#he hates when guys shoot pucks at the net after the whistle

[rimouskis]

A penalty was called like 0:20 into play, and after the whistle blew, a Panther shot the (dead) puck toward [and then into] the net... and Sid took exception. He rushed the guy, and clearly would have started something if the ref hadn't gotten in the way.

[mamanabeille]

So, You Met Tchaikovsky?

for the lovely @quickspinner for her birthday. 

Marinette isn’t exactly sure what comes over her the first time she sees Luka on the ice.  She really can’t explain it.  She thought she would be terrified. She had watched the sport before, and knew it was high contact and could lead to plenty of injuries.  Which is why she assumed she’d be flinching through the whole game, covering her eyes, and needing recaps from Tikki who was hidden in her scarf.  What she did not expect was the deep, nearly primal scream that seems to tear itself from her vocal chords.  “TAKE HIM DOWN, LUKA!”  

Rose and Juleka, who are seated next to her, both jump.  Rose even ends up tossing some popcorn in the air at the reaction.  Luka slams another player against the glass right in front of them, and Juleka groans at the sight.  Marinate knows that Juleka is supportive of Luka, but doesn’t really like to see him so aggressive.  She honestly expected to feel the same way.  However, the pure strength and power he displays as he holds his opponent there for a few seconds, ramming him further into the glass, gets her a little hot and bothered.  She can’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have him pin her up against something with that much conviction.  She knew he was strong.  She’s seen him lug musical equipment several times a week for years.  She’s seen how effortlessly he can swoop her up and fling her over his shoulder.  Hell, she’s seen him naked more times that she can count and seen those muscles up close and very personal.  Still, there’s something different about seeing him like that.  There’s a fierceness and aggression that she’s never seen on him before… and she likes it.  

He catches her eyes for half a second,  and she’s floored. It’s been years since she’s been absolutely speechless by the presence of him, but growing up together and dating for years does tend to have that effect.  The adrenalin races through her blood, and she can’t help but get completely swept up in the vibe of the crowd.  It’s a rush that she’s never felt before, not even in the midst of a high stakes akuma attack.  When she hears the final buzzer go off and sees that The Vipers are two points ahead, she screams loudly enough that it catches his attention on the ice. The team becomes a massive huddle of bodies, and sticks, and buddies slapping each other’s helmets through cheers and hollers.

Luka finds her in the crowd once the huddle disperses and what all make their way off the ice. She leaps into his arms, causing him to stumble backwards a little in his skates. She captures his lips in a passionate victory kiss, and soaks in the feeling of his arms snaking around her to support her weight. “Babe,” she softly moans in his ear, legs wrapped around his waist. “Why have you never let me come to a game before now?” She knows the real reason.  He’s explained it to her several times over the years.  He hates the thought of the people in his life seeing him behaving in any sort of aggressive way.  He prides himself on his gentle nature, and his ability to handle any situation with words and reason versus violence.  A belief system that was only strengthened after being akumatized into Silencer.

He hears the guys whoop and whistle out catcalls behind him, and feels a slap on his shoulder that he can only assume is Remy. “You’re a little distracting,” he tells her instead, knowing it’s more of a rhetorical question. “Hard to focus on the ice when I know you’re sitting in the bleachers looking like that,” he nods down at her puffy coat and gloves.  He places a soft kiss on the tip of her nose, and grins at the blush that spreads across her face.

“Really?  This is what does it for you?” she chuckles. She kisses him quickly one more time, before jumping down from his arms, but staying tucked into his side.

“Oh, yeah.  You look adorable,” he laughs just as Juleka and Rose make their way over hand in hand.

“Luka, you did so great!” Rose squeals, giving him a congratulatory peck on the cheek.

Juleka nods at her fiancee’s words, and hugs her brother, and Marinette by extension.  “You and Nette need a room?” she teases.  Marinette flushes an even deeper red and buries her face into Luka’s chest, muttering a soft ‘sorry’.  Juleka shrugs and grabs her bag.  “Ma said you’re welcome to dinner tonight.”

“Just tell Ma we won, and we’ll be there this weekend for family dinner.” Marinette looks up at him curiously, as the other two girls take their leave. “The team has a tradition of grabbing pizza together after a win.  We don’t have to go if you’d rather do something just the two of us.  The guys will understand.”

“No.” She shakes her head and looks up at him for a moment, biting her lip.  “Do you think that they’d mind if we were a little late though?”

Luka’s cheeks flush a light pink as he grins down at her.  “We’d probably be okay to be a little late.  What did you have in mind?” She can see the playful hike of his eyebrows and laughs at him, “Not that! I was kind of hoping you could show me how.  To play, I mean.”

The rest of the team are saying their goodbyes to friends and family, gathering their things, and slowly making their way out one or two at time.  “You and your lady coming, Tchaikovsky?” Remy shouts across the rink.  Marinette raises her eyebrows at him in question, but he shakes his head as if to say he’ll explain later.  

“Meet you there in a bit,” Luka hollers back before guiding her over to the bleachers and giving her his full attention.  “You’ll need skates.  Are you and Jules still the same size?” Marinette nods.  “Perfect,” Luka continues.  “She and I share a locker.  I’m sure she won’t mind if you use hers.  I’ll go grab those and an extra stick.  Then I can show you a few things.   You hide Tikki.  I’d offer her my bag, but it doesn’t smell great.”  He kisses her quickly and disappears behind a break in the bleachers where she assumes the locker room and storage areas are.  He’s only gone for a few moments, and she uses the time to take off her jacket and scarf, making a safe little nest for her kwami, and pulls her hat down further over her ears. She’s straightening her hoodie, a Vipers one stolen one night after staying over at Luka’s, when he reappears, a pair of skates, a stick, and a bucket of pucks in tow.  

Marinette looks at the stick that Luka hands her, specifically the tape wrapped around the top, ‘JR’ scribbled out in quick, dark lettering.  She glares up at him.  “Is this a kids’ stick?”

Luka lets out a deep laugh, and pulls her into a one armed hug.  “Well, you’re short,” he places a kiss on the top of her head, before leading her out onto the ice, ignoring her mock pouting.  He sets up a line of pucks between the two face off circles, and skates a little to the side.  “Alright, Nette, get the puck in the goal.”

Marinette huffs at him, expecting some sort of guidenence, but squares off in front of one of the pucks nevertheless. She grips the hockey stick with both hands about three quarters of the way down, rears the stick back and whips it forward with as much force as she can… and proceeds to hit the ice before any contact is made with the puck.  

Luka tires to stifle the laughter, but Marinette hears and turns to glare at him.  “It’s not golf,” he informs her with a straight face.  He skates over to her and wraps his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.  “Alright, I’ll help.”  He places a kiss on her neck that catches her off guard and makes her gasp.  He takes a couple of steps back and adjusts her footing with carefully positioned hands on her hips. “Regrip your stick.  This time, keep one hand towards the top, then the other should be closer to halfway down the shaft- the stick.  See what hand feels better on top.”  He waits for her to feel around for a moment and get a comfortable hold on the stick before continuing. “When you shoot, shift your weight from your back foot to your front foot.  Keep the puck in the middle to back of the blade of the stick.  Pull back and release.  It’s not a big long sweeping swing like golf or tennis.  It’s more of a quick controlled pull and then flick of your wrist.  Does that make sense?” Luka shifts his hands over hers and mimics the motion a few times for her.

Marinette gives a couple quick nods, and he steps back to let her try.  She follows his instructions and shoots the puck in front of her forward.  It lands in the goal and she beams, looking over her shoulder from Luka then back to the goal in disbelief.  “I did it!” she squeals, bouncing up onto her toes excitedly and immediately flailing forward.  She throws her hands out just before she collides face first with the ice.

“No toe pick,” he reminds her, offering a hand to help her up.  “You’ve worn figure skates in the past.  The blades of hockey skates are rounded off on both sides.  No points.”

“Right.” She picks the stick off the ice and approaches the second puck, doing the same as before.  It goes right past the edge of the goal but not in.  She looks to Luka, who advises, “Try keeping your feet on either side of the puck.  See if that helps.” She goes to the next puck and adjusts her footing.  She shoots.  The puck bounces off the frame and into the net. Luka cheers in an exaggerated sportscaster voice .  “And Nettie’s got it in the net!”

Marinette laughs, and shoots a puck at him, which he easily side steps.  “You are such a dork!”

“And you love me.”   He leans down to kiss her and she meets him halfway, slipping her hands around his neck as his fall to the small of her back.  “I really, really do.”  He captures her lips again, pulling her even closer still, adding a new heat that catches her breath in her throat.  He nips at her bottom lip, begging for more, which she gladly gives.  The need for air becomes increasingly essential, and they reluctantly pull away.  He trails several soft little kisses across her cheeks.  She’s shocked by the intensity in his eyes when she finally opens her own. “What?” she asks, her voice barely a whisper, too afraid to shatter the moment. He continues to gaze down at her.  “I’m just falling in love with you all over again right now.”

