Ian McCoshen will be entering his third season with the Waterloo Black Hawks in the United States Hockey League in 2012-13. The 6-foot-2 1/2, 207-pound defenseman, regarded as an 'A List' prospect by NHL Central Scouting entering the 2012-13 season, has produced eight goals and 26 points in 97 career games in the USHL. McCoshen, who will take part in the All American Prospects Game in Buffalo on Sept. 29, has agreed to take the time and maintain a blog for NHL.com all season long leading up to the 2013 NHL Draft.
Now that I'm back home in Waterloo, I've had a chance to think about the great time I had in Buffalo last weekend. It was something special being part of the first-ever All-American Prospects Game.
I left Friday night after our game in Green Bay. We took off about 11 p.m., and got into Buffalo like 1:30 in the morning, and I probably didn't get to sleep until 3. Then we started early in the morning with meetings and stuff at the rink.
It certainly wasn't the normal game day. I tried to get my pre-game nap, but I was too excited so I kept waking up every 15 minutes.
Once we got to the rink and started getting our gear on, there was no tension in the room. Guys were loose, excited. We were pretty jacked up to play.
Going out on the ice in an NHL building was pretty surreal. There was a lot of fans out there. It was pretty spectacular facility that the Buffalo Sabers have. What an honor to be in that game.
I wasn't really nervous, but it started to feel like a normal game after the first couple shifts. That's when I felt like I got my feet under me. It was just getting used to my partner and how he played, the line you were playing with. It definitely took a little bit of time. I remember early in the first I was trailing a 2-on-1 break and J.T. Compher dropped a pass for me. I wound up and fired, but the shot went wide. That was a real nice pass by J.T.Once we settled in we were clicking a little bit. The game didn't go the way we wanted, our Team Housley lost 5-2, but it was still a good time.
There was so much to enjoy there. Just meeting the NTDP people I didn't know before, seeing friends from back home. Just playing the game and being a part of it -- the first-ever game like it.
It really was something special.
Follow Ian McCoshen on Twitter at: @ijmccoshen3
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