New Camp, New Roommate - SEP.13.07
Entry posted by Mason Raymond
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<table width=90% align=center><tr><td><img src=http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/09/raymond_blog.jpg border=0 align=left vspace=3 hspace=4>We had a couple of days off before main camp so a couple of us went golfing up here at Bear Mountain. I went with Cory Schneider and Chad Brownlee bright and early at around 8 o’clock. Taylor Ellington was supposed to come with us but he slept in instead.
I have to admit, I’m not a good golfer even though my mom and dad are part of the Bear Creek Golf and Country Club. My mom plays about five times a week but I can only manage to go about a couple times a year. I didn’t have my own clubs so we had to rent some nice tailor-made clubs – but that’s no excuse for my golf performance yesterday.
<a href=http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/09/sep1307_camp20_b.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/09/sep1307_camp20_t.jpg border=0 align=right vspace=3 hspace=4></a>I’m rooming with Ryan Kesler now. It’s too early to tell any secrets or gossip but it’s been good so far. I’ve got nothing to complain about. He got the bed next to the TV, although it didn’t really matter either way to either of us. I was in a few hours before him but he wasn’t concerned about the bed but it’s a pretty nice hotel so matter what bed I got, it still would’ve been great. There was so little time yesterday when the vets came in, we basically went for a quick dinner and came back to the hotel.
We didn’t talk about the camp much but we did talked a little bit about our college roots. We both played in college so that’s kind of cool too. We’re not in there hanging out all the time so we don’t spend a lot of time with our roommate, it’s usually just a place to sleep. Ryan and I played together on the same line for most of practice today so I got to know him a little bit more as a player too and there’s definitely a lot I can learn from him.
Most of us new guys are just happy to get the first day under our belt. I knew it was going to be tough but you’ve got to mentally prepare yourself but everything seems to be good right now. I’m happy with how the day went and everything like that but I’m looking forward to getting in a good meal and resting my body after a day like today. At around 10 o’clock, your eyes are getting pretty heavy and you want to get ready for the next day.
<a href=http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/09/sep1307_camp16_b.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2007/09/sep1307_camp16_t.jpg border=0 align=left vspace=3 hspace=4></a>Like I said, I talk to my family back home everyday but what’s even more exciting is that they’ll be out here soon to watch the exhibition games. It’ll be great to have them around to see me play. My dad’s always giving me advice, I owe him a lot. He’s been a huge help in my hockey career and I probably can’t thank him enough for all the support all of these years. He’s always telling me to just keep plugging away, play your game and that sort of thing, he’s really helping me out and keeping me positive.
One of the reporters asked me what I like about Manitoba and I couldn’t just choose any one thing, I really enjoyed being there. Everyone always says how cold Manitoba is but when I first went there, it was warm, so I guess I got the best of the city while I was there. From what I saw, it was a great city. Coming from college in Minnesota, another thing about I appreciated about Manitoba or any Canadian city is that I loved that I could eat at some of my favourite restaurants again, like Joey’s and Earls.
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