Coming overseas is a great experience. I played for Team Canada in the IIHF World Championship in 2017, when we went to Paris [France] and Cologne [Germany], and it was great. It's kind of cool that the NHL does these games, good for the exposure and stuff like that, and not necessarily in big hockey countries. It's just good to try and grow the game and I think it's a cool experience, you know? It'd be cool if more teams came over and you almost had a couple of games to start the season instead of just one. But we're fortunate we get to do this.
As far as getting to see things, it's work, you know? It's a business trip for sure. We don't get as much time off as people think. You've got to go to the rink, do practices every day and all that kind of stuff. But I'm going to do my best to try and see some sights. Obviously, there's a lot of history in this part of the world and seeing some of the memorials and museums will be pretty cool.
I'm feeling pretty good, slowly progressing. The shoulder I had surgery on in May feels good, but the groin injury has been a bit of a hinder. Other than that, it's just the typical bumps and bruises.
Like I said a few weeks ago, it's my goal to make it hard on the doctors and the training staff to keep me out of the lineup for the season opener against the Flyers. We're just going day by day right now. I know that's a cliché answer but it's always the right one. It's always the truth. We're progressing in the right direction.
