#maybe some players will not want to play in Toronto because the pressure is so insane & the fanbase can be so toxic!

[honourablepranksinatra]

Maple Leafs discourse on their team social medias makes me lose brain cells because wdym they're first in their division and coming off a 5 game win streak & people are commenting that the top players are only in it for the money and have no drive, that particular players are useless and need to be traded asap, that they're a garbage team, that they'll never make it past the first round just because they lost one game.

Apparently because they are being payed handsomely the players must be mindless automatons who perform perfectly every night. It drives me absolutely nuts how quickly alleged fans will completely turn on their own team.

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 32

A/N: Another ‘friend’ of ours makes an appearance in this chapter (unfortunately for me lmao)

August 2nd, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was as prepared as she could be for Game 1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.  

Scotiabank Arena was freezing – more freezing than normal – because of the three-games-a-day and all the hockey being played.  She knew the players and team personnel would complain if the ice was crap (apparently they could tell, though it beat the shit out of her how they could tell), and of course Scotiabank Arena, and the Leafs in general, wanted to make an excellent impression.  They were the centre of the hockey world, so Aberdeen knew they could pull it off.  It just didn’t help that it was August and it felt like early November indoors.

She joined Brendan and Kyle in their usual box – luckily they didn’t have to give that up.  The team was taking their pre-game skate below and Aberdeen watched as William shot pucks towards Freddie in the net, sneaking one past him before skating around their perimeter of the rink a few times.  On the other side of the ice, the Columbus Blue Jackets were doing the exact same thing, though she barely knew or recognized a soul on the team.  One of them could walk by her in the arena and she wouldn’t know better.  

“How do you think it’s gonna go?” Brendan asked from six feet away from her, his black mask covering his face.

Aberdeen shrugged her shoulders.  “You should stop asking me these questions, Brendan.  I know nothing about hockey.”

“That may be,” he said, not letting up, “but you know the boys, on a level far superior than your knowledge of hockey.  So what do you say?”

Aberdeen thought about it.  She knew them on a personal level, but that didn’t matter at all – at least she didn’t think it mattered – when it came to a playoff game.  She knew how much pressure the guys were under.  She also knew that they were still adjusting to the bubble life and how weird everything was.  Make no mistake – they were being taken care of exceptionally well by the staff at the Royal York Hotel, and Aberdeen made sure she said a loud thank you to every worker she came across and interacted with.  She heard every single one of the guys do the exact same thing.  But she didn’t know how that would translate into a hockey game.  They were two different things.  They were to different entities that she had no idea how to join together.  

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, her voice soft.  “When you ask me these questions, I feel like you want me to be Nostradamus or something.  What if I said they were going to lose 2-0?”

“I’d believe you,” Brendan shrugged.

***

The Leafs lost 2-0.

“C’mon Nostradamus,” Brendan said as he packed up his clipboard and tucked it under his arm.  “The social media posts can wait.  You need to go mediate the post-game interviews and press calls.”

Aberdeen packed up her iPad after she rolled her eyes.  She shouldn’t have said anything.  She should have responded ‘They’re going to win 5-0!’ the first time he ever asked her that question and kept that answer throughout the entire season.  She followed six feet behind Kyle, who was in turn six feet behind Brendan, as they made their way to the locker room.  By the time they got there, Sheldon was nearing the end of his post-game speech.  Most of the guys were half undressed – at least at the top – and a few of them were shoving off their elbow pads and chucking their tape from their socks into the bins.  They all looked irritated.  

She made her way into the media room and set up the Zoom call where a bunch of reporters joined.  Morgan and Auston walked into the room, and she quickly typed in the chat which players were there so they could organize their questions accordingly.  Morgan and Auston sat down in their chairs.  

“Is Steve on the call?” Auston asked suddenly while Aberdeen was adjusting the camera.

“Uh, yeah.  Why?” she asked.

Auston pursed his lips together and shrugged it off.  

The interviews were going fine.  She hated hearing the sound of her own voice on recordings but she knew she’d have to suck it up for the sake of the media call.  She called on each reporter by name.  The boys answered their questions.  It was all very routine.  

“Steve Simmons from the Toronto Sun,” Aberdeen called out.  She waited, and while waiting, she saw Morgan’s and Auston’s demeanour completely change.  

“Uhhh, Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun for Auston – it’s one thing to hear about how tight they play, and to even watch the films of how tight they play.  What was it like to experience it?”

Auston took the lead.  “Uh, well I mean first of all, it’s unfortunate that I’mn getting a question from you at this point, Steve, but I just wanted to say I didn’t really appreciate the article you wrote about me a couple months ago.  I thought, uh, it was very unethical to be honest, but…uh, moving along…”

Aberdeen didn’t hear the rest of his answer.  Truthfully, she didn’t care.  All she could feel was a burning sensation shooting up her spine at Auston’s words.  He did it.  He called out Steve Simmons, the most annoying reporter known to mankind.  

She smirked.

***

After the media interviews, Aberdeen found a quiet space and took out her iPad again to post the final score graphic to the team’s Instagram page.  As she finished typing the caption – ‘Battled hard.  Back at it on Tuesday.’ – she heard some fairly loud footsteps behind her before they stopped.  “A girl?” a voice from behind her said.

She didn’t recognize it – and it wasn’t like anybody from the team would refer to her as “a girl” – so she furrowed her brows and turned around.  She saw what had to be a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets staring at her.  She couldn’t see it, but she automatically knew from the way he was standing and the energy he gave off that he was smirking smugly underneath his mask.  “Yeah, we exist,” she shot him a look, not ready to take any bullshit from him or anybody else.  The way these men thought she was a complete novelty astounded her.  “Have you never seen one of us before?”

“So Barzy was right,” the man continued.  “The Leafs have a girl in their bubble.  Incredible.”

Aberdeen could tell by the way he said and emphasized girl that this conversation – if you could call it that – was gonna be a doozy.  The guy was huge but didn’t look any older than she was, so she knew she would be able to put him in his place.  “What are you even doing in this hallway?  You’re not supposed to be on this side,” she said sternly.  “I suggest you leave and go back to your area of the arena unless you want me to complain to the NHL that your breaching protocol.”

From the very end of the hallway, another figure walked by, stopping at the gap when he apparently found who he was looking for.  Aberdeen could at least recognize him – John Tortorella, the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets.  “Pierre, what the fuck are you doing there?  Come on, we gotta go.”

The man, named Pierre, gave Aberdeen a smoldering look.  She rolled her eyes.  “Must have taken a wrong turn,” he said, loud enough so John would hear.

