Pictures of my car added

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Accident Update

Hey everyone...I read the comments left on my blog and also some of the message boards around the web and want to thank everyone for their well wishes over the past couple of days. The past couple of days have been foggy and hectic from what I remember. Filing insurance claims and seeing doctors sucks that's for sure but at least I got some answers on my injuries and Joe's as well. The next 3 weeks are going to painful for both of us as we try to recover in time for training camp, as I mentioned before he will be playing for Brooklyn this season. I saw a chiropractor yesterday, he took some x-rays of my back and put me through a battery of tests and the x-rays showed alot of damage was done to my neck and lower back. My neck no longer has a flex in it, which you're supposed to have, instead the vertebrae are just in a straight line. The same can be said for the vertebrae in my lower back, no more flex just a straight line. On top of that the spine at the lower back and top of my neck has shifted over to the right and is completely out of alignment, so that needs to be fixed also. If that wasn't bad enough I have some torn muscles in my abs and lower back area. All of that to go along with a mild concussion, which makes putting together simple sentences a task sometimes. Joe is in a little better condition, but has some disc problems in his lower back that he will need to be re-examined for in a couple of days when the inflammation has gone down.

I got some treatment yesterday from my chiropractor and again this morning to start the re-alignment process. It's going to be a long, painful process to correct everything. Luckily, he is one of the best in New England and deals with alot of hockey players in the area so he knows what he is doing and can fix me quickly (we hope). The damage to my neck and back are so bad that he has me seeing him 6 days a week for the next 3 weeks to try to adjust everything just to get me back to somewhere around 75% for training camp. All the work on my neck and back is being done to correct it in time for camp and we're just hoping and praying the concussion will be healed in time for me to pass our physicals the first day of camp.

My dad took me over to get all of my personal belongings out of what used to be my car this morning. The stuff I was worried most about was my hockey equipment that had been smashed up in the trunk. My helmet is completely mangled, there's some damage to my shinpads and skates as well. But getting a chance to see the car in daylight was nothing short of horrifying. The front seat back are broke and the metal in the seats are twisted, the trunk is literally in the back seat, the gas pump is detached from the car, the muffler is in pieces, the rear bumper is smashed and mangled underneath the car. And that's just the back side of the car. The front grill was pushed in about 8 inches, the bumper is cracked, the hood is folded up like you fold a blanket. It's scary to look at, I took some pictures on my phone and will try to upload them onto the computer so you guys can see what it looks like now.

Walking away from the towing yard I was overcome with emotions and thoughts and I know my old man was too. I just couldn't believe I walked away from this accident. I mean to see metal crushed up the way my car is crushed makes me wonder how in the world I'm sitting here typing to all of you and not laying in a hospital bed. My chiropractor said someone who wasn't built with the back and neck muscles I have built up in the gym would have broken their neck and possibly their back. Those are words that are scary to hear when you're 24 and have the world in front of you.

I will keep all of you updated over the next few days and weeks as to what is going on with my recovery and Joe's as well. Feel free to email me and ask questions...

And again thank you for all the well wishes

Happy Birthday???

So I went into Boston last night with Joe Lyle, my roommate from last season and my buddy Scott McDougall along with some other people to celebrate my 24th. Everything was great we had an awesome time and it was good to let loose and have some fun with everything being so hectic lately. On the drive home I had the scariest experience of my life without a doubt. Driving home with Joe in my passenger seat and Scott a few cars behind us we were in the middle lane, it was raining pretty hard so I was in one of the slow lanes. Out of nowhere I see a car about 200 feet ahead of us in the middle of the road facing the wrong way. I tried to swerve out of the way, avoided 2 cars pulled my E brake but couldn't avoid a 3rd car, hit him then within a split second saw headlights coming flying at us. I yelled to Joe to get ready for another hit and BAM! A lady hammers us from behind. At that point I looked around, my head was foggy from hitting the roof of my car, adrenaline flowing but still very woozy from the accident. Joe was able to help me get out of my car and over the the side of the road and I find a 5 car mess that turned a 4 lane highway into 1. When all of the sudden we hear more screaming tires and more crashes, 4 more cars joined the pile up and Scott was one of them.

Within minutes one of Greatr Boston's busiest highways was closed, traffic backed up for miles with ambulances, police cars and fire engines all over. After a few minutes of not knowing what to do I was strapped to a backboard and taken away in an ambulance with Joe right next to me. Scott was lucky to walk away with alot less damage to his car. My car looks like an accordian, the front end is all smashed up and my trunk is in the backseat. We were rushed into the hospital and taken right away, they were running tests on my head, back and kidneys they weren't sure if there was any internal damage and wanted to make sure. It was the scariest night of my life. The doctor in the ER said me and Lyle shouldn't have been able to walk away from a wreck like that, but because we play hockey and are in good shape our cores were able to absorb most of the blow.

So here I am three weeks before training camp with a very badly injured back and concussion symptoms. An entire summer of hard work and sacrifice was almost completely lost in a matter of seconds. Now I'm just hoping I'll be able to skate when camp opens. I'll be doing everything I can to get back to full health and be ready to storm into Danbury opening night on November 1.

