Golden
Chapter 5
January 2017- Denver, CO
It’s 5 pm. Today was one of the best days I’ve had since my injury. I had spent the morning doing rehab and texting Nate intermittently. Much to Lindsey’s disdain, I was wearing ripped skinny jeans, a Nike hoodie, and vans to the game tonight. I’d already decided on stopping at the Chipotle on 16th street before the game for food.
By six, I was walking up to the box office at the Pepsi Center. I gave my name and ID to the lady behind the counter. She looked me up and down before asking me to wait for a second and walking into the back. She emerged with an older man who came out from behind the counter and introduced himself as Scott. Apparently, “Mr. MacKinnon requested that his guest is escorted to their suite by one of the hospitality staff members.”
Scott handed me a pass that allowed for access to the players’ lounge after the game and took me up to a suite. I internally cursed Nate, praying that I wasn’t going to be in the WAGs suite tonight. Scott opened the door to the suite, and I was surprised that only a few people were there, and none of them seemed to be wives or girlfriends. I grinned, knowing that Nate deserved some credit for thinking this through and not throwing me into the lion’s den the first game I came to. I thanked Scott for the escort and he shut the door as he left. The sound of the door closing caught everyone’s attention and I was suddenly faced with eight people, all older and looking a lot alike.
For all of the media training I had received over the past few years, I still hated social interaction with complete strangers. Something about introducing yourself to complete strangers and putting yourself out there always put me on edge. I took a deep breath, ready to introduce myself when one of the women beat me to it.
She came over and hugged me while announcing in a strong accent “You must be Myers! Mikko told us you would be joining us tonight.” Before I could get a word in, she rambled on introducing herself as Mikko’s mother and introducing everyone else in the box with her. It was only then that I noticed everyone except for me in the box had on Rantanen jerseys. I grinned before introducing myself in Finish. Judging by the surprise on all of their faces, Mikko forgot to mention that I spoke their native language. We spent the next few minutes talking about Levi, Finland where I frequently skied for world cup events and their experience in Denver as tourists so far. Mikko’s family was amazing and I could easily see where his personality came from.
Our conversation ended as the arena’s lights dimmed and both the Avs and Sharks came out. The arena was fairly empty, which shouldn’t really have surprised me with the season the Avs were having. But for some reason, I was shocked. Maybe not their best season, but the team still had a lot of young talent. My eyes snapped to Nate as soon as he stepped onto the ice. Even once the game got underway, I found myself following Nate more than the game itself. There was something so impressive about his stride on the ice and the speed he skated with. Nate’s team hung in there for a little while, but a goal at the end of the first period put the Sharks up 1-0 going into the first intermission. By the end of the second period, the game was tied at 1.
I had spent the majority of both intermissions trying to avoid all of the food Mikko’s mother and grandmother were trying to get me to eat. While I wasn’t currently skiing, my nutrition plan was still important during rehab. Both women told me multiple times that I was looking too skinny and the food would do me good. I almost laughed at that. During my recovery, I had gained weight and lost some muscle. What would they have considered my body before if they thought this was too skinny? The start of the third finally quieted both women and their quest to feed me. Unfortunately, Patrick Marleau singlehandedly killed the Avs in the third period with four goals.
The Rantanen’s and I stayed in the suite for a little while and then headed down to the lounge outside of the locker room. When we walked in few people paid attention to us. Most of the women continued with their conversations and just assumed that I was part of the Rantanen crowd. I did my best to keep my cover and listened in on the Rantanen family conversation, adding a few comments in Finish here and there.
I didn’t even notice that players had begun entering the room until everyone’s conversation hushed at once. By the time I turned around to see what caused the silence, I collided with a strong chest. Nate. He wrapped his arm around me to keep me upright and then politely thanked the Rantanen’s for looking after me during the game. I gave Nate a small smile as Mikko joined us. As much as I wanted to say good game to Nate, I knew it wouldn’t do any good. His team didn’t play a good game. He didn’t get a point and his team was on a brutal losing streak. There was nothing good about it and the professional athlete side of me knew that. No words were going to fix the feeling he had from losing. Only winning could do that. Was that a harsh way of looking at things? Yes. But as a competitor that was how I saw it. And that was probably how Nate saw it too.
Nate grabbed my hand and began to lead me to the exit. However, our attempt at a quick exit was thwarted by Tyson Barrie and Gabe Landeskog. I had met both at the club the other night. Gabe said hi while Tyson looked at me for a second before admitting he figured out where he knew me from. I was “that skier that wrecked really hard and was all over sports center”. Nate shot him a glare and Gabe gave us both an apologetic look before dragging Tyson away. Gabe told us to have a nice night while he continued leading Tyson away who was asking “was that not the right thing to say?”
Nate’s face was bright red and he continually apologized for his friends as we walked to his car. After opening my door for me, Nate walked around and got in the driver’s seat. He apologized once more. I finally grabbed his hand and he looked me straight in the eyes.
“Stop apologizing Nate. It’s really not a big deal. They are your friends and just curious and honestly, most people know me for my crash more than anything. I’m more worried about you. I know losing sucks. I get it just as much as any other professional athlete.”
“I’m alright. This season has just gone nothing like I had planned.”
I nodded my head. “Tell me about it. Next year will be our year’s Nate.”
He smiled before putting the car in drive and leading us through the streets of Downtown Denver.
