Demers' Diary: Tough Road Trip; Halloween Festivities

It was a tough road trip, but the guys stayed really positive.
We knew that we didn't play the right way in Toronto and Buffalo. In Pittsburgh, we gave a good effort, but ended up blowing a 2-0 lead. Still, I definitely thought that we were the better team in that game.

In the end, we found what we needed in that last game against Detroit. I think that 5-2 win was exactly what we needed. It was good to end with a win, but we just have to throw out those other three games.
I thought the biggest difference between the game in Detroit and the rest of the road trip was that we were just more opportunistic. We had our chances and we buried them. In Toronto and Buffalo, we had those same chances but just couldn't score. When you don't capitalize on those chances, you open the door for teams to stay in games, and that's what happened.
I think there was a little bit of frustration after those first few games, but we all calmed each other down and knew we had to finish the trip on a strong note, especially on the tail end of a back-to-back.
James Reimer putting together a great game against Detroit was also huge and helped us out a lot. It's great knowing that you'll either have Reimer and Roberto Luongo backing you up on any given night. If you ever have a mental lapse, you know that they're going to be there to cover you and bail you out. You want to play for goalies like that. They come to play every night and they do a great job back there.
As for myself, I thought everyone's game kind of flowed with how things went throughout the road trip. I didn't like my game in Toronto or Buffalo. I think I got away from some of the things that I've done well in the beginning of this year. In Pittsburgh, we gave up too many chances in the third. When you do that against a good team, they're going to make you pay.
Luckily, we've got a nice little home stand here now. I know that we've got a game in Washington, but we're going to play five of the next six at home in front of our fans. Now is the time to stack up some points and establish our game.
As for life off of the ice, you might have seen me dressed up as Kermit the Frog for our team's little Halloween party at the BB&T Center. There were a lot of good costumes, but I think Jonathan Huberdeau won with his E.T. costume. I haven't seen a costume that good in years. It was fun to see him come rolling in at full speed with his hoodie on and E.T. in his basket.

We had kind of a short notice for the party, so my costume was thrown together at the last minute. I wanted to go as Keith Yandle, but I couldn't find a beard to match his or a Yandle-themed mask at Party City. I'll take that as a loss on Halloween, but I think it worked out pretty well.
Honestly, I really like Halloween because it's a nice time for me to throw on spandex and a little leotard. It seems to be a recurring theme for me, so I don't mind it. I find that they're both comfy and very flattering.
At home, we didn't get any trick-or-treaters, but we did drive around and see a couple of kids. It was a little quiet on the Halloween front, for sure. I thought about going trick-or-treating, but I didn't know if anyone was going to give me candy.

FAVORITE HALLOWEEN COSTUME

There's a picture of me when I was a really, really young kid (my parents probably have it) where they dressed me up as a clown. I probably looked like the saddest clown on the planet. I was an unintentionally sad clown, but I think it's one of my mom's favorite pictures.
I probably looked as sad as Pagliacci's clown, but with real tears. I don't think I wanted to go as that. They also dressed me up as a pumpkin for one year, which I also didn't want to go as. My mom was always making me costumes.
I also did three blind mice with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn when I was in Dallas. We got a lot of good feedback from that.

FAVORITE HALLOWEEN CANDY

I'm a sucker for Three Musketeers. I love that marshmallow in the middle. I'm really a fan of anything chocolate. It's that kind of obsession, so I have to kind of stay away from it.
I used to love Aero bars, but it was tough to find someone dishing out Aero on Halloween. When I'd get an Aero bar on Halloween, I'd hide it for about three weeks because I didn't want to waste it. I was a sad clown with a bag full of Aeros -- that's my childhood on Halloween.
Jameson Olive contributed to this article.