Oh Captain, My Captain

Chapter Seventy Three
"We're in California! I'm so excited!" Mel squealed as she and Sam jumped up and down.
I laughed and shook my head, "You guys are dorks!"
Coach had thought that we had to go to Florida, but did he get a rude awakening the day before we left, after the tickets were ordered for Florida, and we needed to go to California. Our once six hour flight, had just turned into an eleven hour flight, and I wasn't looking forward to it.
We had just arrived at the airport and then the team and their families and girlfriends had gathered into two buses that were going to take us to the hotel that we're going to stay at, which was about a half hour away.
Once we arrived, I saw that there were other teams that were there and I sighed and shook my head, '...I really don't want to do this. Just keep telling yourself, it's for the kids...'
The only team that wasn't going to be staying at a hotel were the L.A. Kings because they were only a half hour or so away from the course. The hotel was huge, and each team had gotten two floors to house everyone. Most of the guys that were married and had kids got their own rooms, while the others just picked a person and roomed with them. Sidney and I shared a room with Vero and Marc, while Mel and Geno shared a room with Sam and James. Brandon had called me last night and told me that he was doing this competition too and that Steph was here with him.
After everyone got adjusted in their rooms and all of the teams arrived, the teams were called down to the lobby where a bus was going to call them to the course where we were going to watch a video and they were going to explain the course and the rules. The wives, children and girlfriends stayed at the hotel and did whatever they wanted to do.
"This is ridiculous," I muttered as I looked around to see what the course was going to look like, "I think I'm gunna die just by looking at this."
"Ah, it'll be all right, you won't die," Marc said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and smirked.
We all stood in a group and the announcers walked out onto a platform and announced that they were going to say the one hundred and fifty people who were going to participate in this event and that we were going to be divided be divisions.

Atlantic Division:

Pittsburgh Penguins – Sidney Crosby, Maxime Talbot, Kris Letang, Alexandra Conners and
Marc-Andre Fleury
Philadelphia Flyers – Claude Giroux, Matt Read, Tyler Kennedy, Braydon Coburn and Bruno Gervais
New Jersey Devils – Bryce Salvador, Travis Zajac, David Clarkson, Ryan Carter and Stephen Gionta
New York Rangers – Ryan Callahan, Michael Del Zotto, Brian Boyle, Chris Kreider and Marc Staal
New York Islanders – Mark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Michael Grabner, Travis Hamonic and Frans Nielsen

Northeast Division:

Montreal Canadiens – Brian Gionta, Brandon Prust, David Desharnais, Andrei Markov and
P.K. Subban
Ottawa Senators – Saniel Alfredsson, Chris Neil, Milan Michalek, Craid Anderson and
Jakob Silfverberg
Boston Bruins - Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic, Brandon Adkins, Tyler Seguin and David Krejci
Toronto Maple Leafs – Dion Phaneuf, James Van Riemsdyk, Ben Scrivens, Tyler Bozak and
Mikhail Grabovski
Buffalo Sabres – Jason Pominville, Christian Ehrhoff, Patrick Kaleta, Cody Hodgson and Nathan Gere

Southeast Division:

Carolina Hurricanes – Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Alexander Semin, Jussi Jokinen and Justin Faulk
Tampa Bay Lightning – Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Cory Conacher, Teddy Purcell and
Mathieu Garon
Winnipeg Jets – Andre Ladd, Nik Antropov, Zach Bogosian, Blake Wheeler and Evander Kane
Florida Panthers – Ed Jovanovski, Marcel Goc, Tomas Kopecky, Sean Bergenheim and Scottie Upshall
Washington Capitals – Alexander Ovechkin, Karl Alzner, Eric Fehr, Jack Hillen and Dmitry Orlov

Central Division:

Columbus Blue Jackets – Derick Brassard, James Wisniewski, Tim Erixon, Jared Boll and Matt Calvert
Chicago Blackhawks – Jonathan Toews, Steve Montador, Patrick Kane, Nick Leddy and
Corey Crawford
Nashville Predators – Shea Weber, Sergei Kostitsyn, Craig Smith, Nick Spaling and Hal Gill
St. Louis Blues – David Backes, Andy McDonald, Brain Elliott, Wade Redden and Roman Polak
Detroit Red Wings – Henrik Zetterberg, Jordin Tootoo, Kent Huskins, Ian White and Daniel Cleary

