Heart of Man

“Hey, you can’t be here. We have rink for practice soon!”

One thing I liked about Finland? How extensively they choose their representatives. What they go through to get players qualified to play for them. The Prime Minister of Finland, and Italian Government, agreed to have me represent Italy, through Finland. I should be proud. Grateful, even.

Italy wouldn’t be able to put together a team, and Finland lost a player, due to his Coach in the NHL throwing fits of the Winter Olympics being ‘in the way’. Sorry for ya, Olli Jokinen, but maybe your Rangers coach over-reacted.

“Hey, you listen to me?”

Luckily for us, my mother owned a summer home in Finland, in which gave us grounds for citizenship, since she bought the house 9 years ago, meeting the 6 year qualification term. Wish I would have been around more, because that house became my home for the next eight and a half months.

“I’ll be gone by the time your team gets here.”

“Come on, Koivu, we don’t have all day.” I tapped the steering wheel that hummed beneath my touch. IIona and Aatos, his daughter and son, clamored out of the house, shortly followed by their mother, Hanna, preceeded by my captain, Saku Koivu.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the mass of blonde hair that flooded their yard, before leaning down to near the brake pedal to release the trunk, so Koivu could put his bags in. God knows we had that trunk full, with the summer training we were going through. Not to mention, we had to look forward to the two hour drive to Helsinki, to pick up Selänne and Bäckström.

Luckily for us, getting to Kouvola a week early to begin conditioning would pay off once we began cracking down, before the majority of my teammates were shipping off to North America, for the goddamned National Hockey League.

What was so wrong with Europe? Oh, sure, sign me to a $9 million dollar contract, and we’ll talk, but other than that, you can suck my kiss for all I care.

Great, now that despicable American music was bothering me.

“You leave now.”

“Okay, so I wanted to start off with Nightmare Suicides, followed by Snakebites, Lead Dogs, Race Tracks, and basic off-ice conditioning. We’ll break for lunch, and then run a 5 mile jog. Sound good?” Koivu’s face beamed, as I let my head fall against Selänne’s back. I was definitely going to regret this..

“Tomorrow, we’re stepping it up with East-West transitions, Snake Bites Version 2, North-South transitions, and 5-Stations. We’ll have lunch, courtesy of Niklas, and finish up with a 6 mile jog.”

I wrapped my arms around Teemu in a hug, as his body shook with laughter. “It will be fun.”

“That’s what you say now. Why you guys are off playing pussy hockey, I get to do this for the next.. how many months?” I dropped myself to the ice, unlacing my skates as Saku continued his schpeel about the following week, as I observed my future teammates.

Koivu, though we had only met a few weeks ago, was quickly becoming the older brother figure in my life, despite the age difference. His short blonde hair and beard, ironically, made him appear younger, but his broad frame contradicted it quickly. During the flight over to the Land of Finn, going over the files they gave me of my teammates(so I would be more comfortable, I would like to think), and found out that he was on the Anaheim Ducks of the damned NHL, one of the Alternate Captains.

What is with North America?

I looked up to the Finnish Flash that was my Teemu. Possessive? Yes. I was. His dark skinned matched mine well, I noticed, as he pulled me into a side hug, while our Captain continued. His free hand, I noticed, was absent-mindedly rubbing his stubble. He was also an Alternate Captain for the Ducks.

I had been considering the Ducks, if I ever chose to go to the NHL. Who wouldn’t want to play with Teemu and Saku?

Niklas, however, was a goal tender for the Miny Soda Wild? Minny Sota? Oh, Minnesota. Whatever, he was still crazy good. He could also speak Swedish, and loved making jokes in the language when someone else set themselves up for another bad joke. He was in the 2006 Olympics, and won Silver with Finland. He never shut up, but was a nice friend, when I thought about it.

He, unlike his Finnish teammates, had a narrower face, and was rarely seen without a 5 o'clock shadow. He was also a tad leaner, despite his position.

“Leave me be.”

“Oh my God, Koivu, I can’t feel my fucking legs. There’s a difference between conditioning, and destroying your body,” I complaining, as I put my legs up in the booth we sat in, after we had successfully tricked the Helsinki-native waiter into getting us a booth in the higher end of town. I was convinced, even with our t-shirt and jeans attire.

”Yes sir, do you have any reservations?” He looked between Teemu and I, whose arm was wrapped around my shoulder.

“Yes, I placed them earlier in the week, under Selänne.” His face was stoic, but it was all I could do from bursting into tears right then and there, and the poor kid flew through the R.S.V.P. book in front of his face. “Is there a problem?”

“N-No s-sir. It-t seems t-that you w-were r-removed-d, b-but right t-this way.” He ducked his head under, before leading us to our table.

“Did you see his face?” Koivu cracked up, to the point of where I believed he would fall out of his seat.

“You guys are horrible.” I smiled.

“You need to get out. We start soon.”

“Nice work with her, Teemu. I can see that week paid off.” Our coach nudged me in the side, as Koivu patted my shoulder playfully. I had survived summer training, and it was time for the boys to return in their respective teams.

My attention, however, wasn’t on my team, but on the dark hazel eyes that watched me, as he stepped onto the ice, motioning for me to leave the team for a moment.

I gave a look towards Teemu, whom I had grown the closest with, to see him speaking with my practical twin, Lasse Kukkonen, of Avangard Omsk. He had arrived to summer training a week late, due to his contract negotiations with the KHL team based out of Russia. He captured a two-year contract, so I was pretty damn proud of him.

We had met at World Championships the last year I competed, and instantly clicked. I was a sucker for him. He was definitely adorable with his bright complexion and sun-coloured hair, and downright obnoxious on the ice. Not like he was any better off it either.

I made my way to the other end of the ice, as he leaned against the boards. He too was going back to the NHL, after a contract negotiation, though it wasn’t official until November.

“You were good today,” came his soft, raspy voice. His eyes didn’t divert from mine, as he tossed me his “ball cap”. It was another one of those American things.

“Thanks for coming. I didn’t mean to keep you. I forgot your flight leaves tonight,” I pulled my helmet off, letting it fall to the ice, as I redid the sweat-filled locks into its bun. I slid it inside of the hole of the hat, before slipping it completely on.

His dark, curly hair stuck out awkwardly, as his arms pulled me into a hug. He was the first person I met when I came to Finland, and probably one of the few I considered my friend. He was that friend, whom you felt comfortable with, and never wished to change that relationship. After knowing him for 3 months, he was definitely ‘that friend’.

I inhaled, grimacing slightly at the smell of melting ice, sweat, and his cologne. “Are you going to come?”

Holding me at arms length, I felt like I was on fire when he sent me his warm smile that graced his features beautifully. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Come on, Trovato! We’re going out to celebrate!” Kukkonen roared, when he was met with cheers from our team.

He squeezed my hand, chuckling, before nodding at me to follow. I knew he would want to say good-bye to the rink, for a while. It was home away from home.

“See you in January, Tuukka.”

“No.”