Wasted

Aye! How ya’ll doin’?

Day one of Stanton Street Cheer Camp has come to a close and the second and final day will start tomorrow bright and early. Tomorrow is made up entirely of my favorite things! Tumbling passes. Today was all lifts and cheers and always being the smallest girl on the squad, I’m quite used to being up in the air.

But on to what I’m sure you’re all waiting on. NHL training camp updates! Earlier this week, coaches were finally able to begin having contact with their players and officially open training camps. Across the league, teammates and enemies were able to leave their sanctuaries and havens that housed them during the lockout and descend upon their adopted homes.

Prospects and rookies alike made the trips up from farm teams to hopefully get themselves a roster spot and prove that the time is now to make their NHL debut. (You know who I’m rooting for…)

The Montreal Canadiens brought in ‘the Gallys’, who seem to be putting in some hard work. I’ll be surprised if they don’t stay put with the big club. The Philadelphia Flyers are helping some new recruits settle into the hard, bruising game that they play. (I’m trying to remain a third party. But it’s so hard!) The Schenns seem to be reconnecting quickly and efficiently. Bryzgalov is… well, you know.

My Penguins are lookin’ fine! Our third line looks like it’s ready for battle with the new addition of Brandon Sutter to step in after the trade involving him and my beloved Jordan Staal. A moment of silence for Gronk, please.

Thank you.

Captain Kid looks like he’s healthy and hungry for hockey. As he should be. And it looks like this last off season’s mission to ‘find Crosby wingers’ was successful. Or should I say COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY! Kunitz and Dupuis have been here all along and they’re working magic with their captain. Geno has only just arrived from Russian on Friday, so I haven’t gotten to see much of him yet, but after spending half a season actually playing, I’m sure he’ll be in top form. I’ll be looking for a stream to catch the Black and Gold scrimmage later this week.

Here in Chicago, the Blackhawks are training hard. It looks to me like no one was idle this extended off season. Corey Crawford looks ready for a little redemption, as does Marian Hossa and co. Sharpshooter was rocketing shots the other day as well. My boy Brandon is looking trained and ready to pounce. The same can be said for my bruiser Andrew Shaw. But I’ve only got one complaint.

WHERE IS MY FAVORITE HAWKS D-PAIRING OF DUNCS AND SEABS? WHERE IS MY KANE/TOEWS FORWARD TANDEM?

Okay, that was two. But you know WHAT? I don’t care. Coach Q, why are you breaking up my perfect ships? Just… don’t do this to me.

Excuse me while I retreat to my corner.

Stay classy and sassy, never trashy!
XO-Steph

Current music- Forever and Always by Taylor Swift (because they will forever be the best pairings, okay?)



“Alright, take five, guys,” I picked up my water bottle to take a long, much needed drink. Tumbling had always been my favorite part of cheer because it didn’t matter if you were a giant or a midget. Either you could do the skill or not and that was that.

It had been a long day of camp so far and we had yet to break for lunch. Competition season was fast approaching and all the kids involved in the weekend long program were looking to help their squads advance as far as possible.

“Slacking off?”

I wiped my mouth before turning around, expecting an angry looking gym manager. Instead, I found a group of hockey players standing awkwardly in the gym covered in mats, foam, and various cheerleading necessities.

“You guys!” I laughed. “What are you doing here? How’d you know where I was?”

“You think we don’t all read your blog now?” Kaner rolled his eyes as we all hugged quickly. “I was quite touched by your little rant.”

I rolled my eyes as Brandon wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “It’s the truth! Coach Q must have some crazy plan if he’s separating you all.”

“Do you really think I’m a bruiser?” Andrew asked with a hand on his heart.

“Oh, of course,” I assured him. “What are you guys doing? Shouldn’t you be at camp?”

“Lunch break,” Jon shrugged. “We have about an hour before we have to be back at the rink.”

“Then I don’t want to keep you guys,” I stepped out of Brandon’s grasp and moved towards the door. “Go eat.”

“We wanted to come see you,” Brandon insisted. “They wanted to see if you could still do… all that.” He pointed to a small group of kids that were practicing a set of skills we’d just gone over.

“Oh?” I teased. “You don’t think I still have it?”

“Well you did say that you didn’t cheer in college,” Patrick said. “And high school was a long time ago.”

“It’s on like Donkey Kong,” I fixed my hair bow and Nike spandex. “You ready for this?”

I figured it wouldn’t take too much to impress them, so I decided to save my joints a little misery and began the run into an easy layout with a pike at the end. Sure enough, I had a smattering of applause and even some of the girls that had been nearby showed their approval.

“That was cool,” Andrew consented. “But can you do the thing?”

“The thing?”

“You know,” he flapped his arms. “Yesterday you said you could backflip.”

“Oh,” I shrugged. “Sure.”

I amused them for another ten minutes, but then remembered that I was supposed to be mentoring a camp and they needed food before getting back to their own training.

“What are you up to tonight?” Brandon asked. “You want to grab drinks with us?”

“First off,” I stopped him. “You’re underage. And sorry, I have work. Later on when things hopefully calm down, I promise.”

“And I have a roster spot,” he smiled.

“When you have a roster spot,” I nodded and sent them on their merry way.

I called to the group of attendees and told them to get ready to work again. As we began stretching out, we were interrupted again.

“Can I borrow your coach for a minute, girls?” a deep voice asked and I heard a few giggles.

I looked above me from my spot on the floor and saw Jon on the edge of the matting. He motioned me over.

“Stretch for splits,” I instructed before gladly hopping up and letting him lead a few feet away from prying eyes and ears. “What’s up, Jon?”

“I just wanted…” he scratched his neck and pulled his beanie off. “To say thanks. I read your… words of advice.”

“Don’t thank me,” I nudged his shoulder. “Thank the Zac Brown Band.”

He laughed. “No, it was all you. It was what I needed to hear.”

“Well I’m glad to be of service to Chicago’s favorite captain,” I smiled. “But I need to go. I have teenage girls making up wild theories about me and certain hockey players. It was good seeing you.” I squeezed his forearm as I passed.

“Wait,” he called. “You work at Peplum right? That bar and restaurant? As a waitress?”

“We prefer the term trendy eatery,” I recited. “And I’m a hostess and occasional bar tender. But yeah. Why?”

“Maybe we’ll stop by,” Jon smiled. “Harass you at work.”

“You do that,” I shook my head. “Just don’t tell Brandon I’m letting you.”