“Luka,” she whimpers, joyful warmth flooding her body.  She buries her face in his chest to hide the tears stinging her eyes. He wraps his arms around her, and leans his chin on the top of her head, letting out a content sigh that seems to spread to her as well.  Neither are sure how long they linger there in that moment, but at some point the lights flick on and off a couple of times.   They both look up at the lights and chuckle a little as they pull away.

“That will be George,” Luka explains.  “He still needs to bring the zamboni out.”  “We should probably be getting back to the team anwayway,” Marinette adds.  They gather up the pucks and make their way back to the bleachers.  They make quick work of switching out of their skates to street shoes and head out.

By the time they get to the little pizzeria, they are really only a half hour behind the others.  The team has pulled together several of the tables, and there are empty breadstick baskets scattered here and there between them, all empty save for a couple of crumbs and half on one that looks like it had fallen on the ground.  There’s a selection of pizzas as well, but by the looks of everyone’s plates, it looks they had just come out.

“Ayye, Krovsky!” Sal, the goalie, whoops.  He’s the first one to spot them, and waves them over as if the needed any help finding the rowdy group. “What took you two so long?” he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, Luka swatting the back of his teammate’s head as they squeeze themselves in next to the captain.

“He was teaching me how to play hockey,” Marinette informs him, taking a plate with a couple slices of veggie pizza that Luka offers her.

“Ice hockey or tonsil hockey?” Remy laughs.  Though Marinette has met the rest of the team several times at team parties in the apartment, she’s the most comfortable with Remy.  She knows that it’s probably because he’s Luka’s roommate and best friend, but even the first time she’d met him, it was as if she’d grown up with him as well.

“Rembrandt,” she scolds playfully.  “Do you really think I could have dated that,” she nods to Luka who has just taken a bite of his slice and freezes at her words, “ for the last six years and not know how to play tonsil hockey?”  The little cafe booms with laughter and taunting quips.  Luka is redder than she thinks she’s ever seen him in his life.

“Tchaikovsky’s got himself a little spitfire,” center Louis laughs. “Okay, someone please explain to me how he became Tchaikovsky,” Marinette begs.  

“You’ve heard 1812 Overture, right?” Louis asks her.  She stares at him blankly until Luka starts humming it next to her, patting out the rhythm on her leg.  She nods once she recognizes it. “He’s basically 1812. He starts out all calm and soft and smooth, but when he hits, he hits hard, like a fucking cannon.”

Marinette can’t really object with that logic.  When she thinks about it, it actually fits him pretty perfectly.

“So, you finally met Tchaikovsky, what do you think?” Remy asks her.

Marinette thinks for a minute, glancing around at the rest of the team, her gaze settling on the man in question. “I think I fell in love with him all over again today,” she smirks, leaning over to kiss him.

“FINE!” the team seems to all shout at once, which then turns to more laughter and teasing that lasts the rest of the night.

[madlori]

Lori Explains Hockey Game Play

Before I launch into this next edition of Lori Explains Hockey, let me answer the question: “How are you qualified to write these?” The answer is I’M NOT QUALIFIED IN THE SLIGHTEST. My only qualification is that I had to learn all this shit myself over the last few years, I’m a nerd and learned as much as possible, and I like writing them.

Onward.

So how is the hockeys played? Well it’s a lot goddamn simpler than football, I can tell you that, and I didn’t really realize how complicated football is until I tried to explain it to somebody. Hockey is comparatively straightfoward. Like seriously it’s basically

Get the puck.

Try to score.

Keep the other team from scoring.

Do that for 60 minutes.

But you guys aren’t here for minimalist descriptions, so I’ll go into more detail.

Here’s how it go.

Play begins with a faceoff. This is when two forwards, usually the centers but definitely not always, face each other on one of the nine faceoff dots on the rink (the center dot is used only for period-start and post-goal faceoffs, the others are used according to a set of rules that I’m not going to go into right now). The referee or linesman drops the puck between them and they each try to hit it to one of their players, which means they’ve won the faceoff and their team now controls the puck.

The team with the puck then proceeds to try to get the puck down the ice to their opponent’s goal and shoot it into the net. This is harder than it sounds because every member of the other team will be trying to get the puck away from them. Unlike in football, where turnovers are kind of a Big Deal, a change in puck possession occurs very often. It’s a small puck and it’s ice and it’s hard to control things, and keeping puck possession requires being able to do things like accurately predict where one of your teammates will be to receive a pass while avoiding the opposing players and that shit is hard.

Play continues, back and forth, usually with the teams trading possession, until a whistle is blown or a goal is scored.

Things that cause a whistle (play stoppage):

A penalty

An injury

Icing - a player shooting the puck across two red lines (dumping the puck down the ice, basically)

Offsides - an offensive player crossing the blue line ahead of the puck.

The goalie catching or freezing the puck - this means that someone shot the puck at the goalie but he stopped it and then held on to it. Theoretically he has the option of either keeping the puck in play or “freezing” the puck by catching it or putting his hands over it. Goalies will do this when they don’t have control, when the other team is all over them or they just need to hit the reset button. If a goalie is freezing the puck a LOT, as opposed to trying to keep it in play after he stops it (it isn’t always a choice, either), it usually means he’s annoyed that his defense keeps letting the other team shoot pucks at him.

The linesman or referee whistling the play “dead” when he loses sight of the puck.

A few other not-super-common instances like the goalie losing his helmet (this only applies to the goalie - if a skater loses his helmet that’s just life in the big city) or the net becoming dislodged.

After every whistle, play resumes with another faceoff somewhere on the rink, depending on what caused the whistle. Play continues, with these stoppages. The players change over very frequently, like every 30-60 seconds typically. Unless you’re paying close attention you might not notice this happening, especially on TV because the cameras stay with the puck and line changes happen away from play. If you’re ever watching a game and one of the players is just hanging out with the puck behind his own net, not doing anything for a few seconds, what’s happening is that his team is changing lines and he’s kind of waiting till everyone’s on the ice before resuming play. They don’t stop play to swap players.

After a goal is scored, it will be credited to one player, with up to two players receiving assists. The official NHL scorers make this call and it’s sometimes changed if they see later that someone touched the puck that they didn’t see the first time and such.

There are three periods of 20 minutes each, with an 18 minute intermission. The goalies switch sides between each period. There are usually three TV timeouts during each period. 

If the game is tied at the end of regulation, there’s a short break, the goalies switch sides again, and then there is a 5 minute overtime period. It’s a sudden death overtime, meaning whoever scores first wins and over time is done. Also, overtime play during the regular season is three-on-three, which is always enjoyable. 

If there is no score during the overtime period, then you go to a shootout. This means one skater against the goalie, trying to score. The teams alternate and it goes a minimum of 3 skaters each, but if it’s still tied after 3 rounds it keeps going until someone wins. There have been shootouts up to 20 rounds long in recent memory. The teams went through pretty much their entire roster (most teams have their usual Shootout Guys who are good at that, they go first, but if it goes a long time you’re gonna be down to like Joe Defenseman who’s never done a shootout in his life).

During the playoffs, the overtime is a full 20 minute period (also sudden death) at normal five-on-five play and there is no shootout. You just keep playing until someone wins.

And that is how we play the hockey.

Standings in the NHL are determined not by win/loss record but by total points. Teams get two points for a win of any kind. You get zero points for a loss in regulation, but here’s the kicker - you get ONE point for a loss in overtime. Colloquially known as the “loser point” it’s like partial-credit for tying the game. So teams go to some lengths to tie games. Pulling your goalie so you get an extra attacker is a common strategy in the final minutes, which sometimes works but also frequently leads to the other team socring an empty-net goal - if the other team gets puck possession it’s fairly easy for them to shoot the puck all the way into the totally defenseless and open net. I mean, I get the idea - the worst that can happen is that you lose MORE - but I hate empty nets. It’s stressful.

So shoot me questions if you have any! I hope I didn’t miss anything important.

[throw-the-torch]

William Nylander - I’ve Been Waiting (Requested)

A/N: Enjoy guys!

Word Count: 1.3K

Warnings: None 

Request: Where your Alex best friend and you fall in love with William.

“You should just tell him you have feelings for him,” Alex said as he finished taping up his stick. You watched as he methodically checked over his job before looking towards his brother. Will was on the ice shooting the puck at an empty net waiting for his brother to hop on so they could do some drills together. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” you answered as you knelt down to tighten your skates. 

