My first experience travelling with the Pontiacs to a road game was eye opening, I learned a lot. In particular, that rookies and newcomers, myself included, load and unload the bus.
Luckily, enduring the laughs and ridicule from coaches for claiming to be too weak to lift hockey equipment and empty water bottles was enough to get myself out of that job.
With small chores out of the way, it was off to Spruce Grove last Wednesday, where the nation's top-ranked Saints club was preparing to host the visiting Pontiacs.
I have spent nearly a full season covering the Pontiacs and have come to know many of the players and understand their commitment to becoming the best hockey players they can be.
That commitment and effort level shown by each individual Pontiac day in and day out is something some fans may not realize is there.
Players push themselves hard and commit an awful lot of time preparing for the two and a half hours they spend in front of the crowd.
Not all of that commitment and effort come naturally; much of it is taught through the team's hard working and talented coaching staff.
And who better to teach it than a coach nominated for the 2010-11 Coach of the Year.
Some of head coach Chad Mercier's favourite words are ‘commitment' and ‘effort'. And he enforces both daily.
Part of the commitment expected from the players is being able to ride a bus together for hours on end, arrive at a destination, play hockey at your highest level, then return home in the wee hours of the morning, with many players attending class just hours after returning.
Not everything about a road trip is fun.
Sure, there is a lot of joking around and fun times to be had between players on the road, but there is also a job to take care of.
Mercier does his best to ensure all the details necessary to get his team ready to play at puck drop are taken care of.
Players chomp down a pre-game meal as we roll out of Bonnyville.
Many players catch a quick nap soon after the bus leaves town, but they snap out of their sleep when Mercier cranks the tunes about 20 minutes from our destination.
With eyes wide open, it's now a matter of shaking off the road legs before game time.
Three blocks before the rink we stop along the side of the road. “Everyone off,” hollers Mercier, as players slip into their suits and exit the bus for a short walk to the rink.
The rest of us finish the trip by bus.
At the rink players jog and stretch before a pre-game team meeting.
By game time my legs are still like jello from the ride up, but the Pontiacs show no rust and take to the ice as if it was another home game.
Following the game, it's back on the bus and time to stuff our faces, with food provided by the team.
Most players catch a little more shut-eye before arriving back in Bonnyville around 2 a.m.
Then it's to bed for a few hours, before getting right back at it the next day.
It's not all guts and glory, but part of the life of being a good hockey player.
