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Right now I'm in Switzerland getting ready to represent the United States at the World Championships. It's such an honor to play for my country and I can't wait. I played in the World Championships 2 years ago and played in 2 World Junior Championships and can definitely say there's nothing like putting on your nation's colors.

May 6th, 2009... Wow, what a game by our goalie Robert Esche! He was unbelievable and clearly our player of the game. He made 47 saves - many were so timely - and he helped our confidence grow by the minute. Finland scored first and then we roared back with three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead. Finland scored late in the second and that was it - we made up our minds to shut them down, and we did.

We could just feel the game going our way as it wore on. I think we controlled the play for better than half the game. Everyone was flying. Total team effort by all, and the pride and determination to not let this game get away took over, and it felt real good to get them back, after all, they knocked us out a few times at this same spot in the tournament two or three years in a row. Today it was our turn, and Esche's! As the game went on we could see it in each others' eyes that we were not going to be beaten, and so could the Finns. 

We came here with one goal - to win the gold medal. That's what being an American is all about - winning. All the previous games mean nothing now, we're in the final four where we belong. We know some have doubted us, but we believed right from the start that we were capable of winning, and now welcome the opportunity to carry our colors against Russia. We will be ready, and I guarantee that no matter what, the world will know the Americans are here! 

May 4th, 2009... Very disappointing outcome (against Switzerland). We accomplished our goal, to get into the next round, but not by losing to a team we should beat. Lets give them some credit, they were playing for pride in front of their home crowd and gave it everything they had. We didn't respond as we expected to.

The beauty of this type of tournament is that all can be forgotten and we are still in position to win the gold medal. Let's not forget, that's what we're here for and it starts Wednesday against Finland. They will be formidable, especially after just beating that team from up north. Nevertheless, we will be ready and we understand there is absolutely no room for error. We have to and will be at our best. Please tune it and watch us go for the gold!

May 2nd, 2009... We started our Qualification Round against France and won 6-2. It was a good way to start off the round. We dominated the first period since France took a lot of penalties and ended up outshooting them 20-3. The second period was crazy with a lot of goals and then in the third we got another 5-on-3 advantage and I ended up scoring the 6th goal. Tonight we play Russia, so that will definitely be a challenge, but a great test. It should be fun!

April 30th, 2009... Well, our game against Sweden didn't go exactly how we wanted. I started a blog on UniversalSports.com and since I said everything on there that I would put on here, just go check it out and see how the game went. Good news though, we're moving on to the qualification round so we still have a lot of games to play!

April 28th, 2009... Yesterday we played Austria and won 6-1! The game started slowly, but we were able to use our size, speed, and skill to wear them down. It also helped that Austria got into penalty trouble in the 3rd period. We're starting to get used to each other and this team is very fast and we're a pretty close group. After practice we go out in groups of 5 to 6 guys to eat and then meet up as a team at an outdoor cafe. The city Bern is beautiful! I'm trying to take time to see everythinng about the city that I can.

We just moved hotels and I'm now rooming with Kyle Okposo of the New York Islanders (that's him on the right congratulating me after I scored in the first game). I was rooming with Matt Niskanen of the Dallas Stars. It's kind of nice to get to know some of these guys. Okposo also went to Shattuck St. Mary's, but not at the same time as me. However, I knew him before because we played together at the World Junior Championships in Sweden.

Speaking of Sweden, that's who we face next and I know a lot of people consider them the team to beat in the tournament. It should be a pretty good test for us, especially since they will be looking for a win after losing (in a shootout) to Latvia. We're definitely not a favorite of the fans here as everyone has been rooting for the other team when we play. I'm used to that though and kind of expect it, so I just use it as motivation!

April 26th, 2009... Well, we started the preliminary round against Latvia and won 4-2 on Saturday (April 25th). I scored our first goal and the game-winner and was named Player of the Game. It was a great way to start the tournament and I felt really comfortable out there. Check out the video below from universalsports.com for highlights from the game. Up next is Austria on Monday!

April 23rd, 2009... I'll try to keep you updated on everything that's going on here. We left for Switzerland on Sunday, April 19th and played our first exhibition game against Switzerland on April 21st. We only had one practice beforehand to get a feel for each other, but we jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with goals by my Kings teammate Dustin Brown. That's how the first period ended and it didn't go so well after that. Switzerland is 9 hours different than LA, so I'm still trying to adjust to the time difference and we all just ran out of gas with the travel we had done. We ended up losing 5-2, but winning wasn't really a priority since it was just an exhibition game. The coaches were focused on figuring out different line combinations and trying to get us ready for the tournament since we haven't played together before.

As a defenseman, I have to feel comfortable with my 'D' partner and know what his tendencies are on the ice. Tournaments like these are always fun because you sometimes get reunited with guys you haven't played with in awhile. My defense partner for this tournament is John-Michael Liles of the Colorado Avalanche. Although many people wouldn't realize it, I have a connection with Liles that goes back to my days in middle school.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Although I consider Michigan home (I spent the early part of my life in Bloomfield Hills and the last few years in Ann Arbor), I was actually born in Indianopolis, Indiana. For three summers starting when I was 12 years old, I attended hockey camps at Culver Academy in Indiana. My instructor at those camps, who was also a student at Culver, was none other than John-Michael Liles, who is also a fellow Hoosier from Zionsville, Indiana. He took me under his wing and we have remained close friends ever since. Our hockey careers have taken similar paths, although we definitely have a rivalry going. I attended Shattuck St. Mary's whose arch rival happens to be Liles' Culver Academy. We both went on to play for the U.S. National Team Development Program, but he became an All-American at Michigan State, while I became an All-American at the much better University of Michigan! There's not many Indiana-born boys that make it to the NHL (7 to be exact), but we have crossed paths a lot and are now defense partners for Team USA at the World Championships! Sometimes it's such a small world.

I'm going to try to write some more stories like this about the connections I have with different guys playing at this World Championship.

First though, I need to give a shout out to my little brother Kenny who won the California State Championship with the Anaheim 98 Wildcats. I told him I wouldn't miss it for the world, and thankfully traffic wasn't too bad as I had to leave his game immediately to get to LAX and make the flight with my team. Congrats, Kenny! Keep it up and have fun!

Thanks again for all the support and keep cheering on the Red, White, and BLUE! I'll keep updating the site every couple days to keep you in the loop on how we're doing and what's going on. Check below for tons of information on how you can catch me in action at the World Championships and a video on Team USA.

Don't miss a minute of the action as Universal Sports will be broadcasting the 2009 IIHF Men's World Championships LIVE and FREE at universalsports.com as well as delayed on TV

(Gold Medal match will be LIVE!).

Make sure to catch me in action and cheer on Team USA as we try to bring home a gold medal!