Travel Blog: Mackie Samoskevich

Ever wonder what a road trip is like for an NHL rookie?

For any player, 41 road games and 31 different arenas is certainly a grind.

Giving fans some insight into his day-to-day routine, Mackie Samoskevich documented his experience for FloridaPanthers.com during the team’s most-recent road trip to Nashville.

MONDAY (DAY BEFORE GAME)

Morning

We usually have a meeting at 10:00 a.m. (the day of departing). I usually try to get there an hour before that. Eat breakfast and get into the ice tub just to wake up. I think that's a good way to get the day going and feel refreshed for practice.

Then I make it to the gym after that, roll out and warm some stuff up. I like to get on the bike for like 10-15 minutes just to get the blood flowing and wake up a little bit more.

That leads right into the meeting. Usually, we do a video meeting or talk about how our next couple days are going to look.

After that, it's into a workout for more of a warmup to get primed for practice and feeling good.

Practice

Usually about 30 minutes before (practice) I like to start getting ready. Then it’s pretty much 15-20 minutes on the ice and try to get as many touches in as I can -- shooting, rims, anything. After, I like to get in the sauna a little bit. Cool down, a little more ice stuff, get fed and then head to the plane.

Flight

I like to get to the plane about a half an hour before it departs. When I get on the plane, I usually play cards the whole time. We play seven up, seven down. It’s a pretty fun game. It's me, Mikksy (Niko Mikkola), Nose (Tomas Nosek), (Uvis) Balinskis, (A.J.) Greer, and (Dmitry) Kulikov. It usually passes the time pretty good and always fun.

Arrival

Once we get there (to the hotel), I usually like to do something active just to get the blood flowing. Get on the bike or something for 15-20 minutes and then do some dinner.

(On Monday) we had a team dinner for Kuli’s 1,000^th game, so that was fun. Nashville is a good city to do it. Dinner finishes around 8:30 p.m. and we walk back. Usually, I take a shower or something, and then it's lights out by 10:30 p.m.

TUESDAY (GAMEDAY)

Morning

I usually wake about about 30 minutes before the bus to morning skate. I eat breakfast, and then I get to the bus.

Morning Skate

Pretty much same thing as practice. Just get my body ready, get blood flowing, and get stuff warmed up.

Then get on the ice and get as many touches and shots as I can.

Pregame

After morning skate, I like to get some kind of workout in just to get the blood moving, muscles ready and the body ready.

After that, I like to get in the ice tub to cool down a little bit.

Then I head back to the hotel and eat some pregame meal. I like to do some pasta, chicken, and a little side salad. I always enjoy that.

Then it's kind of shut ‘er down for a little bit. I try to take a nap and get ready for the game mentally. I think 4:00 p.m. is usually bus time, so I get ready and out of bed at 3:30 p.m.

Game

I usually get to the rink pretty early.

I like to get there an hour before our meeting. Get the stick taped, and then it's into the pregame routine. It’s kind of the same thing I do before practice. Get on the bike to get the blood going and some other workout stuff to get the body ready.

Then we have meetings for 30 minutes.

After that, I usually hit a short workout just to get the body ready and play sewer. The soccer ball gets kicked around, always fun. I enjoy that little competition with the fellas.

I usually like to get in the ice tub again after that to wake up even more. After that, get ready and get on the ice.

Postgame

After the game, I just kind of relax. Do a little cool down in the ice tub or something on the bike whatever to kind of wind down from the game.

After, it’s dinner and bed.

WEDNESDAY (DAY AFTER GAME)

Morning

Next morning, usually we have an early bus to get to the airport for our flight. I try to do a little something in the morning just to wake up a little bit and get some more recovery in.

Flight

On the flight, we play some cards again. It’s always fun.

Arrival

Once I get home, it's just whatever I can do to get ready for the next day, whether it's getting a sauna or massage in. Then kind of just chill out.