“Sure,” Alex said skeptically and rolled his eyes before kneeling down in front of you and swatting your hands away to finish tying your laces. Before you could say anything else you heard Will’s body slam against the boards in front of you. 

“Are we doing this today or next year lovebirds?” Will said with a laugh. Your cheeks heated up and you couldn’t hide the blush that had risen on your face. 

“You wish Y/N would let you this close to her” Alex said to his brother as he got up, now happy with your skates.  You watched as a look was exchanged between the two brothers, one that you couldn’t decipher. 

“Okay let’s get this over with,” you said and stood up. You grabbed one of Alex’s sticks that was resting behind the bench and jumped onto the ice. You were a little wobbly at first since it’s been a while since you skated. The Nylander family and your family had always been close growing up so you often took part in whatever drills the boys did together. Some of your favorite memories came from long days on the ice with them followed by hot chocolate and movies.

“Your legs are getting soft” Will laughed as caught you struggling. 

“Yeah well sitting in classes for months on end will do that to you,” you said as you took a test lap around the ice. 

“More like sitting on my couch will do that to you” Alex laughed and you responded by sending a puck flying his way. He easily took control of it and sent it towards the net. When Alex had moved you changed schools to follow your best friend. You had been roommates during the season which made his mom happy to know he had someone watching over him. 

“Alright boys lap time” you said taking on your fake stern coach stance and pulled your whistle from your pocket. 

“Didn’t we take away your whistle?” Will asked as he starting skating in a circle around you. 

“I’m an adult now and I can go out and buy them on my own,” you said and stuck your tongue out. 

“So much for adult” Will said with a wink before joining Alex in laps around the ice.

You guys stayed on the ice for a couple of hours, you helped out the guys whenever you could by feeding them the pucks but most of the time you just skated around them. You had figured out a long time ago that they liked having you around for the company more than for your hockey talents. 

“Is it hot chocolate time yet?” you whined from the bench. 

Alex looked at the clock before responding “yeah I’ve had enough for today and plus it’s my turn to pick the movie” he said and came towards the bench.

After a quick shower for the boys, you all headed back to the Nylander house where you guys would watch the movie.  

“Can I borrow a sweater?” you asked Alex once you guys were about to get settled.

“I left one of mine on the chair in the kitchen” Will cut in before Alex could answer.  

“Thanks I’ll be right back” you smiled and headed for the kitchen. Once you pulled the sweater on you couldn’t help but pull it up to your nose and let the smell of Will surround you.  If only he knew how much you cared about him. Sure Alex will always be your best friend but there was something about Will that you couldn’t shake, you had been falling for him for years. 

Once you got back to the living room you saw that Alex was taking up the single couch which left you the only option of squeezing next to Will on the loveseat. You had done this countless time before but now for some reason you felt nervous.

“Everything okay Y/N?” Alex asked. 

“Yeah sorry brain fart,” you said with a smile as you sat next to Will, pulling your knees up to your chest. 

“What are we watching?” Will asked as he gently laid one of his arms on the back of the couch so that it also wrapped around you slightly. 

“Oculus,” Alex said with a wicked grin.  

“I hate scary movies” you mumbled.

“I know” Alex answered with a big smile.  

“It’s okay Y/N, I’ll protect you from the monsters” Will laughed and pulled you closer to him as Alex started the movie.

There weren’t many monsters for Will to protect you from because it only took about 15 minutes into the movie before the three of you were snoring. You and Will must have both moved around in your sleep because when you woke up to the ending credits rolling on the screen, Will was laying on his back on the couch and you were tucked into his side with your head on his chest and his arm draped around you back. You were about to get up to head home when you felt Will’s arm tighten around you. 

“Don’t leave” Will whispered and when you looked up at him you couldn’t help but wonder how long he had been up. 

“I’m crushing you” you whispered back and took a peek to see the snoring Alex. 

“You’re fine,” Will said with a smile. 

“You sure?” you asked and Will nodded so you just laid your head back on his chest. You guys stayed there in silence for a while before Will spoke again. 

“Y/N I’ve got to tell you something” Will said “I like you, I like you a lot. I think I’ve been in love with you for a long time but I didn’t want to hurt you so I ignored it” He said leaned up to look at him. 

“Hurt me?” you whispered, 

“This life isn’t easy, this hockey life isn’t easy and I didn’t want to drag you into it” Will said as he moved a piece of your hair out of your face and tucked it behind your ear. 

“I’ve been in this hockey life for years already. I know how hard it is but I’m willing to deal with it because I love you” you smiled and looked at Will. You were so close to him that you could feel his breath on your face and you wanted so badly for him to lean forward and kiss you. You thought he was about to when Alex’s voice came over the both of you from the other couch. 

“About fucking time” Alex mumbled “I’ve been here fake sleeping for almost half an hour,” he said and got up from the couch with a stretch. “My work is done here,” he said with a wink as he walked towards the exit of the room. “Keep it safe kids,” he added before leaving and closing the door behind him. 

You just looked at Will before you both burst out in laughter. 

“Who knew Alex was so smart,” Will said with a laugh. 

“Stop talking and kiss me already,” you said and pulled at Will’s shirt to connect your lips.

[werenzki]

William Nylander #3

- read the rest of the parts for this imagine here -

Anonymous: can you write another william nylander imagine?

A/N: So this has been in my drafts for a while, and just recently these past couple days I’ve got so much motivation to keep writing this little story. So it will have several parts, and I hope you all enjoy :)

Word Count: 2,963

“It’s not fair,” you heard a voice say, “are we just supposed to ignore the fact the owners daughter is smoking hot?” With that you stopped dead in your tracks, leaning against the wall just before the dressing rooms, and decided to listen in on whatever conversation you were the topic of. 

“She’s obviously off limits, Willy,” you could recognize Naz’s voice. 

“Yeah but I wish she wasn’t,” Willy grumbled. 

“As if she’d be interested in you anyways,” Naz teased. 

Your cheeks heated up as you thought of just how interested you were in the new rookie. Years and years have gone by with your father owning the Toronto Maple Leafs, and plenty of cute boys had come and gone but none had quite grasped your attention like William Nylander did. Maybe it was his stupid blonde hair or how pretty his blue eyes were up close. 

“Shut up,” Willy said as Naz laughed. You rolled your eyes then and walked past the room, hoping the boys couldn’t see you, and went towards where you knew your father would be. 

“Hi sweetie,” your father smiled at you while welcoming you with open arms. 

“Hi daddy,” you smiled back while hugging him. “How’s your day going?“ You asked, looking off at the ice where the team was practicing.

“Good, done with my first half of meetings,” he stated, “second half is after practice," 

"So, why’d you call me to come meet you?” You asked, still glancing to the ice every once in a while. Standing beside the bench, you didn’t miss it as Willy and Naz made their way onto the ice. 

“Well, first I wanted you to sit in on the second half of my meetings,” he smiled. Your father knew you hated when he played this game. The ‘this team is going to be yours one day’ game when you’d shadow him throughout a day. “Also, I thought you could get on the ice too," 

"Not without you,” you countered back. 

“Yes, without me,” your father said. You sighed and crossed your arms at your chest. “You need to get more comfortable with the team, Y/N," 

"I’d rather you came into the ice with me, daddy,” you whined. 

“Go get your gear on,” he ordered while pointing off to the tunnel. You grumbled under your breath but did as he said, only getting there your own way by throwing your legs over the bar and jumping down to the tunnel. 

“Oh, hey Y/N,” Mitch Marner stood in the tunnel as you brushed yourself off. 

“Hey,” you smiled. 

“Whatcha doing?” He asked. 

“Whatever my dad tells me to, it seems," 

"Fair enough,” he chuckled as you rolled your eyes and then walked past him. 

You made your way through the back halls again, till you came up to your dad’s office. Inside a closet was your hockey gear. Which really just consisted of skates, socks, black adidas pants, an under amour t-shirt and a Leafs zip up windbreaker type jacket.

Once you locked the office door, you got changed and the sat in your dads chair while typing up your skates. Most days you didn’t even want to take the team from your dad, but you knew there wasn’t much way to get out of it, since you were an only child. Plus, there could be some positives, like right now you got to see Willy more than any other day. As you got to the end of the tunnel, you stopped up beside where your father stood and narrowed your eyes at him. He just smiled back at you and stuck his hands into his suit pants. 

“And what exactly am I doing on the ice?” You asked. 

“Show the boys that your not just some rich girl who’s dad owns the team, show them that you’re not just a pretty face,” he said. You wanted to laugh, but after hearing Willy earlier, he obviously had to be right in some context. 

You nodded and skated off the bench, gliding on the ice till you came to a stop beside Babcock. He was focused. His whistle in his mouth while he watched half of his forwards go through a drill of shooting on the teams backup goalie. It was only December, and you had yet to learn everyone’s names. 

