Last season, former Everett Silvertips Captain Mitch Love showed us what life on the road was like for a minor league hockey player. He took us along as he and his team, the Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild AHL affiliate) battled their way to the AHL Western Conference Championship, in which they lost to the Manitoba Moose (Vancouver Canucks AHL team).
This year, Mitch is with a new team, the Peoria Rivermen (St. Louis Blues AHL affiliate). He's sporing a new number (#24) and continuing to play forward (Left Wing), a move he made last year in Houston. But he brings his D-man ferocity to each and every game. He also brings his insight and tremendous writing skills, which he has agreed to share with us again this season.
Here's Mitch's first blog - from Peoria, Illinois.
Good morning hockey fans and friends, it has been quite a while since we last connected. I hope you all had a great summer with family and friends.
We'll it's that time of year again….the 2009-2010 hockey season is here and under way. This season I will be writing for you all from a new winter address; Peoria, Illinois. For those of you that have been able to keep up with my pro career, I give you kudos, seeing as this will be the 5th team I've suited up for in the AHL. I still have friends that ask me if I play in Albany, NY. It's tough to keep up with all the new zip codes, but it is part of the business. But not many people can say that they have lived all over the USA.
It was a short but eventful summer for my girlfriend and me. We arrived home from our lengthy campaign in Houston in June. We had two relaxing summer vacations in Maui, Hawaii and Lake Chelan, WA. In mid July I signed a 1 year AHL contract with the Peoria Rivermen which is the farm club of the St. Louis Blues. Then in September, we purchased our first home in Mill Creek, WA. Ever since I played junior hockey in Everett, I told myself Western Washington was the place where I would live one day. It also helps when your girlfriend grew up in Mill Creek.
I spent all summer preparing for the season with many hours of training, skating with good buddies in mens league games and a couple of hard weeks practicing with the Everett Silvertips before they kicked off their season. After the shortest off-season of my pro career, it was time to get on the plane and head to St. Louis for training camp with the Blues.
After a week or practices, scrimmages and workouts, I was reassigned to Peoria where we had a mini camp before the season opener on October 4th.With 7 of our first 11 games at home it was important to get off to great start, especially with how competitive the AHL has been over the last few seasons. So far we have managed a 4-4-1-2 record, which is respectable but there is plenty of room for improvement.
I apologize for the tardiness of my first blog of the 09-10 season, but it has been a busy month and a half with getting settled in Peoria. I look forward to keeping you all posted with the events on and off the ice of my teammates, myself and whatever crazy things come our way every couple of weeks.
If you are ever looking to keep a closer eye on the AHL, Peoria Rivermen, or just some of the latest hockey news check out theahl.com, rivermen.net and king5.com.
Thanks for checking in friends and fans and we’ll chat again in a couple weeks,
Mitch Love
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