The Big News Continued

So I took some heat on a message board that I frequent about being traded to Copper City. In no way did I mean for it to sound that I didn't want to be a part of Danbury, if I didn't want to be there I wouldn't have gone to the EPHL press release back in March and I wouldn't have driven down in June for the pick a seat party and I certainly would never have signed there. To be completely honest I was extremely excited about going back to Danbury, my first pro camp was with the Trashers back in '05 but a bad knee kept me from passing physicals. I played 4 or 5 games there 2 seasons ago in the NEHL and I love the arena and the fans and everything else, with New York City less than an hour away it's a great place to play. However, professional hockey is a business and trades happen so it really doesn't matter how much I was looking forward to playing in Danbury this season because the trade happened and there's nothing I can do about it.

I know section 102 is going to give it to me good on opening night November 1st and that's alright I expected it anyway. But 102 is what makes Danbury what it is, it's a fun place to play and I can't wait to get back there.

The Big News

Ok so it's taken more than a day like I had originally expected, but the press release hasn't been released yet so I don't know if I should spill the beans yet or not. Last week there was a trade between Danbury and Copper City that sent Brett Riley from the Hatters to the Chiefs for future considerations. What wasn't released was the fact that I was part of that deal as well. There were some issues at the time of the press release that didn't have everything ironed out between myself and the Chiefs, but now I can proudly say I am under contract and very eager to start the season in Rome, NY.

Going to Rome should hopefully be a good move for me as a player and I think I can continue my path to success and move up the hockey ladder. At this point in my career at the single A level it's all about developing and to develop I just need to play. I don't care where or for who, as long as I'm on the ice and playing I'm happy. I don't know a thing about Rome, NY except that it is near Syracuse, which makes it nice to know I won't be in the middle of no where.

The season is right around the corner and I've never been busier. The past couple days I have been doing some side work with my roommate from this past season in Valley Forge, Joe Lyle. As partners in crime we've been taking on the maintenance world for a family owned restaurant chain called Bickford's. It's good work and it's fun working with Joe, who will be playing in Brooklyn this season for the Aces. Most of the time the past couple days we don't have a clue what we're supposed to be doing but much like in the MAHL we've gotten by. Yesterday we became impromptu plumbers fixing a leak, while Wednesday we became mechanics trying to fix one of the company box trucks. But now that I think about it we weren't very good mechanics since we were pushing the box truck on the highway with the company van, but we got the truck back to the restaurant it needed to be at.

It's funny looking around at some of the rosters this season there will be plenty of familiar faces from last season in Valley. Lyle and a couple guys will be in Brooklyn, my old linemate Bill Haas will be in Danbury, I think 2 or 3 guys will be in Jersey and my other roommate will be in Exeter. It's always fun to play against guys you have a bond with, where not only points in the standings are on the line but pride is as well.

With a little over 3 weeks to go I'm counting down the days to October 22 and I'm excited to get going. Stay tuned!

Getting Back at It

The NHL season is finally underway with training camps around the league opening this past weekend, which means the offseason is finally coming to a close. It's been a long summer this year and it feels great to know the season is right around the corner. Knowing that the season is approaching fast I knew it was time to get back on the ice and start working on my skills and conditioning again for the next 3 or 4 weeks until training camp opens.

This past summer from the middle of June to the end of August I was on the ice twice a day Monday thru Thursday plus working out and it has been the best offseason of my career. I was getting paid to shoot pucks on high end college goalies every morning then working out in the afternoon and going back to the rink every Monday and Wednesday to shoot on the areas top pro goalies and top division 1 tenders. It wasn't only shooting pucks, the goalie coaches myself and the other shooters were working for usually incorporated drills for us as well most days, especially against the pro guys.

When those skates ended I wanted to take some time off to just relax and enjoy the end of the summer. I took about 3 weeks off the ice where I didn't do any skill work or anything too heavy, focused on endurance in the gym and on the track and got my legs back underneath me. It felt great to be away from the rink for a little bit and take in the nice August weather. But I knew sooner or later the mini-vacation would end and I'd have to get back on the ice and back to work.

This morning I got back at it on the ice in Nashua, NH with 2 of my buddies, one has 5 years experience in the AHL and the other has played in the ECHL and is going to his first AHL camp this coming Sunday. There were supposed to be a lot more local pro guys there but for some reason it ended up being just us 3 wheeling around the empty arena working on passing, edge control and the dreaded conditioning. We skated for a little more than hour and it felt great to shake the rust off and get out there with the guys.

For the next few weeks that's what I'll be doing with my life every morning and I will have updates from the skates as more guys start showing up and the skates get more intense. Also stay tuned either later tonight or tomorrow for some BIG news!