“What are you doing out here?” Naz asked you as he came to a stop up beside you. 

“Watching,” you shrugged, “for now,” you added with a smirk. 

“You’ve played?” He questioned. 

“Of course she’s played, Naz,” Babcock said while dropped the whistle from his lips. “Her father has owned the team for 20 years, and before that he played for 20," 

"Well I knew that much,” Naz said, “guess I just didn’t expect her to play," 

"My father put me on skates the moment I could walk,” you stated. 

“Didn’t go professional though?”

“My family wanted me to get onto the business side of things,” you said. 

“Of course,” Naz nodded before getting back into the drill. As he finished shooting, you noticed him skate up to Willy and Kappy - whom were both staring your way. You chuckled and then skated back to the bench, going through the many sticks till one fit your liking. Of course it was Willy’s. 

“Can I shoot on Freddie?” You asked while skating around Babcock and getting a puck on your stick. 

“A few times, different angles,” he nodded and then turned away to focus on what the other half of his team was doing with the assistant coach. 

Freddie had fixed his mask and switched places with the backup. You didn’t miss the other boys who were watching you. Again, you only knew half them by name, but you knew ignored them all and skated towards Freddie. He got in position and you extended the stick all the way back and slapped the puck towards him. The hard shot went passed him, glove side, and hit the netting behind him. The boys cheered, most shocked, but you only chuckled and skated around the net back to the blue line. 

This time you went for a wrist shot, trying his glove side again, but he saved it without a problem. You frowned and set your brows together while trying to shot from a strange angle the next time, going five hole, and it went passed Freddie again. You smiled and continued to shot three more pucks to him. 

“Where did you learn to shot like that?” Willy asked as you stopped beside him. You played with a puck and smiled. 

“My dad,” you shrugged. 

“Well, it’s a good shot,” he smiled at you. You chuckled and leaned on the stick, that was his, while looking up at Willy. He still stood a few good inches over you even on skates. 

“Well, I decided you needed something else to ignore besides how smoking hot I am,“ you teased. Willy’s face dropped, his mouth gaped open while you only held back from chuckling again. 

“You heard that?” He asked. 

You nodded, “and not that it matters, since I’m so off limits, but Naz was wrong," 

"Wait,” Willy pounded what exactly you meant. You smirked and skated away then, taking a puck with you, which you turned to skate backwards and shot back at Willy. As he got your pass, it seemed what you meant came to him too. He returned the smirk and nodded. “Nice stick, by the way," 

"Thanks,” you smiled and then skated off towards the second half of the guys practicing. 

You showed them what you got too, before practice came to an end and the team gathered at centre ice. Standing off to the side with the assistant coaches, you leaned on your stick and kicked out your feet a bit, not really paying whatever Babcock had to say any attention. You were too busy looking at how NYLANDER looked in bold letters on the stick you held onto. 

“Y/N,” Babcock addressed you. You raised your eyebrows and then noticed the entire team was staring at you. “Did you want to say anything?” He asked, obviously repeating himself as a couple of the boys chuckled. 

“Good practice, keep it up, uh,” you paused and then shrugged, “hope I impressed at least some of you with my good old hockey skills,” you joked while pointing out a finger and smiling. 

“Alright,” Babcock chuckled at you and then addressed the team again. Just as he was finishing up, you decided to remind the team about the upcoming events at the end of this month. 

The boys had two games on the road just before New Years Eve and then their centennial classic was on New Years Day here in Toronto. Being the extra rich wife that your mother is, she had planned a big dinner for the team on the 30th, and then a party for the team on the 31st. Overall it was going to be a long 5 days for the boys. You simply reminded them to check their email closer to the end of the month again, and then everyone was dismissed. 

Just as you skated towards the bench with the boys, Mitch stopped and let you by just after Willy walked off the ice. You set his stick back on the rack and looked up to see Willy looking over his shoulder at you. A smile tugged on your smile as you walked down the hall and towards the dressing room with the team. It was times like today that you really wished you weren’t so off limits.

You were so busy with school that you didn’t get to catch any of the games till the final ones in the year. You flew on your families private jet down to watch the boys play in Tampa Bay. With your legs crossed, you were on your iPad looking at the last two games official NHL game summaries. You got an email with the links of coverage for every Leafs game, and you kept up with all over them between classes and finals too. And now, with a Christmas break in between, the boys were on the way to winning their fourth straight game on the road. 

“Can I get you anything else, Miss?” The flight attendant asked with a smile on her face. 

“No, thank you,” you smiled back and she nodded before walking off again. 

The flight was nearly over, the almost 3-hours had seemed to flown by - no pun intended. But you had mostly used the time to finish up one of your projects for a your course. While playing snapchat-tag with a few certain Leafs. You didn’t blame them, Tampa Bay hotels couldn’t be too fun and honestly your flight wasn’t much fun either. 

You stuck out your tongue and then selected Willy’s name on your best friends list before hitting send. He responded pretty instantly, the snap of him and Kappy with the dog filter on. You chuckled and slide through the filters before settling for the newest flower crown and puckering your lips at the front camera. Before you could see if Willy opened your snap or not, you got an incoming FaceTime call from your assistant. 

“Hey Sammy,” you said as her face took over your phone screen. You could see the roof of her car and her eyes on the bottom half of the screen. 

“Hey, I just got to your parents house, how many boxes do you think are going to be there?” She asked, regarding your most recent online-shopping spree. 

“Uh, maybe like four, why?” 

She lifted her phone up and her back seat came into view. Sitting there, like the good dog he is, was your boxer pup - Duke. You grinned immediately at him, wishing you were there with him. “I just got Duke to the vet, he’s all good, shots are now done,” 

“Yay, Dukey!” You grinned and with the sound of his nickname he moved forward quickly towards the phone. Sammy was quick to hold him back, keeping him out of her front seat, and then put the camera back onto her. 

“I’m just lacking room with Duke in the car now,” she stated out the obvious. Duke only had his first birthday just a couple months ago, although you celebrated on christmas since you got him as a gift last year, but he was getting bigger and bigger each day. 

“Well I just need to make sure the shoes from Steve Madden and my black sparkly top and high wasted trousers for new years are there too,” you exclaimed. New Years Eve was just around the corner now, and you were getting more excited as the time ticked on and your outfit came together.

“Good morning, Miss Y/L/N,” a low voice came over the speakers of the jet. 

“I’ve gotta go, Sammy, I’ll call you later!” You said while waving into the camera and then setting down your phone. 

“Ma’am, we have begun our descent to Tampa, Florida. The time is about quarter after nine in the morning and the current weather is 62 degrees. We will be in the gate in about twenty minutes. Thank you for flying with us, and we hope you enjoy your time here in sunny Florida,” the pilot said over the intercom. 

Once the plane had landed, you thanked the crew and looped your arm through your purse before fixing your jacket and descending the stairs. Waiting beside a black escalade was your father, dressed in his best suit, smiling at you till you were in his embrace. He rubbed your back and then held the door open as you two got into the back seat. You two fell into a casual conversation on the topic of your classes and how the flight was. 

“Y/N,” your fathers voice was suddenly stern as he spoke your name. You knew that tone, he meant business. You looked away from your phone, where you had just sent another selfie to Willy, and raised your eyebrows at him. 

“What?” You asked, sort of scared of what he had to say. 

“You’re not another Katz child, or whatever, you’re not to befriend the players. You are going to be in charge of the team one day, I don’t want you to be involved personally with any of those young men,” 

“Daddy, you can’t just say I can’t be their friend,” you sighed. 

“You’re their boss, Y/N,” he stated with his eyes narrowed, “you’ve been doing well, don’t go messing up my reputation now,” he said while looking out his window. 

You sighed again and looked out your own window. While biting down on your nails, you saw your phone light up with another snap from Willy. You wanted so desperately to open it, and see whatever silly face he had to share for ten seconds again, but instead you dismissed the notification and continued to look out the window at the city of Tampa Bay waking up. 

Amalie Arena was only filled with their few employees so early, except for the handful of men and woman who sat inside of the room with you and your father speaking business. Every once in a while you’d put in your input, otherwise you sat back in your seat and listened to the business men and woman say what they had to say. Next came a meeting with the accountant, well one of them, which you were welcome to skip out on in order to watch the teams practice. 

“Hey!” Kappy waved to you as you approached the dressing room, you nodded at him and kept a straight face. Your fathers words were still fresh in your mind, you weren’t allowed to be their friends. 

So instead of talking about how good the latest episode of Scandal was with Auston and Mitch, you stood beside Babcock and listen to his pre-talk before their practice. He went through a few changes that needed to be done. Then he looked to you and nodded. 

