Got A Secret?

Cosmo had the chance to get an interview with NHLs first woman player. When I arrived at the arena I was in shock. I'm not going to lie for most of my interviews I'm told to meet the person at a restaurant or they come into our office. This was not the case, I strapped on some skates for this interview-quite literally [almost fell a few times too]. I was lead into a lounge area where Rachel Keller was sitting on a couch a few of her teammates around her, who she forced out of the room when she saw me approaching.

"Sorry about them" she apologized immediately after a brief introduction, "if I didn't get them out then they'd never leave".

I start with some easy questions first: Who did you look up to the most growing up?
"In general or in hockey? In general I'd have to say my Mom. I think every little girl looks up to their Mom a lot, they aren't people you want to disappoint. In hockey... I actually couldn't tell you I admired a lot of players. Adam Oates though, the first jersey I ever received was his for the Bruins. I'll never forget wearing that to practices".

You're friends with a lot of the guys. Is there someone you are really close to on the team?
"I have a different relationship with all of them. If I'm in a silly mood I usually hang around with Jordan. If my mind's in the gutter Max is usually my partner in crime. If I'm kinda tired or lethargic, I usually hang around with Marc, we have had quite a few deep talks about relationships and stuff. I am actually so jealous of his girlfriend, she's a lucky girl. Evgeni is my workout buddy, we hang out a lot at each others houses". Rachel smiles when talking about each of her friends, she obviously cares about all of these boys, over the year the media has been buzzing about their relationships rather then how the team is doing but I can now see the interest.

For each man she has a story and talks as if she's known them forever. Her biggest reaction came when I asked her about the golden boy himself. Sidney Crosby.

Do you think you could describe Sidney Crosby in one word? I ask her. Her response was quick, no time needed to think. "Amazing. I'm not exaggerating when I say this, but he is an amazing man. An amazing team mate, friend, everything. He is everything you need in a person and adapts quickly. I could never say anything bad about him because he's always been there and I'm grateful for our friendship everyday." Rachel laughs, "The guys are going to get a riot out of that answer when this comes out".

When asking about the rumors spreading about her possibly signing with another team Keller was silent. She just smiled at me before asking to continue with the questions, choosing not to answer. Does her silence speak volumes? I guess we'll have to see.

Cont. Page 23

"Keller! Talbot! Someone's going to get hurt!"
Ignoring Dan I continue to wrestle Max, attempting to sit on top of him.
"Do not call me fat! You never call a girl fat what is wrong with you!"
"I said your pants looked big! Not you- UGH!" I cut him off rubbing a bunch of ice shavings into his face. It was an open practice and I could hear an unnatural amount of girls yelling which amused me as it usually did.

"Wooo!!"
"Max! Over here!"
I grin before rubbing my glove roughly in his face once more before standing up and skating over to where the rest of the team was standing having a water break. It had been a long practice, with our current winning streak Coach and Sidney had been riding us all pretty hard and I could already feel myself becoming sore in places I wasn't sure I existed.

"Sid, you should start carrying a scalpel around with you" I tease seeing one of the infamous, 'I'd give a kidney..' signs. Sidney looks down, a small smile tugging on his lips, I continue.
"No really, you could make some serious dough on the black market, that's a lot of kidney's. Come on Sidders someone needs those!"

"You're in rare form today, I take it the rest of your interview with Cosmo went well?"
I nod leaning against the boards casually, one foot popped up. My one ankle was starting to ache slightly, and old injury flaring. Great I was going to have to go get it taped up before the next game.

"It did, and when I was all dressed up and taking pictures the interviewer almost fell. It was great". I snort enjoying the memory. Sidney drops his gloved hand onto my shoulder shocking me slightly, I could almost feel the heat rising to my cheeks and instantly curse not wearing my full mask for practice.

"So that bet, I think I figured out what I want you to do" he says quietly bending down. I could feel my cheeks get even warmer. If he kept getting closer they were going to have some problems when all the ice melted. Skinny dipping together? Some naked mud wrestling?

"What would that be?" I gulp, my mouth was going dry and I was about five seconds away from either launching myself at him or turning back the other way to distract myself by picking another fight with Max. I needed to find new distraction techniques; maybe Marc would be a better person to pick on since he had more padding?

"You'll see, I'll pick you up at 8"

"P.S I Love You is probably one of the saddest movies ever. I remember forgetting how sad the movie was and forcing Letang to watch it with me on the plane back to Pittsburgh one night. You can imagine that was quite the picture, I was sitting there bawling. Kris wasn't too sure what to do, I think he stopped playing attention at one point and just stared at me in shock. Marc walked by us on his way to the bathroom and killed himself laughing, the guys play a lot of PSP but I'm horrible at the games so someone usually will keep me company if I'm not reading. I guess Kris had drew the short straw that day or something because Marc was laughing way too hard". Rachel Keller tells me as the crew set's up the cameras on the ice to take some shots. Keller gives a small snort before waving over to someone behind me. Minutes later, Sidney Crosby himself had joined us. Ladies, he's just as attractive in person if not more.

