The anthem was pretty nerve-racking for me and during my first shift I think I was gripping my stick a little too tight. I settled in quickly and I felt confident in my game and happy with how I played.
I felt very comfortable playing with Olli. He's got this composure about him that really translates well into his game, he's not really flashy, but makes the simple or highlight reel play when he needs to. He's never going to make a big mistake and that helped the trust level between us. If I wanted to go, I knew he'd be back and if he wanted to go, it was his opportunity and I stayed back for him.
Being roommates has helped our bonding, although I still don't know much about the guy! He's quiet and seems to love baseball; he was watching the Blue Jays game on his laptop the other night. I think that's pretty interesting for a guy coming from Finland.
In terms of being a roommate, he's solid. Quiet, loves sports and goes to bed early. I'm likely the annoying one of the two. I have trouble sleeping after games, so my phone light is usually on for quite a while, I hope it wasn't bugging him last night. I do a lot of texting, social media and playing games, I'm a big 1010! guy, it's a brick game like Tetris, that's my go-to game.
I saw my family and everyone post-game last night, which was great. They were really proud and obviously just as excited as I was. My mom and her boyfriend and my grandparents were right beside the bench, second row, during the game, so I saw them the entire night, but everyone else I couldn't find. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking, when I had a few seconds I was trying to scope them out. Probably better off that I didn't find them.
Today is a lighter day with just an afternoon practice and no game. It was a quick, but tough skate to get the legs going. Having a day off you don't want to be lying around the hotel all day, so we were getting prepared for tomorrow. We're here to win and that's what we're building towards, a win Sunday night. I thought today was a good, positive day.
Now we have some down time and I'm going to use it to catch up with some old friends and see some familiar faces. I'm trying to meet my old billet from Penticton Kelly David, I haven't seen him in a while. Maybe go to the golf course and grab some food as well, our old skate sharpener Donnie Cameron is there. There are a lot of great people in Penticton.
Happy Saturday!
Troy
