Demers' Diary: Dads Trip Edition

I think my dad was just as psyched as I was to pick up those two wins.
It was great to earn a pair of victories against the Devils and Islanders on last week's road trip, but even more special because I was able to share it with my father, Darrell. It's always great to share experiences like that with your family, especially with the people that have raised you and watched you grow up over the years.

My dad was my coach for most of my younger years. He's always been a big influence on my hockey career and is the main reason that I started playing the game. At times, he still thinks that he's my coach and I'm sure he'll always partly have that feeling.
Even at this stage of my career, my dad is always trying to coach me. He lets me know when I'm playing the right way and always keeps me in line. My dad and I talk after almost every game or at some point the next day. He lets me know if I'm doing a good job or not, so it's always good to get that different perspective. It was nice to have him on the road trip because after each of the wins I got to talk to him in person rather than over the phone. It's great to have him and have his support.
The trip wasn't all about hockey, though.
In our downtime, we visited the New York Stock Exchange and the Freedom Tower. That was a very special experience. After that, we had a nice dinner at Belmonte's in Brooklyn with pretty much everyone in the organization. It was cool to see how appreciative my dad was of the whole experience and how happy he was to be a part of it.
It was actually pretty funny at dinner to see how excited a lot of the dads, including my own, were to be eating at the same table as Denis Potvin. My dad kept nudging me and whispering in my ear the whole time about how he's one of the best defensemen to ever play the game. I think he wanted to pick his brain a bit.
Looking around the room, it was also fun to see which dads resembled their kids and to pick up on some of the other similarities between them. In my opinion, I think Alexander Petrovic's dad takes the cake. He didn't even have a jacket with him when we landed in New York. He's just so used to the cold from living in Alberta. He also had some good stories about Petro growing up. He was a hoot and definitely one of my favorites, that's for sure.
I honestly think it was one of the best Dads' Trips that I've been a part of. It was my dad's fifth or sixth time doing it and he loves it every time. The team treated us great and had a lot of things planned. One of the best things, in my opinion, was how they let the dads in the rooms before the games so that they could see our meetings and how everything works. It was all very well done.
Now, there's only one person that might be a little unhappy - my mom, Guylaine
My mom's been looking for a trip of her own for about eight years now. She petitions every time we don't get a Moms' Trip. I'm sure it'll happen eventually, but it helped that my dad FaceTimed her in a lot, so she was basically part of the Dads' Trip. My parents have been together for a long time, so they're pretty much inseparable.
Jameson Olive contributed to this article