Without Doubt

Kari Lehtonen

I watched the object of my affection skate around our half of the ice at the American Airlines Center, racing Adam Burish. It was, more or less, a contest to see who could spray more ice onto the New York Rangers. In particular, it was Sean Avery each time they passed, which didn't cease in infuriating the left winger that we would be up against tonight.

LOO-ick, as she calls it, despite Adam’s constant calling her ’Lunch’ and attempting to ‘eat‘ her, never failed to add a breather to a practice. Holly Luich and Adam Burish were like the re-invented Patrick Sharp and Adam Burish. Attached at the hip, constantly causing problems for Coach Crawford. Joe, our GM, adored the duo, and let them get away with murder.

Including the time when Sharp was in town, and the trio, along with Seabrook, went out drinking the night before the game. All four of them proceeded to come to their respective morning practices hung over. But she was the kind of girl who made her mistakes, and went on with her life on a better note.

I had always found American women beautiful. Don’t get me wrong, Finnish women were gorgeous, but they just didn’t compare. Or maybe it was just the woman that I had grown to care about since July of two years ago. That was probably it.

She carried herself with a confidence that many Americans didn't have the care for. They just went about their lives, doing for themselves. But that wasn't Holly in the least.

Holly had this pride, not only in herself, but in the team, and those around her. Despite having to grow up fairly quickly, to live up to the standards of what the NHL required of its players, she always adapted. Whether it was finding an apartment, to changing a tire, or random grocery shopping trips, she made the best of out what she could, and didn't dwell on what 'could have been'.

The twenty-four year old, three years my junior, was drafted four years before I was sent to Dallas, but spent two more years in college, before signing her own contract of enormous proportions. She spent two years in the AHL, with the Texas Stars, where we first met her. If they needed a call-up, she was the go-to person for it. She made the three-hour drive from Austin, in about an hour and a half. Another reason Joe likes her.

I heard the familiar laughs of my teammates ring throughout the rink, as most of them began lining up for the shooting drills that had become the norm.

“Dammit, Bur!” My eyes followed the faces I had grown accustomed to, before settling on the familiar green-eyed, dark-haired woman who was pushing against Burish. He had his stick around her, pulling her frame to his, keeping her from getting back into the drill line. He gripped her waist with one arm, holding onto the stick with the same, before lightly jabbing her in the side, forcing her to erupt into giggles.

I grinned, feeling relaxed at the endearing tone that reached my ear drums, as Brenden Morrow, our captain, followed shortly by the rest of the team, skated forward, beginning the drills.

Turns out, Holly had history with Avery, and it was none too pretty, back when he played with the Stars. It was her first year with the Texas Stars, and he sweet-talked his way into her, tore her up, and threw her out, as Adam so nicely put it. She then just didn’t deal with it. She’d go out every once in a while, on a date, but I don’t think it meant anything to her.

I was pretty sure it wasn’t the whole “I had a bad relationship, every guy sucks” type of thing, she just wanted to relax and enjoy life. Let life come to her.

I think I’ve seen one too many chick flicks with Brad and Adam.

The puck dropped, and we immediately pressed forward against the Rangers, freeing up our end of the ice. I straightened up, watching my team handle the rubber, and noticing which lines were currently out, and who was coming out next.

Adam was on the right wing, Holly tailing him as a blue-liner. I always thought she did better, taking the opposite wing of Adam, but Crawford would do this, fuck up our lines, and say it was “good for team chemistry”. They still made it work to their advantage, and were a force to be reckoned with.

Holly Luich

I dropped back as soon as the third period started, watching Adam try to wrestle the puck away from Sean, allowing it to skate to the other defensemen on my line, Goligoski, whom we had just gotten from the Penguins up north.

“Holly!” I looked away from the tangled mess of Adam and Sean, to Alex. I tapped the ice, not looking to my side for any of the Rangers, as their right winger came his direction. He passed it back to me, as I skated closer to center, before looping around Kari and his net to take the puck up to Adam, when Sean took a run at me, knocking Bur to the ground, who was trying to fight him. Adam tried tripping him, but luckily for us, the refs didn’t see. Unluckily, in the same sense, Sean sped up, red in the face. He always hated being embarrassed.

I looked up, biting down on my mouth guard, but as soon as I did, he cross-checked me hard into the boards, where a resonant crack was heard, as the glass cracked in half. He backed off, not before kneeing me in my stomach, however. I rolled my shoulders back, somewhat restricted from the padding, before throwing my mittens to the ice, when he followed suit. He lunged at my shoulder, the now-throbbing one, and ripped at my jersey, hard enough to tear the collar, leaving a tear partially down my arm and neck.

I clenched my fist, bringing it up to his eye, before several other Rangers and Stars began to observe. The crowd began cheering loudly at the fight. We didn’t have many, but when we did, it was always funny to go back and re-watch them.

Adam was behind him, probably about ready to jump the man had I not started it, but he was holding a few of the other now angry Rangers. Sean kneed me again in the stomach, as he pulled my upper body down via jersey, meeting full contact with my body.

I grunted, before spitting the blood in my mouth where he had managed to sneak a small punch in, onto the ice. I returned the favour, whipping my arm under his, and slamming it into his cheekbone, where I’m pretty sure it was either going to leave a mark, or a broken bone. Either way was fine with me; the second option is obviously more preferable.

“Bitch, this isn’t over.” He full on grabbed my padding, before slamming his knee into my thigh, sending me down to the ground. I twisted away from him, as the referees’ voices got louder, as they had been fighting through the masses of angry hockey players, most on either the brink of fighting, or already there.

I climbed to my knees, gripping onto the goal post for support, as I pulled my left leg up, relieving the pressure until I could get to the bench. I blinked my eyes, the blurriness which I hadn’t noticed before, becoming more and more obvious as I tried to skate in the direction I thought was the bench.

It was the boards behind the goal.

I heard another stick slam on the ground, a crash of fabric, padding, and metal hit the ice and each other, before the diminishing cheers began to grow louder again. I blinked, looking to my right where Kari pummeled Sean Avery to the ground, and proceeding to beat the crap out of the former Star.

“Kari, stop it!” I groaned, grasping the Finn’s shoulders, trying to pull him away with one of the referees who had decided to show up. Kari shoved the ref off, before knocking a good one into the side of Sean’s now bloodied and bruised face, knocking his helmet straight off. “Kari!”

I felt as if my throat had run dry, as my shouts came out hoarser and hoarser each time, before I finally grasped around his waist, pulling him off the Ranger. I pulled him back to the net, where he merely wiped the blood off his cheek, and reached for his padding to put it back on.

“Thank you.” I held his helmet out to him, my own somewhere behind me on the ice, mixed with the various other pieces of equipment.

“Don’t worry. He shouldn’t have done that to you. I wasn’t just going to stand there.” He looked over at me, when I held out his helmet. He smiled softly, his pink lips forming a little grin. His blue-grey eyes twinkled with laughter, and with wear. He was tired, but I think the fight excited him.

“Still, thank you.” His smile only widened, before nodding at me in return while pushing his helmet back on, while they attempted to scrape Avery off the ice, who was nearly passed out.

“You might want to go get checked out.” He adjusted his leg padding, catching my questioning gaze.

“I’ll be alright. It doesn’t hurt as much anymore.” I was sort of lying, but I was ignoring how badly it hurt.

“That’s bullshit, Holly. You were on the ice for several seconds, not getting up. Please, for my sanity, go.” I looked to my friend, who had straightened up and resumed his position against the post. I didn’t say anything in return. I pushed off with my good leg, trying not to cringe as I made my way up to the tunnel, and exiting the crowded arena that was American Airlines Center.