Notbroken

I guess I had joined the Sabres at the right time because as soon as the games started up again after the All Star weekend we never looked back. I scored 19 goals along the way, which surprised a lot of people not only in the organization but around the league.

For the rest of the regular I escaped only two games, both losses, without an interview,… or twelve. I was beginning to become at ease with the cameras everywhere and demands of the organization. Even when the interviewers would ask me questions regarding Pittsburgh or BC, I’d keep my head up and answer them honestly, the way Mr. Pegula wanted me to.

Kaleta and Roy took me under their wings the most. It was those two that made me feel like I had a home from day one. My relationships with everyone else grew too of course, there wasn’t one person on our team that had a bad attitude towards me, which I was so grateful for. They filled the hole Shattuck had left in my heart.

It was the other teams that always had a problem with me. Constant “Bitch you cant play,” the C-word, “Whore,” and other comments got to me for the first two weeks but then I got over it. It was all just the same chirps that I’d gotten playing against teams with SSM and BC except a little more explicit. I’d smile, laugh it off, or chirp right back, most of the time however I’d skate away and let my stats do the talking. One thing however I would not let happen was have the guys fight for me, no matter how much one of them would insist.

Luckily for me I never had to play Pittsburgh, or Anaheim. Both games we actually did play Pittsburgh I had just so happen to be scratched. One of them I had a legitimate excuse, I strained my wrist one day staying after practice on an off-day working on my wrist shots. The other game, coach had brought me into his office, sat me down and told me I’d be watching, he didn’t want anything to happen to me, or within the game. I respected that and agreed, Mr. Pegula did too.

The media went wild that game, every major sports station was there, including ESPN. I stayed away from the rink that night, the organization asked me to. By the end of the night however it was obvious that it was blown way out of proportion, at least to the two teams involved. Word spread like rapid fire and I had texts from a lot of unknown numbers that turned out to be guys I played with. Two of the few numbers I did have, that sent me texts, were Bobby and Claude.

Bobby’s came the morning of the game. It was simple, another apology;

Hi Shauna, just wanted to say Hello, it’s been awhile. Hope everything is going well in Buffalo, looks like you guys are climbing up the standings :] Um also I wanted to apologize again… I hope I see you soon.

It was formal and had to be done on his point if he ever wanted a chance back with me. Claude’s message was different, his made ma smile. It was the first I had gotten since ASGW and to say I missed his smile was an understatement, the boy was hot and not many compared.

Whats up S? Heard ur chickening out tonight, its alright I fuck Crosby up for u. Long time no talk tho, lookin like well be seeing eadchother soon for playoffs ;)
don’t worry I wont b too hard on u ;)

He was right, at that time it was becoming more and more realistic that we would be playing the Flyers first round. Every time I thought of it however I’d get nervous, I’d think of how weird it’d be on the ice between Claude and I, my only hope was that he’d treat me like just another Buffalo Sabre.

The season ended on a high note, we were rolling. We had clinched a playoff spot after an impeccable 2 month campaign. Many of our fans had lost hope but then, around the time I came in, but my team stepped it up. We were heading into playoffs as a lower seed, playing a strong Flyers team, but a force to be reckoned with.

Jon and Pat had also made the playoffs. They would be facing a strong Vancouver team, that was one of the best in the entire league. Tyler Seguin’s team made it too, He called me the night he clinched to tell me, which took me off as a surprise because I still had yet to recover half of the hockey numbers I deleted, he was one of them.

We spent the last week, before playoffs started, throwing team parties every non-game night, Even Coach Lindy showed up to one at Miller apartment. The best party however was at Ennis and Gerbe’s the night after our last game.

Knee hockey, food and good laughs spread throughout their house and it honestly felt the whole time like I was back at Shattuck. I made rounds every where but tuck mainly with my knee hockey partner Vanek.

“So you like playing in this league now?” He asked as we both grabbed a beer, the team didn’t care that I drank as long as I didn’t get sloppy.

“Yeah… I just hope I never get traded.”

“You won’t, this is your city, they love you here and no matter what you do they’ll always be behind you. The fans and organization have expectations for you but you’re the golden girl here ya know?”

I nodded my head and went back to the game as he words sank into my head, ‘you’re the golden girl.’

The expectations were what scared me the most.