Dead set on not taking any bullshit, and just really, really wanting to put this guy in his place, Aberdeen didn’t let up.  “Perhaps you should remind Pierre of how to speak to the staff of another NHL team,” she said sternly.  Both men were too far away to notice how red she was getting, but she could see Pierre whip his head to look at her and his eyes go wide in shock.  “And perhaps he should read another copy of the social distancing and bubble protocols tonight in his bedroom so he doesn’t make this unfortunate decision again,” she said, deliberately using ‘decision’ instead of ‘mistake’, because she fucking knew this was no mistake.  She wondered what other rumours were swirling in the Royal York about a girl being in the Leafs bubble.  

Pierre scurried to the end of the hallway.  From her spot, she could hear John chuckle.  “You must be the Aberdeen Bloom I’ve only ever heard good things about,” he said.  “Keep it up.  I might ask you to take my place to keep the boys in line.”

She couldn’t help but smile.  Pierre took one last look between his coach and ‘the girl’.  “I could take ‘em,” Aberdeen commented, getting a nod from John before he and Pierre disappeared.  

She let out a breath.  

***

After the team got back to the hotel, picked up their pre-packaged dinner, and settled into their rooms, Aberdeen showered and changed.  She sat at the desk where she put the meal and took out her phone.  She sent some quick texts to her parents, Siena, and Camden before bringing up William’s name.

U up?

lmao minskatt isnt that what i should be saying to u *wink emoji*

Do you want to eat dinner together?

of course

I’m ready whenever you are babe

She waited for him to start the call.  Not even two minutes later, her phone began to ring and “Head Empty” flashed across the screen.  She accepted the FaceTime call almost immediately.  When it connected and he appeared on her screen, walking in his hotel room with his bathrobe on and his hair wet and tied back, she smiled.  “Hi.”

“Hi minskatt,” he said, his voice low.  She watched as he put a pair of headphones on.  “That’s better.”

Hers were already in.  “I’m sorry about the game tonight,” she said, perching her phone on a high point on the desk.  “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

He shrugged.  “Not really.  At least, not right now,” he said, putting his phone down too.  “Maybe later.  Like, after we have dinner.”

“Promise me we will.”

“I promise,” he said, looking into the phone.  He knew she would want him to talk about it, and he made her a promise all those months ago.  He would never break it.  “Right now I just want to have dinner over FaceTime with my girlfriend even though we’re less than fifty feet away from each other.”

Aberdeen chuckled, if only because she agreed wholeheartedly that this whole thing was ridiculous.  The tone of William’s voice made her know that he thought it completely ridiculous too.  “It’s hard.  I know.  At least we get free food,” she held up a forkful of the marinated chicken breast.  “And good food.  It’s not like it’s airplane food.”

William smiled slightly.  “First thing I do when we get out of here is bring you to Canoe or Ardo or Miku and splurge on every meal they have on the menu,” he said.  

“Sounds good to me.  Maybe by then I’ll have a new job to celebrate, anyway.”

“How’s the article coming along?” he asked.

“Fine,” she said.  She’s started in the other day and already had about 1500 words worth of material.  She figured the best way to go about it was keep a sort of diary every day and then edit it down when she could.  “Might talk about how fucking awkward you hockey boys are these days with women.”

“I’m excluded from that, right?” he asked.  “I mean, I totally swept you off your feet when we first met.”

She couldn’t help but smile.  “You did.”

***

August 3rd, 2020

Aberdeen accompanied the team to one of the workout facilities just so she could catch a glimpse of sone sunshine on the day off.  Instead of working out, she sat on the sidelines of where all the equipment was and the boys worked out, furiously typing away on her personal laptop.  Every so often when she’d glance up, she’d see Morgan’s thighs almost ripping through his shorts as he did some lunges; she’d see Auston’s biceps almost bursting through his sleeves as he lifted weights above his head; she’d see William’s thick torso exposed as his shirt rode up from him throwing a heavy medicine ball above his head.  

A million girls in this city would kill her to be in her position.

And here she was, writing 10,000 words about them instead of ogling them.  Well, everyone except her secret boyfriend.

***

August 4th, 2020

Game 2.  

Aberdeen was confident that the boys would respond to Columbus’s win in Game 1.  She could tell in their energy throughout the day and in the arena they were ready and they were ready to win.  

“Hey Nostradamus,” Brendan called out, winking.  Aberdeen saw Kyle chuckle from behind his mask.  “What’s the score gonna be?”

“Oh shut it,” she shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest and smirking to herself.  Except she couldn’t hold her tongue.  “3-0, but this time for us.”

“I believe her!” Kyle piped up.  

Brendan snorted.  “Who’s placing bets?!”

The bell rang and everybody settled down to stand for the anthem.  As the game got underway, Aberdeen could feel rushes of electricity move up her spine every time the Leafs touched the puck.  They were playing phenomenally.  They looked focused, into it, and like a complete team.  It was a night and day difference from Game 1.  Though the first period didn’t have any goals, Aberdeen knew they’d be coming – for the Leafs only.

In the second period Auston scored and Aberdeen jumped out of her seat to celebrate.  And when John scored late in the third period to get a two goal lead, she was even happier.  

Then, with less than two minutes left, disaster hit.  

It was a play behind the net.  Pierre Luc Dubois – the guy from the other day, Aberdeen had learned – basically cross-checked Jake Muzzin, and Jake fell awkwardly, trying to break it, with his head hitting a Blue Jackets player’s leg.  He fell to the ice.  

He wasn’t getting up.  And the referee hadn’t blown the whistle.  

Those fuckers.

“BLOW THE FUCKING WHISTLE!!!” Aberdeen screamed at the top of her lungs, startling Brendan and Kyle.  Her face was turning red.  She was sure she’d been so loud the referee actually heard her, because he finally blew it.  Jake was having a hard time getting up, and then he lay back down.  One of the trainers immediately made his way onto the ice, rushing towards Jake.

The replays began to play from every angle, and Aberdeen watched on the TV screen in the box how his head and neck contorted once he hit the player’s thigh.  She had tears in her eyes as she watched the worst angles.  She looked back out onto the ice to see Jake still lying there.  The trainer was still with him, though more were making their way onto the ice now.  Then, she saw one of the trainers put his hands near Jake’s neck.  They called for a stretcher.  

She bolted out of her seat.

“Aberdeen!” she could hear Brendan call out after her, but she didn’t listen.  She didn’t turn around.  She hurried down to ice level, her mind running a mile a minute, and flashed her credentials to anyone and everyone she needed to, not bothering to stop so they could actually see them.  

By the time she got to ice level, she could hear the distant sound of sticks tapping, letting her know he was being stretched off.  She met all the trainers and the stretcher at the entrance.  “Jake?!” she asked frantically.  

“Aberdeen?” he asked.  

“Are you okay?  Did you break your neck?!”

“I didn’t break my neck.  I can feel my arms and legs,” he said.  Aberdeen let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding in.  “Did it look scary?”

“Is that a joke?” she asked.  “I ran down here the second they called for the stretcher.”

