Rookie of the Year

"Our GM and staff want to know what the necessary steps are for providing a safe environment in the locker room for both Sophie and the rest of her team. What do we, as the home team, need to provide for the correct procedure?" this came from Coach Tortorella, from the New York Rangers. It was a good question, better than Jordan Staal's from the previous night if he could hit me full force anyways.

I looked to the two men sitting directly on either side of me to see if they would like me to answer, as I have before during this long Captains and Coaches meeting the day after the NHL Awards in a Vegas ballroom. Coach made the gesture to say he would answer it.

"As many of you know, Sophie has been on our practice squad since February and has even seen some time with the IceHogs in the AHL. Throughout both experiences, the locker room has not been an issue. Sophie comes to the arena dressed appropriately for under her pads and is the first to hit the showers with a locked door. The men on our team have made no comment, after many times of asking and offering to listen, that this arrangement does not work for them. Therefore, as a team, we do not ask for any special arrangements than what is typical for a visiting team's locker room. However, because this meeting is also meant to help more capable women like Sophie get into the league, I believe that in the future the teams should look into the use of another room near the locker rooms for the female population to use, from any team when it comes to this time. Once everyone is in appropriate attire, the women can rejoin the men in the main team locker room. But thus far, it has not been an issue for the Hawks." Jon and I nod in agreement with Coach and we look to the Commissioner for guidance as well.

"We will take that into advisement, Coach Quenneville from the league's perspective. But as he stated, this is a procedure that has worked for this team. We have made it perfectly clear to current team members in their organization that at any time if this arrangement is not ideal, they are allowed to step forward and other arrangements will be made and teams will be apprised of this information if it changes in terms of hosting the Hawks. This policy will also be verbalized to the Hawks after training camp later this summer when the roster is more defined for the next season." Again, we nod in agreement and the commissioner asks for a new question.

"Sophie, is there any reason you declined an invitation to the draft and instead signed a deal with the Hawks directly? Most players in a situation like yours would have entered the draft and I am confused as to why this policy wasn't followed." This came from a Coach whose name I couldn't remember. He was from a Canadian team, and that's all I know. I didn't recognize the player next to him which means it was probably from Calgary or Ottawa. I always forget who is up there.

"Well Coach, I had already signed an agreement with the Hawks for the eligibility to be on their practice squad which technically means that I was signed as a free agent to the IceHogs. Because it was mid-season at the time, that was a legal acquiring. Therefore, I was technically already under a contract with the Blackhawks and chose not to leave their organization when offered the opportunity to sign a contract for the NHL and not a two-way contract. I only played in one AHL game because of the restrictions and the rest of the time I stayed with the practice squad for the Hawks." The men around me agreed enough with my answer and the commissioner let it go by asking for a new question again.

"Sophie, we have heard about how you became the first woman in the NHL, either through this meeting or in the media these past few days. What I, and I'm sure half of this room, want to know is why. You could've made a play for the American Women's Olympic team or even tried a Canadian women's league. Why the NHL?" this came from none other than Sidney Crosby, the man I ran into in the elevator not even two hours ago. I internally groaned at the question. I knew it was coming, but from the sexiest man in this room, I couldn't believe I was about to answer it for him.

"Well Mr. Crosby, I didn't show an interest in playing hockey until recently, but as the Hawks organization has told me and seen, I have a natural talent. With no women's league in sight for the US, there was little hope for me to attempt to gain ground on the American Olympic team because no one has heard of me until now, so that was out of the question. I'm assuming starting and running a league in the US for women is not a simple task and that's why there isn't one here. As for the Canadian league, my life is here in the states, currently and has been for my entire life in Illinois. But for as long as I can remember, hockey has been a part of my life just like it has been for every single person in this room. I went to games with my father and my younger brother, it was a constant on our television along with almost every other sport. It's an easy sport to fall in love with as you know quite well. And while I may not have attended a boarding school on a hockey scholarship or even played in college, I have just as much love for the game and know exactly what it means to each and every player in the league now and in the past. There is no simple answer as to why I chose the NHL. But then could you answer the same question? You have worked your entire life to be where you are right now, Mr. Crosby, and you question me about why I want to be in the same place as you as a woman with little experience but close to the same amount of talent. So while you ask me why, I would love to hear why each man in this room chose the NHL whether as a player or a Coach. There's a thrill and a passion that lies within each of us who play and defend ourselves in the fight for Lord Stanley. So why wouldn't I chose this?" I think that I got everyone's attention in the room. Coach Q and Jonny looked happy with my answer but Crosby looked perplexed like I pissed in his wheaties or something. I'm not after the fame or fortune, I just want to live for the thrill and passion of the game. And I think he's thinking about his own motives for being in this very room as we listen to the next questions of this get together.

What seems like hours later, and is really only forty five minutes, we are all dispersing from the discussion that the captains and coaches all had with me and the commissioner. It was a lot more difficult than I had expected to defend myself, it could be because of my still slightly hungover state, but it was rough. These men weren't necessarily happy that the league decided to let me play. They all had different reasons but every single one of them was going to choke on their words come time for the season. I know it.

As I walk with Jon towards the elevator, I am suddenly tapped on the shoulder by none other than Sidney Crosby. He long ago lost the look that said I pissed in his wheaties, but he still looked flustered.

"Hey Sophie, can we talk?" I wasn't expecting this, but I turned to Jon who said he'd see me later before our flight out of Vegas. It wasn't until ten pm and the car wasn't supposed to pick us up until eight. It is only three now, so I figured he and my cousin Jackie, his girlfriend, were doing dinner by themselves for the last few hours in the sin city.

Sidney and I didn't speak until we walked into the hotel coffee shop and each got a cup of coffee. As bad as it was for my hockey player diet, I got a frappe. They are my one downfall besides hangover cures of carb overload which has hardly happened since Ava was born.

"What would you like to talk about Sidney?" I wasn't trying to be rude, but I am really curious to know what the Golden Boy of hockey wanted to talk to me about outside of that meeting.

"After what you said about why you chose the NHL, I couldn't help but think of what my answer would be if I were to be asked that question. I think your answer is still better than mine, but go ahead, ask me." He seemed cocky about it, but he wasn't on the spot for the answer now either.

"Okay shoot, why did you chose the NHL Sidney? When you could've made a name for yourself in the OHL or the WHL or any other league around the world. Why this one?" I tried to be rigid about it, because I didn't want to think of him as better than me. But he is, he's the one to be in the hockey world, no matter who you are talking to. It's all about Crosby.

"Because we don't play for the name on our back or even for the front. We play for the fans and the communities around us. We give them hope where they might have none. We give them a safe way to spend their days as long as they have access to a TV, radio, or computer. We go into the communities to serve them as best as we can by representing their city and their population to its best degree. While we get paid a nice lump sum, it isn't about us or even the crest on our jerseys. It's about them. Without them, we would be nothing. I wouldn't have gone to the Olympics in 2010 and won a Gold Medal, I wouldn't have won a Stanley Cup, none of it would have happened. I wouldn't even be sitting here with you right now if it wasn't for the fans. That's why I joined the NHL. The other leagues are great, great for their communities, but the NHL is different. It's a joint operation between two countries which helps, but it is so different than any other league in the world. That's why I will play until my skates can't stay sharp and not from a lack of trying."