Just A Hockey Player

Ryan let the taunts of the Pittsburgh crowd to sting for a minute before blocking out as best as she could. She needed to focus on the game, not worry about the fans’ opinions of her. The puck was dropped, starting the latest clash between Atlantic Division rivals Pittsburgh and New York. Step had won the faceoff, sending the puck back to Mac, who quickly slid it past Evgeni Malkin to Ryan’s waiting stick. She had barely made it into the offensive zone when she sensed, rather than saw, someone approaching. She dished the puck cross ice to Kreids before sidestepping the aggressor who turned out to be none other than Sidney Crosby. He missed Ryan entirely, launching himself harmlessly into the boards. Ryan allowed herself a moment to appreciate how ridiculous he looked before skating behind the net to get the cycle going. Kreids left the puck for her. She noticed that Marc-Andre Fleury, the goalie, still seemed to think that Kreids had the puck. Ryan wrapped the net, tucking the puck neatly between the post and Fleury’s outstretched skate. The goalie realized what had happened a millisecond too late and could do nothing to prevent the puck from sliding across the bright red line etched on the ice into the back of the net.

Ryan was on a roll from that point on. At the end of the first period when Malkin took a tripping penalty, she slammed a slapshot over Fleury’s glove. The second didn’t begin as auspiciously for the Rangers. Bick took an extra roughing penalty after a throw down with Matt Cooke, putting the Rangers a man down for two minutes. Things went from bad to worse when Boyler, one of the penalty killers, got hit in the ankle while blocking a shot just after play resumed. Down one penalty killer, Torts needed another forward to help with the grueling task of killing the time remaining on the penalty.

“Davey!” The coach shouted. “Get out there! Step looks like he’s about to pass out.” Ryan was more than a little surprised. She had killed penalties with the Ramparts, but hadn’t really practiced it that much with the Rangers yet. Nevertheless, Ryan hopped over the boards, hoping she didn’t let Torts down. Even though her shift was only thirty seconds long, it felt like the longest half a minute of her life. Everything about the players in the NHL was bigger, better, stronger, and faster, making penalty killing one of the more difficult, and dangerous, aspects of hockey. Ryan laid down on the ice, wincing as a shot by Kris Letang hit her on the shin. She didn’t stay down on the ice, however, knowing that Letang would be caught out of position if she was quick enough. Ryan gained position of the puck and skated into the offensive zone, Hags using his speed to catch up and create a two-on-one against Deryk Engelland. Ryan passed the puck to Hags, who passed it back almost immediately. The fast movement put Fleury out of position, so all Ryan had to do was slide the puck into the almost empty net for the hat trick. Ryan returned to the bench, shrinking back from all the aggressive congratulatory pats on her helmet.

“I still have to get one more,” she said to Step as the excitement died down a bit and the rink employees removed the dozen or so hats that had been thrown to the ice by visiting Ranger fans.

“Why?” Step asked.

“Because I need to beat you,” Ryan responded with a smirk.

Ryan got her wish, but she had to wait until the dying minutes of the game to do so. The score still 3-0 favoring the Rangers, Pittsburgh had pulled Fleury as a last ditch attempt to score some goals. Ryan’s scored her easiest goal of the night when she poke checked the puck away from Crosby, and shot it the length of the ice into the waiting net, icing the game for the Rangers. After the last couple of seconds of the game, everyone filed into the locker room once again. Ryan nearly let out a very girly shriek when some grabbed her from behind and spun her around.

“You’re a freakin’ monster, Davey,” yelled Boyler in her ear.

“At least we won’t have to hear Step bragging about his hat trick anymore,” said Mac as Boyler finally deposited Ryan by her locker.

“Hey, when was the last time you scored a hat trick Mac? Yeah, I thought so,” Step replied.

“Well when was the last time you scored four goals? That’s right, never!” teased Ryan before throwing one of her gloves at Step. The rest of the team joined in, and soon Step had a mound of gloves sitting in front of his locker.