Hey everyone, what a week it has been.

I wanted to update this sooner but we have had one heck of a week with travel, and I left my laptop in Rockford. I am currently sitting in the business center of the Courtyard Marriott in freezing downtown Grand Rapids Michigan.

It has been one heck of a week both on and off the ice for our team. Since I last updated my blog, we have played 4 games in 5 nights in 2 different cities. In the American league it is pretty normal for a team to play 3 games in 3 nights and sometimes even 7 games in 10 nights. This week was by far the craziest scheduling I have experienced in four years of pro hockey. We played Friday and Saturday night in Rockford and then had a Sunday afternoon game in San Antonio, TX. The travel would not have been bad if we were an NHL team because we could have flew to Texas Saturday night right after the game. Since we don't charter in the AHL, the earliest flight we could take was on Sunday morning at 10:00am.

We got to the rink in Rockford, packed our equipment onto the bus, and drove to Chicago O'Hare airport at 7:00am. We checked in and went through the security screening process in about an hour, leaving us about a half hour to grab a quick breakfast. We then landed in San Antonio around 1:30 and drove right to the rink to get ready to play.

Sunday afternoon games are always pretty difficult for us to get our legs, especially when you play on Friday and Saturday. Then factor in the crazy travel on Sunday, we knew that we were going to be extremely focused to come away with a victory. We played a pretty good game, but we knew we were a much better team than we showed. Despite that, we still managed to gain a point in the standings and remain in first place with a shootout loss. Our team was disappointed we didn't get the win, but we rebounded nicely on Tuesday with a 4-1 win.

Because of the schedule, we ended up having quite a bit of down time in San Antonio. What a beautiful city! The river walk is very scenic and there are tons of great restaurants to eat at. I was disappointed I didn't take a trip over to see the Alamo, but I guess that can wait until next time.

One of my favorite things about being a professional athlete is being able to travel and experience cities I probably wouldn't ever see if I was in a different profession. Because of that, I always try and get out of the hotel and see as much of the city as I can. I don't understand how some players hole up in the hotel and order room service in every city we go to. I feel the travel is one of the biggest perk to being an athlete, and I try to take advantage of that as much as possible.

On the ice, our team has been on absolute fire. We are unbeaten in regulation in our last 11 games, and hope to make that 13 before we get our much welcomed Christmas break. It is exciting being on such a young team that is enjoying so much success so far this season. If you live in the Chicago area, I strongly suggest you make it out to Rockford to watch the Icehogs play. Our fans are always enthusiastic and the Barn Yard is a great place to watch a game.

This will be my last blog until after the Christmas break, so I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and I hope everyone is able to spend it among friends and family. For me, this will be my first Christmas at home with my family since I was a freshman in college so I am really excited.

Merry Christmas everyone and as always, keep the questions coming,

-Richie

Hello everyone!

I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted. It has been a long few weeks for me and I didn't feel like my head was in the right place to write a blog for you guys. I am back now and will be giving you all regular updates on my season. Thanks for understanding!

About 3 weeks ago, the Blackhawks informed me that they had placed me on waivers and sent me down to their American Hockey League affiliate in Rockford, Illinois. For those who are unfamiliar with the AHL, it is the hockey equivalent of AAA baseball. Younger players who are hoping to crack an NHL lineup play in the AHL until they get the call from their parent club. Although it isn't as good as the NHL, the AHL is quite a competitive league with tons of good players looking for their chance to break into the NHL.

I was pretty upset getting demoted to the minors after only getting a chance to play in one game with the Hawks, playing a position I never really felt all that comfortable in. I was frustrated with the situation when I got sent down, and still am. All I thought about growing up was playing for the Blackhawks, and helping them win. Now that I am unable to do that, it stings a little bit. The silver lining is that I am now back playing my natural position and playing a lot every game.

When playing in the minors, you have to have a different attitude than you do in the NHL. In the NHL, you play for one thing: to help your team win every night. I keep that attitude in the AHL, but I realize that I am not only playing to help my team win, but I am working to catch the eye of 29 other teams in the NHL, hoping they have enough interest in my to trade for me and use me with their NHL club.

Now that I got that out of the way, let me tell you some of the big differences between the NHL and AHL off the ice. The main difference for me so far, has been the travel. In the NHL the travel is very nice. We have our own chartered jet every game and have great meals on the plane both before and after games. In the minors, we either fly or take the bus to away games. Instead of chartered jets, we fly commercial. While playing for the Hawks, every player pretty much gets their own row, so it is pretty easy to spread out and make yourself comfortable on the flight. In the two flights we have taken so far in the minors, I have been crammed in the middle seat of the back row. That wouldn't be so bad except the seats in the back row don't recline! Not very comfortable.

While flying with the Hawks, we just drive our cars to a private hanger and walk right up to the plane. It is painless and very nice. In the minors, we have to go through the whole check-in and security process everyone else does.