“I just wanted to say good job, you all have done really well so far on this road trip,” you said, “especially you, Freddie, great work last night,” you smiled - which he returned timidly. You looked back at the group and gave them a teasing sort of grin. “Keep it up and I’ll make sure my father doesn’t talk trades next month,” 

“Well, you heard her, boys,” Babcock broke the few chuckles and clapped his hands. “Lets get out on the ice,” he said and then walked out of the room. 

“You really know how to keep a guy on his feet,” Willy’s voice caused you to jump slightly, seeing as he snuck up on you. “Sorry,” he chuckled. 

You knew he meant the fact you had been flirting with him more lately, and not responding to his recent snaps, but instead of keeping this thing between you going, you decided to end it right here before your father caught sight of it. You crossed your arms at your chest and tilted your head at him. 

“Keep the point streak going, and you’ll be in our good books, Nylander,” you exclaimed before turning away and keeping it only business. 

But as you watched the boys practice, seated in the middle of the section behind the teams bench, you figured out just how hard it was going to be keeping this only business. As hard as you tried, you kept finding yourself watching Willy. You tried to stay focused on Freddie, but as Willy shot on him your eyes followed him. Shaking your head, you placed it in your hands and let out a deep breath. Why did you have to be so off freaking limits? Stupid.

[andrewuttaro]

New Look Sabres: GM 4 - MTL - Battleships

Montreal doesn’t get any hype in this introduction. You handed the Leafs their first loss of the season on Hockey Night in Canada over the weekend… *golf clap* … good for you. I got no love for you french speaking mother fuckers. Max Domi was a great acquisition last season, really shored up the shitty culture brand y’all are known for. Even with the must-have French name Jonathan Drouin isn’t safe from being chased out of town. Y’all can piss right off. Yeah, this postgame is going to be marked explicit if you didn’t gather that. These two teams have met 7 times in the Stanley Cup playoffs and the first time is where we find our Greatest Game Against brought to you by the Sabres 50th Anniversary season. April 10th, 1973 is the day Buffalo won their first overtime game and defeated the hated Habs 3-2 in Game 5 of the first round series off a Rene Robert goal. If you think I’m going a little too far back for the greatest game between these two teams then please, I invited you to grill me in the comments. What was a more significant game between these two franchises? There are plenty to choose from with the Habs. You’ll get more of them in the next games against the rivals from Montreal. Greatest Game Against will be a reoccurring segment this season as we celebrate 50 Years of our favorite NHL team. This game was bound to be a special teams battle. Both clubs are bottom right quadrant of the special teams graph. Sean Tierney calls that quadrant the fun one. That means both clubs get a lot of quality chances on the powerplay while giving up a lot of quality chances on the penalty kill. That kind of matchup means every time that whistle blows a penalty the game is about to see the most important stat change: the score. Either way this game was to be an early season test against a rival Buffalo is going to have to get ahead of this season to get a wildcard playoff spot come April. The test was as advertise and just like last year: a contentious battle to the very end.

The Buffalo Sabres came out swinging. Right away we got to see the game of special teams battleship unfold. Tomas Tatar got penalized for interference on Jake McCabe and off to the powerplay the home team was. The powerplay was hardly halfway over when Jeff Skinner kept the puck in the zone and passed it to Rasmus Dahlin who sauced it to Jack Eichel who got rid of it immediately across ice to Victor Olofsson who went top shelf to get his fourth goal in four games so far this season. He had some space too and you have to imagine as the other teams in these leagues realize he’s here those easy chances are going to start to disappear. Even after that goal the Sabres continued to exert their will. However now Montreal started stripping the puck more efficiently and pushing back. A tripping call went against Vladimir Sobotka and Buffalo went to another powerplay. This time however it was former Sabre Joel Armia who received the puck from Nate Thompson after a yucky neutral zone turnover. Similar to how Olofsson had scored somehow Armia had the space one-on-one with Hutton and put it in for the shorthanded tally. It was tied at one until Rasmus Dahlin got called for interference later on in the period and Montreal made him pay on their first powerplay. It was credited to Joel Armia again and so this first game of Conor Sheary’s absence feels like his spirit came to inhabit a former Sabre to get more players to score two goals against their former teams. In the first intermission though it didn’t feel like they were trailing as much as it felt like they weren’t leading. I suppose that’s an unimportant difference.

The second period showed just how narrow the difference between these two teams is at the moment. And once again it was special teams doing what we thought might happen. Tomas Tatar returned to the sin bin for slashing and Jack Eichel scored a nasty little dinger on the ensuing powerplay. That Montreal lead felt like it never existed, just the way we like it. It was a bounce back period and Buffalo managed to kill off a Habs powerplay through the midway of the game while guys like Vesey and Ristolainen, who looked a little rough in the first period, picked up their coverage. Then Montreal started to know they were getting pushed and began to fall back from the line on zone entries. Jeff Skinner and Rasmus Dahlin both took advantage of this situation and used it to test Keith Kincaid a lot. One of Dahlin’s shot dinged off a post and out. One of Jeff Skinner’s shots practically went in minus actually going into the net. The visitors were on the backfoot and so Captain Jack retook the lead for his team. He goes unassisted into the zone and shoots it through two and a half defenseman past Kincaid to go up 3-2 and get his second of the period and second of the game. The Sabres got the better of each of the meaningful statistical categories in that middle frame but what mattered would be the full 60 minutes in this important game. Let’s show em we’re a real team this season! Now it was time to see if the third period would be the prospering of or the doom of the New Sabres game-plan.

If the first forty minutes of this game was two battleships slugging it out, the third period was a whole ass, air and naval battle. My father-in-law is a big World War 2 buff. He’d call this the Battle of Midway. There are giant battleships getting blown up and aircraft dogfighting overhead; it’s at a point in the war when nobody knows whose necessarily better or who will win so it’s just brutal combat. This third period was chippy and bloody. It was the beautiful kind of hockey of tight plays and two ends of the ice. It was a track meet in the neutral zone and anyone who couldn’t transition *Cough* Dahlin *Cough* reversed the mad dash back into the other end. But it was less than a minute into the third frame when Jeff Skinner scored a very Jeff Skinner goal. Marcus Johansson strips the puck from the Habs on the blueline and gets it to the streaking Skinner who just does Kincaid dirty. He does a head-fake, he does a deke, he makes you hard cider spill, HE SCORES! Three goals in the first four games, a three-game scoring streak and who needs to be on the top line? Not Jeff Skinner! With that 4-2 goal coming a mere 47 seconds into the third period there was plenty of time left. Montreal didn’t lay down and die. Expect them to stand up and fight at every turn for the rest of the season. The wildcard race in this division is going to be an absolute slobber-knocker. The Habs had some zone time well the intercom was still announcing the Skinner goal and Joel Armia skated behind the net with the puck. He sees Jesperi Kotkaniemi somehow in the open looking at the stubble on Carter Hutton’s face. He gets it and sinks it, 4-3 Sabres still in the lead. Do note Kotkaniemi was picked after NHL Top 5 defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Nonetheless the frantic pace of third period carried on. Armia almost capped off a hat trick with a couple sneaky plays. Kyle Okposo was knocking at the door! Sabres killed a penalty, Habs keep fighting. Max Domi rides two Sabres into the zone like a rude MAGA Santa Claus and almost scores a goal. Philip Danault tries a deke. Victor Mete got a nasty look on the powerplay. The Sabres ended up out-chancing and outshooting the Habs 39-27 but at no point was the game leaning heavily either way. It was downright pandemonium and it didn’t take a powerplay for Ben Chiarot to record his first goal as a Canadien shooting through the woods at 12:54 of the third. Brutal, we’re tied 4-4 and for nine more minutes the chaos continued. Then Danault gets called for slashing Sam Reinhart with 35 seconds left in regulation. Don’t worry, it went to OT.

As much as I wanted to not give up a point to a divisional rival you’ll be fighting for months to come, it felt inevitable even before the last equalizer. That four on three powerplay edge was helpful in the brief overtime period. The Eichel-Reinhart-Johansson-Miller unit was the only one that saw time in the extra frame, and they didn’t really leave their offensive zone at any point. However the powerplay ended before Eichel takes a shot, it bounces off Kincaid and goes to Colin Miller who bounces it right across to Marcus Johansson who is already winding up by the time the puck reaches him. Kincaid wasn’t moving when the puck passed him. Goal. Overtime winner! Sabres win 5-4. The sweaty soldiers can now return home from war. This was not a flawless win. Dahlin was too cute in the neutral zone against a super aggressive Habs side and Vladimir Sobotka was back to his black hole self. But this win is an early season statement that the Buffalo Sabres are a competitive team this season. We’re not going to sit back and fade into the bottom ten again this season… well we hope. This is a message to the middle of this stacked Atlantic Division: we’re not going to be an easy win, especially not at Key Bank Center.

