(Left-winger Matt Puempel of the Peterborough Petes was one of three first-round picks by the Senators in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. He’ll be sharing some thoughts about participating in his first Sens development camp in a series of blog posts for ottawasenators.com).

We just finished the last workout of the week this morning and this whole camp has gone by pretty quickly, considering how jam packed as each day has been. I definitely had a lot of fun and it’s been a new experience for me. It’s been NHL organization-oriented and that’s something that is a first for me. I didn’t know what to expect coming in here, but I’ve learned so much and I was happy to be a part of it.

The biggest surprise for me is how technical the workouts are. It’s not really about quantity, it’s about quality, how you’re doing it and how much preparation goes into everything. Your days are also different with seminars and stuff, but you’re coming to the rink every day, getting ready, going on the ice and cooling down afterward. That’s your everyday life and it’s what you have to do. It’s definitely something I want to keep doing in the years to come, that's for sure.

I would love to be a part of the 3-on-3 tournament on Monday morning but with the situation I have here … I missed quite a bit of games last season and being on the sidelines watching doesn’t get any easier. Even though it’s only a camp, when I saw how packed the rink was the other night for our scrimmage, I definitely felt like I wanted to be a part of that instead of watching. But at the same time, I understand their reasoning and how they’re reacting to my hip surgery. How they brought me along this week and looked after me, I couldn’t ask for anything more.

We’re going to see Katy Perry tonight at Scotiabank Place to finish off our day. I’ve actually never been to a concert before and that’s definitely something I’m looking forward to, my first live concert. She’s famous these days and even though I can pinpoint one right now, I know she’s got some big songs out there. I’m looking forward to seeing her and it’ll be a lot of fun.