Flying in the minors is a bit of a pain, but the bus on the other hand, is a little more enjoyable. Our team bus in Rockford is very nice. There are about 20 bunk beds, a couple couches, tables and satellite TV. Most of the guys sleep on the way to road cities, but a few of us sit in the back couches and play cards. The game of choice is Schnarples, which is similar to spades. The card games always pretty interesting with everyone shouting at each other getting fired up.

I hope this gives everyone a little insight on what life is like in the AHL.

Post game meals on the Hawks jet are very nice. We usually get our choice of a nice steak or chicken of some sort. In the minors, it is a totally different story. We place our orders from a sandwich shop as soon as we get to the rink for the game. They usually deliver the sandwiches during the second period. The perfect amount of time for them to become cold and soggy! It is pretty hard to choke those down, so I usually rely on about half my sub and big protein shake. Yummy!

We have a pretty good team here in Rockford and there are a great group of guys down here who will be ripping around on the United Center ice in no time. I encourage any Blackhawk fans to make the drive to Rockford and check out the future of the Hawks. It isn't that bad of a drive from the city to Rockford, I do it every morning :)

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season, and as always, bring on the questions.

Take care,

Richie

Hey Everyone!

A lot has happened since my last blog. During our first game of the year, we lost Martin Havlat to a shoulder injury. We are still not sure when he is going to be back, but hopefully its soon.

Although losing Marty is a big loss, we have responded nicely winning 3 out of our first 5 games! Two of those wins have come against our biggest rival, the Detroit Red WIngs. We have struggled against Detroit the last few years so it felt great to get two come from behind wins against them. Our first game against them was our home opener. We came back from a two goal defecit to win the game in a shootout. The crowd of 19,000 was going crazy. It was the best atmosphere in the United Center I've seen in years. Hopefully that will continue throughout the year.

The atmosphere in the dressing room continues to be amazing. In years past, the room hasn't always been a pleasent place to be. So far this year, it is rare to pass a player or coach who doesn't have a smile on his face. Even after practice, everyone sticks around for an hour or so to eat lunch and talk about things happening away from the rink. It is a great group of guys, and I am happy to be a part of it.

This year has been pretty interesting so far for me, and I have been learning a lot. I grew up my whole life playing defense. In the beginning of training camp, my coach told me I will be playing left wing as well. It has defninitely been a challange learning a new position while playing against the best players in the world, but my coaches and teammates have been great at helping me out during practice to help me learn how to be an effective winger. After every practice one of the coaches works with me for about a half hour doing drills specific to left wingers. I am feeling more comfortable with my new position everyday.

When I play wing, I have to use my speed to get in on the forecheck and make it tough on the other teams defensemen. I have to be phyisical and get the puck to the net. I wasn't too sure how much I'd enjoy playing wing, but it has been a lot of fun. Its way better to be the winger hammering the defensemen rather than what I'm used to.

Yesterday, the coaches rewarded our good play with a complete day off from the rink. Days off are really important to clear your mind and get some rest. Hockey is a very draining sport physically and mentally, so it was great to be able to get away from it for a day. I was lucky enough to score some Bears tickets so me and three of my friends made the trip over to Solider Field to watch the Bears take on the Vikings. It was a real exciting game, but the Vikings won the game with a 50 yrd field goal as time expired. Watching the game live, I got an up close view of the Devin Hester show. That guy is a machine! The crowd goes absolutely crazy everytime he touches the ball. It looked like he was playing against a high school football team when he ran back a 90 yrd punt return. Every time he touched the ball, I felt he was going to score.

This week we play two home games against confrence rivals. Then Saturday night we get to play another Original Six team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, in Toronto on Hockey Night in Canada. It is always fun to play another Original Six team, but it's too bad we don't play them more often.

Talk to you guys in a few days, hopefully after a few Hawks wins!

-Richie

PS: I didn't know about the comments below the post. I will respond to those quicker!

Hey everyone! This is my first blog, and I am excited to be able to share my thoughts about the season with all of you!

A little bit about myself: I am a forward/defenceman for the Chicago Blackhawks. I was born and raised in Chicago and really excited to be able to suit up for the home team! I was traded here in January of 2006 from the Carolina Hurricanes.

I am blogging to you from my hotel room in St. Paul, Minnesota, as we are getting ready to open up the regular season against the Wild. With all of our high draft picks and great off season moves, there is a lot of excitement not only in our dressing room, but the city of Chicago as well.

Being on the road as much as we are, I have fallen into a pretty good routine the day before games. We usually arrive into the visiting city the afternoon before the game. There is a lot of downtime, so it's important to keep yourself busy and focused on the game. I am a huge music fan, so a lot of my downtime is spent listening to music and downloading some new tunes for my iPod. One band I highly recommend you check out is Maximo Park. You won't be disappointed!

After relaxing for a few hours, I usually meet up with a couple of teammates to go grab some dinner. There is a great mix of nationalities and personalities on this team, and dinner time is always a good time to get to know each other. It's important to get to know one another off the ice, because the chemistry definitely translates on the ice.

With training camp out of the way, we are excited to start playing for real. This is going to be a great season for the Chicago Blackhawks, and I am excited to be able to share it with all of you. If you have any questions or suggestions, drop me a line and I will include it in my next blog.