Rookie

A few weeks later it was Opening Day at the United Center and Coach Quenneville was in full swing with his inspirational speeches.

“Alright team, this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for since the loss in the playoffs. It’s our time to shine. Remember, fast skating equals faster sticks. Defense stay high unless you can’t deny the chance to score. No breakaways for San Jose, only us. We’ve got the talent, but do we have the courage to make it work? Get a breakdown,” he finished the pep talk.

“Hawks on three; one, two, three! HAWKS!” the locker room erupted into breakdown led by the new team captain, me. Jon said no hard feelings and that I deserved it, even as a rookie. I led the team into the tunnel awaiting our introductions. Once they announced the Hawks presence, I waited until my name was called for the starting line up before being the first out on the ice. It glistened with the lights that were exploding overhead. The arena was packed with people cheering their hearts out for us and we started warm ups. And to think that just two years ago I was one of those screaming fans.

“Ladies and gentlemen, here comes San Jose,” the crowd booed our visitors as they came to take warm ups too. We took a short rest period back in the locker room before heading out onto the ice to start the game.

Being team captain, I got to take the opening face off against my least favorite person, Alexander Ovechkin. He got traded the past off-season from Washington to San Jose.

“You’re going down, skirt,” he said before the ref blew his whistle and dropped the puck. I was the first to put my stick on the puck and shove it back towards Seabrook. Brent wasted no time flying past the line that separated the offensive zone and the neutral zone. He quickly passed it to an open Pisani who barely had possession when he turned to push into the back of the net behind Antti Niemi.

“AND FERNANDO PISANI SCORES!” the crowd went wild as our goal song came over the speakers. I was credited with an assist on the goal. Coach pulled our line before Jon went out to get the new faceoff.

My next shift in, I came off the bench to be tripped by Ovechkin. The penalty was called and we went on the first power play of the season. I won the offensive zone faceoff, pushed it back to Pisani who gave it to Seabrook while I got situated in my sweet spot. Seabs must’ve seen me in his peripheral because he pushed the puck towards me then moved out of my way. I slap shot the puck past Niemi who I’m convinced never saw it coming. Once again, the crowd went wild in celebration. I took the next faceoff and lost it to the newly emerged Ovi. But Pisani stripped him of the puck and gave it to me where I hightailed it out of our defensive zone on a breakaway. Unluckily for me, Ovi got greedy and tripped me again. I face planted into the ice and then into the goalie. I was awarded a penalty shot for the first time ever. Coach called time out and I went to take a breather.

“You alright?” was the first thing coach asked. I nodded and took Jon’s water bottle from his hand, mid-drink. “Now, you’ve already gotten one past Niemi, if you do it again he’s on the road to the bench, I guarantee. Don’t over compensate and take your time to get the perfect shot. You’re doing great for a rookie on opening night. We are all proud of you,” the team smiled in my direction.

“Here goes nothing,” I mumbled as I tossed Jon back the bottle and skating out to center ice. The referee explained the situation and let me get set before blowing the whistle. I went backwards towards Corey and stopped and theen I was turned around and sprinting towards Niemi with the puck. I didn’t bother with a fake and went top shelf all the way. He missed it by a mile and the light was lit once more. My team surrounded me on the ice to celebrate my first penalty shot.

I went back to the bench when my team got off of me and sat down with a bottle of water. It was a good five minutes before I was back on the ice but no more scoring happened in the first period for either team. The score was three to zero Blackhawks.

Sharpie got a tally in the second with Jon as the assist and I got the third to my hat trick in the late third period. Corey stayed tough the entire game and let nothing past so the first game of our season was won five to zero at home. After the final buzzer, we shook hands with San Jose and the team, minus the three stars, went back to the locker room to celebrate.

“Attention United Center attendees, please welcome your number three star of the game, JONATHON TOEWS!” Jon skated out onto the ice while the crowd cheered.

“Your number two star of the game, COREY CRAWFORD!” Corey skated for a minute or two.

“And your number one star of the game, the only girl in the NHL who got her first career hat trick, SOPHIE MOSIER!” I skated from our bench to the other side of the ice as the crowd went wild. I then took an interview with CSN.

“So, Sophie, you’ve gotten a great start to your season. How do you plan to keep it up?”

“Well, I’m going to play every game just like I played tonight’s. I’m going to put all my effort in and not hold anything back.”

“The city of Chicago feels you could be the key to bring the cup back to Chicago. Do you agree?”

“I think that hockey is not a one man sport. It’s a team effort all they way around. So no, I’m not the key. The Chicago Blackhawks organization is the key.”

“Thanks for your time,” she waved me off not impressed by my answer. I didn’t mind because I had to shower before the guys anyways.