Darcy Hordichuk

<table align="center" border="0" width="80%"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/10/darcy_blog.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(66, 66, 66);" align="left" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="1">I'm excited about the first game of the year on Thursday because it'll be my first one as a Canuck and I just can't wait to get back to really playing hockey again. Even in preseason, the fans were really getting into it, especially that last game, I can't even imagine what regular season will be like and I can't wait. I'm all about trying to make an impact and trying to help this team take it to the next level and with this team, I believe we have a chance for sure. At the same time, though, it will be very emotional with everything that's going on here but the organization has put together something very classy for the tribute to Luc Bourdon. Obviously I wasn't here to play with him but I've heard a lot of good things about him and when something like that happens, it makes you realize that life's something that you can't take for granted. <img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/09/Sept2308_Canucks-Oilers01_t.jpg" align="right" hspace="4" vspace="2">After opening night we're on the road for two weeks, which is pretty crazy and on top of that, we've only got three regular season home games in all of October. But you know what, I think starting on a long road trip is an advantage for us. Looking at the makeup of our team, there are a lot of new faces, me included and there's no better way to get to know the players you're playing with than to be on the road with them pretty much 24 hours a day. And as much as it is tough because of the travel aspect, I think the amenities we have here are first class so I'm excited to get on this road trip. We're pretty much traveling all across North America so it'll be tiring but it'll help the team gel together. I think the toughest part of the travel is probably just being away from my wife right now, especially with her being pregnant and everything. She's so supportive of my career and that's a big reason why I married her. It's not as easy a lifestyle as most people think it would be being married to an athlete but it's important that you have somebody who's supportive and understands your schedule. Obviously things can be tough when you're gone a long time but she's great and has always been amazing that way. <img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/10/cell_t.jpg" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2">We did a four and a half year long distance relationship so two weeks is nothing but I hate being away and missing part so the pregnancy because something new is always happening everyday. Luckily, with technology, I've got my cell phone, web cam, hopefully I'm not going to miss much at all. Our whole family is very excited and we've already received some baby outfits but, of course, in neutral colours. We find out the gender of the baby tomorrow so it'll be another exciting thing to add to tomorrow. My wife's a little worried to find out that we're having a boy – but only because she's worried he might turn out like me when I was little. I was always going at 100 miles an hour and bouncing off the walls and stuff like that. And if that's the case, then the house would be a disaster all the time. She'll probably need to get some advice from my mom and find out how she handled me growing up. Maybe we'll try hockey, to get some of his energy out before he gets home – it worked for me, mostly. But either way, a boy or a girl would be great – I mean a boy like me wouldn't be so bad.</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table align="center" border="0" width="80%"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/10/darcy_blog.jpg" align="left" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="1">This is my first trip here to Whistler but what a beautiful place. To have training camp up here is pretty exciting. Unfortunately we're only here for a couple of days so we haven't had the chance to go around very much. This is definitely a place where I'd like to come back to in the future and I can only imagine how beautiful it is in the winter. We've got out and done a little bit of exploring, but it's tough with the practices and everything is so intense and at this point that pretty much everyone just wants to get back to the hotel to rest and get focused for the next day focus. Especially for a new guy like me - I've got a lot to prove here. <img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/09/sep2008_camp25_t.jpg" align="right" hspace="4" vspace="2">My roommate is Bernier. He's a guy I used to run every time I played against San Jose. Now we're roommates. He's a good kid, down to earth. That's what you look for in a teammate. I guess he's not too upset about the past year or two. We're actually getting along great. We've got our routine working: get up, get breakfasts together, hit the bus and off to the rink. We found the hot tub the first day and we've been hanging out there after practice. It's been a good couple of days but too bad it's ending. <img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/09/sep2008_skate01_t.jpg" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2">There's been one hitch though: Bern says said that I've been snoring but I don't believe it. I'm not a snorer. Maybe he's hearing something through the walls or maybe he's trying to squeeze a little guilt out of me. I'm not biting, Mostly we're on the same page though – shutting it down at the same time, and