The growth of this team is accelerating. It’s still going to be a process, but you can see the meshing happening. They’re accentuating their positives and downplaying their negatives. That’s maturity slow but surely. Speaking of maturity, this New Look Sabres blog is your place to come and be immature… within reason, don’t be an ass clown. Like this blog, share it with your friend and leave a pugnacious comment. I love a good faith chat about the team I love. If you’re a Habs fan and read this far I think you really should comment. I want to hear your story, especially if you were one of the dozens of Canadiens jerseys in the arena tonight. This was fun, I hope Friday night we have this much fun again. Either way I hope you read again. And hell, if you want to come see my ugly face in person I recommend you come on down to Buffalo Riverworks downtown this Saturday from 5:30-10. It’s Buffalo Pod-a-thon III and if you can’t handle my whole thing, I’m not nearly as intense in person, then there are dozens of other Western New York Sports personalities there. Dinner is included with the price of admission so I think it will be a fun Saturday night! Until then Let’s Go Buffalo! Undefeated in regulation!

Thanks for Reading.

P.S. Lindy Ruff had a wonderful little feature for the 50th anniversary in the second intermission. It made me a little emotional. That guy is a Top Ten Sabre top to bottom no matter what you tell me. He deserved at least one of the three Cups he almost got the Sabres to.

[melaniepossible]