“We’re going to take him to the hospital.  He’s going to have to leave the bubble,” the head trainer informed Aberdeen.  “You need to tell Brendan and Kyle.  Then update us on the protocol of what it will take to get him back into the hotel.”

Before she could acknowledge what was just said, Jake spoke up again.  “Aberdeen?”

“Yeah Jake?”

“You need to call Courtney for me.  Tell her I’m okay,” he said.  “She’s probably worried sick.”

Aberdeen’s heart sunk into her stomach.  Courtney.  “Yeah yeah, of course—”

“—You have her number, right—”

“—We really need to get him to the hospital—”

“—Yeah, I have her number—”

“—Call Courtney, please,” were Jake’s last words before he was stretchered off.

Aberdeen watched until they were out of her line of sight.  For a few moments, the images of what just happened flashed through her mind, and she momentarily forgot about everything.  She felt sick to her stomach.  Jake said he felt okay, but she knew hockey players always just said that.  Morgan had been playing injured for the better part of the year until he actually got injured.  High sticks to the face, lost teeth, blood drawn – these guys just put a bandaid on it and said they were fine.  But this was different.  

When Courtney’s face crossed her mind, she jolted back to life and grabbed her phone out of her pocket, scrolling until she found Courtney’s number.  The phone didn’t even have to ring twice.  “Aberdeen?!” she asked frantically.  “How’s Jake?”

“Hey Court—he’s okay—”

“He’s okay?!”

“Well, they’re bringing him to the hospital right now,” she said.  “But I was able to talk to him because I rushed down to ice level and he told me he was fine and to call you.”

“So you—you were able to talk to him,” Courtney said, her voice much calmer than just moments before.  “You saw him?”

“Yes.  He told me he could move his arms and legs,” Aberdeen informed her.

“Okay.  Okay.  Does that mean he has to leave the bubble though?  I mean can I go visit him?”

Aberdeen cringed.  “I don’t think so,” she said.  As she did, she could hear Luna being fussy in the background and Courtney trying to calm her.  “The NHL has an agreement with Toronto General about potential injuries.  If everything is okay and he comes back into the bubble, all he has to do is pass three negative tests,” she explained, listening to Luna get even fussier.  

“Okay.  Alright.  But they’ll call me, right?”

“Absolutely.  I’m sure Jake will even be able to call you from the hospital.  Our trainers all have their phones on them.”

“Thanks Aberdeen,” Courtney said, and Aberdeen could hear the relief in her voice.  She knew all Courtney wanted was to hear from her husband.  Luna let out a loud cry.  “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye Court,” Aberdeen ended the call.  

Families.  So many of them had families.  So many of them had families that were suffering and making do with a prolonged absence and Aberdeen couldn’t take it.  The players were sacrificing so much to be in the bubble.  And their families were sacrificing so much letting them go into the bubble.  She knew most of them had money – to cope, to do whatever, really – but that didn’t compensate for presence.  That didn’t compensate for having daddy around to play and snuggle with.  

She began to cry as she found herself walking towards the locker room, not even knowing whether or not the game had ended.  She didn’t really care at this point.  All she could think about was Courtney and Luna at home, worrying about Jake as he was being taken to the hospital.  To Aberdeen, nothing else mattered right now.  

She heard some commotion from the locker room and she knew the boys were back in.  She didn’t know how long they’d been back for, and didn’t bother to peek in to see.  She didn’t want to when her eyes were still red and welling up with tears.  Instead, she hid herself around a corner, crouching down with her knees against her chest, wiping at her eyes every so often and trying to control her emotions before having to go in, or getting called by Brendan, or by Kyle, or—

“There you are.”

Well, so much for that.

She looked up from her crouched position and saw Jason looking down at her.  He wasn’t completely undressed – he had all his UnderArmour on – but he was still sweaty from the game and his hair was matted against his head.  She wiped her eyes one last time before getting up.  “Hi.”

“Did you see Jake?”

She nodded.  “He’s okay.  He can feel and move his arms and legs or whatever.”

“Why are you crying?”

She knew he wasn’t asking to be insolent, but did she really have to have to spell it out for him?  “Don’t tell me you’re immune to this shit,” she said.  “I just had to call Courtney and explain to her that her husband didn’t break his neck and end his God damn career.  Luna was crying in the background.  It’s a lot, okay?”

Jason nodded his head.  “I know it is.  I’m not trying to…fuck, I know that came out wrong.  He’s gonna be okay, Aberdeen.”

“Thanks.”

“Come on, Aberdeen,” he said soothingly.  “It’s gonna be okay.”

She shook her head, wiping away the last of her tears.  “I know.  I’m just being a big baby.”

“No you’re not,” Jason said.  “You’re not being a big baby.  You’re being a human being.  Someone you cared about got hurt.  Do you want to talk about it when you get back to the hotel?” he asked.

She considered it for only half a second before she shook her head.  “No.  I know you call your girls every night.  I can’t take time away from them.”

“Aberdeen—”

“I’ll be okay,” she asserted.  “I promise.  I’ll be okay.”

“Aberdeen!” Kyle’s voice suddenly called out.  He rushed towards her with his phone in his hand.  “They took him to the hospital, right?”

“Yeah,” she nodded her head, trying to steady her voice and make it seem as professional as possible.  “He’s technically left the bubble, so we have to update the trainers on protocol to get him back into the hotel and how—”

“I’ll handle that with Brendan and Josh,” he interrupted.  “But he was okay?”

“He could feel his arms and legs.  That’s what he told me.  Then he asked me to call Courtney and I did that.”

Kyle nodded his head, looking – really looking – at Aberdeen for the first time in their conversation.  “Were you crying?”

“I’m going to be fine,” was all she said.  

***

“I’m going to come to your room,” William said through the phone in a strained voice.

“Don’t you dare,” Aberdeen chastised him, a new batch of tears having fallen down her face as she lay in bed.  “Don’t you even think about leaving your room, William.”

“Aberdeen, you need me and I need to be with you right now—”

“And you need to stay in your room so you don’t get kicked out of the bubble,” she said sternly.  “I’m being serious, Will.  Don’t come over.”

She watched as he bit his lip and shook his head.  She could see all over his face how conflicted he was.  It was one of the things she loved most about him – to the world, he seemed cool and unemotional and that he didn’t really care about anything or take anything too seriously, but to her, he was the entire range of emotions in one conversation.  He had a heart full of gold and she knew it would always stay that way.  “This is killing me, minskatt,” he whispered, his voice defeated.  “I want to be there for you when you need me.  Always.  I mean…you need me, right?”

Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.  She didn’t know where this was coming from, but like some things with William, she felt like it was something that had been on his mind for a while and was only letting out now.  He was still learning to talk to her about his feelings.  He was keeping his promise from February, so she could appreciate that.  “Of course I need you,” she said softly.  “I’ll always need you like you need me.  We’re in this together.  You know that.  But you need to be on this team right now.  You need to help them fight.  This isn’t about me.  It’s about the team.”

“It’s always about you,” William said.  “You still don’t get it, do you?  It’s always about you.”

“Don’t make it about me right now, Willy.  It’s not about me.  It’s about Jake, and the team,” she paused for dramatic effect.  “Make it about me later,” she added, trying to be humourous.

It garnered a small smile from him, and she felt proud of herself.  “I love you, minskatt.”

“I love you too Willy.  Promise me you’ll get some sleep?”

He nodded slightly.  “I promise.”

***

Aberdeen’s iPhone was still in her hands as she woke again from its vibrations.  She jumped at the sensation of being awoken in the middle of the night.  If it was Willy calling her at three in the morning, she was gonna kill him.  

“Hello?” her voice was groggy.

The voice on the other end was not William’s.  “I lived, bitch.”  

***

August 6th, 2020

It wouldn’t be a Toronto Maple Leafs series without some drama, apparently.  And the drama tonight was how the team blew a 3-0 lead, allowing the Columbus Blue Jackets to win 4-3 in overtime, with Pierre-Luc Dubois scoring a hattrick.  That meant the Columbus Blue Jackets were now up 2-1 in the series.

It meant the Leafs could go home tomorrow.

Aberdeen tried not to think about it.  

She didn’t bring it up with anybody as they went back to the hotel, and she knew, judging by the looks on their faces, that they didn’t want to hear about it either.  Nobody would be turning on their TVs tonight, and she doubted they would check the news on their phones, either.  Maybe they’d play video games to take their minds off of it.  Or maybe they’d go right to bed and rest, since they had to do all of this again in less than 24 hours.  Fuck.

Aberdeen took a shower.  She washed her face.  She did her skincare.  She put on a sheetmask.  

Her phone rang.

She knew it was William, so she tucked herself into bed and accepted the FaceTime call.  When he realized that she had a sheetmask on, a smile broke out on his face from ear to ear.  “Nice sheetmask,” he said, biting his bottom lip.

She smiled cheekily and shrugged her shoulders.  “You’re used to it by now.  Shouldn’t come as much of a surprise,” she said.

“I am used to it by now and—oh shit, hold on, I forgot something…” he said, trailing off as he set his phone down so Aberdeen could only see the ceiling in his room.  Knowing William, he probably forgot to turn the light off in the bathroom or something.  But the longer he took, the more Aberdeen became skeptical of his whereabouts.  She barely heard anything on the other end.  “There we are…” she heard his voice.  And then she saw what he had on his face: a sheetmask.  He was still smiling from ear to ear.  “Now where were we?” he asked.

“William!” Aberdeen squealed, letting out giggles she couldn’t hold in at the sight of him.  He looked ridiculous.  It was clearly the first time he’d ever put one on himself.  “What in God’s name are you doing?”

“You love these things!” he tried to justify himself.  “I brought one because I knew I’d catch you at least once in here with one of these things on.  And if we can’t do it together…well, physically, then we can do them together in separate rooms.  Like everything else we need to do.”

Her cheeks flushed red – not that he could see.  He bought sheetmasks and put them on with her.  He gave her time to write.  He encouraged her writing.  He listened to her.  He cared for her.  He was even better than anything she could have imagined in a dream boyfriend.  How did she get so lucky?  How did she let guys treat her like shit before him?  She felt tears well in her eyes.  He was going all out to make the best of the bubble, and she couldn’t be more thankful.  “I love you so much, Willy.”

“I love you too, minskatt.”

“No…I love you Willy.  Like love you love you.  Love you love you love you.  I don’t even have the words…and I’m a writer!  You make me speechless, Willy.  There aren’t enough words in the English or Swedish languages that I can string together that will, like, tell you or show you how much I love you.”

“I get it, minskatt.  Don’t worry.  I feel the same way.”

“I don’t know how I got so lucky with you.”

“I annoyed you enough until I wore you down,” he quipped.

She giggled.  “You seduced me is what I’d call it.”

“I don’t know about that.  If I remember correctly it was you rubbing yourself against my thigh that morning.”

She made a face at him.  He made the exact same face back but crinkled his sheetmask so he had to flatten it with his free hand.  She watched him with complete adulation.  “Willy?”

“Minskatt?”

“Can we listen to our song together?”

William smiled.  He fiddled around with his phone and his ‘Minskatt’ playlist until the familiar chords started playing over the phone, filling the air with the nicest, best, most beautiful sound Aberdeen had ever heard – save for Willy’s laugh, maybe – because she knew this song was about her, about them, and it was still their little secret.

[imaginingsoftly]

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time Pt 6 - Morgan Rielly

Type: roommates to lovers, Y/N insert shorts

Requested: No

Warnings: concussions

(Y/N = Your name, no POV change this chapter. It’s all in Morgan’s POV)

A/N: sorry it took me so long to get this out; spring sports just started at school, so I’ve been working pretty much nonstop since Valentine’s Day

85 degrees was way too warm for November, and Morgan was wishing for Toronto and it’s normal seasons right about then. It was one thing at the beginning of October, when lots of places were still warm, but now it was almost American Thanksgiving and he was still wearing shorts to and from the rink in the morning. It was time for a chill to set in, and there was still no relief from the humidity in sight. 

He was currently sitting on the patio of some Mexican place in downtown Raleigh with Svech and Hamilton, halfway listening to Hamilton describe some practical joke he was going to pull on Necas. Svech was fully invested, throwing out suggestions to make it even better, but Morgan was struggling to follow the conversation. He’d been knocked pretty hard into the boards the night before, and his head still felt fuzzy. A sharp pain flashed through his skull as Hamilton jostled him, punching his shoulder good-naturedly. “What, Mo, you too good for a prank war?” Morgan stared back at Svech. His vision was a little fuzzy, and there were one and a half Svechys staring at him. He shook his head a little bit to clear it, and Svech took that to mean no. Hamilton continued to stare at him, and Morgan could tell that his captain knew something was up. 

Hamilton held Morgan back with a hand on his chest as they were leaving the restaurant, grabbing the larger man’s arm. “Seriously man, you good? You looked like you were a million years away.” He had two options, really. He could insist that he was fine, and Hamilton would probably drop it, or he could admit he was probably concussed. 

Morgan didn’t get a chance to choose. Before he could respond Hamilton was pulling out his phone and dialing the team doctor. “We’re gonna get you a head scan. You don’t look good, man.” Morgan bit back a sarcastic reply, more than a little grateful that he hadn’t had to admit to the headache. Hamilton was practically dragging him down the street as he spoke on the phone with the physician, and Morgan was pretty sure he would have bruises on his arm from Hamilton’s grip on it. “Yeah doc, we’ll meet you down there. I’ll make sure he’s there.” Hamilton hung up as they reached Morgan’s car, and Hamilton held his hand out. “Your concussed ass is not driving anywhere right now. Give me the keys.” 

