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 1-3-0 to start the trip, falling to the Canucks and the Kraken before earning a win over the Oilers and losing the subsequent contest to the Flames on Tuesday. Nashville wrapped up the road trip with a loss to the Central Division rival Jets on Thursday, and will return home to host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
Tuesday, Nov. 7: Game Day (Calgary)
After practice in Calgary yesterday, I got a quick bite in then laid down and took a small nap. After that, I walked around a little bit and then went to dinner with my linemates, Novy (Tommy Novak) and Vange (Luke Evangelista) – we like to keep the chemistry going on and off the ice. We went to a nice Italian restaurant to get our carbs in the night before a game, especially since we haven’t played in a little bit. You want to make sure you're fresh with energy and get a good night’s sleep, so I went to bed early last night. I had breakfast this morning, came to the rink to watch some video and had a nice, quick morning skate to get the blood flowing a little bit. Now, I’ll head back to the hotel to get a pregame meal in, take another nap and get ready for tonight.
Wednesday, Nov. 8: Practice Day (Winnipeg)
We wrapped up in Calgary last night and got into the hotel here in Winnipeg around 3 a.m. I talked to some other guys, and I think it took us all a little while to get to sleep because our minds were running and obviously we were not happy with the way the game went in Calgary. We pushed practice back so we could try to sleep in a little bit. I got some breakfast this morning, came to the rink for practice. We went over some film and talked about things that we needed to address – not just the details, but also the mindset that we’ve got to click into and address before we face Winnipeg tomorrow night.
Thursday, Nov. 9: Game Day (Winnipeg)
It was snowing this morning in Winnipeg, but most of us still walked to the rink from the hotel after breakfast. We skated pretty hard in practice yesterday, so we had workouts and an optional morning skate today. It’s the last day of a long road trip, so I think we’re all pretty tired and ready to get home after tonight, but we need to come out flying against these guys tonight because we didn’t do that in Calgary and we paid for it. We’re flying home after the game – plus we’ll have to de-ice the plane before we leave and then clear customs in Nashville – so it’ll be a long night and we probably won’t get home until after 2 a.m. But I think we’re all pretty excited to sleep in our own beds tonight. We’re looking forward to being back in front of our home fans at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday. Thanks everyone for following along on our road trip, and we’ll see you soon!