Melkka Part 2

By me 6/4/17-7/27/17 Previously on Kim Possible. The text. I'm you and you're me. Melanie: oh god no. The pregame skate. Tuukka: you're not doing so bad. Melanie: this is my first time playing hockey! I much rather play soccer! So much easier. Realizing tonight's the big game. Kim: do you think Melanie is ready? Tuukka: all we can do is hope. Now. The game is about to start. Patrice of the Boston Bruins skates up to center ice, facing off against team captain, Brick of the Middleton Mad Dogs. The whistle blows, the puck is dropped and the game starts. Melanie *watches the puck intently while trying not to get anxious*: oh god. Middleton takes possession and attempts to score but Melanie makes a big blocker save. Melanie looks up and sees a nod of approval from one of the defenders, still unsure who anyone is on the team. But of course that doesn't matter, what does matter is that she needs to stay on her game. Melanie: heh. This isn't so bad. She stays in position and watches the guys go in the offensive zone and attempt to score as well. Nothing. Watching carefully, she sees Ron skating down towards the defensive zone, open for a pass. Oh god. Can't let the idiot score. Another attempt to score gets knocked off as a defender blocks it. This player, she does remember. Thank you Adam. But Middleton once again regains possession and one of the dogs makes a pass to Ron. Melanie tries her best to block the shot but it goes in. Goal. Middleton strikes first. Ron: that's right. Uh huh uh huh *dances and heads to the bench to get fist pumps from his teammates*. Melanie *trying to stay composed*: dang it. In the stands. Kim: uh oh. Tuukka *a little frustrated*: Melanie needs to not overanalyze the play. That's what kills you. This isn't soccer. I know I told her that it's similar to it. Kim: it's only the first period. Melanie does tend to take things literally. But I'm sure it'll get better. She doesn't look too bad. Tuukka: I hope so. It's over halfway through the first period. Shots are even on both sides, Middleton still leading by one. Kim: Mel isn't doing too badly now. Tuukka: after that goal, it seems like she has regained composure. Middleton regains possession once again and is putting pressure on the Bruins. Clearly showing a different ray of life from their previous game, and showing signs that they aren't going down without a fight. Tuukka: oh my god. We look awful out there. What is going on? We usually look so much better out there. Kim: uh oh. Looks like Brick has the puck. They watch as Melanie makes a big stop. Tuukka: whew. I don't know what everyone was doing out there. Kim: we can breathe a sigh of relief though. I hope Melanie is holding up ok. I know this very difficult. Tuukka: just hope the guys snap out of this funk. The horn sounds and it's the end of the first period. Middleton leading in shots on goal, fifteen to eight as well as leading one nothing. Tuukka: that was awful. Kim: like I said. It'll probably get better. Tuukka: I hope so Kim. Though Middleton looks like a whole different team out there. Kim: Ron told me that Barkin really pushes them at practice. Tuukka: you can definitely see that. I just hope we don't get shut out at home. *leans forward and places his hands over his face*. Kim *pats him on the back*: I know. The second period is about to start. Both teams come out and head towards the opposite side of the ice. Kim: Melanie looks ready. Tuukka: I hope so. The boys better come out stronger. The puck is dropped and the whistle is blown. Kim: it looks like everyone is ready. Tuukka: well, it's still early to tell but yeah. They do look a lot better. Outside the arena and on the roof of TD Garden. Two voices can be heard. Voice: Junior. Are you sure this plan is gonna work? Junior: of course Shego. Melanie likes that goalie type person. Shego *rolls her eyes*: and what is this "goalie's" name. Junior *looks up the Boston Bruins team on his laptop and pulls up information about Tuukka*: here he is. This is the person. Shego looks and shakes her head. Shego *raises an eyebrow at his name*: Tuukka Rask? What the heck kind of a name is that and ugh. He's so weird looking. But then again, she must like weird looking guys. So what's the plan? Junior: we rid of him. Shego: and how do you suppose we do that? Ever thought of that? Junior: hey hey. Easy with the sarcasm. Shego *rolls her eyes, shakes her head and sarcastic*: probably haven't thought that far in advance. Junior ignores the comment. They carefully open an entrance and look down at the hockey game. Junior *points*: that must be him in net. Shego *sarcastic*: no really? Junior: listen. They could play the back up goalie you know. Back in the arena. Melanie starts to sense someone is nearby. Unsure who it might be at the moment, she places her gloved hand to her head and winces in pain. In the stands. Tuukka: oh my god. Not again! I hope Melanie is ok. Kim: I'm sure she just senses someone nearby. But then again. I'm not sure. Melanie tries her best not to get angry as she senses her sister is nearby. Melanie *under her breath*: Shego. One of the defensemen skate up to her. Torey: hey. You ok? Melanie: yeah I'm ok. Torey: you sure? Melanie *nods*: don't worry. I'm ok. *thinks: my god. He's so cute.* Torey: as long as you're sure. The puck gets knocked down to their end, Torey skates toward it and slaps it over to another teammate. Melanie watches as she recognizes Patrice and Brad are racing up the ice, going two on one. Eventually their passing pays off. Goal. Bruins tie things up. The horn sounds, their goal song comes on and the crowd breaks out in a huge cheer. Brad and Patrice skate back towards the bench and get fist pumps from everyone. In the stands. Tuukka *breaths a sigh of relief*: whew. Now let's hope Melanie is able to hold her own. Kim *looks at Melanie and sees her looking around*: she must sense her sister Shego nearby or something. Tuukka: Shego? Why would she be here? Kim *shrugs*: beats me. But did she tell you about her? Tuukka: I think so. On the ice. Melanie looks up and sees Shego carefully getting onto the Jumbotron. Glaring darkly, she prepares herself. Though she needs to stay focused on the game at hand, and not pay attention to Shego. Getting back into reality and within a split second, she is able to pull off a huge glove save despite being distracted for a few seconds. Adam: that was a close one. You seem distracted. Melanie: I'm ok. Really. Adam: the period is almost over. Just hang in there. Don't lose focus. The faceoff is in the defensive zone. Melanie watches intently, preparing to make another save if need be. I definitely don't wanna do this again. The Bruins win the faceoff and start to skate back towards the offensive zone. They look a lot better this period than the first. Melanie watches, unsure who's up there, and waits to see if one of the players score. Nothing. The score is still tied as the period draws to an end. Both teams are tied for shots on goal at twenty-two a piece. Melanie takes a final glance at the Jumbotron before heading back inside the locker room. In the stands. Tuukka: Melanie looked to be out of it but she did some pretty good saves. Kim: see. I told you. Tuukka: well. Just one more period. Let's hope things continue. Kim: it looked as if Mel was looking up at the Jumbotron quite a bit. Shego must be up there. They look up but don't see anything. Kim: hmm. That's weird. Tuukka: remind me again who Shego is? Kim: well. Long story short. Shego is Melanie's biological sister and is related to the brothers sitting behind us. She has powers just like her. Only Mel has more. Unfortunately, when Mel was growing up, Shego abandons her to go work for my arch foe, Drakken. Also, she hates her with a burning passion and has always plotted ways of destroying Mel. Sadly, she has finally accepted that Shego hates her. It took a while but it sunk in. It's really sad. Tuukka: well that. That is a lot. Kim: well there is a lot more to the story. Tuukka: you don't have to get into that. Kim: I hope Mel handles the last period ok. And not worry about Shego. I know it'll be tough but she's handling herself ok. Tuukka: I just hope we can get the lead. Otherwise the game would go into overtime and or worst case scenario, a shootout. And it's not an easy affair. Kim: doesn't sound like it. Especially the shootout. Tuukka: you know what that is don't you? Kim: not really. Tuukka takes the time to explain it to Kim. Kim: oh boy. I hope it doesn't get to that point. In the locker room. Melanie sits down and tilts her head back. Claude is going over the game plan for the final period. David P. *sits next to her*: hey. Melanie *looks over at him*: hi. David P.: you're doing great. Melanie *sighs*: this is something I definitely don't wanna be doing again. *takes off her blocker and glove, covers her face with her hands and tilts her head back* oh my god. David P. *short laugh*: nothing like soccer eh. Melanie *eyes widen, leans forward and shakes her head no*: nope. Not at all. The two listen to what the coach has to say. David P.: you'll be alright. He gets up, pats her on the shoulder and goes back to his spot on the bench. Anton walks over to her. Anton: hey. How's it going? Melanie *leans forward and covers her face with her hands again*: this is so difficult. Anton *pats her back*: you're fine. Just one more period. Just hope that it doesn't go into a shootout. Melanie *shoots straight up and looks at him with her eyes wide open*: s-shootout? Anton: yeah. Those aren't fun. But don't worry. That comes after OT if things are still tied. Melanie: huh? Anton: OT, you know, overtime. But you know what the shootout is right? Melanie: uh. I think so. He goes over what a shootout is. Anton: that make sense? Melanie *tries not to look confused with all that information being thrown at her*: oh man. That's a lot. Anton: basically, just hope that it doesn't come down to it. But I'm sure you'll be fine. Melanie: I hope so. Anton: heh. Feels so weird. Melanie: what you mean? Anton *shrugs*: almost looks like I'm giving advice to Tuukka. But really, it's just you. Melanie: I guess it is kinda funny. Anton: just stay calm. In the stands. Tuukka: well this is it Kim. Do or die time. Kim: is it already the start of the third period? Tuukka: well the teams are coming back out. Hopefully the boys have a huge third period push. We really need to keep a distance from Middleton. Kim: well. It would be nice if both teams got a point. Tuukka: you really wanna see Mel get put through more? Kim: I'm sure she can handle it. She has so far. Tuukka: I know but still. Once again, both teams switch sides and head to the area of the ice that they started out on from the first period. The puck is dropped for the third. Melanie tries her best not to let her sixth sense get the better of her. Knowing that Shego is nearby really puts added pressure on her. Why is she even here? Melanie quickly snaps out of her thoughts when she sees one of Middleton's players attempting a breakaway. Oh god no. She braces herself, waits patiently, grabs the puck and clutches it. The crowd breaks into a big cheer. She hears one of her teammates barely say, nice save. Looking up, she sees them nodding approvingly at her. Handing the puck to one of the referees, she watches intently as a faceoff is taking place to the right of her on the blue dot. Melanie *quietly talking to herself*: stay focused. You got this. She notices that Ron is on the ice and glares at him. Melanie *quiet whispers*: you're not scoring on me again. She positions herself and gets ready for the shot. Ron attempts to fake it but Melanie is able to make the save. Smirking, she keeps the puck in her possession. The whistle is blown to mark that the play is dead. She hands the puck over to the referee. Once again, the faceoff is back on the blue dot. I'm not going down. The puck is dropped and Middleton regains possession but one of the Bruins players makes a steal. Whew thank god. Once again, Melanie winces in pain. What the heck? She tries her hardest not to make a scene. Looking up, she sees another defensemen coming over to her. He's cute too. Brandon: you look like you're in pain Mel. Are you alright? Melanie *trying not to sound strained*: y-yeah. I'm. I'm ok. The captain skates over. Zdeno: just try not to think about whatever it is that is bothering you. Just focus on the game. That's all that matters. Melanie: ok. The two skate back into position, leaving Melanie still kind of in pain. She snaps back into position when she hears Brandon calling out to her that Middleton is coming. Oh god no. Not again. She tries her best to block the shot but unfortunately the puck just squeaks by her. Goal. Middleton regains the lead with over half the period to go. Shaking her head, she's clearly frustrated. She feels a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she sees David P.. David P.: you sure you're ok? Melanie: yeah. I hope so. David P. *places a hand on her shoulder*: we will tie things up. Don't you worry. It was just a bad goal, it happens. Just try to stay poised like Tuuks does and you'll be fine. We finally found our skating legs. Hah. I know it's kinda late but better late than never right? Melanie *short laugh*: yeah. True. She watches as the puck gets dropped in the defensive zone and sees one of the forwards take it up towards the offensive zone. Jeez. I wish I knew some of their names. This is difficult. As the clock winds down, Melanie overhears the announcer mentioning that there's only one minute left