Holler If Ya Hear Me

[jRuutu 2,426]

 

Season 73 is starting today, off-season went by real fast, which is nice in a way since we all get to play VHL hockey again! But from my point of view, this off-season has been a short one due to playing in the World Cup, the whole experience was a lot of fun, but at the same time my body took a beating, played well over 20 minutes per game and Team World also made it into the bronze game, so a lot of hockey in a fairly short period of time.

 

Luckily I have people around me that can help, for years my uncle Leo has made sure that I get into shape between every season and he has helped me a lot again. He always says that the cornerstone to a successful off-season is a healthy diet, Leo likes to grow various things at his backyard back home in Albania, I especially like his potatoes, he says its special type of potato that will make your legs feel extra light. I usually spend at least two weeks in Albania with Leo, just working out, mainly focusing in on cardio and stamina. The short off-season caused some problems in that regard, had a lot less time to work with Leo, but then again I was in pretty good shape from playing in the World Cup. Leo insisted that I still go hard and leave no what-ifs out in the air, so that is what I did, I think I´m in the best shape of my life right now. That promises good things for this upcoming season.

 

 

I know I set pretty optimistic goals for myself before last season, if I remember correctly I tried to get at least 300 hits but finished the year with just under 200. I also tried to collect 50 assists or points, but did not come anywhere near the assist total, collected 43 points though, so not too far off. This year I´m going after new goals, I´m going to keep the 300 hits as a goal, I want to get to that number. What comes down to points, I´ll go two steps further this time around, I´m going to try and be a point per game player, so 72 points in 72 games.

 

There are two points that support me in reaching those numbers. 1) As mentioned I´m in excellent shape right now and I have also improved a lot as a player lately. Went over 700 TPE mark not so long ago and especially defensively I´m a lot better. Second and maybe the biggest reason, 2) I´m going to play in a bigger role during the upcoming season, the talks with the coaches and management suggest that I could even be a first-line player, that is a role that offers me the prime spot to play against the best players, which is directly going to show in the hit totals for example. Totally up to me if I can keep that role for the whole year, but I´m feeling confident.

 

I have a good feeling about this season, Helsinki has a roster full of players that are focused and ready, we are going to keep going from start to end, Titans are here and you should get out of the way or something.