



Laughton walks to the bus following the morning skate at PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC.

Happy New Year everyone! It feels good to get back into our own time zone after spending most of the trip in the central and mountain time zones. As far as New Year’s resolutions - I don’t really have any. My mom was bugging me about it the other day when I was talking to her so I probably should have a couple.Growing up I’ve never really had a New Year’s at home. I remember there being fireworks and a little celebration when I was very little, but ever since I started playing hockey at a young age we always had a game during the day or we were in the middle of a tournament.Speaking of tournaments, the World Junior tournament is going on. I haven’t been able to watch any of the games, but I am following the scores. Last year was really tough and I hope all the best for Canada this year.I love playing for Canada and I hope they capture gold on home soil. I have a couple buddies on the team that I still follow and talk to so I wish nothing but the best for them too.Backing up a little bit, I thought it was a good game we played against Colorado, but we came up just short. We have to look forward from that loss and towards tonight’s game against the Hurricanes.Even though it’s a quick turn around with the back to back situation this weekend we’re really just focused on getting the two points tonight. As soon as we do that then we can look forward to the Jersey game.Thanks for following along, I'll have one last post before we return home again.-ScottHey everyone… well it’s been a little bit here since my last post so let me get you caught up. It was good to get home for Christmas. The 24th I just relaxed at home and ate dinner with my parents and brother - We had chicken pot pie, which was really good, but even better was Christmas Day. I was able to see most of my family and friends that day and my mom made my favorite home-cooked meal - ham and her scalloped potatoes. That was pretty nice for her to do that for me!Another great part of the holiday was that I surprised my grandpa - he didn’t know I was coming home for the break, so he was thrilled.In case you were wondering, I got the iPad I was asking for… that was a big gift! I don’t have much on it, so I have to download some apps and get some movies going on it since our road trip continues here.To rejoin the team, I flew from Toronto to Nashville, there were a couple of teammates on my flight which was nice.The morning skate was a little weird with having all that time off, but the main thing for me is to try and get your cardio back. We did a pretty good job early on in the game against the Predators, but it's a tough building to play in. That was a tough game, but we’re looking forward to playing the Coyotes and the rust is gone now.Thanks for reading and I’ll check in with everyone later…-ScottHey Flyers fans…Well, winning these first three games, it definitely helps our road record. We knew these games were huge to get off on the right start during this long trip and I thought we played really good hockey and showed a lot of character on the first part of this road trip.Now it’s going to feel good getting a break. I’m really looking forward to spending time with family and friends. I can’t wait to have a couple home-cooked meals by my mom - it’s been a while. This is actually the longest I’ve ever been away from home since I started playing hockey.I still have some shopping to do, but as far as myself. I asked for an iPad this Christmas, so I’m hoping to get one of those and watch a bunch of movies during the second part of our road trip coming up.Well that’s all for today. I’ll catch up and tell you all about it when we get back on the road and take on the Predators.Have a Happy Holiday everyone!-ScottHey Flyers fans… Day off in Minnesota today and we did a little shopping, but going back to last night first - it was a great win for us.Knowing Zepper from Lehigh Valley and seeing how he acts on and off the ice, how hard he works, it was definitely a special moment inside our room. Not only for him, but for the entire team. We really came behind him at the end of the game. It was really exciting for us. A lot of hard work went into that win.It was a tough back-to-back we just got done so it was nice to have today off and get refreshed, and not focus on hockey as much as we have the past couple of days.We went into two big Canadian cities, both with sold out buildings, and lots of energy and passion in the games. That was my first time in Canada for the regular season and the atmosphere was unbelieveable. Toronto was huge for me with my family there and being in Winnipeg for the first time - I found out first hand that they have one of the best atmosphere’s in the League.I woke up today after an hour flight got us in here around 1:30 a.m. We went to the mall to shop. It was funny because it seemed like the whole team was there, but I mostly went around with Giroux, Voracek, Coots and Simmer. I didn’t do too well in getting a lot of shopping done for the holidays though, so I’m still going to have to do some late Christmas shopping when I go home.Also, I noticed someone reading this blog asked me why I’m wearing #49. It was actually given to me at training camp this year and I just stuck with it. It was the same a couple years ago right after I was drafted - I wore #21 in junior so that’s what they gave me in 2012, but when I got to camp this year it was #49. So I just decided to go with it.Thanks for reading everyone, I’ll catch up with you after our game Tuesday against the Wild for one last post before the break!- Scott"It’s pretty cool. Growing up and watching games here and to be able to play a regular season game here, it was pretty exciting. I didn’t get too much sleep today and last night…Hi Flyers fans, I’ll be keeping this blog for the next 16 days or so through our eight-game road trip.It’s going to be nice to get a break in between this long road trip for the holiday. I know personally I’m going to go home for Christmas and see my family. Even going to Toronto is going to be nice - I have a lot of friends and family there who are coming to watch me play.This won’t be my first game at the Air Canada Centre. I've played some preseason games, but it doesn’t really compare to Saturday night in Toronto. I remember watching Hockey Night in Canada growing up - that was the big thing on Saturday night. My family and I would sit down and watch the Leafs play, so it’s definitely an exciting time for me. I think my parents and grandparents are really excited to come down and watch me.This road trip will also help us find our grove as a team, kind of like the last big trip. Being together all the time helped us sync as a team for the California road trip so we’re going to try and improve our road record on this one.As for who I’m staying with, well it’s kind of unusual because I actually don’t have a roommate. No one else is on an entry-level contract on the team so I have my own room.I’m not used to that. In juniors I roomed with someone the entire time and same with the American League, so it’s been pretty nice having a king-sized bed and everything all to myself.I think some of the guys are a bit jealous though - mostly Mike Raffl and Zac Rinaldo who are roommates. Both of those guys are rookie-like too.Well that’s it for today. Thanks for following me along. I’ll catch up with everyone after the game on Saturday in Toronto.-Scott