Two blogs in one day – watch yourself, I just might be enjoying this.

I hit the ice with the defencemen this morning for an intense session where we worked on everything we’d been practicing this week, namely puck playing, point play, regroups, shots down the wing, bad angle shots, communication and technique, then we played a game of 2-on-2 to prepare for the 4-on-4 scrimmage on Friday.

Being on the ice was much better than being in the weight-room today. We did a circuit of four pull-ups, eight push-ups then 10 ball throws, as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes. The worst part of it was that I was paired with fellow goaltender Matthew O’Connor – who plays for Boston University, the archrival of my Eagles at Boston College (he's a great guy). But we sucked it up, played nice and finished 14 rounds before collapsing, then getting up to end with four-minutes of planks. Yowza. No one was moving too well by the end of all that.

We had a jersey presentation after practice with Trevor Linden and Jim Benning and for me, a guy drafted outside the first round who didn’t get his picture taken with them on stage at the draft, it was a big deal. They’re really nice guys, I’m glad they took a chance on me and I look forward to playing for them someday.

This afternoon was really an important one for the prospects, one that really reinforced that being part of the Canucks organization goes beyond being on the ice. We visited the BC Children’s Hospital to brighten up a few children going through tough times; we were there for two hours and I definitely walked away with some perspective. These kids are battling so hard and they’re so brave, it was very inspirational to see. One girl in particular, Georgia, really got to me. She was in cute pink pajamas and was just really adorable and going through something really rough, but she had such a good attitude. She’s nine-years-old and plays right wing for the Surrey Falcons, maybe someday I’ll make it out to see her play!

Giving back to the community is big and I like how important that is to the Canucks overall.

I ended today with a quick meeting with Stan Smyl, who told me what he thought of my performance at camp. It wasn’t too in-depth because I’m headed back to school in the fall and I won’t be at the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton or anything, but he said he really liked my work ethic and compete level. He said he can tell I hate getting scored on, which I do. A lot.

I’m pumped to go back to school, but I really love it here.

Five blogs down, one to go. Until tomorrow.

Thatcher