Chicago Wolves Hockey

Day 1

My All-Star weekend experience started with a flight Saturday night that got me into Providence at around 10:30 pm. I took a town car from the airport with Wolves President of Business Operations Mike Gordon, so I was glad to see someone I knew at the airport to figure out what the plan was. I got to the hotel and pretty much went to bed.

Day 2

I woke up around 10 a.m. and got ready for the day. I had to go get checked in and pick up my passes and drop off my equipment. Once I was finished with that I walked around the city for a bit while I was waiting for my roommate/hometown buddy Victor Bartley, who plays with our rival the Milwaukee Admirals. There was some bashing going back and forth, but it was all in good fun.

Later that night we had the skills competition, which was very cool. The events I was in were the Puck Control relay, the Hardest Shot competition and the Team Breakaway challenge. My best event was the hardest shot. That was also the one I was looking forward to the most. After the skills competition, there was a meet and greet with the fans to sign autographs and just to meet everyone that was involved in making this weekend a success. Everyone did a great job.

Day 3

Today was the Hall of fame induction ceremonies. I thought this was great. It was very cool to hear the stories from all the inductees as well as the honorary captains. All their stories and words of encouragement were great to hear. Congrats to them on their success. After the ceremony I came back to the hotel, ordered some room service and had a little nap.

I headed to the rink around 4:15. When I got to the rink I saw my jersey in my stall and was excited to see number 29. That is the number I wore in college for four years and is probably my favorite number --- not to mention it is also my favorite player Brett Sterling’s number. We won 7-6 in the last seconds of the game.

Overall this was an awesome experience. I am so happy that I had the opportunity to be a part of this. Thanks to everyone for reading and I hope everyone is well.

Photos by Alan Sullivan/AHL