“I’m fine.” Morgan tried to argue, but the captain wasn’t relenting. “No you’re not, dumbass. Give me the keys.” Morgan sighed and threw the keys at Hamilton’s chest, throwing open the passenger door. “I don’t need to to escort me to the rink, Hamilton.”

Hamilton scoffed as he jumped into the driver’s side of Morgan’s car. “Bullshit. You wouldn’t go unless someone made you and you know it.” Morgan wanted to respond, but he knew the other man was right. The fact was, the team needed him. They were struggling as a team, the defense not where it needed to be, and they weren’t getting enough goals to make up for the number that they were allowing every game. The team couldn’t afford to have him out with a concussion, no matter how fuzzy his opponents would be. 

Thankfully they weren’t far from the rink, so the nausea that Morgan felt every time the car was in motion only lasted a few minutes. Doc was waiting for them in the evaluation room along with Rod, to Morgan’s dismay. The coach looked more like a disappointed father than a coach in that moment, and Morgan felt even worse for trying to hide his symptoms. As they all sat in that room, Hamilton thankfully sitting there for moral support, Morgan had to suppress every hockey player instinct in him in order to answer the doc’s general questions truthfully. 

Were you seeing double? Check. Are you more tired than usual? Check. Are you feeling dizzy? Check. 

The next part was the hardest. He hated the scans. Any kind of x-ray meant bad things, and a head scan could mean up to weeks off the ice. Rod and Hamilton sat with him as they waited for doc to read the scans, and Morgan couldn’t bear the silence any more. “I’m sorry, coach.” Rod slapped him on the back good naturedly. “I’m not gonna lie, kid, we’re gonna miss you on the ice.” Morgan felt his chest tighten. That’s what he was afraid of. “I wish you had said something earlier though. I’d rather you be on the tabe for a few weeks than end up out for months a little while down the road with something more serious. Heal up. We’ll hold the fort.” His coach was looking at him with that little half-smile that made him seem so approachable. Coaches just weren’t like that in the league. A quarter of the league was probably playing through some kind of undocumented concussion because their coaches were putting a ton of pressure on them to play. He had wondered what kind of coach Rod was back when he benched Svech because of a concussion in the playoffs his rookie year, because who the hell does that in the playoffs, but apparently he was just a good guy. 

It was a concussion, and a relatively serious one too. Doc said it was going to be a minimum of a week, more likely two, and he was thankful Rod was there so he didn’t have to tell him personally. Hamilton drove him home, insisting on walking him upstairs to tell Y/N what was happening because “he didn’t trust him to do it.” Y/N was sitting on the floor in the living room, typing something on her laptop surrounded by binders and paper. She was mumbling to herself, waving a mug of something as she tried to talk through whatever she was working on. 

“Red Sox!” She jumped out of her skin at Hamilton’s shout, and Morgan had to duck to avoid the mug that came flying in their direction. Hamilton caught it was a laugh, and then had to duck the marker that came flying in his direction immediately following. 

“Don’t do that!” Y/N was breathing heavy, her finger pointed threateningly at Hamilton. Morgan clapped him on the shoulder as he made his way to the couch. Y/N’s stuff thankfully hadn’t spread that far, and he was able to throw his heavy body onto the cushions. Hamilton followed behind him, resting his hands on the back of the couch. “He’s concussed,” Hamilton said. “You’re gonna need to keep an eye on him so he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

Y/N rolled her eyes and flopped back down on the couch, though Morgan didn’t miss the concerned glance she threw in his direction. “He’s a grown man, Dougie, I think he should be able to take care of himself.” Morgan held out a hand for a high five, which she slapped away. “I said should, Mo. I don’t actually trust you to do it.”Hamilton threw his head back and laughed. “She gets it, Mo. Nice try.” Him and Y/N exchanged a look, and Morgan could tell they were having a small conversation with their eyes. 

Hamilton nodded as they finished their little telepathic conversation, and he focused his attention back on Morgan. “Alrighty, Mo, I’m gonna get going. Try to keep yourself out of trouble while we’re on the road, okay?” Shit. The California swing started this weekend. Y/N answered for him, which for once he was thankful for. “I’ll keep him out of trouble. If he’s good, maybe I’ll even bring him to work with me.” They both laughed as Morgan held out both his hands to give them both the finger simultaneously. 

It could have been minutes or hours before Y/N spoke again. “You should have told me you were feeling bad.” She didn’t look up from her work, but Morgan could tell that he’d upset her. 

“I didn’t want to bother you.” It sounded fake as it came out of his mouth. That wasn’t why and she knew it.

“Bullshit. You didn’t want to sit out.” Y/N stopped typing and turned back towards him. “I know that you feel like you can’t miss time and that it’s just a concussion, but please take this seriously.” She gripped his hand from her seat on the floor. “They’ll survive. The Pacific is weak right now, and they’re gonna need you strong during their push for the cup next spring.” Morgan grinned. “You mean when they knock the Bruins out of the first round?” She smacked his side with her free hand, laughing good-naturedly. “I said push for the cup, not that they were gonna beat Boston, you goof.”

Their laughter was interrupted as the world tilted and Morgan had to focus on the feel of Y/N’s hand squeezing his to stay centered. It was the worst round of dizziness he’d faced yet, and Morgan was exercising all of his self-control not to hurl up the chips and queso he’d eaten a couple of hours before.

“Morgan?” If he opened his mouth he was gonna lose it. “Mo, hold on.” The pressure of Y/N’s hand disappeared and he tried to reach for her blindly. It felt like he was falling backwards and sideways at the same time. He heard Y/N hurry back, and she placed something metal next to him. “There’s a trashcan right here. If you need to use it, don’t hold back.” Morgan groaned in response. He felt Y/N sit on the edge of the couch next to him, and a cool hand smoothed his hair away from his forehead. “Mo, you’re burning up.” Her hand touched his cheeks and his neck, and he couldn’t tell if her hands were like ice or he was just that feverish. “Did you have a fever when your doctor was checking you?” 

“Yeah,” he said, “but doc said it should go away soon. He said it wasn’t too bad.” Morgan opened his eyes to find Y/N’s face only inches from his own, her Y/E/C eyes staring into his own intently. Morgan stared at Y/N as she placed her hand back on his forehead, groaning softly at the chill. He could tell that she was trying to be calm about his fit and the fever currently burning through his body, but the way she bit her lip and the tightness at the corners of her mouth gave her away. 

