Written Option 2:

Aging in the professional sports world is a horrific curse and blight on us athletes. Skating tends to be the first thing that goes, on account of speed and natural athleticism dipping. Personally, rather than fight it, I accept it and focus on maintaining my brain and IQ. If I can read plays at a high enough level, I should probably be able to avoid having to skate too hard to get into position. As long as I find myself in a sound spot and stay a step ahead mentally, I can make up for any physical deficit. That said, I also try to stay strong so that I'm able to bully those would be screeners out of the crease. I don't need a little rookie forward coming in and pushing me around. The day that comes I'll hang them up. So I'm focused on hitting the weights and studying the tape. Lower body and explosiveness is in free fall which is fine. Maintaining a killer mentality and constantly training your brain to become smarter to make up for physical shortcomings will have to be the way to go as I approach a world of being one of the oldest players in the league. Again, that and lifting weights so I can cross-check rookies near the crease.