Kiefer Sherwood is writing a blog for NashvillePredators.com while the Predators are on a five-game road trip through Vancouver, Seattle, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg. The Predators have gone 1-2-0 to start the trip, falling to the Canucks and the Kraken before earning a win over the Oilers on Saturday. Nashville takes on the Calgary Flames on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT.
Monday, Oct. 30: Travel/Practice Day (Nashville to Vancouver)
We had a five-hour flight this morning and then came straight to the rink in Vancouver to get a practice in to get the body moving and get our blood flowing. It was a short, 45-minute practice – high pace, high tempo, good skating, and just getting ready for tomorrow. Now, we have the night off to have dinner and then hopefully get some sleep; it’s a two-hour time change, so we're going to have to adjust to that a little bit.
Tuesday, Oct. 31: Game Day (Vancouver)
Last night, we went to a nice seafood restaurant – you try to take advantage of fresh seafood when you’re in Vancouver. I tried not to go to bed too early because of the time change, but I think we all woke up a little early today. I had breakfast and then came to the rink a little early because I didn't want to just sit at the hotel. I tried to get a good warmup in, since I still feel a little sluggish from the plane yesterday. We just finished morning skate; I think guys are excited for Ryan O’Reilly’s 1,000th game tonight, and we're looking for redemption because the Canucks got us last week. Now, I’ll head to pregame meal and get a good nap in. We're all trying to figure out what the best routine is because of the time change, but we’ll be ready.
Wednesday, Nov. 1: Off Day (Seattle)
Thursday, Nov. 2: Game Day (Seattle)
We didn’t practice yesterday, but we wanted to keep our bodies loose; so we did some treatments and a little stretching. Then we had a team video meeting afterwards – kind of a recap of our last game, looking at where we can be better and what we did well. After that, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. A couple of guys walked around the mall, just to get out; we don't want to sit around the hotel too long or too much. We walked around the mall a little bit, got lunch there, and a couple of guys upgraded their wardrobe (I told myself I wasn’t going to do any shopping, but I got a couple of things, too). Then we went and had a good steak dinner. Personally, I was pretty gassed after that, so I got a lot of sleep last night to get ready for tonight. Obviously we’ve done a lot of traveling lately, so we're just trying to be well rested.
Friday, Nov. 3: Practice Day (Edmonton)
We got here pretty late – around 3 a.m. – so I think we all tried to sleep in. Practice was pushed back a little, which was nice. Last night was a tough one. We had bits and spurts of good hockey, but we're still looking to put a full 60 minutes together. We're making strides in the right direction, but we're still looking for a full 60, and we haven't done that yet this season. We addressed some of the things that we need to correct to move forward. We know the starpower that Edmonton has and how they got us last game, so we need to come out flying. For us, it's a mindset and a commitment to working and being sharper. We’re leaving a lot of plays and potential out there. We need to correct those things and stay connected and stay together. We have a good camaraderie with this group, and so we’ve got to continue to build it the right way and address those things. We’ve got to come out and play a full 60 because when we do that and instill our style of play against any team, we'll be successful. We do that now, and we're still in games; but I think when we do that for a full 60, it'll translate more to results. I think it's easy to focus on the result, but we're trying to focus on the process right now. We're judged a lot by wins and losses, but I'm a big believer in the process and habits and all the little details that add up. When you do those, the results tend to take care of themselves. We just have been finding ourselves on the wrong side of it lately.
Saturday, Nov. 4: Game Day (Edmonton)
The energy in Edmonton was really good from the get go. We've been leaving some points and some plays out there, so we wanted to come out for retribution, especially since the Oilers had just beaten us on home ice. We responded well, we went down early, and then we stuck together. I think we just kind of rode the wave, and I think the most promising sign was getting the lead and then squashing their will. I think that was a big step in the right direction for us because we've been climbing back, and it was good to actually get a lead and then be the team that squashes it and doesn’t let the other team breathe. I thought we did a good job of weathering the storm, especially against the big dogs (Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl).
Sunday, Nov. 5: Off Day (Calgary)
Monday, Nov. 6: Practice Day (Calgary)
We flew into Calgary and had a team dinner on Saturday. It's always good to get the guys together, and it was nice to have an off day yesterday. I got together with some guys and watched football, and we kind of just laid low and walked around Calgary a little bit. Today, we had a late practice where we got to sleep in a little bit, but it was good to get a good sweat out after a day off. Now, we just need to be ready for tomorrow. We had a great team win in Edmonton, but we’ve still only won one out of three; so we need to make sure we get a win tomorrow.
