Good morning, St. Paul

Good morning, St. Paul, and good morning, Insiders.

It’s the World Series again, in case anyone hadn’t noticed, and the Dodgers are playing games while the Kings are on a road trip. Last year, much of the series took place during the latter portion of an Eastern Canada swing, which meant there were a number of nights spent watching the Blue Crew with the traveling crew. Game 1 took place during the Kings’ shootout win in Ottawa; none of us caught that one. Nick Nickson, Curtis Zupke and I watched Game 2 on a massive screen at an upscale sports bar attached to the Bell Centre. Much of Game 3 was spent in the Boston hotel lobby bar/restaurant, watching the game with the sound off, which is never fulfilling. We didn’t watch Game 4, but shortly after Tyler Toffoli’s late-overtime heroics against the Bruins, we boarded the plane just as Joc Pederson hit a massive ninth inning homerun that several of us saw on our phones. Game 5, which was completed in a brisk, getaway day-like five hours and 17 minutes, was witnessed by our entire traveling crew at the Flying Saucer in St. Louis, and then later at the hotel bar/lobby, where I was giving off very good advice on how to play centerfield to anyone within earshot. That’s a lot of wings and burgers. I needed vegetables at the end of that trip and returned home with bags under my eyes and the recommendation of a local scurvy specialist.

As part of the group fortunate to be able to travel in such plush comfort with the team, it’s still up to us to be able to keep our bodies and minds healthy and avoid overindulgence on the road. Setting up a regular workout schedule in the summer is easy; given the unpredictability of the hockey news cycle and the need to get sleep when sleep is available with with a young kid, it’s difficult to maintain that regimen in-season, especially when we’re away from home. There’s both a nacho station and an ice cream machine at the Chick Hearn press room back at Staples Center. It’s not always easy to make good choices when you can walk 50 feet and return with a tray of nachos. I’m trying to cut out large hunks of red meat when possible this year. It’s easy to eat yogurt and almonds for a quick snack instead of relying on the Chipotle across the street from half of our hotels for lunch. It’s tough to do this, and hey, I’ll probably be sitting on a barstool tonight watching Game 2. But we’re always fine tuning, always striving to better ourselves, and that’s one goal for me this season: eating better on the road.

The LA Kings touched down at MSP at about 1:35 a.m. last night and arrived at the hotel shortly after two. They’ll take the Xcel Energy Center ice for a 1:00 skate this afternoon, after which Patrick O’Neal and I will record our road podcast. That should go out tomorrow morning. There’s lots more to come today, Insiders. Let’s talk soon.