It’s 5 pm. Today was one of the best days I’ve had since my injury. I had spent the morning doing rehab and texting Nate intermittently. Much to Lindsey’s disdain, I was wearing ripped skinny jeans, a Nike hoodie, and vans to the game tonight. I’d already decided on stopping at the Chipotle on 16th street before the game for food.
By six, I was walking up to the box office at the Pepsi Center. I gave my name and ID to the lady behind the counter. She looked me up and down before asking me to wait for a second and walking into the back. She emerged with an older man who came out from behind the counter and introduced himself as Scott. Apparently, “Mr. MacKinnon requested that his guest is escorted to their suite by one of the hospitality staff members.”
Scott handed me a pass that allowed for access to the players’ lounge after the game and took me up to a suite. I internally cursed Nate, praying that I wasn’t going to be in the WAGs suite tonight. Scott opened the door to the suite, and I was surprised that only a few people were there, and none of them seemed to be wives or girlfriends. I grinned, knowing that Nate deserved some credit for thinking this through and not throwing me into the lion’s den the first game I came to. I thanked Scott for the escort and he shut the door as he left. The sound of the door closing caught everyone’s attention and I was suddenly faced with eight people, all older and looking a lot alike.
For all of the media training I had received over the past few years, I still hated social interaction with complete strangers. Something about introducing yourself to complete strangers and putting yourself out there always put me on edge. I took a deep breath, ready to introduce myself when one of the women beat me to it.
She came over and hugged me while announcing in a strong accent “You must be Myers! Mikko told us you would be joining us tonight.” Before I could get a word in, she rambled on introducing herself as Mikko’s mother and introducing everyone else in the box with her. It was only then that I noticed everyone except for me in the box had on Rantanen jerseys. I grinned before introducing myself in Finish. Judging by the surprise on all of their faces, Mikko forgot to mention that I spoke their native language. We spent the next few minutes talking about Levi, Finland where I frequently skied for world cup events and their experience in Denver as tourists so far. Mikko’s family was amazing and I could easily see where his personality came from.
Our conversation ended as the arena’s lights dimmed and both the Avs and Sharks came out. The arena was fairly empty, which shouldn’t really have surprised me with the season the Avs were having. But for some reason, I was shocked. Maybe not their best season, but the team still had a lot of young talent. My eyes snapped to Nate as soon as he stepped onto the ice. Even once the game got underway, I found myself following Nate more than the game itself. There was something so impressive about his stride on the ice and the speed he skated with. Nate’s team hung in there for a little while, but a goal at the end of the first period put the Sharks up 1-0 going into the first intermission. By the end of the second period, the game was tied at 1.
I had spent the majority of both intermissions trying to avoid all of the food Mikko’s mother and grandmother were trying to get me to eat. While I wasn’t currently skiing, my nutrition plan was still important during rehab. Both women told me multiple times that I was looking too skinny and the food would do me good. I almost laughed at that. During my recovery, I had gained weight and lost some muscle. What would they have considered my body before if they thought this was too skinny? The start of the third finally quieted both women and their quest to feed me. Unfortunately, Patrick Marleau singlehandedly killed the Avs in the third period with four goals.
The Rantanen’s and I stayed in the suite for a little while and then headed down to the lounge outside of the locker room. When we walked in few people paid attention to us. Most of the women continued with their conversations and just assumed that I was part of the Rantanen crowd. I did my best to keep my cover and listened in on the Rantanen family conversation, adding a few comments in Finish here and there.
I didn’t even notice that players had begun entering the room until everyone’s conversation hushed at once. By the time I turned around to see what caused the silence, I collided with a strong chest. Nate. He wrapped his arm around me to keep me upright and then politely thanked the Rantanen’s for looking after me during the game. I gave Nate a small smile as Mikko joined us. As much as I wanted to say good game to Nate, I knew it wouldn’t do any good. His team didn’t play a good game. He didn’t get a point and his team was on a brutal losing streak. There was nothing good about it and the professional athlete side of me knew that. No words were going to fix the feeling he had from losing. Only winning could do that. Was that a harsh way of looking at things? Yes. But as a competitor that was how I saw it. And that was probably how Nate saw it too.
Nate grabbed my hand and began to lead me to the exit. However, our attempt at a quick exit was thwarted by Tyson Barrie and Gabe Landeskog. I had met both at the club the other night. Gabe said hi while Tyson looked at me for a second before admitting he figured out where he knew me from. I was “that skier that wrecked really hard and was all over sports center”. Nate shot him a glare and Gabe gave us both an apologetic look before dragging Tyson away. Gabe told us to have a nice night while he continued leading Tyson away who was asking “was that not the right thing to say?”
Nate’s face was bright red and he continually apologized for his friends as we walked to his car. After opening my door for me, Nate walked around and got in the driver’s seat. He apologized once more. I finally grabbed his hand and he looked me straight in the eyes.
“Stop apologizing Nate. It’s really not a big deal. They are your friends and just curious and honestly, most people know me for my crash more than anything. I’m more worried about you. I know losing sucks. I get it just as much as any other professional athlete.”
“I’m alright. This season has just gone nothing like I had planned.”
I nodded my head. “Tell me about it. Next year will be our year’s Nate.”
He smiled before putting the car in drive and leading us through the streets of Downtown Denver.
♠ ♠ ♠
I am so sorry for the delay!!! Things have been super hectic here. I should have another chapter up soon. The plan is to have the 2016-2017 season finished in the next few weeks and then be on to this season (since it's obviously A LOT more enjoyable for Avs fans)