Courageous

Today was one of those days I was thankful to have back-to-back home games because it meant that I could enjoy another night’s rest in my own, warm, soft, comfortable bed. It also meant that I was only a short walk away from MSG for our game tonight against the Ottawa Senators who would be hosting this season’s All Star Weekend. But today just wasn’t another game, today the All Star rosters would be announced at noon so the team would be having a late practice and sticking around to see who would be going with Hank to Ottawa at the end of the month.

But that wasn’t the end of what was going to down today because for some reason Hank had decided to do an interview to or something of the sorts to announce that he would be divorcing Therese. Why he was he announcing it? I’m not sure but I wasn’t going to be there because that would make people suspicious and at the moment that wouldn’t be good for either of us.

Exiting my building, I decided that I was going to enjoy the day’s somewhat decent weather and walk to MSG for morning skate before the Ottawa game. I was walking to the Garden because I wanted a little extra time to stretch my legs before practice. It also allowed me some ‘fresh’ air to think about everything before heading in today. It wasn’t like my walk was really that long. It was only about 5 blocks, which wasn’t any big deal for me after having to walk everywhere for 4 years at Boston College. All that walking had helped prepare me for this even if I hadn’t known it at the time.

During my walk, I couldn’t help but think about how much I had grown to love the city in the past few months that I had been living here. It was strange for me because I had such strong connections to Boston I used to hate everything that had something to do with New York. But it was a kind of natural thing because of the two cities’ histories and rivalries with each other. I never would have imagined that I would be on the other side of that rivalry less than 3 months after graduating. But putting all that aside, I really did enjoy my new home and hoped that it would be my home for years to come. There was just a certain rhythm to this city that had drawn me in and I really couldn’t get enough of it. It just came natural to me.

Less than a block away from MSG, a familiar black Maserati pulled up next to me and I couldn’t help but shake my head as Hank rolled down the window to say something to me. He didn’t need to say anything to me at the moment so I waved him off fearful that he might cause a wreck if someone wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t want him to get hurt because he had stopped to talk to me. But at least, he had enough common sense to actually listen to me for once and continue on towards the Garden, leaving me behind. Stuffing my hands in my coat pockets, I pushed on for the final leg of my walk. It wasn’t long after I had finally made it inside and was currently sitting in the dressing room getting dressed for morning skate.

Jumping out onto the ice, today’s morning skate would be business as usual: quick and full of tune ups before we would all head into the meeting room to see who all had been selected to participate in the All Star Weekend. It was exciting and I couldn’t help but skate a little bit faster as my heart rate sped up. Honestly, I knew there was a very slim chance that I would get selected but I would be excited for any of my teammates who got to go such a fun event.

After watching the one that was held in Raleigh last season when they added the draft for the first time I had become much more interested in the event. It had made it seem much more enjoyable for the fans and players because it meant that they wouldn’t have to play just east vs. west. It could be any player playing with anyone like the ultimate fantasy game or something like it. I would definitely be making up my own teams just to compare who were picked by whoever was announced as this year’s captains with my own opinions.

Being one of the first people out on the ice as usual, I couldn’t help but playfully check a few of my teammates after they had come out of the dressing room. Today my main target was going to my Mike Rupp because I wanted to see if I could at least get him off his balance. For some reason, I had never been able to budge the beast of a man and I was beginning to think that I was just too small to try to check him with the intents of knocking him on his ass. But then again, I had delivered a hit or two on Zdeno Chara who was the tallest player in the league. So maybe I might be able to get Mike for once.

So with the veteran in my sights, I skated, swiftly around my other teammates and towards the forward. Sure, the man wasn’t expecting my impending attack but it wasn’t like I had ever been able to knock him down before so there would be a very small chance that I could get him off balance now. As soon as I was right behind the man, I decided to announce my presence and give up on a sneak attack,

“Here’s Johnny!”

My words caused Rupper to stiffen up a little as my body slammed into his before I bounced off him as if I were a bouncy ball just like always. But this time, I saw the older man stumble and I couldn’t help but celebrate my personal victory for the world to hear me.

“WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!! YEAH, BUDDY!” I roared, skating around the rink with my arms above my head.

I’m sure that there were very few people who understood why I was so excited about causing Rupper to stumble and I’m even more positive that even fewer people even knew what I was going on about. But I didn’t care about what anyone was thinking of me at the moment because I had just achieved a personal victory by causing Rupper to stumble a little.

“What the actual fuck?” I head Prusty hiss in response to my cheering before he asked me, “Mickie, are you on drugs right now?”

Laughing, I waved him off and joked back with him, “No, that’s only every other home game. You know that, Prusty. Don’t you remember when you came over and enjoyed some high quality hash with me?”

Prust only shook his head at my reference even though we both knew that he and I had never smoked weed together before. Hell, I didn’t even know if Brandon Prust had ever rolled one before. Knowing the native for London, Ontario at some point in his life he probably had. I know I had, but for ‘medical purposes’ of course and I had never smoked it during the hockey season. That was far too dangerous especially while playing in The United States where it was technically a felony in most places. Which is just another reason why I am thankful to be from Canada, where it’s ok to have medical marijuana and the laws against it aren’t enforced like they should be.

“Oh, how could I ever forget that?” Brandon joked right back with me as he shoved me away from him and DZ threw his arm around my shoulders,

“How come you didn’t invite me over?”

Shrugging him off I sent him a pointed look, “Dude, Brandon and I haven’t smoked together! But if we were going to have a That 70’s show moment, I would let you be Fez.”

At my words, Michael stopped which almost caused me to stumble and fall from the sudden lack of movement, “Why am I Fez?”

Shaking my head at him, “Because you’re the only one who looks like a horny, little Hispanic.”

I’m pretty sure Michael didn’t know how to respond to my analysis of his looks but I’m sure he was slightly honored that I would let him be Fez if I ever decided to have a circle like the show. Hell, I probably would at some point over the off-season when I was back home in BC just because it was a great way to help a person unwind.

Shaking my head at the wannabe Guido, I skated over towards Hank, who was stretching out in front of his crease. I couldn’t help but watch him for a moment because he hadn’t seen me skate up to him and so I took the opportunity to enjoy his flexibility yet again. It was funny how easy it was for me to just stand there and watch him now knowing that soon enough we wouldn’t have to hide our relationship from everyone. However, it didn’t take the man long to notice my presence as he smiled up at me, cheekily before asking me,

“Do you like what you see?”

Rolling my eyes at him, I tapped his left pad with my stick, “Maybe, maybe not. Depends on what’s underneath all that padding.”

“You would know.” Hank bantered back at me, playfully as he rose from the ice to finish up the rest of his stretching.

Smirking, I skated a little bit closer to him because I was feeling brave. Normally, I wouldn’t ever have been as close to him at practice as I was right now but technically practice hadn’t started yet so I could enjoy teasing Hank a little longer

“Do I?” I inquired to him, “What makes you think that I do?”

With my words a familiar lustful gleam flickered in the Swede’s blue eyes as he brought his glove hand up to touch my arm in a suggestive manner, “Oh, I could think of a few times.”

I could feel a faint blush begin to turn my cheeks pink as I thought of those times that he was referring to and I couldn’t help but smile as I skated back from him a little,

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Mr. Lundqvist.”

“Oh, I have every intention of finishing this with you, Miss. Hammer.” Hank informed me, dangerously as he watched me skate away from him a little more when I felt a shudder run through my body.

“Is that a threat or a promise?” I joked, knowing full well that if the Swede rather serious about this matter. Making eye contact with him once more I knew that there was no way of escaping whenever Hank did decide to finish this as he said with a smirk of his own,

“I would like to think of it as a guarantee.”

By now, I’m sure that I looked just about as red as tomato as I turned away from him before something happened or said that might get us both in trouble. Skating away, I moved to join my fellow red jerseys as our short morning skate began to start. I also didn’t dare say anything to anyone as the ribbed me for flirting with Hank before practice because I knew well enough that as mine and Hank’s teammates that they had every right to give us a little hell for being together. With a spare glance back towards Hank, I could tell that he was pleased with himself because of my current mental condition. Snorting, I made a promise to myself that if I got a chance to shoot on him today that I was gonna send a clapper right above his groin and then see how pleased he is when he can’t finish what he started.