watching the same TV. Sometimes though, he likes to do little things and I have to just rough him up just to put him in place. I have to let him know, right?!?! Intimidation's the key with roommates, I think. No, seriously, I think he's great and hopefully I can get someone who I can get along with like that for the rest of the year. I feel bad because his English is actually really good but my French on the other hand... I took it for nine years in school and sometimes I can pick up the odd French word but I'm still struggling with that. If you don't use it, you just tend to lose it. And I've lost it. <img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/09/sep2008_camp07_t.jpg" align="right" hspace="4" vspace="2">There's one upside to a short camp like this – it's intense and it's easy to get into it right away. The last couple of days have been pretty up-tempo. I'm impressed by how fast it is and how great the passes are. Everybody seems to be ready and they know it was only a couple of days. The other things is I like the fact that you don't have to run your own teammates and you don't have to fight your own guys on the team. That's not good for anyone. With camp being so quick, we can focus on pre-season and take it out on some of the other teams. You always hate to see guys get hurt, especially on your team, so I'm glad about the way they're doing it this year. I'm not playing tomorrow night in Edmonton, so I'll have to wait another day or two, but I'm excited to play again. </td></tr></tbody></table>

<table align="center" border="0" width="80%"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/10/darcy_blog.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(66, 66, 66);" align="left" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="1">Being the new guy in town is always hard but coming here was maybe one of the best moves we've had. Also, having to follow in the footsteps of some of the Canucks.com bloggers of the past, I don't think will be easy but I'll do my best. My wife, our two dogs, and I came into Vancouver at the end of August, found a place real quick and now we're pretty much settled. I mean, we've still got furniture coming in everyday but for the most part, we're pretty much situated and this is home now. My wife loves it here so far but the move has been a little tough with the pregnancy, it's her first trimester and she hasn't had as much energy but she loves it. She's originally from Fresno, California but she's lived in Phoenix for the last 10 years so she's finally getting a chance to experience Canada. <img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/07/070108_hordichuk14_t.jpg" align="right" hspace="4" vspace="2">We're very excited about having our first child and when people ask me if I want to find out if it's going to be a boy or girl, I just have to know. It'll be like an early Christmas present and then I'll wrap it back up but I have to know. We're coming up on that time so we'll find out in the next few weeks. It's very exciting and I keep asking her if she feels like a mom but she's not showing too much right now. I don't feel like too many things are different but we're definitely excited and hearing the heartbeat just made it that much more real and exciting – it's a new experience for both of us so we're enjoying every minute of it. I hear a lot of the guys here had babies last year so w can definitely lean on them for some advice and stories. But we also benefitted from a lot of the other guys last year in Nashville because a lot of guys were having babies at around playoff time. We're due in March, so we kind of planned it that way to have it all happen before playoffs. Vancouver's incredible so far. It's just such a good experience and especially the last few weeks we've been here, it's been sunny everyday so we could get used to this. I haven't had to deal with the rain too much but I hear it something we'll deal with later on. Obviously whenever we play, we'd fly in here but being from Saskatchewan, we didn't really come to Vancouver that much so honestly, I didn't really know a ton about the city. <img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2008/09/sep1908_bc_t.jpg" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2">It's so funny because when you're in the States, everybody's always saying how Canada's so beautiful and they're always talking about British Columbia. Now that I've got to experience it for the last two weeks, I know exactly what they're talking about. In comparison to Nashville, the cities are definitely different, in that you get the four different seasons and it's little hillier in Nashville. The people are friendly like here and you don't get the ocean or the mountains, but I mean both cities are beautiful but I think Vancouver's got the edge (and I'm not just saying that). The biggest difference I'd probably have to say is the country music scene. I've always loved country music growing up in Saskatchewan – there's generally a lot of country music out there and you gain quite an appreciation for it – so being in Nashville wasn't a huge transition for me as far as that was concerned. Once you land in downtown Nashville, it's all about country music and every bar or restaurant plays it and it's some of the best music you'll ever hear. I'm very excited about the season starting and I think just getting to meet all the guys and getting together for the first time again is the best part. For me, especially getting traded, just getting used to the new lifestyle. Getting ready for my first game with these guys, it's going to be exciting. I can't wait.</td></tr></tbody></table>