Blighters Blog

This off season was a particularly long one for me. Last season ended on March 16 and I’m leaving for Cardiff on the 25th of August so quick math, 5 months. Normally I would have maybe 3 or 4 months tops and some years it was only 2 months when I made the switch from North America to Europe.

This off-season was packed full of all kinds of travelling for me. It started in Basel Switzerland with my best friend and current teammate Mac Faulkner where we met up with an old friend from University, Marc Zwicky, and our teammate from Renon Scott May. The boy’s trip was a lot of fun and a perfect way to end the season. We spent 2 days in Basel and 2 in Lech Austria. It was just a great trip with a great group of guys and my first time skiing in 15 years and only 2nd time ever.

I came back to North America and spent some time in the USA before going home to Canada about a month after I got back. On my way home a friend of mine asked me to go to his bachelor party in Vegas so of course I “had” to go. I actually met up with my current teammate/roommate there, Tyson Marsh. We actually had no idea we were going to be there at the same time and if it weren’t for Facebook we would not have known at all. Mac knew we were both there at the same time but didn’t tell either of us. I think maybe he was a little jealous he wasn’t there too! We had a great time in the Hard Rock pool party with Tyson’s friends. LL Cool J put on a concert right in the pool, it was a crazy party. Not as crazy as Prince Harry’s recent trip to Vegas but we had a good time!

A few weeks after I returned from Vegas, I signed with Cardiff. It was an exciting time for me as I had been thinking about playing here the past few years when Neil Francis started to recruit me. I had heard great things in the past about Cardiff from Jay Latulippe and I really liked that they have had a lot of success over the years with Neil and Gerard. They want to win and are serious about putting a team together to win a championship which is what I’m looking for. Also, having the opportunity to play hockey and go to school with Mac again certainly helped my decision as we were roommates in University for 4 years. Thinking there was no way things could get better I was clearly wrong because shortly after another good friend, Tyson, signed. Looking back I still can’t believe it all worked out the way it did. Having the opportunity to play with your friends in pro hockey is very rare and I’m excited to have the opportunity this year.

A couple weeks later I ended up teaching a hockey camp in Lake Placid NY with both Tyson and Mac. I can’t get away from these guys can I? We had a great time teaching the kids how to play hockey. It’s something that we have done since University and really enjoy doing it.

Right when I got back from Lake Placid I had to pack up and go out to Vancouver for a wedding. I decided to go a few days early to Vancouver Island to visit my grandparents that I don’t get to see very often because they live so far away. I had a great time with them on the island; which is just a beautiful part of Canada. After a few days on the island it was time to get to the mainland for my friend Bracken Kearn’s wedding. Bracken played his first games in the NHL this past year at the age of 30! If that doesn’t tell you something about the kind of character he has I don’t know what will. Just a great guy who found a great girl and I’m really happy for them and wish them all the best.

In case anyone is wondering at this point with all my travels this summer I actually live in Cambridge Ontario. I train there at NLPT in Kitchener which is run by two great trainers and friends Andrew Hopf, and Eric Hagemann. They push us all really hard and there are a lot of younger guys there that really push me every day. I really enjoy my time there in the summer and have had great results the past 3 years I have trained there. Despite being just 3 years old they have become the premier training facility in our region and get athletes from all over Ontario to train there.

I’m pretty excited to hop on that plane in 3 days. Mac, Tyson, Didiomete and my friend Pete Vaisanen who plays in the 3rd league are all on the same flight with me. Should be quite the flight, I hope Air Transat is ready for us. Milam was supposed to be on our flight as well but had some visa issues so he won’t be making it right away. I have played against both Didiomete and Milam so I know how valuable they will be for us. I’m really excited to play alongside those guys too. I mean after reading Didiomete’s twitter the past couple months how could you not be excited for the hockey season to get going right?