Hey Panthers fans,
It’s great to spend some time on the road with the guys.
I would say most of your relationships in this game are forged off the ice.
The more time you spend together, the more you find out about each other than just hockey. That’s how guys end up going to battle together at the end of the year. They care about the guy next to them. They know what makes them go. It’s not just, ‘Hey, this guy is a great hockey player.’ You know the guy next to you as a person and you want to win for him.
That’s the type of room you need to have. If you don’t have it, when it gets really tough in the year and it's really hard, you don’t see that same type of pull without those relationships.
I remember when I first got here, I said that I wanted to just jump on the bus and not screw anything up. Now, after being here for almost 30 games, you start to understand what that bus looks like, where your seat is on it and how you need to play every day to have success.
With this group, it’s a lot of fun to be around everyone and know that the recipe works. That’s honestly probably been the thing that I’ve enjoyed the most. This team is confident in its process and confident in the way we conduct ourselves and treat ourselves away from the rink. They know the recipe works, so it’s easy to fall in line. For me, it’s all completely new. There’s a lot of things I’m doing for the first time in my career, but it works. I’m all in and having fun.
Off the ice, there’s been a lot of Monopoly Deal played on this trip.
I taught the game to a couple of guys on the plane on our way to Seattle, and it’s just been fantastic. It’s myself, Roddy, Anton and Luosty. It got fired up a little bit on the plane, and then it carried over right into Seattle and Vancouver.
I actually got my first win last night, which was huge. It took me nine games. After teaching the guys the game, it was my first time winning. I think I made a mistake. I learned you can’t show everybody your tricks before the game even starts. I taught them everything I knew, and then all of the sudden they’re using my own tactics against me. Still, I’m a proud professor of the game.
I know I haven’t been a Panther long, but the support from the fans has been great.