After Keller's captain talks with her quietly for a few minutes I politely ask him to answer a few questions for me. Keller laughs and slings her arm around his waist and replies for him, "He'd be delighted". I decided not to put that part of the interview in this issue, the questions ended up being pretty irrelevant once I got talking to the pair. It's easy to see that they are close friends though and Keller was telling the truth when she talked about what a great guy Crosby was. The pair are very comfortable with each other and seem to move around each other comfortably and in sync. It was common for my questions to be interrupted with the two of them laughing together or they would both try to tell me a story at the same time, sharing smiles and jokes, laughing dancing in their eyes.

"No! That's a lie!" I laugh covering my mouth so I didn't spew food onto Sidney's face. He was sitting oddly close, opting to sit next to me rather then across from me. "Jordan is the one who hid it first of all! You just assumed it was me, trust me I don't actually want to touch your jock, that thing's all kinds of nasty".

"You told him to take it!"
"So, it's not my fault he actually listened. You didn't need to grab me like you did. I was dizzy for like an hour. Hanging over your shoulder like that isn't good for blood flow".
"You needed to be punished" Sidney laughs, his eyes were shining and he was doing that high-pitched giggle that people always mocked him for. I found it utterly adorable.

"Can I ask you a question?"
I feel my arm freeze mid-bite and I set my fork down looking up at Sidney. I had though that he had a moment of, I don't know really, weakness? Something, but when he picked me up he had drove around the block. Pulled back into the drive way and then said 'Make me dinner woman'. I guess it was fair seeing as I had lost the bet but I wish I had known that was going to happen before I spent an hour straightening my hair. After deluding myself into thinking he was asking me out, trying to be crafty about it.

"The offers, have you thought about them?"
I had, I had also looked over some of the different offers. Washington had given me the best one, I was beginning to wonder if it was just because of the rivalry. Either way I’d be making a shit load of money for 5 years, the downside being stuck with Ovechkin and missing my boys.

I give him a small smile and a nod leaning forward in my chair. "I have, I'm not telling you though" I tease grabbing his plate from in front of him and quickly standing. A teasing smile making its way onto my face, I grab my empty plate as well and make my way over to the kitchen dropping the plates into the sink.

"Well I think as your Captain I sh-"
"Friend" I interrupt him turning the water on and squeezing some soap in. I take the glasses he offers and drop them in as well handing him a cloth to dry the dishes with as I finished. We had done this before when we got together, I always washed, he dried solely based on the fact he was a big baby and complained about his fingers getting wrinkly.

"What?"
"You always jump to the Captain thing, you do know I think of you as a friend first. Sorry Sid but I don't usually remember you're my Captain until I see the 'C' on your jersey". I clarify looking up at him, he was frowning slightly, seemingly confused. Is that how he thought of me all the time? As a friend, but first as a teammate. After a moment he laughs, looking down to give me a silly grin. I feel his hip bump into me lightly as I pass him a wet plate.

"I was trying to use the little authority I have over you. Just, remind you" he pauses, "that we'd all miss you if you did leave".
"I'm sure you'd all survive, Jordan may get a little bored more often though". I joke. Sidney sets the plate down, turning quickly to face me. His hands plop down on my shoulders and turn me so I was facing him, our faces close, my eyes level with his nose.

"I'll rephrase," he says quietly looking down, "I'll miss you if you leave."
I feel my breath catch slightly, I could move in just a little bit and those big, perfect, kissable lips would be all mine. "I'd miss you if I left too". I admit looking up quickly to meet his eyes; I feel a jolt as his hand moves down to my arm, enjoying the feel of his hand on my skin. The warmth from his finger tips sending a pulse through my skin. I almost want to lean into the touch, move his other hand. Move myself in, wrap my arms around his neck. It would be so easy right now. I look up to see a shy smile on his lips, and feel my own match his.

"Shit!" I yelp feeling water fall onto my foot, the sink over flowing. Sidney pulls away quickly turning off the tap, offering that same shy smile. My pulse was racing and I could feel it in my head, maybe I needed to sit down. Suddenly I felt light headed.

"You'll always be a Penguin Keller," he says suddenly as he pulls the plug to drain the sink, "you can't get rid of me that easily".

"Keller? She no leave. Sid say he break finger before she sign contract that not Penguin. If she try to go we tie her up. I win Jordan's bet, you wait". Evgeni Malkin grins while talking about a possible contract switch for forward Rachel Keller.