I know my skating is my strength, but a small guy like me has to be much better than everyone else. There are some areas I need to work on ? my overall strength and defensive responsibilities ? if I want to make it to the NHL.
The speed of the game stood out for me in terms of thinking quickly and making decisions. When guys get the puck on their tape it is off almost immediately and you have to learn to break to holes and understand that someone is going to be on top of you constantly.
We just have to battle through this stretch. We went through the same thing at the start of the year with guys out and a seven-game streak and were able to come back. Hopefully we can do that again starting this weekend.