. We get along so well and he's just so easy to play with.
I also think part of that on-ice success comes from how great things are in the locker room.
We've always had some tight groups here, but I think Jumbo has brought us even closer. He makes everybody laugh and keeps the room light. But winning helps everything, so as long as we keep winning games everyone will keep laughing, having fun and keep that confidence up.
As a group, we've also been doing a lot on the road together. It feels like a fresh start for us. It was a tough time last year with all the protocols and restrictions. Obviously we're still being safe, but it's been fun getting out and hanging out with the guys away from the hotel a bit this season.
When we got to Arizona on Thursday, we all went to Topgolf and then out to dinner. Gudy organized it all. He got everybody involved from the players to the trainers. It was nice to come in from St. Louis, get some sun, spend time with everybody and grow a little closer.
My swing's still looking nice, so it was fun to hit some balls. The scenery in the background with all the mountains was also really nice. We weren't really keeping score as much as we were just bombing shots. But there was a new "Angry Birds" game that was cool. All the birds were on the screen, so you'd just hit a shot as far as you could and then look to see if you hit any of them.
In the past people have asked what's one thing you have to bring on road trips. For me, it's a fan. Not a handheld fan, but like this foot-high actual fan. I have to have it to sleep. It's kind of a hassle bringing it on the road, but I need it. You never know how the air conditioning is going to be on the road, but I also need a bit of the white noise. It started a few years ago and it's stuck.
We're looking forward to finishing this trip with some wins and then heading home.
See you back in Sunrise,
MacKenzie Weegar
POSTCARD: Weegar Writes from Arizona
