I was an offensive defenseman. I was up the ice as much as I was back.
I love getting in the open floor and running.
I guess when people ask what is the biggest transition to the NBA from college, it is definitely defense and the mental part.
We ran an up-tempo, transition-style of game at Boston College - very similar to what we ran when I played for Arnold.
As coaches we talk about two things: offense and defense. There is a third phase we neglect, which is more important. It's conversion from offense to defense and defense to offense.
The shoot-and-chase approach had become big in hockey. Teams would come up to the blue line and shoot the puck around our boards deep in our zone, then swarm in after it forechecking, trying to regain possession.
I think I have a lot of room for improvement. My serve is okay, but I need to work on a lot of things: return, transition game, backhand.
