Day 1 – Chicago/Atlanta

Well, today was……interesting to say the least. It started out waking up at 5:15 in the morning for an 8:05 flight. That was beyond brutal. The flight went nice and smooth. Dom actually made it before the plane took off this time so that was nice. A quick hour and forty five minutes later, we arrived at our gate and made our way to baggage claim. It is here where the day went south…..for five hours. While all of my stuff made it unscathed, Dom couldn’t find his sticks. He was told they could possibly be on the 1:05 flight….nope. Surely, they’ll be on the 3:30 flight? No sir. We came to the conclusion that they were not coming in today and he would have to borrow someone else’s stick. We went outside in the beautiful 55 degree day and sat with a few of our teammates waiting for the shuttle to the hotel. The shuttle that came was packed to the brim, so we had to wait another 45 minutes for the next. Because we missed our other shuttle, the next shuttle wouldn’t let us on because our name was on the list. Thankfully, two of our teammates was nice enough to let us take their seat so we wouldn’t have to wait AGAIN. Just ten minutes into the shuttle trip and Dom gets a call from Southwest Airlines saying they now have his stick. TEN MINUTES AFTER WE HAD LEFT THE PLACE WE HAD SPENT THE LAST 5 HOURS IN. So, it was good to know his sticks were ok and one of the guys sitting back were going to grab them for him. At this point, I’m ready for a nap before practice. However, the shuttle we boarded was the shuttle that apparently went around the entire state of Georgia before dropping us off last. it took us 2 hours to go from the airport to our hotel. Cramped, tired, and hungry we made our way to our rooms, grabbed a bite to eat and made our way to practice. The guys on the team have all been really great so far and I think we are going to have a lot of fun. Now, the way to get to the rink from the hotel is across two streets, down an alley, and down the block to the right. A bit of a haul with a 45 pound bag. But I digress…. This rink in Georgia is brand spankin’ new and apparently has no bathroom in the locker room, nor a way to get to the rink without walking outside, up two flights of stairs, through the doors, through a second set of doors, up a mini stair case, and down a mini staircase, fighting off wild tigers and venomous cobras before finally getting onto the ice which was actually very nice. After a hard working nearly two hour practice, I now lay down on my bed ready to absolutely pass out. Although it was a frustrating day at times, it ‘s been a great start to an unforgettable trip. Tomorrow we have a practice at 10 am, and have a game against ex-NHL and collegiate players at 7 so that should be pretty fun. Thanks for the support from everyone so far. Whether you have followed my hockey career all of my life, or barely know me at all. I appreciate every bit of it. More tomorrow!