In this offseason I really tried to beef up and improve my physical game. Last season I tried to be extremely quick and agile, which worked for the most part, but I ran into trouble when I had to tangle with a stronger, tougher opponent. This season, I'm going to be more confident in my checking skills and I've got more muscle from top to bottom that I think will help stabilize me if I'm engaged with another skater. To practice these skills during the offseason, I came up with a few different workouts - one was fish rips, where you catch a fish and instead of biting right into it you rip it apart with your arms. They're so slippery and wet, and there's not much traction to get a grip, so it's harder than it sounds. Another was a bit less formal - I would just lay the smackdown on any of my brothers and sisters when I saw them around. Knock em to the ground. They're a resilient bunch and they know I'm just training for my career as a professional hockey player so they don't really mind.