Mike Vernace, who led all Monsters defensemen with 26 assists in the team's first season, will be checking in with LakeErieMonsters.com regularly throughout the summer. The 22-year-old blueliner was Lake Erie's "iron man," playing in all but one game during the season, finishing with 29 points (3G, 26A) in 79 games.

Hey Monsters Fans!

Well I just got back from Niagara Falls for the long weekend here, celebrating Canada Day. Technically it's not until Tuesday, but Saturday and Sunday were still full of parties.

Last weekend was a pretty busy weekend. On the Friday, my girlfriend and a bunch of my friends graduated from Schulich School of Business, the top rated business university in Canada. It was pretty exciting to see all of them accomplish what they set out to do some 18 years ago when the began kindergarten. One of the people who gave a speech said they were part of less than 25% of the population lucky enough to actually attend University, and even less who graduate from it. It was a pretty special moment for them, looking back at all the hard work they've put into school and having it culminate at one big celebration. I had warned them a couple years earlier that it would be a different feeling when you're about to begin your career, and I think they finally understood what I meant.

That same weekend, I had a big golf game with my girlfriend's brothers. His fiancee was having her bridal shower at a golf course and asked me if I'd like to play golf there on that day. Naturally, without hesitation, I could never say no to a good round of golf! The weather was really good until the 18th hole, when the lightning hit and it started to pour, leaving us drenched. It was a really nice course, and very challenging. If you hit it into the fescue, there was no chance you'd find your ball because it would be buried in the tall grass. Let's just say I didn't have my best day on the course, but I did have a few nice shots that kept me feeling somewhat good about myself!

The next week we had a lot of long runs outside on the stairs where I work out. We train at the National Tennis Facility for Tennis Canada, and we run those stadium steps at least three times a week. This week was particularly long because we ran every stair in the stadium three out of the five days. Exhausting is not even the word! I did get a chance to go and have a workout with Paul Goldberg on Friday in the nearby town of Whitby, Ontario. He was there woring at Adam Foote's gym called Train Like A Pro, so on Friday I went out there to get a good workout in. Workouts are going well, as we have hit July and are now into more agility and speed work.

The summer has really flown by so far, but our weather here hasn't been the greatest. We're still waiting for it to be constantly sunny outside, and for it not to rain every single day. But it will get better I'm sure...I hope!

Talk to you all soon -

Mike Vernace

Read week 1 of Blue Line Blogging Here

Mike Vernace, who led all Monsters defensemen with 26 assists in the team's first season, will be checking in with LakeErieMonsters.com regularly throughout the summer. The 22-year-old blueliner was Lake Erie's "iron man," playing in all but one game during the season, finishing with 29 points (3G, 26A) in 79 games.

Hey Monsters Fans!

Well I just got back from Niagara Falls for the long weekend here, celebrating Canada Day. Technically it's not until Tuesday, but Saturday and Sunday were still full of parties.

Last weekend was a pretty busy weekend. On the Friday, my girlfriend and a bunch of my friends graduated from Schulich School of Business, the top rated business university in Canada. It was pretty exciting to see all of them accomplish what they set out to do some 18 years ago when the began kindergarten. One of the people who gave a speech said they were part of less than 25% of the population lucky enough to actually attend University, and even less who graduate from it. It was a pretty special moment for them, looking back at all the hard work they've put into school and having it culminate at one big celebration. I had warned them a couple years earlier that it would be a different feeling when you're about to begin your career, and I think they finally understood what I meant.

That same weekend, I had a big golf game with my girlfriend's brothers. His fiancee was having her bridal shower at a golf course and asked me if I'd like to play golf there on that day. Naturally, without hesitation, I could never say no to a good round of golf! The weather was really good until the 18th hole, when the lightning hit and it started to pour, leaving us drenched. It was a really nice course, and very challenging. If you hit it into the fescue, there was no chance you'd find your ball because it would be buried in the tall grass. Let's just say I didn't have my best day on the course, but I did have a few nice shots that kept me feeling somewhat good about myself!

The next week we had a lot of long runs outside on the stairs where I work out. We train at the National Tennis Facility for Tennis Canada, and we run those stadium steps at least three times a week. This week was particularly long because we ran every stair in the stadium three out of the five days. Exhausting is not even the word! I did get a chance to go and have a workout with Paul Goldberg on Friday in the nearby town of Whitby, Ontario. He was there woring at Adam Foote's gym called Train Like A Pro, so on Friday I went out there to get a good workout in. Workouts are going well, as we have hit July and are now into more agility and speed work.

The summer has really flown by so far, but our weather here hasn't been the greatest. We're still waiting for it to be constantly sunny outside, and for it not to rain every single day. But it will get better I'm sure...I hope!

Talk to you all soon -

Mike Vernace

Read week 1 of Blue Line Blogging Here