And just like that...

And just like that it's all over. As many of you know I went out to play for the Detroit Hitmen in the AAHL last week, arriving to town Wednesday morning. I flew from Boston and got into the Detroit airport at 10am, after a short drive to the arena I met my new teammates and was on the ice for practice by 11:30am. After practice I had a voicemail on my phone from Cardinal Sports Management offering me a full time job back home in Boston as head advisor for New England. Cardinal offers hockey players a service that will help the player move up the ranks from high school to prep school to juniors and college. It's a dream job for anyone who has ever been in the hockey world. A full time job as a scout and advisor, getting to go to the rink everyday and still be in the game of hockey. However, I had just gotten to Detroit and met the team. How could I tell them I was leaving after just one day?

After talking to my parents and some friends back home I called Matt Wiedenhoeft, who has become a close friend of mine over the past year and also my coach in Battle Creek and Detroit. I told him what the job, how it was a salary plus commission based job and that I didn't know what to do. He immediately told me that as a friend he was telling me to take the job, even though he knew how much I would help the team. So after a sleepless night and a practice Thursday morning I called Cardinal to accept the offer. Then I realized that this past weekend would be the last 3 games of my career.

We bussed down to Battle Creek Friday afternoon to play the Revolution that night. It was an awkward feeling walking back into The Rink as a visitor and not walking right into the Revs locker room. The feeling grew as warm ups began and I started seeing several familiar faces in the crowd. During the game it was business as usual, unfortunately we lost in a shootout, but I was credited with 2 assists in the game. We were spending the night in Battle Creek at the same hotel we stayed at during training camp last season and some of the girls I have become friend with came out for a few drinks after the game. I told them that this was my last weekend of hockey and we talked about last year and all the great memories from BC. Intern Kate, Haili, Leah and Misti thank you for being there to see me and have a great time.

The next day we traveled to Chicago to take on the Blaze and more familiar faces were waiting in their dressing room. Kevin Demers and Nigel Hawryliw from last years Battle Creek team are on the Blaze as is Joe Pace, who I played with in Amarillo a couple seasons ago in the Central Hockey League. We lost that game 8-6 after going up 3-1 and 4-3. It sucked because I missed the whole 3rd period with a broken steel on my skate and wasn't able to help out in the 3rd period.

After the game we stayed in town at Hotel Indigo and the next morning it was off to get my skate fixed then onto Chi-Town to play the Shooters. I loved playing there last year because of the olympic size ice sheet that gives you so much more time and space. Unfortunately we didn't come to play and ended up losing 9-2. But I did what I had set out to do and that was to play my ass off and leave nothing in the tank after my last professional game. And even though we lost I actually had fun out there again. I was so tired before the game with it being our 3rd in 3 nights that I didn't know if I was going to be able to have anything in my legs, but I played on pure adrenaline and didn't feel a thing. I played thru a slight separation in my left should that happened in the 2nd period. But there was no way I was telling anyone on the bench that I felt my shoulder pop out and pop back in when I hit a guy behind the net. I left it all out there. And I need to thank my teammates, especially Ryan Webb who told me to stay out on the ice for the last 2:31 of the game. When the final buzzer sounded I picked up the game puck and slowly, very slowly made my way to the locker room. I had a hard time holding it together in the locker room knowing it was the last time I would take off my jersey and skates in my career.

But thru it all I've had an amazing time and met some great people over the past 5 years of this journey. I want to thank Weezy for the past 2 years and guys like Charles Harvey and Brett Aimone who were teammates for the past 3 seasons. Other guys like Nigel and Joe Lyle. Scott McDougall, who got me into the coaching world and now the scouting world. All my buddies from back home in Billerica who have been there since clinic at the Hallenborg all the way thru our Super 8 run in 2002. And most importantly my mother, father and sister; without them I would never have made it this far and I can never thank them enough.

So it's been fun...Thank you all for reading and stay in touch.

It's been a hell of a ride!!!

Hutch-9