As a life-long hockey fan and media and communication major my dream job is to be a sports journalist in the NHL. This year I’m getting my first hands-on experience as I’m covering the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL for The Puck Authority.

I started writing for the Puck Authority about six months ago, and about three months in the site was looking to expand and start covering the ECHL. I was ecstatic about the opportunity, especially since it would be my first time having full press credentials.

Through the first month of the season, this opportunity has been everything I could ask for.

Although I’m not getting paid for my time I’m gaining valuable experience. Not only do I attend all home games, but I also watch all the away games on echl.tv and do articles for each one of their road trips. One of the best parts of having press credentials in having access to the players post-game.

This not only helps me with interviewing but having those kinds of voices in my stories makes them a lot stronger.

Every journalist has their own little routine that they do when they are reporting, and I’ll give you an insight into what I do on gamedays.

Most games start at 7 pm but my night begins at 5 pm as I leave my house and take my hour drive down to the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, NY. Once I get to the arena, I go over the game notes and roster sheets that are provided to members of the press.

As the team hits the ice around 6 p.m. the first thing I do is start looking for the players on the roster who are not going to dress for that night’s game so I can cross them off my roster. Once I find out who the starting goaltender is, I start doing my research to see how he’s played this season and where he’s played throughout his career.

Right before the game begins, I hop on Twitter and start my live tweeting the game, beginning with the starting line-ups.

Now as a fan you learn to dread the intermissions.

But as a journalist you love them.

These 18 minutes give me time to go over stats from the previous period, go over my notes that I took and most importantly grab some food and use the bathroom before the next period begins.

After the game the hardest part of the night begins starting with the interviews, now the problem is there is always one question that you always forget to ask, and it kills you inside.

After the interviews, I sit in an empty arena only surrounded by one other journalist who writes for the Post-Star. Once my article is done, I call my editor on my way home, make my final edits when I get home then call it a night and look forward to the next game.