Concerts and Championships

Well I promised to give you a write up about Countryfest 2 weeks ago and never got around to it. In the mean time I also found my way to the Bruce Springsteen concert this past Saturday. Two Saturdays, 6 bands and artists; pretty good couple of Saturdays if you ask me. At Countryfest I missed Lady Antebellum because I was in the parking lot with a few hockey guys that I hadn't seen in a while, but I heard I didn't miss too much. Either way I wish I had gotten the chance to see them. Miranda Lambert and Montgomery Gentry put on good shows also with tons of energy and good songs. Miranda doesn't know it yet, but she's my future ex wife for sure! Sugarland was on before Kenny and for a minute there I thought they had stolen the show. I had heard they were incredible live, but those words don't do them any justice. They had Gillette Stadium rocking and I swear the ground was shaking during some songs. Jennifer Nettles has an amazingly powerful voice and a killer body to go with it.

But then came the big one, Kenny Chesney. He opened the show by coming up thru the ground on a swing seat at the 50 yard line singing "Live Those Songs Again" and rode the seat all the way to the endzone where the stage was, the guy knows how to put on a great show. This was my second time seeing him and he was better this time than the first. Just the energy he puts into his shows is unmatched. I've seen alot of the big country bands and artists over the past few years (Gretchen Wilson, Dierks Bentley, Big and Rich x2, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts x3, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, and Taylor Swift) but no one comes close to Kenny. He has this amazing talent of having 70,000 people going crazy with his country rock, then in the matter of seconds he slows it down to some love and reflection songs and has 70,000 feel like an intimate 700, then he's back at it finishing the show rocking out with songs about Boston and everything that reminds you about growing up. It was truly amazing.

Then this past Saturday I had the pleasure of heading to Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA to see the Boss. At first I was hesitant to go, but then I remembered songs like "Dancin' in the Dark, Glory Days and Born in the USA. I knew I had to go. My dad was telling me stories that he was one of the greats of his time and now I know why. He was great live and played for almost 3 hours. He rocked it every minute he was on stage.

But now to the big topic. Championship. I was thinking about it on my way to the gym tonight and realized that the first few years of my professional career that the months leading up to training camp I just wanted to make the team and have a good year personally. But now, turning 25 next month, I don't know how many more years are left in my career and I want to win a championship. I want to lead Evansville to a Champions Cup, get a ring, have a huge party, be on the ice with 20 brothers celebrating in front of 2000 people at Swonder Arena. Only a select few players each year can say they were tops in their league. And that is my goal this year. Set the personal goals aside, obviously I still have personal goals, but now my personal goals lead to a team goal. Being the last one standing in April or May. Win our last game.

-Hutch-

Country Fest!!!

The best weekend in New England is upon us, tomorrow 70,000 country fans will embark on Gillette stadium for Kenny Chesney's Country Fest. It's one of the best times of the summer, this year the concert sold out in 15 minutes. Can you imagine that many tickets selling that quickly? That's insane. I'll be one of the fans in attendance and be partying in the parking lot before it starts. Country music is huge among the hockey players in this area and we also are some of the best partiers so you know it'll be a great time.

Kenny Chesney will be the last on stage, but before that will be Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Montgomery Gentry and Lady Antebellum. It's an all day event and like I said will be an absolute blast. I will try to upload some pictures onto the blog on Sunday and will write a blog with all the highlights of the event when I do that.

Hutch

Summer winding down

Hey everyone, it's been such a long time since I have gotten on here to write. It's not that I don't have time or don't want to, it's just been that I haven't had much to talk about. For the past 8 weeks it's been pretty much the same thing Monday thru Thursday on the ice 3 hours a day and getting ready for this season. It's been a long summer of wondering where I would be playing and that wondering has come to an end. I signed with the Evansville Icemen of the AAHL yesterday afternoon. I'm extremely excited to get there and start the season. I remember playing there last season in front of sold out crowds whether it was a Friday night or Sunday afternoon. The fans are really into the team, they have great ownership and they just hired a great coach. Right now it seems like the best fit for me and I couldn't be happier. Going down there with me will be my roommates from last season Brett Riley and Mario Passarelli. Those two along with Ryan Huggett and Steve Koich are out here in Boston for the rest of the summer to skate and train together until we all leave.

Away from hockey it's been a great summer so far hanging out with the boys, heading to the beach and going out on the weekends. I went down to Martha's Vineyard a couple weekends ago for a summer tourney with a some buddies. The tournament had 10 teams with guys from around Mass that play in college and pro leagues. It was one of the best times I've ever had and the hockey was good as well. Some highlights were riding around on mopeds we rented, swimming in the ocean at 2am and of course dancing and making fools of ourselves all night. Picture 12 hockey players trying to dance to rap music, no matter how graceful we are on the ice it doesn't usually transfer onto the dance floor.

Well that's it for now. I'm sure I'll be writing much more often as the season approaches and straight thru the season as well. I want to say hello to any Evansville fans that may be reading this for the first time and feel free to email me any questions!

Hutch