As practice continued on, I decided on my better judgment not to attempt to drill a slap shot on Hank. If he got hurt our team would be done for and then it would be my fault for taking an unnecessary shot at him in a morning skate. Besides, hurting him didn’t really benefit me any, rather it would just cause me to miss out on his other talents. But even if I wasn’t going to hurt Hank, I decided that it would just as much fun to bother him.

Torts had us work on our breakaways at the end of practice. In the situation I was in, I supposed to steal the puck from Boyle and the take off towards Hank with Hagelin on my heels. A whistle blew, sounding the beginning of that play and I watched as Prust passed the puck to Brian like he was supposed to before I jumped the play. With blazing strides, I flew towards the net Hank was defending and I could feel the tip of Carl’s blade poking the heels of my skates as I began to shoot the puck. Stumbling slightly as I felt Carl trip me I managed to fake Hank out enough to shoot the puck in high stick side.

“FUCKIN’ RIGHTS!” DZ cheered as I circled around the back of the net in order to loose some momentum in order for me to stop safely.

Catching my breath, I could only smile because it had been a while since I had managed to get a puck past Hank in practice. But I also hadn’t had to work that hard for it before because I hadn’t expected Carl to be almost as fast as I was. Placing my hands on my knees, I bent over to try to even out my breathing. I hadn’t been pushed that hard in a very long time. But that made me want to see just how fast Carl really was. Glancing over at the young swede, I could see that he had been probably thinking along the same lines as I was. We needed to have a race to see who really was the faster skater and because practice was winding down I skated over to Torts with the proposition,

“Hey, I wanna race Haggy after practice is over.”

The man only stared at me for a moment or two before he shrugged his shoulders and blew his whistle, “Alright, boys, practice is done. After you change, head to the meeting room for the All Star selection announcements but first, we’re gonna have a race for good fun. Hammer and Hagelin are gonna see who’s the faster skater. Everyone who thinks Hagelin’s gonna win take a seat on the home bench and everyone who thinks Hammer’s gonna win go to the visitors bench.”

With smiles, Carl and I watched as our teammates divided themselves up between us. It was about an even split once everyone was seated as I ended up with a cheering section that included Michael, Brian, Stepan, Artem, Richards and Bickel while Carl had Prust, Dubi, Cally, G, Gabby, and both Goalies on his side just to name a few. Standing side by side at center ice, we wait for Torts to give us our instructions.

“Alright, Blondies, you two are both gonna start off at red line close to the boards, then you’re gonna take a lap, and who wins is the skater who crosses the starting line first.” Coach instructed us and we both skated over to the far boards as we were told and knelt down to get ready to start. But Torts hadn’t finished informing us of his rules, “There will be no tripping, hooking, checking, or slashing if you’re gonna lose then you’re gonna lose. This is a test of speed so let’s keep it that way!”

Nodding, Carl and I both agreed to coach’s terms and conditions all while staring each other down. We both knew what this was about. This was all about bragging rights and nothing else. We had been testing each other the entire season just to see how fast we were and now it all came down to this. Sure, it wasn’t necessary but it was all in good competitive fun. But that didn’t mean that I didn’t want to win. I needed to win and that was exactly what I was going to do.

Bracing myself, I coiled all my nerves into a ball as I waited for Torts to give us the signal. As soon as the whistle blew, we were both off in a flash and fighting for the inside turn but Carl ended up getting that advantage forcing me to skate on the outside which wasn’t a problem for me. I knew that I could still outskate him despite his shorter lap so I mustered up everything I could as we dashed side by side until we came around to turns 3 and 4 and that’s when I took off like slingshot around the Swede and took the lead. I felt like my heart was going to rip out of my chest as I dashed down the final stretch, I could feel Carl on my heels just like earlier in practice only this time I managed to accelerate beyond him and cross the finish line first before crashing into the boards at the other end of the ice for the hell of it.
Just like before I found myself gasping hard for breath because I had pushed myself even harder and longer than I had during practice.

