The goal is staying focused

Wednesday March 05, 2008 @ 12:17 PM EST

I got started in hockey in Saskatchewan at a young age, and probably like most kids I got started in the backyard rinks – and my brother did as well.

When I was younger, I was a Flames fan, and I always liked watching them. These days, I don’t know if I have a favorite anymore, but when I was younger, I liked guys like Sakic and Forsberg: Skill guys. Now I like Pronger, and I like Lidstrom, and of course I love watching Regehr and Phaneuf. I really like the guys who play a tough game, who make some hits; big, strong guys, that’s who I like keeping my eye on because that’s the sort of game I like to bring.

For myself, I try to play a physical game. I pride myself on being good in the D-zone and always try to be solid on the ice, hopefully not too many mistakes, and use my size to my advantage.

Personally, I tend to take pride in shutting down the other team, and especially the “skill” guys on their side. It’s something you look forward to doing every night, shutting the other team down, but if they happen to have a guy who is highly skilled offensively, you have to keep an extra eye on him on the ice. And if you’re matched up, it’s important to be physical and keep him off the score sheet if you can. Some nights it doesn’t work out, but lots of times it does.

When you’re a shut-down D-man, you take pride in keeping pucks out of your net. That, and being physical each and every shift.

And being physical doesn’t necessarily mean fighting, either. I’m not the guy that goes out there always looking for it. If it needs to be done, I don’t have trouble doing it, obviously.

And sometimes, well, it needs to be done.

So this year, for the Draft, there’s lots of good defenseman: Doughty and Bogosian, Pietrangelo and one of my teammates, Tyler Myers. The thing is, most of the guys play different styles of games. A guy like Doughty is offensive minded, whereas myself, I tend to fall on the defensive side of things – so the best way to ignore that stuff is to just worry about yourself.

In fact, Tyler and I don’t even really talk about it, almost ever. We know its there but we don’t talk about it amongst each other. We push each other; he’s a great player, he’s improved quite a bit, and I guess I have, too. Right now, we’re just looking to play our best so we can get back on track before the playoffs begins.

That’s my only thought right now. And it’s funny because my brother is in the same position. Not with the Draft, obviously, but with getting his and his team’s game ready for playoffs. He and I speak every day, actually – whether its texting one another or talking on the phone, whatever it is, we make sure we keep in contact. He always likes to know what’s going on in Kelowna, and I like to know about Brandon. We have to, because we only get a chance to play against one another every so often.

Actually, we played against one another only once this year, because I was away at the World Junior Camp the first time.

They came out a couple weeks ago. I think we won 8-2, we hammered them pretty well, but they were tired. They had played a good game in Vancouver the night before, so they were probably a little worn out.

But it was a lot of fun to play against him. In fact, my first shift – his, too – I was able to line him up with his head down and caught him with a pretty solid check. Then while we skated back up the ice he gave me a couple hooks and slashes and was yelling at me. In a couple scrums as well, we gave each other a couple face washes. We had lots of family there; our two little sisters were at the game, mom and dad, aunts and uncles, grandma and grandpa, as well.

For brothers, we didn’t get into it too much. We were in Spokane a week ago Tuesday, and Colin (he’s on our team) and Drayson Bowman (Spokane) fought, opening shift in the third period. They didn’t really go at one another, but they squared off, were tugging on one another, and to top it off, their mom and dad were at the game! All the rest of the players on the teams were looking at each other and thinking, “What the heck are these guys doing?”

Although it worked for Drayson I guess, because after that fight, Spokane got the momentum.

So anyway, that’s where I’m at right now. I’m working with my team, focusing on the playoffs and pretty much ignoring what people say. It can mess with your head, probably, if you pay too much attention to it. I try to ignore it and try not to ignore it, stick to the WHL and the NHL. That way, I’m just focused on my team, on winning, and on having fun.

Because, really, things will work out no matter where you get drafted. Rankings don’t mean a whole lot. No matter what, if you continue to improve, you love the game and you work hard, you’ll get an opportunity. It’s where you end up and where you are five or 10 years down the road that matters – not the Draft.

I mean, you look at past years, even in the first round, not everyone makes the NHL, and some lower-end guys get drafted and become stars. The main thing to me is, you have to improve after the draft and keep getting better.

And just enjoy the game.

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