What's up STEEM Nation?!? I've sat on the sidelines long enough, and with a little nudge, I'm finally diving in head first. To be honest, I couldn't be more excited about it. The crypto space is something relatively new to me, and there is no one else to blame but myself. One of my best buddy’s, you may recognize him as "TheBear" here on Steemit, I call him Beeg, has pushed crypto onto me for a couple years now. Finally, I think I’m starting to wake up, I’m taking my head out of the sand and can see the light. Forgive me fellow Steemers, I’ll be the first to admit I was skeptical about cryptocurrencies, especially early on. Beeg introduced me to Bitcoin, then Ethereum, and now Steem. I took action with Bitcoin, sat on my hands with Ethereum, and caught myself watching Steem when I finally smartened up. Beeg is one of the smartest guys I know, I should’ve listened to him earlier, but better late than never eh? I love this STEEMIT idea, so without wasting anymore time, let’s get started…

"steemit user & my good pal Beeg/TheBear" SHORT & SWEET – MY STORY I am a blue collar guy from Canada who grew up on a gravel road, out in the country (my parents still live there). I started skating when I was 3, in a CanSkate program, after which my parents made me choose between figure skating and hockey. For me, it was a no brainer! However, in hindsight, I wish I would’ve said both… Have you seen the edge work on figure skaters?!?! It’s unbelievable!

"Canada Day on Parliament Hill" HOCKEY… HOCKEY… HOCKEY… I left home when I was 16 and was fortunate enough to play five years of junior hockey for one of the best organizations in the country, the Pembroke Lumber Kings (PLK). My final year I was named captain, and was fortunate enough to win the League Championship, the Eastern Canadian Championship, only to lose in overtime in the semi-finals of the National Championship. My first encounter with Beeg actually happened before college, when my PLK team played his Green Mountain Glades team down in Vermont.

I was blessed to receive a scholarship and join Beeg at The University of Massachusetts-Lowell… what a time we had… I would need a dozen more blogs just to go through all the shenanigans of our 8-person suite we lived in. Somehow, through all that, I was named to the Hockey East All-Academic Team all 4 years. Those years at UML shaped and molded me into the person I am today, also introducing me to the guys who will forever be my best friends, my family. And of course, we also got to play some pretty competitive hockey. My sophomore year we lost in the Hockey East finals to Boston University. I was named to the Hockey East All-Tournament team but that didn't ease the sting of losing. That summer I was invited and participated in my first NHL development camp with the Boston Bruins. Things were peachy, things were going amazingly well, until I fell off the ladder, right back to the bottom floor. I led our team in points my sophomore and junior season, but senior year, I tore my groin, missed the majority of the season and tried to rush back. It’s been a grind ever since. HITTING THE ROAD – “SUITCASE”

This sport has taken me all over the world, to places I never imagined visiting; I have met some pretty amazing people along the way as well! Hockey has afforded me the opportunity to live in some beautiful places... here we go (don’t mind the run-on)… It all started with the Houston Aeros, then the Las Vegas Wranglers (reunited with Beeg, go figure), a cup of coffee with the Rochester Americans and Texas Stars (Austin, TX), to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, South Carolina Stingrays (Charleston, SC), and finally the Providence Bruins (accompanied by my first NHL training camp with the Boston Bruins)…. Not bad eh?... and those are only in North America! North American teams are big on charity and kid events as they should be. From reading to classrooms, giving full school speeches about staying in school, Movember, etc. It was in Las Vegas when I first participated in the St. Baldrick’s charity for childhood cancer. I quickly found out I look terrible with a shaved head, so here’s to hoping the hairline takes it time pulling back! All kidding aside, it’s a cause I would support over and over again.

EUROPE – YEAR 1 I then decided to take my trade overseas, and spent my first season living in Italy (the food… are you kidding me?!?!... if you haven’t been, go for the food alone!) I was able to spend Christmas with my girlfriend in Monte Carlo, Monaco and tour Italy (Torino, Milan, Verona {Romeo & Juliet}, Venice, Florence, Tuscany, San Gimignano, and finally Pisa). I consider myself very lucky for that opportunity.

EUROPE – YEAR 1 Year 2 took me to a tiny town in southern Denmark. My girlfriend, who is Danish, and still has family living there, was thrilled about the chance to go back and visit them. This year afforded her and I to spend Christmas in Berlin, and another day in Copenhagen (both beautiful cities that I would recommend visiting).

PRESENT As luck may have it, at the time of writing this, I just signed a deal to join SC Riessersse of the DEL 2 league for the upcoming season. The club is located in a ski resort town in Bavaria… could be worse places to live. With that being said, I best be off to pack my bags, a flight is right around the corner. Another year, another adventure, except this time it’s not just about hockey ---> full STEEM ahead… I'm on-board, don't get left behind!

"packing up - until we meet again"