“I’m gonna get you some ice.” Y/N stood as she spoke. Her steps into the kitchen were a little faster than the already quick ones she normally took, and Morgan rubbed at his eyes to try to lessen the throbbing behind them. He laid on the couch with his eyes closed and listened to Y/N move around the kitchen preparing a bag of ice. As much as he wanted to be getting ready for the road trip, the logic side of him knew that he wouldn’t have been able to fake through this. He couldn’t even get through a lunch at a restaurant without losing it, let alone putting on the skates and taking body checks all night. He heard Y/N coming back, and a bag of ice was placed against his temples as the couch dipped under Y/N’s weight. “Can you hold that in place?” Morgan nodded, and he felt Y/N stand. 

They were silent for long enough that the ice began to melt. Morgan could hear Y/N typing on her laptop again, and he was enjoying the quiet clicking of the keys as she typed furiously. “Did you have any Thanksgiving plans?” Y/N’s question almost made him jump when it broke the quiet. “No,” he replied, “our Thanksgiving was last month.” Granted, she probably knew that, she was just trying to make conversation. Before he could correct himself, Y/N spoke again. “Oh. I wasn’t sure if you were going to enjoy dinner with the Americans on the road or if the team did something for you guys.” Morgan peeled the ice bag off of his eyes, sitting up to look at Y/N. “Did you have plans?” 

Y/N smiled. “I was planning on driving out to see my family. They live about 2 hours away. You’re welcome to come with me if you’d like; I’m sure they wouldn’t mind one more body.” Morgan smiled back at her. It was a nice idea. He hadn’t had a big family meal like that since the summertime, and it really felt like something he could use. “I would, actually, if they wouldn’t mind.” Y/N shook her head, picking up her phone. “Not at all! I’ll text my mom and let her know right now. She’ll probably be excited about it, honestly.” Despite the situation, and the huge headache throbbing behind Morgan’s eyes, Morgan couldn’t help but be excited. A family dinner, made by the person who had taught Y/N how to cook. It might be exactly what the doctor ordered.

[giovanniis]

howdy hey, i’m dab, i’m 19, i prefer she/they pronouns, and i’m currently chillin over here in pst ! rlly excited to be here and get to write w all of you honeys !! under the cut, i’m gonna ramble about this b*tch, so if anything piques ur interest… smash that mf like button so we can plot djsaddjs

chicago’s very own giovanni narciso has been spotted on madison avenue driving a mclaren p1 , welcome ! your resemblance to shawn mendes is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty-second birthday bash  . your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re fickle , but being charming might help you . i think being a leo explains that .  3 things that would paint  a  better picture of you would be perpetually bruised knuckles, broken hockey sticks, and a smile so bright it blinds you . & ( cismale & he/him  ) +  (  dab , 19 , she/they, pst )

╰  *  mini statistics  !

𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋  𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄 :  giovanni noel narciso

𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄(𝐒) :  gio

𝐀𝐆𝐄 :  twenty-two

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑  +  𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐒 :  cis male + he/him

𝐒𝐄𝐗𝐔𝐀𝐋  /  𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂  𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍  :  bisexual  /  biromantic

𝐙𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐂  𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍  +  𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘  :  leo +  july 26th

𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄  𝐎𝐅  𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇  : toronto, canada

╰  *  background  info  !

giovanni narciso was born in toronto, canada on june 18th to a world-renowned hockey player and his socialite wife. needless to say, gio lived his life in the spotlight from the moment he was born, and he’s always had everything he’s ever wanted right at his fingertips.

from a young age, gio was encouraged to be active all the time. he started skating almost as soon as he learned how to stand up by himself. it’s no wonder that he had such a knack for it with his father being a hockey legend and the fact that he got so much practice. when his father realized that gio had a natural affinity, he put him onto a club hockey team as soon as he was old enough, and started making gio work with a private coach to give him a one-up on his teammates and everyone else on the ice ( despite the fact that he was only seven when he started ).

because of this, he always felt a lot of pressure to be the best he could possibly be… how could he not ? there were sports reporters showing up to his games to get the scoop on how he was doing, and how he compared to his father, and if he’d ever actually make it in professional hockey.

his parents divorced when he was eleven, and his mom moved to marry a much older, wealthy man in chicago, illinois. so, much to his despair, gio lived his life switching from toronto to chicago. the only constant in his life was hockey. so even though it stressed him the fuck out, it also made him feel at peace. he knew no matter where he was, he could get on the ice and kick everyone’s ass.

because he hopped between the two cities so often, gio was homeschooled and that’s honestly probably the only reason he got a high school diploma… had he been in regular school, he would’ve done terrible. he spent absolutely no time studying, instead spending all his time releasing his frustrations on the ice.

at sixteen, he was signed to a minor league hockey team in chicago. because of this development, he stopped going out to visit toronto as often ( especially when it was game season ). this caused a lot of buzz in the hockey community because oh my god giovanni narciso, son of a hockey legend, was breaking into the scene

he gained a huge following despite the fact that he was only on a minor league team( that was mostly thanks to his dad’s rep and the fact that gio was fantastic at the sport just like him ). it wasn’t surprising when the new york rangers offered him a spot on the team as soon as he turned eighteen. of course, he accepted the contract, and moved to new york city to pursue his hockey dreams.

now he plays as the first-string center, and has a huuuuuge following on social media. he’s one of those obnoxiously famous athletes yk ? if you like hockey even a little bit, you’ve definitely heard of giovanni narciso. fun fact: he’s #2 ! 

more fun facts about gio + hockey ( my otp ): the youngest captain in the nhl ever right when he turned 19, has one of the biggest contracts in nhl history !

phresh out of high school, he got married. which would’ve been all fine and dandy maybe if they didn’t rush into things, but they definitely did. gio was like… headass in love with her, but over time, their relationship got more and more difficult and straining, and all they ever did was fight, so they got divorced after a year of marriage, and it really fucked him up :/

╰  *  personality  !

hockey is a rough-around-the-edges type of sport, and that’s reflected in gio’s personality. he’s very charming, and is typically a pretty nice person ? he doesn’t go out of his way to be kind or anything, but he’s not completely standoffish either

he’s terribly stubborn, and once he’s set his mind on something, it will happen no matter what or who he has to do. this could be good because in a way, it just means he’s very ambitious, but it’s also bad because he will do and say things without a thought about how it makes someone feel

narciso is a fitting last name because he’s incredibly full of himself. how could he not be ? he’s the son of a hockey legend, and he’s made a great name for himself too. he’s an amazing athlete, and he knows he’s good looking too. it’s no secret that he’s a little big-headed sometimes.

he has a very short temper. he blows his lid very easily, and will say things he probably doesn’t mean just because he wants to hurt you.

he just??? doesn’t think. he doesn’t have a filter literally at all. will say the first thing that comes to mind always and it’s usually fucking stupid sdjdjas… he’s also a big jokester and very sarcastic and witty

also has a problem with being honest ? lies about everything? the type of person to smile in your face while he stabs you in the back? will lie when there’s no reason to? you could be like “gio did u eat breakfast” and he’ll be like “ya.” even if he didn’t like… dumb shit. don’t ever trust him about anything

so he comes off as cocky like… externally… but inside, he’s really insecure? like he believes that love exists because he’s felt it but he doesn’t…. think it was meant for him, if that makes sense. because every time he loves someone, they go away. because of this, he has a really poor vision of love n everything. uhhhh can u say trust issues?

most people think he lives up to the ‘dumb jock’ stereotype, which is something he’s also really insecure about. it’s not that he didn’t try in school. he did to a point, but then he just flat out stopped caring. school was always really difficult for him. he was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was 7, and it always made him feel really out of place in school… to the point where he just stopped caring because all it did was made him feel frustrated and dumb when all he needed was some extra help?

he’s misunderstood

and also just… a whole mess tbh djsaios….