My heart was pounding away furiously in my chest and its beat thundered in my ears so heavily that I couldn’t hear my teammates cheering for me as I tried to recover. I could only hear the blood rushing through my veins as I leaned against the boards in exhaustion. Turning my head, I saw that Carl too was having a hard time trying to recover from exerting so much effort to try and keep up with me. He was on his knees at the in zone face off circle trying to catch his breath which made me glad to know that he had put in his hardest effort as well.

After a few minutes, I managed to skate over to him on shaky legs and offered the forward my hand as I did so he looked up at me like I was some kind of goddess. I was having a hard time believing that I had this much stamina as well. In fact, I didn’t know how I was still standing after all that work. But somehow, I was and I knew that I was going to need a huge bowl of pasta and a nap in order to recover for the game tonight and so was Carl or else we were gonna suck. Eventually, Carl had recovered enough to stand as he took my hand and I helped pull him back on his skates.

“How did you do that?” The former Michigan Wolverine ask me in wonder as we skated over to the bench to join the rest of the team.

Shrugging, I had to think for a moment before I told him, “Cam Atkinson and Nathan Gerby taught me a thing or two about speed back in Boston. York’s conditioning helped too though.”

As we finally made it over to the bench, I looked up to see Torts smiling, widely at both of us as the rest of our team clapped because of the show Carl and I had just put on for them without really intending to. I nodded to the guys who had chosen Carl to win before I skated to my supports and knocked fists with all of them.

“Way to represent, Mickie.” Brian beamed with pride because we had both played for the same team in college. We had just never played together due to our age difference but we still shared the Boston College bond. Michael was also quick to throw his two cents in,

“Are all girls from BC that fast?” Catching his innuendo, I laughed a little before I shoved him back to his seat on the bench.

“Well, if we had timed it I’d say we have the fastest two skaters in the NHL.” Torts stated after everyone had stopped buzzing about the race. All the guys seemed to agree with the coach’s statement before we all headed back to the dressing room to change and see who would be making the trip Ottawa at the end of the month.

Thirty minutes later everyone had filed into the meeting as we waited for the All Star selection announcement. Everyone seemed up and alert besides Carl and that, but I think that was kind of a given considering we had just tried to bury each other during the race. While waiting, I felt my fatigue catch up to me as my eyes drooped and my head fell to rest on Hank’s shoulder because I was too tired to hold it up anymore. By then, I knew that I wouldn’t last much longer and I was almost asleep when Torts turned on the projector so that everyone could see the selections when they were announced on the big screen. In fact, I was asleep when it was announced and completely missed it until everyone was congratulating me.

“Huh? Wha?” I blinked, startled by Prust slapping me on the back and unaware of what was going on.

Above me, I could hear the guys laughing as I rubbed the remnants of sleep out of my eyes as I tried to gage what was going on. At first, I was kind of pissed that they were all laughing at me. I was fucking exhausted and it was rude to wake up someone who is really tired. But then they just continued to laugh which caused me to pout a little because none of them answered me until Michael finally came over tackle me,

“Dude, you’re an All Star!”

Blinking, I gapped at him in shock and pushed my defensive brother away from me as I managed to choke out a, “You’re shittin’ me.”

Looking around the room, none of the guys moved to tell me that Michael was joking with me and then I looked to Hank, who pointed to the screen. My jaw dropped when I saw that I really had been voted to be an All Star along with Hank, Gabby, and G. I couldn’t believe it. How could I, a defensemen, get selected to be an All Star over someone like Carl Hagelin who was just way more talented and much more engaging to watch? I looked again to make sure that I hadn’t been selected to the rookie team and I saw that I was on the actual All Star team. It pretty much rendered me speechless because it was the last thing that I had been expecting to come from this. I was positive that Hank would go with the season he had been having and Gabby as well. I hadn’t been expecting to be voted as an actual All Star so soon, but that didn’t mean that I hadn’t earned it so I was more than happy to be getting to go with the boys to the capital city. After letting it settle in for a moment or two, I pumped my fist in the air,

“Fuckin’ rights!”