Hello hockey fans.
Our team was in the Czech Republic last week to compete in the U-18 Five Nations Tournament. We won all four games -- against Sweden (8-2), Czech Republic (5-2), Switzerland (8-1) and Finland (3-2) -- to win the trophy. I've never been to the Czech Republic, so it was nice to visit. We didn't get a chance to do much sightseeing because there was a lot of hockey to play.
Things are really clicking for our team right now. Both goalies (Spencer Knight, Cameron Rowe) have played really well. As forwards, we're executing a system we like to play, and our defense doesn't give up a lot of chances and is hard to play against. I think it kind of excites our team a lot because we're kind of the big dog to beat, so it kind of ramps us up. We're excited for these tournaments.
Since last season, our team is unbeaten (18-0) in international competition. We're proud of that, but we don't think about it too much. During the tournament I didn't really think about it because we kind of just go there, think about the game and are excited to play the other countries. It's not like we have to win to keep our record intact, but it's just fun to win and beat those countries.
We're really living the life. We're missing school but playing hockey, so that's the biggest thing.
Personally, I've had a pretty good stretch over the first 18 games. I feel like I'm right where I want to be and feel like our team is right where it wants to be too. I think I still can produce more than I am now and continue to get better. Obviously, our team is starting to click even though we're missing some players because of injury. We've had a good first stretch of the season entering American Thanksgiving.
I think it's good that coach (John Wroblewski) keeps us on our toes with the line combinations. We might be playing with different linemates each game, but everyone is so good that whoever you're with, you always have some sort of success. Guys have implemented themselves in certain spots, so I play with Cole Caufield most of the time. Sometimes Trevor Zegras will jump up with us and play wing. When Zegras plays center, he's usually with Matthew Boldy, and then we have John Beecher and Judd Caulfield together. We have a deep team and a lot of good players, so no matter who you're playing with it should be a good line.
I won't be home with my family for Thanksgiving Day since our team will play at Central Illinois on Nov. 23. But we'll still get a nice Thanksgiving dinner because the family of teammate Owen Lindmark (Naperville, Illinois) has invited the whole team to their house on Thanksgiving Day.
It's really nice of them to invite us all.
Thanksgiving Day is an important holiday and it's really cool with the football and family time. It was always special in the Hughes' house when we were together. We'd talk hockey, nonstop, until mom finally told us to talk about something else. We always had a lot of good times.
I enjoy watching college football more than the NFL right now, and the University of Michigan is my favorite team. They're doing well.
That's it for this month. Thanks for reading and have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!
