Honestly, it was very tough. First of all, testing free agency was one of the most nervous and mind boggling experiences ive had to deal with. The stress of being contacted by teams, talking with your agent seeing who is a good fit and keeping GMs in the loop of how things are going was very stressful. Also, the culture I was surrounded in the J was a very good one. Whether I talk about my time with the Whalers or my time with the Kraken organization, I was with a good group of guys who either I worked hard to impress in Vancouver or like in Carolina, I had a lot of people to please. I was on the top pairing and was acquired to make a difference in that lockerrom, and that was what I tried to do every game.
Being successful in the J was also awesome. I had gone on a 3 peat and knew that it was not going to be the case in the pros. The structure of teams are built a lot differently and I knew that the league was not as opened as the J was. You needed everyone to build into the program and to really understand what was at stake. Everyone you are playing against is getting better and making changes to their team while you have to battle through to keep your spot. Its a challenging time but I know that I was mentored by great people in juniors and it is their reason that I am here today in the successful career thusfar