Chances Taken

“So we have two new teammates,” Coach said as he walked into the room and I knew it, Alex Goligoski was traded, “Goligoski was traded to the Stars for Neal and Niskanen.”

“James Neal?” I asked and Coach nodded his head, “Perfect,” I muttered, not really liking the guy.

“Why?” Jordan asked.

“The asshole always trips me, every damn game,” I said and Jordan smirked.

“We all know you can handle yourself,” he said and I smirked.

“Damn right I can!” he said and some of the guys chuckled.

“When will they start?” Mike asked.

“They’ll be on the away game trip with us,” Coach said and we nodded our head, the away trip started tomorrow.

A few days had passed; we ended up losing to Chicago in a shootout, the final score being three to two. We lost our home game two days later against the Capitals, the final score being one to zero. Then lost to the Sharks two days later with the final score of three to two, almost having another goal to tie the game and go into overtime, but the puck went into the net less than a second after the game horn sounded. We were disappointed about that loss.

We leave for Carolina tomorrow morning for our game against the Hurricanes that night, then we’ll travel up to Toronto the next morning for the game that night against the Leafs. The next day we’ll travel to Chicago for a game against the Hawks two days later and then in the morning head back to Toronto for another game against the Leafs the next day. From there, we’ll travel the next morning to Boston for a game against the Bruins that night, ending out away game trip.

“Just looking at the schedule makes me tired,” I muttered and Mike chuckled, “Six away games in ten days.”

“We’ll be fine,” he said and I sighed.

“Hope so.”

“So if they’re coming on the trip with us, how will we practice with them before hand?” Marc asked and I looked towards Coach.

“They’re getting their gear now, they’ll practice today with us,” Coach said and then looked at me, “Mags, Neal will be on your line, when Geno comes back, the three of you will work together.”

“Terrific,” I muttered and Mike chuckled.

“Karmas a bitch,” he said and I glared at him.

“Until G comes back, Staalsy, Mags and Neal will be one line,” Coach read off of a sheet, “Or we’ll at least see if it works out.”

“All right,” Jordan and I said and then looked at each other, nervous about having the new kid on our line.

The door opened and Neal and Niskanen walked into the room with their bags. We all looked at them, they looked around at us. Some of the guys started to get up and introduce themselves, knowing that the two knew their names, but wanted to make them feel at home. I sighed and stood up, walking over towards the two, I shook Niskanen’s hand first and then looked at Neal.

“James,” he said and shook my hand.

“Maggie,” I said, tension in the air, we both didn’t like each other, we knew it, the team knew it, ‘…Fuckin’ perfect…’

We finished up introductions and then dressed in our practice gear and headed for the ice. Coach decided to make Jordan, myself, Neal, Mike and Niskanen one line, wanting Neal to feel comfortable and having his former teammate on the line would hopefully do that.

-Kris-
I watched on the bench as Maggie’s line went up against Max’s line, Max, Tyler, Craig Adams, Deryk Engelland and Paul Martin. Johnson was for Maggie’s line, while Marc was for Max’s. Before the play even started, we all stood around the board and Coach tried to explain to the newbies on what plays their line was capable of.

“You two get it?” Coach asked and Neal and Niskanen nodded their heads, “Good. Line up!”

“Keep your head in the game, Mags,” Mike whispered to her as she glared at Neal’s back but nodded her head, “Just accept that he’s our teammate.”

“Fine,” she growled.

Jordan and Max went to the faceoff circle and Coach held the puck, Max won the puck and passed it to Tyler. They started to skate towards Johnson, Maggie wasn’t going to have that, she kicked into the ice and headed for Tyler. I think everyone was a little surprised when James came up on the other side of Tyler, Maggie was the fastest skater on the team, but here Neal was keeping up with her.

Maggie stole the puck and shot it towards Jordan, who turned around and headed for Marc. Coach blew the whistle and I turned my head back down at the end of the ice to see Neal and Maggie glaring at each other in front of Johnson.

“What happened?” I asked and Pascal looked at me.

“They collided,” he said and I sighed.

“You were supposed to go right! Not left! I’m left!” Maggie yelled and I shook my head.

“I know she doesn’t like him, but come on, he’s on our team now,” Brooks said and I snorted.

“She’s no different than the whole team,” Pascal said and we looked at him, “We’re all a bunch of hotheads.”

“Still doesn’t make it ok to go after him,” Cooke said and I looked at him.

“They’re arguing, not fighting it out,” I said and he looked at me.

“Got something to say?” he asked and I growled.

“You-“

“Enough you two,” Pascal said and I looked at him, “We’re a team, stop fighting over what happened in the past.”

“Yeah well, someone needs to tell her that,” Kunitz said and I nodded my head.

-Maggie-
After practice, Kris ended up coming over with his bag, he was going to stay the night at my place and then go with Mike and I to the Consol in the morning. He brought Hulk and left money for the girl that watches mine and Mike’s dogs, because Hulk was going to stay here while we were away.

Kris and I were sitting on the couch in the basement watching the movie Slapshot, we had ordered Chinese and were eating our food, when I finished I placed a pillow on Kris’ lap and laid down. I wasn’t even paying attention to the movie anymore, just thinking over what was going to happen with these games. I didn’t know how our line was going to be with Neal on it, we didn’t really do too well at first, getting the hang of each other at the end, but I was still worried.

“Fortune cookie for your thoughts,” Kris said as he held a cookie in front of me. I smiled and took it and looked up towards him, “What are you thinking about?”

I sighed and placed my hand on his arm that laid on my stomach, “I’m worried,” I finally said and he snorted.

“There’s a surprise,” he said and I smirked, “Mags, when are you ever not worried?”

“Is that a trick question?” I giggled and Kris smirked and pressed his lips against mine. I started to sit up and then pushed myself onto Kris’ lap, my arms draped around his neck and his around my waist. I pulled back and kissed his cheek, then his neck and finally laid my head on his shoulder.

“What’s eating at you?” he asked and I looked down, “Worried about Neal?”

“Yeah,” I said and he chuckled, “What?”

“Remember when you were in his position last year?” Kris asked and I looked at him, “He looks
nervous on the ice, and with you two going at each other, it’s not helping.”

“Nervous?” I asked and Kris nodded his head, “How so?”

“Well, he came from the Stars, they’re really not the big of a team,” Kris said and I looked at him, “It’s like,” he paused to think, “Like a small town girl moving to a big city.”

“You calling Neal a girl?” I smirked and Kris poked my sides, making me jump, “Ok, sorry!”

“All I’m saying is, he’s supposed to have a really go shot, he was traded to help us, just like you and Mike,” Kris said and I looked down, starting to get it, “He’s probably just nervous, not wanting to-“

“Screw up,” I finished and Kris nodded his head, “Like me.”

“Exactly,” he said and I sighed and nodded my head.

“I get it,” I said and looked at him.

“So can you try to get along with him?”

I smiled and leaned forward, pressing my lips against his and then pulling back, “I’ll try.”