Music: {allcanada} BOOTH CONTINUES TO TRAIN, HUNT

Monday, December 3, 2012

{allcanada} BOOTH CONTINUES TO TRAIN, HUNT

The Vancouver Province tracked down Canucks winger David Booth to 'somewhere in the State of Ohio', where he continues to hunt 'almost every day.'

What about working out, skating and being prepared should the NHL lockout end to allow a shortened season to commence in January?

No problem. The fitness fanatic had to actually tone down his regimen last season because he was training too hard and has tailored it to suit his current needs. So, while the nomadic outdoor enthusiast has travelled to six states and one province in pursuit of mountain goats, elk and bears, he hasn't lost his hockey bearings. Or his love of the outdoors.

All hockey-crazed Vancouver cares about is whether the 28-year-old Booth will carry any baggage into next season after scoring just once in his final 16 games, including being blanked in his first postseason. If the three goals he had in a five-game span before a knee sprain Dec. 6 against Colorado sidelined the second-line winger for 18 games is reason for optimism, then the 16 goals he managed in 56 games after being acquired from the Florida Panthers should be surpassed.

"I was playing the best hockey of my career and really enjoying being in Vancouver, and that injury couldn't have come at a worse time," stressed Booth, who has a $4.25 million US salary.

"It's so tough when you don't use your leg muscles for six weeks while you're trying to recover."

If Booth trains as hard as he hunts, then 25 goals aren't out of the question.

Booth starts his day at 4 a.m. He works out and then skates before heading to the woods for a few hours of hunting. Then comes lunch, more hunting, dinner and lights out. So much for the lavish lifestyle of a well-paid pro. But that's Booth. He's wired in a much different way. He doesn't own a home so the chameleon simply adapts to his surroundings — wherever they may be.

"I was preparing like we were going to start Sept. 15 and with the lockout, it's been different," said Booth. "I can't keep the pace I had in July and August in getting ready and tried to figure the best way to do it. I'm enjoying my time because it's been frustrating with the [collective bargaining agreement] negotiations and trying to take my mind off it a bit."