Northwest Division:

Vancouver Canucks – Henrick Sedin, Ryan Kesler, Alexandre Burrows, Zack Kassian and Kevin Bieksa
Minnesota Wild – Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Mikael Granlun and Clayton Stoner
Colorado Avalanche – Gabriel Landeskog, Milan Hejduk, Matt Hunwick, Shane O’Brien and
Ryan O’Bryne
Edmonton Oilers – Shawn Horcoff, Justin Schiltz, Sam Gagner, Nail Yakupov and Taylor Hall
Calgary Flames – Jarome Iginla, Mike Cammalleri, Miikka Kiprusoff, Roman Cerbenka and
Curtis Glencross

Pacific Division:

Anaheim Ducks – Ryan Getzlaf, Nate Guenin, Ben Lovejoy, Corey Perry, and Bobby Ryan
San Jose Sharks – Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Ryan Clowe, Tommy Wingels and Nick Petrecki
Phoenix Coyotes – Shane Doan, Mike Smith, Paul Bissonnette, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and
David Rundblad
L.A. Kings – Dustin Brown, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Jarret Stoll and Rob Scuderi
Dallas Stars – Brenden Morrow, Derek Roy, Richard Bachman, Aaron Rome and Brenden Dillon

"Round one will start tomorrow and we will begin with the Pacific and Northwest Division in the morning, Central and Southeast Division in the afternoon, and then the Northeast and Atlantic Division at night! Other divisions are allowed to watch, but not participate until it is their teams' turn. You will be given a uniform and must wear it! This is a team competition, and there is only one team that may come out the winner, with their winnings of fifty thousand dollars donated to their choice of charity. The teams in the morning, must be here by eight o'clock! Afternoon teams must be here by twelve thirty, and night teams must be here by five o'clock! Have a wonderful day!"
All of us left and headed back to our buses, there was a argument going on behind us and I turned around to see that someone from the Blue Jackets and Red Wings were fighting.
'...I'm surprised that no one started with us yet...' I thought as I shook my head and lead my team onto the bus that was going to take us back to the hotel.
When we finally got back, I told Sidney that Vero, Sam, Mel and I were going to lay down by the pool, because the one thing that I missed about California, is that sunshine. I must have been only laying down for about ten minutes, before someone stood in my sunlight. I sighed and then held my hand over my eyes and looked up to see Brandon standing above me.
"Hey baby cuz!"
"Hey stranger!" I said and then stood up and hugged him, "I missed you!"
"I missed you too! I didn't see you at the opening."
"I was the shortest one there, of course you're not going to see me," I laughed and then sat back down on my lawn chair, "Where's Steph?"
"She's right there," he said and then nudged his head passed me and I looked to see that she was talking with Sam, "So you ready for this?"
"Hell no, I don't even want to do this!" I whined and he laughed.
"Lucic is doing it, and maybe if you go far enough, maybe our teams will go against each other."
"Good, maybe I'll be able to break his nose again," I said and he laughed harder.
Brandon deicded that he was going to go and mess around in the pool with everyone else while the girls laid out and caught some sun.
"Hey there, Alex!"
'...Here we go...' I thought as I opened my eyes and was pleasantly surprised to see some of my old team, "Hey! I thought you were some creeps."
"Oh thanks," Dustin said and I laughed.
"You here to starts some fights, annoy me or lay in the sun?" I asked and Mike Richards smiled.
"D. All of the above," he said and sat down in the chair next to me, "So what's new pussy cat?"
"Really? You're going to start with the pet names now? It's bad enough I got Trevor still calling me Angel."
"And what's wrong with that?!" Trevor asked while appearing behind me and placing his elbow on my shoulder.
"Hi Trevor, and everything!" I said and he snorted and shook his head.
"So you guys have to be there early in the morning tomorrow, any ideas on what team you're going up against?"
"No," Dustin said and then sighed, "This is annoying; we're supposed to be training for hockey, not doing some stupid competition!"
"Hey, it's for charity, lighten up, man!" Trevor said and we sighed and then went on with the day.