Last Updated on Sunday, 27 May 2012 18:31
By Andrew Vitalis
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
Talking to him on the phone, you can almost hear him smiling. Why not? As Derek Peltier openly admits, he’s living the dream. Playing for the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL, a Colorado Avalanche affiliate, Peltier has been a monster on the ice.
“It’s going pretty good so far,” smiled Peltier. “It’s definitely different. There are a lot of weeks where you’re playing four games in five nights or you play three games in three nights. It’s a schedule that I’m not really used to, but I’m definitely having fun doing it.”
It’s certainly been an adjustment for the Plymouth native. After touching off his senior season with the University of Minnesotalast year, Peltier went directly to Lake Erie, taking part in six games to close out the year. His first taste of professional hockey was quick, yet effective. Peltier quickly realized what it was going to take to play at that level.
“Talking to some of the older guys, they told me to be in the best shape you can be. You find things out as you go along, things that work for you, but I think the biggest piece of advice I got was to be in the best shape of your life going in,” mentioned Peltier.
The advice was right on the mark. Peltier spent the off-season on the ice and in the weight room. Two weeks before training camp, he traveled to Denver and began working out with the Avalanche. Rookie camp followed, then training camp. If the pace wasn’t hectic enough, consider the fact that it was Peltier’s first camp with the Avs. Needless to say, it was a lot to take in for a 23-year-old rookie.
“I was out there a couple of weeks before the season, a lot of the older guys hadn’t even shown up yet,” remembered Peltier. “One day, I was sitting in the locker room and Joe Sakic came in and sat down right next to me and he started talking to me. It was a pretty neat experience. There is a moment where you realize that you’re living your dream, but you have to remember that you’ve got more things to accomplish.”
What’s left for Peltier is a game in a NHL uniform. He’s well on his way.
Now a constant in the Lake Erie line-up, the former Gopher blueliner is 40 games into his first full professional season. Playing in the second year of a two-year deal with the Avs, he finally feels at home on the ice.
“Right around the 15 to 20 game mark, I started to finally feel comfortable. I felt more confident. Things started to slow down for me,” stated Peltier. “The biggest thing is that here, guys are a lot bigger and stronger and they are good at everything. You can’t take a shift off or you’re going to get burned. You have to be ready for every shift you play.”
He has been. To date, Peltier has tallied one goal and 10 assists. This first professional goal, as he puts it, was a “lucky bounce.” However, the fact that Peltier has adjusted so quickly to the pro game has nothing to do with luck.
Throughout his entire career, he’s always been ahead of the curve. During the 2002-03 campaign, Peltier left high school and began playing in the USHL with Cedar Rapids. After two seasons there, Peltier accomplished a life-long dream by accepting a scholarship with the hometown Gophers.
“That was amazing,” said Peltier. “I grew up a Gopher fan. My dad had season tickets so I went to all of the home games as a kid. It was a dream come true for me.”
Now the sights are firmly set on what’s next – the NHL.
“You just have to go out there with a day by day mentality. You try to work as hard as you can because that’s really all you can do. For me, it’s important for me to know and feel like I’m playing well. You see (transactions) every day. Guys are always getting called up or being sent down. You definitely see that it’s part of the game. You do kind of get caught up in it once in awhile, but you quickly realize you can’t do that. You just have to go out there and play, go out there and compete. Everything else is out of your hands.”