in the period. Oh come on guys! Please score! Let's tie this up. I don't wanna get blamed for a loss. Tuukka will be so mad. She notices that the first line is back onto the ice. With less than 15 seconds to go, the Bruins tie things up once again. Brad scores on a wraparound attempt to keep Boston alive. The goal sound goes off and their song comes on. Melanie notices what happened and she's overjoyed. Yes! Whew. Thank god. Brad goes over to the bench to get fist bumps from everyone. Then heads back onto the ice. She realizes, this isn't the time to fully celebrate. Middleton could strike back with a quick goal. She watches the faceoff intently as the puck stays in the offensive zone. The horn sounds and the period is over. The teams head back into their locker room to prepare for overtime. In the stands. Kim *notices Tuukka is on the edge of his seat and tries not to laugh*: hey it's ok. It's almost over. Tuukka *notices that she's trying not to laugh and sits back*: she's extremely lucky that we tied things up. And that she wasn't pulled for an extra skater. Cuz that does happen. Kim: will you relax? Tuukka *looks directly at her*: how the heck can I relax Kim? We are going into OT. And if it's still tied after that, there's going to be a shootout. Melanie doesn't need the added pressure. And with her sister nearby, things are gonna be even tougher. Kim: I'm sure Mel will handle it ok. She handled it fine. Despite that bad goal. Tuukka: I hope so. Kim: I know so. In the locker room. Melanie takes off her mask and collapses onto the bench. She looks up and notices a few of the players walking over to her. Melanie: uh hi? Patrice: how you holding up? Carlo and Krug told me you looked like you were in pain out there. Melanie *confused by the last names*: who? Patrice: I'm sorry. Brandon and Torey. Melanie: oh right. Right. Yeah I was but I'm ok. Patrice: you sure? Melanie: absolutely. Patrice: we don't want anything to happen to you. Brad: we will win. Don't worry. Melkka. *snickers*. Some of the other players snicker as well. But not in a mean way. Melanie *glares*: will you PLEASE stop calling me that! It's really starting to get annoying. Brad: heh. Relax. You'll be fine. Melanie: I hope so. She looks up and sees both Brandon and Torey looking at her concerned. Torey: I'm telling ya, she looked like she was in agony. Brandon: no I agree with you bro. She really did. They both walk over. Torey: you're not having a migraine, right? Melanie *thinks: I can't tell them I have a sixth sense and that I know my sister is nearby. I'll just say that I am and that it isn't too bad*: uh. Yeah. I felt the headache coming on but it went away. Brandon: but it looked as if you got it back again. You really shouldn't be messing around with those. Melanie: uhm. When I typically get headaches, they tend to come as quickly as they go. It's not like that all the time. But sometimes. Adam *walks over*: well as long as you're not having a migraine that's really intense, I'm sure you'll be fine. Tuuks tends to get migraines from time to time as well. That's why we're concerned for you. Your health is very important to us. David B.: we need you out there. Don't want anything to happen to you. Melanie: am I really doing well out there? David K.: absolutely. You're a natural. Melanie is baffled by all the encouragement from the players. She doesn't even know who's who but just goes along with what they're saying. Brad: just gotta hang in there for another five minutes. Melanie *shocked*: f-five minutes? Brad: you'll be fine. Don't focus on the shootout. You'll psych yourself out. And we definitely don't want that. We need the second point. But again. Don't focus on that. Just stay in the moment when we head out for OT and you'll be fine. In the stands. The overtime period is about to begin. The teams switch sides on the ice once again. Kim: looks like both teams are heading out now. Tuukka: yep. Here we go. Both teams got their single point like you wanted. Now it's up to the boys to go for the second. Kim: oh man. I can't see Mel's expression. Tuukka: they have to switch sides on the ice. Kim: well. I know that *nudges him*. Tuukka *shrugs*: just saying. But I'm sure she'll be fine. I hope the guys gave her a pep talk. The puck is dropped for overtime. Melanie prepares herself and tries not to focus on Shego being up on the Jumbotron. Every once in a while, she'll take a quick look but get back into game mood. I'm not letting these guys down. As Middleton regains possession, she prepares herself to make a save, but she notices one of the Millers stopped the puck and makes a pass to a teammate. Which Miller is he? God I'm so bad with names. Colin *skates over to her*: you look a lot more poised now than you did in the beginning Mel. Melanie: I. I do? Colin: heck yeah. Just continue what you're doing and we will definitely win this game. Melanie: sounds good to me. Colin skates back into position. Melanie watches intently as the puck goes back into the offensive zone. Unsure who's up there, she notices that Middleton's goalie makes a huge pad save. The faceoff is in the offensive zone, she notices that Patrice is taking it against Brick. To the side, she sees Ron. Definitely not gonna let those guys score on me. Heck no. Patrice wins the faceoff and makes a pass to Brad. He tries to do the wraparound like he did late in the third period but it doesn't connect. A kick save and one of the players takes the puck up towards the defensive zone. Uh oh. This is it Mel. Stay focused. You got this! The Middleton player picks up speed and attempts to score but Melanie comes up big and blocks the shot. In the stands. Kim: whew. That was close. Tuukka: oh I know. But she looks a lot better now than she did earlier. Kim: I notice that too. As the overtime period starts to wind down to the last minute, Melanie starts to get anxious. Oh god. Please. Someone score. I don't wanna go into the dreaded shootout. One of the Bruins attempt to score but it gets stopped, however the puck is loose. Melanie watches intently as Patrice takes the open pass and attempts to score. Goal! Patrice wins it for the black and gold in overtime. Three to two. The goal horn goes off, their song comes on and Melanie is overjoyed. Thank freaking god. Patrice skates over to the bench to get fist pumps from everyone. Middleton heads back into their locker room, clearly upset. Once that was done, all the guys skate over to Melanie and give her head taps and congratulate her. She smiles and tries not to blush when she sees Patrice making his way over to her. Patrice: great job. Melanie: th-thanks. Torey: see. You could do it. Melanie: I'm not doing that again. After the head taps, and before the Bruins head back into the locker room, Melanie hears Shego's voice calling out. Shego: hey! Tuukka! The guys turn around and see Shego on top of the Jumbotron. David B. *turning around*: who the heck is that? Frank *shrugs*: must know "Tuukka." Melanie turns around and glares at her. Shego: you must be the boy that my stupid sister likes. Heading back on the ice, Melanie gets ready to defend herself. In the stands. Kim: oh boy. Tuukka: what? Kim: I bet Shego is gonna stir up trouble. They both watch intently. Melanie *glares and gets combat ready with her hockey stick in hand*: come at me. Shego throws a rope down, climbs down, and carefully spins around on the ice. She presses a button, skates over to Melanie and activates her plasma hands. Melanie glares and gets ready to fight. Shego: prepare to lose big boy. I'm taking you out! She starts to fling her plasma but Melanie starts to twirl her hockey stick, deflecting it. The rest of the team turn around and watch what's unfolding in front of them. David P.: oh snap! This is gonna be awesome. The boys get back on the bench and watch as Melanie and Shego square off against one another. Melanie skates away and does a few handsprings to avoid her. Shego: what are you? A coward? Heh. No wonder why she likes you. Pathetic. Just like her. She skates towards her, starts throwing punches and kicks but Melanie blocks them with her padding. Somehow Shego rips off her mask and sends it flying towards the Bruins bench. After some time, Melanie does a backflip and knocks Shego into the other net. She stands straight up, glares at her, and feels victorious. Suddenly, she feels all eyes on her. Shego *calls out and slowly getting up*: this isn't over! Melanie *looks up and around*: oh snap. She quickly skates back towards the bench, grabs her mask and goes inside in the tunnel. In the stands. Kim: are you ok? Tuukka: are you kidding me? Now everyone's gonna expect me to do all that as well as make an entrance. Kim *whispers*: you can kinda tell she was using her powers. Tuukka: using them or not, people are gonna think I can naturally do all this. In the locker room. As Melanie enters, she overhears what Brad is exclaiming. Brad: holy crap guys. Did you see that!!! That was freakin sick!! David P.: we all saw it Brad. Brad: that was totally epic! Melanie blushes as she sits down, sets her mask down, and takes off her glove and blocker. He walks up to her and slaps her back. Melanie: ow! What was that for? Brad: that was awesome! Melanie: you didn't have to hit me. David K.: heh. I wonder what Tuuks thinks of all this. Matt: oh I know right. Haha. Riley: heh. He should be fine. Ryan *claps*: great fight. Melanie *places a hand to her face*: he's gonna kill me. Noel: kill you? Why? You didn't do anything. Melanie: did you not see what I did? I beat up my sister on the ice and made entrances. Tim: so *tries not to laugh*. He might be ok with it. Brandon: yeah. Don't worry about it. The guy just adores you anyways. Melanie blushes a lot more. Brandon: hey. No need to blush. It's so obvious he does. Torey: can't rule out Dobby. Haha. We all know how he feels about you too. Anton walks back into the room. Anton: what did I do? Torey: just say yes. Anton: for what? Torey: just say it. Anton: I'm not agreeing to anything unless you tell me. Not falling for that again. Torey: you love Melanie don't you. He turns a little red but tries to hide it. Anton: well. Love is a strong word. I'd say just like for now. Melanie: ugh. I just wanna be back to normal! Patrice *sits beside her*: I bet you do. But you did great. I'm proud of you. Melanie *looks at him and smiles*: really? Patrice: really. Outside the arena, Kim and Tuukka wait outside for Melanie in a place they know she'll find them. Tuukka: I really can't wait to be back to normal. Kim: awww you don't wanna do anymore entrances. Tuukka *waves his arms and shakes his head no*: no way thank you. Kim *looks up*: there she is! They see Melanie walking out, clearly relieved that the game is over. Kim: great job Mel! Melanie *big sigh of relief*: thank god. She cautiously looks at Tuukka and anxiously waits to hear what he has to say. Tuukka: I'm not gonna yell at you. But I am very proud of you. I admit, I was really starting to get worried about you. But you did it. Melanie looks away and blushes shyly. Melanie: thanks. Not long after, something happens and Melanie and Tuukka are back to normal. Melanie *startled and looks all around*: I think I'm me again! Tuukka *smiles and is clearly happy*: me too. Yes!! Thank god! Kim: glad that's over with. A brief awkward silence fills the air. Kim: sooooo what happens now? Tuukka: I don't know. Melanie: can probably head back to the room. Unless you have to go somewhere. Tuukka *shrugs*: I'll tag along. Why not. Melanie starts to walk ahead, completely relieved that everything is back to normal. Kim walks beside Tuukka, as the two fall behind. Kim: soooo you must be happy to be your old self again. Tuukka: I am. That was. Quite the experience. Kim: exactly what it was. *looks at him* I notice that Mel must like you too. Tuukka: I think so. Hehe. I like seeing her blush. Kim: it's something you don't see her do all that often. Tuukka: oh really? Kim: yeah. Mel's not the type that blushes or acts super girly. Tuukka *smiles*: I notice. She's perfect just the way she is. Melanie *calls out*: hey slowpokes! You coming!? Kim *yells back*: yes we are! The two chase after her and have an adventure before it's time to say good bye. Back at the hotel. Melanie: you have to go? Tuukka: yeah I have to go. Melanie *sad*: sad sad. Tuukka: awww don't be sad. *places a hand to her cheek and gently kisses her forehead* you'll see me again. Melanie *blushes but still sad*: I hope so. Tuukka *smirk*: you will. We do have another game against Middleton. But that's about a month away. Melanie *really sad*: awww. Tuukka: I'll be in touch. Don't worry. And I'm sure the guys will be too. Anyways, I gotta head back and I'm sure I'm gonna hear a lot about the entrances and the fighting and other stuff too. *takes her hand and kisses it too*. But. Take care Melanie. Melanie *blushes*: y-you too. Tuukka: there's practice tomorrow, so if you want, you can come by the arena and say bye to the guys before you and Kim leave. Kim *smirks*: I'm sure Mel would love that. Melanie *smiles*: I. I would. I'd like to thank them again. Tuukka *smiles*: I love your smile. *nods to the two of them* I'll see you two tomorrow. Have a good night. Melanie: let me know when you're home safe! Tuukka *chuckles*: I will. Good night. Kim and Melanie: night. They watch him leave and then close the door once he is out of sight. Kim: soooo tell me about it Mel. Melanie *collapses in chair*: that was really exhausting. Kim sits down and listens to what Melanie says as the scene zooms out. THE END