[thornescratch]

Michal Kempný's story without platitudes. The hockey player who was drenched in beer and spat on by disgruntled fans, who was rebuked for taking too many risks on the ice, won the Stanley Cup.

@eden-squad-member very kindly did a translation of a long Czech article about Michal Kempny, which is written in the Player Tribune style about his career and how he ended up on the Capitals, and it’s well worth reading, especially since it’s like... Kempny is a DRAMA LLAMA, but in the best way. The majority of it is behind the cut. Check it out, and be sure to thank her for the translation of the original article!

Draisaitl 29.

The name and number on a Team Europe jersey, that’s what I focused on. Still, they were getting further away from me with every step. I tried to jump in the pass to Leon Draisaitl on a breakaway, but the puck flew over my reaching stick. I managed to get on my feet, take one stride, two, and… nothing. Nothing more happened in that game.

There’s probably no worse feeling for a hockey defenseman than when you’re chasing an opposing forward making a break for your goal. The powerlessness when you know you can’t catch him anymore. You just hope he’ll miss. That he won’t make the shot. That maybe you’ll manage to distract him somehow in the last second.

Draisaitl left us no chance. His slapshot was unforgiving and we just lost our second game of the 2016 World Cup in overtime. We lost it after my mistake.

For the first time in my life, I was playing 3-on-3 in overtime, which at that time was a novelty that didn’t arrive here yet from Canada. I made a nonsensical move that you mustn’t do with this few players. Instead of keeping the puck and playing it, I tried a shot from the blue line. The goalie blocked it and the rebound went directly to one of his teammates, who found a speeding Draisaitl and I couldn’t catch up to him.

You know the rest.

It wasn’t the first time I screwed something up on ice like this. Not the first and not the last. But from that moment on, I was completely broken.

And it all started so well. Right before the start of this tournament full of the best hockey players in the world, I felt like I was in a dream. The last two years of my career had been awesome. I left Kometa Brno feeling like I worked up to being one of their key players, I got a ton of self-confidence in Omsk, and I was feeling good about myself at my first world championship in Moscow 2016. We were led by Mr. Vůjtek, a coach it’s a pleasure to play for. It’s still eating me whenever I remember the quarterfinals, when we lost the chance to go forward because of an offside goal and then in the shootout. That group of guys deserved more, not the least because of the hockey we played. For me personally, this championship proved that I was moving in the right direction. After that, I had my choice of NHL offers and I was a no-doubt, first nomination pick for the World Cup in September. I was supposed to be the key defenseman for playmaking. I accepted the pressure of it. I accepted it gladly; this was exactly what I wanted, this was the role I saw myself in.

Yet, I might have let it get to me too much, felt the responsibility too strongly.

It showed in my summer training. I didn’t want to underestimate anything and I didn’t allow myself any rest. Get on ice in the morning, then to the gym, and again in the afternoon. In Kometa’s locker room, Martin Erat once told me not to overdo it, that I’m working myself too hard. Way too hard.

No, I have to. So I can be ready for the World Cup, I told him.

It’s been two years and I feel like I was a completely different person back then. I didn’t listen to my body and even when I was tired, I was pushing to the limit. You must! You must!

It only did harm.

I played well for the first two exhibition games with Russia, I wasn’t very good in Pittsburgh against the youngsters on Team North America, and once the tournament started, I suddenly felt strange.

Anyone can tell you. Your mental state plays a big role.

When I went in for my first shift in the first game against Canada, I got the puck on the blue line. All startled, I wanted to shoot it right at goal from first, and because I shot it flat, a D-man blocked the shot and immediately passed to Crosby. Who, instead of staying with me, was already two steps ahead. He got away from me.

Hello Michal, welcome to America. This is the world class.

At least he didn’t score right away. But he gave me another welcome at the end of the first period. I was going from behind the goal to start a play, thinking. Making up plays, like so many times before. I could have passed to center where my teammate was free, but it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t want to try something extra. But Crosby, who was chasing me, knows all too well where to stand to put his opponent in the worst possible position. He robbed me. One pass, another, and before I got up from the ice, a horn signaled that they scored a third goal, most likely the break point of the game.

The next game ended with that overtime and Draisaitl’s breakaway.

I made a lot of mistakes during my career. Mistakes like these two. Obvious, indisputable. But never on such a stage like at the World Cup, in games watched by the whole hockey world.

Never with the knowledge that I put too much of the responsibility for the national team’s play on myself.

Never on a team full of NHL guys whom I didn’t even really know.

To think that I introduced myself to so many of them with these whiffs…

These two blows at my self-confidence destroyed me. I ended up as 7D in the last game against USA and I didn’t even mind much that I was mostly sitting on the bench. I was falling apart so hard that I felt like I forgot how to play hockey anyway. It got to the point where I wouldn’t even leave my room when I didn’t have to. We all had our families in Toronto, the guys went to sightsee and spent their afternoons on trips and I’d rather sleep for four hours after practice than meet up with my folks, my sis and my brother-in-law. We all had single rooms, a veritable therapist office for my mind.

Just me, my regrets, and four walls.

I took my mistakes so, so hard. Even though it was completely pointless, I was still going over the things I should have done differently and tormented myself thinking about the way I screwed up the team’s chance to win and go on. I took it all personally. Even though my teammates were wonderful to me. Rather than getting angry vibes from anyone, they told me I should let it go. That it happens.

Yeah, fine, thanks guys, but still… I know I fucked up.

Besides, even if you don’t want to, you browse internet articles and discussions and you know exactly what you’re going to find. That you’re a klutz, that you’re not cut out for it. That doesn’t help.

Ondra Palát stopped by and gave me some advice on how to get over it. That there’s no time for worrying in the NHL. There’s no point in dissecting one’s mistakes when there’s another game the next day. I’m aware of that; I know it’s best to have the move-on-quickly mindset when you play hockey, but I’m not like that. In this aspect, I wasn’t even ready for the environment I suddenly found myself in. Physically I crammed the strength into myself, but to be able to settle my mind? That’s something I was only just figuring out, partly thanks to lessons like this.

