Girardi's Journal: Closing out camp

Throughout Tampa Bay Lightning training camp, Bolts defenseman Dan Girardi has been kind enough to chronicle his thoughts in what we're calling: In Their Own Words - Girardi's Journal.
Periodically, we'll be checking in with Girardi to get his thoughts on how training camp is progressing or provide a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in the locker room when the players are hanging out.
In his final installment, as told to TampaBayLightning.com beat writer Bryan Burns, Girardi discusses the last week of the preseason, what it was like playing in front of over 10,000 fans at Orlando's Amway Center and his keys for a good start to the season on Saturday versus Florida.

"I think we really liked how we finished in the preseason. The first two, three, maybe even four games, there are a lot of guys in the lineup that are going back to their junior team or going back to the American League. You can tell the last little bit here, there were more guys that are going to stay, and the games got a lot more solid. We're happy with how we finished the preseason after losing the first two. The first three or four days of training camp are always hard and then you start getting into exhibition games. I think as camp goes on, everyone gets more confident in the games and feeling more prepared for the season. Even though the final game at Florida meant nothing, we still had a big penalty kill in the game in the third, had a good 6-on-5, that's stuff you can build on going into the season which is always a positive. There was nothing on the line other than winning a preseason game, but we found a way to kill that last penalty, pretty well too, working on our clears, talking. I think when we get in the most trouble on the penalty kill is when we don't get the puck out, it's on our stick, we don't talk, we don't know where to put it. Off face-offs, win a draw, we can't get it out. Those are the ones that really come back to haunt you. I think if we could really concentrate on that, the other stuff will take care of itself. The structure, blocking shots, that's all stuff you can be in the right place at the right time, but when the puck's on your stick and you've got three guys to help you out, let you know where to clear, eat it, hold it, up the middle, off the glass, that's a lot of talk that needs to be done on the PK and I think that's going to help.
We couldn't go down and morning skate on Saturday like we typically do, so we had some fun at the hotel playing a game of knockout amongst the team whether it was playing basketball or beach volleyball. I was on the basketball court. Other guys played a little beach volleyball and went down a couple water slides. My basketball game is just okay, pretty standard really. I try to keep it simple, just like if I'm on the ice, get it to the hoop and try to make it. I'm not much a shot blocker in basketball though like I am in hockey. I don't have good hops, so I can't really get up there to block or snag rebounds. I think that was a nice way to finish off a hard camp, knowing we had to go bus, fly to Ft. Lauderdale, bus to the rink. I think we played pretty well Saturday night for traveling quite a bit the day of the game. So I think we were very happy with how that day went. Spending a few days in Orlando was nice. We had a couple games on the road, had a hard practice, but we were able to enjoy it a little bit, hang out, get together and get closer as a group, have some dinner and I think that was good for us. It was really fun to do something different, get away from the ice for a little bit, have some fun with the guys. The hotel we stayed at was beautiful. We're very fortunate we got to stay at a place like that and enjoy all the amenities there.
I think it was great to do a preseason game in Orlando. Obviously, having the Solar Bears there now as the affiliate ECHL team, some guys could be there this year that make their way up. I was in the Coast one year and you make your way up. I think it's good to branch out a little bit throughout Florida. I thought the fan support at the game was tremendous. We were amazed by it. It's always good to see. You're an hour-and-a-half away, probably lot of traffic problems trying to get to the arena, I think that was pretty cool we got to play a game there and play somewhere different and have it still feel like a home game.
I can only speak for myself, but I think we're all feeling that it's time for the season to start. But we have five days before Opening Night, so it's still a long way away. We'll have a good couple practices, maybe grab a day off here midweek and re-energize and then it'll be two practices, morning skate and then the season opener. We're very familiar with the team we'll be facing Saturday, so should be prepared properly for that. We have a couple days without games after Opening Night, so everything's focused on that first game to make sure we're doing all the right things, make sure we're not turning pucks over, playing good defensively, stuff we've been saying around here for a while. I think it's going to be good to do that in practice in the next four days and then use it in a game.
I think the start to the season is very important. There are going to be ups and downs during the year. It's a really long, grinding season. If you get off to a good start, you put yourself in a good spot early because who knows what's going to happen down the road. When you have the team we have, you give yourself a chance to win every night and we have to take advantage of that. It's a token cliché, but we can't look ahead. We've got to just worry about that first game and maybe a couple segments here and there. Only thing that matters at the end of the season is that we have a check mark beside our name. Doesn't matter where we finish. Obviously, the higher the better, but you're working to get that playoff spot and it starts with game No. 1 on Saturday and hopefully it starts off on the right foot."