Tales from the Road

Hey guys along with bringing into the minds of pro hockey players I figured a lot of people wonder what it's like to be on the road for half of the season. Sometimes in nice sleeper buses where 4 rookies get crammed in the far back lounge area because the vets took up all the beds or maybe sleeping on a coach bus all night because the team didn't make reservations at a hotel for an away game that we traveled overnight to. Either way when you're on the road it's those bus trips that really pull a team together from watching movies to playing all types of card games, some I've never even heard of. You can win someones entire weekly paycheck or lose your own very quickly in a some poker games, I've watched a 6'5" fighter cram his way into the overhead carry on compartment and spent New Year's Eve on a bus coming home from Jamestown, NY with 14 other guys.

Trips can get long and boring and sometimes leave you questioning your sanity as you sleep on the floor of a coach bus on the way home from Tulsa, OK all the way back to Denver, CO. But when it comes down to it every guy on the bus would rather be crammed up in an uncomfortable seat for anywhere from 5 to 18 hours instead of sitting behind a computer at a 9-5 job. This past season I rode on 3 team buses, logging miles from Amarillo, TX to Oklahoma City, OK and from Knoxville, TN to Jacksonville, FL and countless miles across Pennsylvania with the Valley Forge Freedom from Oaks, PA to Jamestown, NY to Indiana, PA down to Pittsburgh and out to Wooster, OH all the way back to Oaks, PA. I lived in a 2 bedroom small apartment in Amarillo and a 3 bedroom luxury apartment in Knoxville, to finish in a very nice 3 bedroom place in Valley Forge with up to 7 or 8 roommates at times because of roster moves and guys coming and going all on the same day.

I'd love to be able to sit here and say I've seen it all but I can guarantee you that I'll see more things this season when the season starts in Danbury. It's just the way it goes, as soon as you say you can't possibly imagine anything crazier happening , something does. You haven't lived life until you've been sleeping in the back of a bus only to wake up to see Teddy's ass right in your face, and the only reason you wake up is because you hear his devilish laugh. Yes learning how to live on a bus can be tough but at the same time you look back and realize that it is the time of your life. We're getting paid to play pranks on each other, play cards and watch movies on long bus trips home from a huge shootout game winner in a barn with only 200 people in the stands because it was a Sunday afternoon in the middle of Pittsburgh and the Steelers were playing at home.

Ya I can honestly say nothing beats what I'm doing for a living right now. Check back soon to find out how I made a comfortable bed on the floor near the bathroom on our bus in Valley Forge.

Thoughts From A Player

A lot of times during the summer when I visit buddies I grew up with in my hometown Billerica, MA the guys ask me why I'm still playing; why am I still "living the dream". What's funny to me is I never have a straight answer for them without laughing first. The sport of hockey is instilled in me and like you hear from many people, it's part of me. I honestly can't remember my life without hockey in it so for me it isn't even a question to keep playing or not. The longer I've played the game the more sacrifices I've had to make to be successful and there have been some tough decisions made. What has really helped me is that at a very young age I learned that it wasn't going to be all smooth sailing throughout my hockey career.

It's easy for a kid at 15 years old to quit hockey when he gets cut from a team that he really wanted to make, maybe all his friends are on the team and he doesn't want to be looked at as the kid who is stuck on the B team. I failed a couple times in high school I wasn't a regular varsity contributor until my junior year and it was a really hard pill to swallow, but with the support of my parents Shawn and Michelle I pushed through it and learned about adversity.

I think those early lessons of failure in this game are what keeps me so motivated these days, just knowing that with some extra work anything is possible. But that extra work entails what is referred to as the "IT" factor. A ton of guys have it and most of them use it and the guys who use it are usually the most successful. So I guess looking back to the question I am so often asked about why I'm still playing is because I have fun working hard for small pay, knowing that someone, somewhere might see me and I'll get my chance to shine at a higher level. Guys in the low minors (the EPHL, SPHL, CHL and ECHL) all play the game because they love to play and never know when they might get their big break.

Who I Am

So anyone who is reading this is probably wondering just who the hell I am and why I'm blogging about minor league hockey. For starters my name is Jon Hutcheon and in case you haven't guessed by now I play professional hockey in the minors. I grew up in Massachusetts and hockey has always been a part of my life, so it was only a natural progression for me as a player to play high school then junior A then a bit in college and finally try my luck in the world of professional hockey. The point of this blog isn't to brag about what I'm doing or where I'm playing, it's simply to inform the many people out there who want to know what goes on behind the scenes and in the minds of young players trying to go as far as they can in the greatest game on earth.

A few months back I signed with the Danbury Mad Hatters of the new single A Eastern Professional Hockey League. At 23 years old it's not exactly where I expected myself at this point in my professional career, but nothing ever goes exactly as planned and besides it wouldn't be much fun if everyone's fairy tale came true. A couple injuries and a numbers crunch have kept me on the outside looking in at the Central Hockey League, but I'm confident that this season I'll prove myself as a strong AA player.

So now that you know where I play I'll let you know some more details. Like I said I'm 23 years old (I turn 24 on September 27th, so I expect some birthday wishes in a few weeks) and I live in Reading, MA. Over the summer it's business as usual with a couple skates and day and workout session mixed in between and of course a lot of partying with the hockey buddies who come home for the summer.

Feel free to email me any questions and I look forward to keeping everyone updated as the season draws near and get underway!