Rookie Duties: All Quiet on the Western Front

Well another quiet, but productive, week in Chicago. At this point in the season though, unless I’m going to a tournament to scout, no news is usually good news.

Matt has continued to play well since getting called up last month – in fifteen games with Dayton, he’s registered three assists and has a plus-six rating. Since I sold him to his coach as a solid defensive presence, it sure helps my credibility when Matt’s keeping the puck out of his net like he has been lately. I’m in the process of planning my next trip out east, which will include a stop in Dayton, and it’s starting to look like it might be the weekend of February 12-14. Matt has home games that Friday and Sunday and I’d like to be able to catch them both. I’ve got a friend who coaches for the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL and hopefully I’ll be able to make a game of theirs on the 13^th as well. It would be another busy weekend of travel, but that’s what this job is all about.

As far as my work on the amateur side of hockey goes, it seems as though some of my work for the scouting service at the Marlies Classic is already starting to pay off. I noticed last week that reports on some of the players I had spoken with a scout about had been posted on the service’s webpage. Perhaps more importantly, though, it seems as if word of the reports is spreading rather quickly through the hockey community. This past Friday afternoon I received a call from Sean’s father, Chris. Apparently one of the other parents from Sean’s team had stumbled upon the scouting service webpage and Chris asked if I knew anything about the scout who wrote the player review. Naturally, it felt pretty nice to tell him that I did know the guy and that I was responsible for getting the report posted. Since, like I said, I can’t ask Sean or his family to commit to me in any way without him losing his NCAA eligibility, it’s always good to have these little moments when I can show a family that I know what I’m doing.

Things have continued to progress nicely with my law practice, as well. It seems as though word of mouth has been carrying my name throughout the immigrant community and I’ve got a few more meetings set up with clients this week. In addition, a recent development may indicate that there is a huge opportunity coming up for me in the near future.

Last Wednesday I spoke on the phone with a partner from a large international law firm who works out of Chicago. He explained that his company refers out more immigration cases than any other type and would be interested in talking with me about doing some work with them. While we didn’t get into any specifics over the phone, he mentioned that he really liked my “entrepreneurial spirit” and might consider bringing me in to work directly with his group. At the very least, it sounds as though I’m about to get a big time boost in business. I’ve got a dinner meeting set up with him a couple weeks from now, so basically I have to start preparing as if I’m going into an interview. In other words, it looks like these next two weeks will be spent putting together another business plan like I did last spring. While I have no idea what he’s going to be expecting from me, as always, I’d much rather be over-prepared than under.

Well with a busy day ahead of me, it’s time for me to get back to work. As always, feel free to post any questions on the comments section and I’ll be sure to address them in next week’s entry. Also feel free to check for updates via my Facebook and Twitter pages. And with that, until next week…it’s time to hit the showers.