CATCHING UP WITH THE 'CUDA: NICK DESIMONE
Sep 5, 2017Once the 2016-17 season concluded, each Barracuda player returned to his hometown or offseason hangout. Moving forward, each week sjbarracuda.com will check in with a different Barracuda player and see what he is up to this summer. This week we catch up with Nick DeSimone.
You’ll be playing in the Prospects Tournament this weekend, so when are you returning to San Jose? I fly out tomorrow at 6 AM, and get in around 10 AM.
Are you going to try and get on the ice as soon as you get to San Jose? Well, I’m going to skate today, and then camp begins on Thursday, so I’ll probably just relax and get settled in on Wednesday.
Where have you been staying this summer? I live just outside of Buffalo in a place called Amherst, New York.
Are you living with your parents? Yep, I’m living at my parent's place. My brother’s here this summer, too. He hasn’t been home for a summer in a long time, so it’s been fun just getting to hang with him every day.
With some time to get away, what have you been doing for fun this summer? I’ve been playing golf a bunch with my brother and a few of my buddies. We all joined a golf club, so we’ve been trying to get out there as much as possible. Other than golf, we played basketball a lot, but we aren’t any good (he laughs).
Did you get a chance to get out of Amherst and go on any vacations this summer? Unfortunately, no vacation for me this summer. It was a really quick turnaround between the playoffs, development camp, and now back to training camp, so I’ve just been at home working out and skating as much as I can. I did get back to Union where I went to college for the Travers Stakes horse race. That was nice to get back there and see some of my old teammates and alumni.
What did you learn during your short stint with the Barracuda at the end of last year, and how are you going to try and apply that experience in your rookie season? It was a great experience getting to play a couple of regular season games and then most of the playoffs. I didn’t really have time to think, so I just played which was nice. I’m going to use that experience when I enter camp, so I can play to the best of my ability.
What have you been doing training wise to get ready for the season? Three-to-five times a week I’m skating with a pro group in Buffalo, and then I’ve been working with a personal trainer to try and increase my strength and explosiveness.
What are you trying to accomplish during the Prospect Tournament? I think for everyone it’s about getting back into game shape, but it’s also about showing the coaches and the front office all the hard work I’ve put in during the offseason.
Having grown up in Western New York, are you excited for your first winter in the California? Yeah, definitely! My family is pretty jealous. This will be the first time I won’t see snow, so it's was pretty weird packing because I just left all the winter stuff.