View from the Ice: Reliving Draft Day

Throughout the week, 2018 draft pick Jake Wise will be blogging for chicagoblackhawks.com about his experiences during his first Blackhawks Development Camp.
Today was an early day. I woke up at 7:15 a.m. and Chad and I went downstairs to get breakfast. We started off with some meetings where we learned about good sleeping habits and did some yoga which was pretty painful for me. My favorite part of the yoga session was when we had to lay down and stay really still. They shut the lights off and everyone fell asleep. It was really relaxing! Then we had lunch and headed to the rink for practice.
I felt much better on the ice. Today we skated before we worked out, so I felt really fresh out there. We did a lot of 2-on-1 and 2-on-2 rushes. We talked about trying to find open areas or getting lost behind the defensemen when you don't have the puck and then taking advantage of the ice towards the middle to improve the angle of your shot when you have possession. Those were probably the biggest takeaways I learned today.

I've been trying to get to know a lot of the guys. I met Adam Boqvist at the Combine, but didn't see him at the draft and I met Niklas Nordgren after we got selected at the draft. We were picked really close together so we went through media together.
My draft day was stressful, but once your name gets called it's the biggest relief. I probably had 20 people there: family, a couple of cousins and my best friends. My grandma doesn't like flying so she couldn't make it, but she was the first person I called when I got back to the hotel and she was so happy.
I couldn't be happier to be picked by the Blackhawks. They were the first team I talked to and when it got to Chicago I had a feeling they were going to pick me for whatever reason. I remember saying to my mom, "This is where I'm going to go," and then they picked me.
Tonight my team is going to a cooking class and after that it will probably be more Narcos for me and Chad. Last night the Wi-Fi came back so Chad and I watched a few episodes, ate some dinner and tried to get some rest.