One Crazy Week

Tonight was the Season Ticket Holder pick up night along with the Booster Club introduction dinner. I would say that it was a great end to a long week but there are two preseason games left to play Friday and Saturday! It was really nice to see all the fans and I can't tell you how many people welcomed me back to Hershey. Not that I forgot but it was a reminder of how special this community is and how close the fans are with this team. I am truly lucky to be able to play hockey in an area that cares so much for its team.
Besides "Welcome back" the phrase I heard the most was "How come you haven't updated your blog?" and I do have a legitimate excuse! The last week has been really hectic for me! Last Friday I was sent down from Washington and the time started flying by. I drove to Hershey that day for a meeting Friday night. Saturday morning I had practice at Hershey Park Arena (I love that place!) then I was in the car and driving back to Vermont to get all my stuff. (Furniture, clothes, video games, kitchen & bath stuff, and my dog!) It tool my wife and I 9 1/2 hours to get there. We woke Sunday morning and picked up a 17' Uhaul with a vehicle transport trailer so we could save gas and mileage on the way back. After 3 hours of loading up the van we drove to Binghamton, NY to stay with Cristina's parents. It took us 9 1/2 hours just to get there! (It normally takes 5 1/2) We had a GPS that we borrowed from Cristina's parents and it said we averaged 41.6 mph! It was different driving on the highway and having cars and trucks blow past you at 70. It was a lot less stressful, I think I should try driving slower from now on. Monday morning we woke up and finished the drive to Hershey and it took 5 more hours. We signed our lease and got the keys to our apartment and started to move everything in. It took us about 5 hours to get everything up the flight of stairs and the Mayor himself was kind enough to come over and give us a hand with the heavy stuff. ( I good sign that he is feeling MUCH better and is ready for a 100 game season!). Tuesday & Wednesday mornings brought more practice then the afternoons were spent unpacking all of our stuff. We are about 95% done now. Today we had practice again and then the season ticket event I wrote about a few minutes ago. It is now 10pm and I am focusing on tomorrow night when I play against Wilkes-Barre. Usually Veteran players don't play back to back preseason games but I hope to get into both this weekend so that I can get my timing back. I have only played 1 game in the last 5 3/4 months and the season is starting on Wednesday. Without getting into too much detail tonight I just would like everyone to know that after practicing a couple days with the guys here I am VERY excited to see what this team is capable of. I have a feeling that it is going to be a great year!