Hey everyone! This is my first blog, and I am excited to be able to share my thoughts about the season with all of you! A little bit about myself: I am a forward/defenceman for the Chicago Blackhawks. I was born and raised in Chicago and really excited to be able to suit up for the home team! I was traded here in January of 2006 from the Carolina Hurricanes. I am blogging to you from my hotel room in St. Paul, Minnesota, as we are getting ready to open up the regular season against the Wild. With all of our high draft picks and great off season moves, there is a lot of excitement not only in our dressing room, but the city of Chicago as well. Being on the road as much as we are, I have fallen into a pretty good routine the day before games. We usually arrive into the visiting city the afternoon before the game. There is a lot of downtime, so it's important to keep yourself busy and focused on the game. I am a huge music fan, so a lot of my downtime is spent listening to music and downloading some new tunes for my iPod. One band I highly recommend you check out is Maximo Park. You won't be disappointed! After relaxing for a few hours, I usually meet up with a couple of teammates to go grab some dinner. There is a great mix of nationalities and personalities on this team, and dinner time is always a good time to get to know each other. It's important to get to know one another off the ice, because the chemistry definitely translates on the ice. With training camp out of the way, we are excited to start playing for real. This is going to be a great season for the Chicago Blackhawks, and I am excited to be able to share it with all of you. If you have any questions or suggestions, drop me a line and I will include it in my next blog.