Remember Me

"But, Coach, you have to put me in the game! There's two gorgeous blondes right behind the bench that totally want to su-"

"Ew. Shut up." Lennox said, cutting off Sharpie's impersonation of Victor.

Everyone laughed. "I can't believe you really said that to him." Abby said, shaking her head at Victor.

"Yeah, the sad part is I fucked my knee up more and those blondes didn't even want to come home with me." Victor said.

"Oh no, what ever will you do now?" Lennox asked sarcastically.

Victor sighed and looked at his hand. "Guess it's just you and me tonight, buddy."

The guys and I laughed, while Lennox and Abby had disgusted looks on their faces.

Everyone got into their own conversations with each other, but I watched Devon as she sat quietly on my lap. I played with her hair for a minute, before thinking back to a few hours ago.

4 hours earlier;

"Let's go boys!" Coach yelled at us as we all left the locker room.

He pulled me aside, before I skated out onto the ice for the beginning of the game.

"You listen, Jon, and you listen to me good." he said. "I know you know how to lead these boys to the next round. You've done it before and look where that got you, kid."

I smiled. "You're a Stanley Cup Champion." Coach said.

"But no hockey fan cares, because that was 3 years ago. You go out there, you win a game, go on to the next round, and the next, and the last. And you prove to those fucking NHL fans, that you can become a 2-time champion."

I nodded, putting on my game face. "I will."

"Good, now get out there, you're starting."

I quickly walked down the tunnel and skated out to center ice. Sharpie and Pat were waiting. Duncan and Brent were talking to each other and laughing.

I made eye contact with Sharpie and he nodded, telling me we would win this game.

I got into position and lost the opening faceoff.

Coach's conversation with me ran through my head as I skated after one of the Wild's players who had the puck.

Next thing, I know the Wild's starting center and I are shoving each other in front of Corey and their defensemen shoots right at my skate.

The goal horn goes off.

"Motherfucker," I say out loud.

I look back at Corey, who's just as pissed as I am. "Sorry, Crow."

"It's whatever. Keep your head in the game and go tie the game, Jonny."

I shook my head as I skated back to the bench.

"Jon! What the hell was that?" I heard Coach yell from the other end of the bench.

I sighed and waited for my next shift.

And it didn't happen for a few minutes. Coach finally yelled out, "FIRST LINE!"

I hopped over the boards looking for the puck, and Duncan had it. He passed it to me at the Wild's blue line and I skated right in between the defensemen.

I saw Backstrom's eyes go straight to my stick. Wrong choice.

I took the puck to my right, and Backstrom slid to the right. In a matter of seconds, I pulled it around him.

And man, I thought the crowd was loud before. Imagine how loud it was I scored the tying goal.

The game stayed 1-1 the rest of the game.



As I skated onto the ice for overtime, I wondered if Devon was watching. She was home with a stomach ache and fever.

I needed to score this goal. I needed to make her proud. I need to make Chicago proud.

And I would. Even if it took 20 overtime periods.

I took the faceoff and won, passing it over to Kaner on my right. He skated it into the Wild's zone. I skated straight for the net, pushing Suter in the process.

I saw Sharpie looking for someone who was open. I locked eyes with him and he came around behind the net, centering it for me.

Screams were the next thing I heard.



The crowd was screaming and so were my teammates. They all tackled me in front of the goal.

"FUCK YEAH, JONNY! "

"FUCKING RIGHT!"

"ALRIGHT, JON!"

I smiled and laughed. After a few minutes, Corey was the last to pat my head and say something. We skated over to center ice, me all the way up front, Corey all the way in the back.

I shook hands with Koivu, saying good game, him saying good luck. I hugged Parise. And he asked how Devon was. I laughed and said, "Still not liking you." He laughed and we moved on.

I reached Backstrom and I taped his pads with my stick and told him he had a good series. He smiled and said, "Not good enough."

The Wild left the ice, not wanting to be here any longer. I listened to the crowd, who continued to chant, "We want the cup!" And Chelsea Dagger played in the background.

I looked at Sharpie from across the ice. He mouthed something to me. Something like, "You ready?"

I nodded and lifted my stick in the air. The rest of the guys followed. The fans cheers got louder.

I guess you could say I was pleased with myself.



And now here we were. Almost midnight, sitting around laughing at each other.

Devon leaned back against my shoulder. She hadn't seen the game, but when she found out from Lennox that I'd scored the tying and game winning goal, she called me right away.

I was still in the locker room, finishing up interviews. I just smiled at the sound of her voice when I answered.

When everyone left, and we went to bed, she laid her head on my chest. "Happy for you guys." she mumbled. "Wish I'd watched the game."

I shrugged. "It's better that you got a couple hours of sleep."

"The sleep was great, " I chuckled. "But your goals wee probably better."

"I don't know. Was your sleep almost as good as sex?" I asked.

She laughed and I smiled.

"I'm proud of you. "