Meanwhile, those few days in Toronto brought me to my knees. I was flying straight to Chicago, where I was supposed to get my first taste of the NHL, and I was asking myself what I would even be doing there.

* * *

They called us Pat and Mat.

The defensive duo Kempný – Bičánek from Kometa’s first years in the extraleague was a popular target for criticism. We were nicknamed after the klutzy duo from a children’s cartoon by a local news reporter and to the fans, disgruntled by the ragtag team’s results, we were the ones whose mistakes were easy to recognize. I did something wrong in almost every game. I held the puck too long, I wanted to come up with some great pass, and people rarely noticed that I often managed to do it. The moment I messed up, they were at my throat.

I messed up hard in this one game; I was -3 and because of that, we lost. While I was on my way to the tunnel and the locker room, people yelled obscenities at me. Nasty ones. I heard that I could never play hockey and whatnot. Some spat at me, a beer cup flew at me and people poured more at me from above.

Radim Bičánek was right behind me and he whacked one of those loudmouths with his stick.

I get why I was pissing those fans off back then. I was never the type who tried to make his job easier first and foremost. On top of that, there were many things I didn’t know back at junior age and I heaped up blunder after blunder on ice. I wanted to come out of every situation with the puck on my stick, to make a beautiful pass. I kinda had this feeling that the usual short pass or clearing the puck off the boards is also a mistake of sorts and I could do a lot more. I took risks all the time.

And, well, sometimes it didn’t work out.

It pissed off many of my teammates and coaches. I was told off because almost every move on my part was on the line between ‘neat’ and ‘trouble’. And once it fell in that second category, I was bummed about it myself. Even that evening when I was on the receiving end of a stream of curses, spit, and beer, what made me angry the most was the stuff I did. That I even gave people a reason to act like that.

That’s the way I was raised. To always start with myself.

I wasn’t a guy who would make a reputation as a rascal growing up. I was taught good manners at home and I had to think of school besides hockey. I managed to graduate too, even though it wasn’t easy. At the Civil Engineering School at home in Hodonín, I was the first person ever to have an individual study plan and I commuted from Brno, but I pulled it off thanks to tutoring during weekends. Even though many teachers found my schedule hard to stomach, of course, and made sure I knew I’d never make a living off hockey anyway.

I, on the other hand, know that I learned the most about construction at our house thanks to my dad.

I started going to a school in Hodonín because of my junior years in Skalica, Slovakia. It was over the hill, closer than Brno. That way I didn’t have to stay in a dorms; I commuted from home every day.

By the way, that’s why I was offered to represent Slovakia. A part of my mom’s family is from there, and because nobody knew about me in the Czech Republic until U20, they offered to arrange Slovak citizenship for me.

I refused. I’m Czech.

However, Skalica helped me for sure. Ten years ago, it was one of the best teams of the Slovak extraleague, which wasn’t yet in the shape it is nowadays. I had to make my way through five lines of fairly skilled guys in juniors. When I was seventeen, I even played one game on the senior team with Žiggy Pálffy.

It was only then that Kometa signed me. They played the first league [T/N: the second highest Czech league after the extraleague] at the time and signed me with the understanding that I’d start straight on the A-team. That’s how I got to play the first season in a defensive pair with Pavel Zubíček and I would probably get more games, if I hadn’t snapped back once at coach Kýhos. The next day I was wearing the black jersey for a guy out of the lineup in practice and reported to the junior team.

Since then I know that you don’t talk back to coaches, even if you’re a hundred times sure you’re right.

When Brno bought the extraleague [license], I was the only young guy who was supposed to play on the A-team. That’s when I started playing with Radim Bičánek. That’s when Pat and Mat were born.

The more people were angry about how the first seasons went, the more criticism I got personally. As if I was one of the lightning rods of their frustration. Rumors went around the city that it was nepotism and who knew why I was playing. They said that my dad must have paid the club money.

My dad has nothing to do with hockey.

He did all he could for me, drove me to practice until I had my own driver’s license, but as far as I know, he never tried to ease my way in. When someone tells me off for screwing up a pass, fine, I can take that. People are paying to see a good performance. But talk about how my spot on the roster was paid for hurt me. Especially knowing what I had to go through to even play in the extraleague at such a young age. My career has been built on giving hockey all I’ve got from the start. Even the many, many reprimands and digs about my game show that I never got anything for free.

I worked hard for it all.

During that period, it was too much sometimes. I was moving back and forth between Brno and the first league; I didn’t really belong anywhere. Even in Třebíč they yelled at me that that’s no way to play hockey; I did okay in Havlíčkův Brod, but it wasn’t something that fulfilled me. I was always thinking about getting in the top league and what direction I should even take. I had a long talk with my agent, Aleš Volek, that helped. The most important thing I took from it was that I started training a lot more. I’d sleep in the afternoon and in the evenings put in extra weight room, stairs… anything that could push me forward. In spite of that, I didn’t get a spot in Kometa for various reasons even after four years; I was only set free thanks to a loan to Slavia.

Over there I finally moved to the level I was aiming for. I got priceless experience. From Vláďa Růžička and initially from the conditioning coach Lukáš Stránský as well. During summer camp, I had lunch after his training and my hands would shake so much that I wasn’t even able to eat my soup with a spoon. I don’t know what it was like for the other guys, but to me it was a whole new level physically; we got smoked. On top of that, I was learning on ice next to the veteran Pavel Kolařík and the season turned out to be successful.

If I leave out all the crap I got from Růža.

“Don’t act like you’re Kadlec! There’s only one Kadlec!” He repeated that to me all the time. Káca was untouchable to him, he did whatever he wanted during games – something he could afford thanks to his read of the game – and I had to hear about him every time I tried to be creative.

“I’m not acting like I’m Kadlec; I’m Kempný,” I replied.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Růža drilled me in almost every practice; he made me watch video and noticed stuff in my play that I never even thought about before. He showed me how to be better thanks to the tiniest details.

And he yelled at me, of course. There were plenty of moments when I would have his face a few centimeters from mine and he’d shout and splutter. I felt like he always chose someone on the team to pick on. For a while, it was me. It all came to head when the puck jumped my stick at a bad moment during practice. Banality. But Růža started screaming at me, and pretty obscenely too.

“Fu-- off already,” I hissed through my teeth. “Shut up and leave me alone.”

We were far from each other, he probably didn’t hear me, but it gave the guys standing around me a laugh.

And most importantly, I didn’t shit my pants because of Růža. Quite the opposite; I showed him every day that I wanted it. I admit I didn’t like his methods sometimes, but it’s true that he can use them to push everyone to the max. He made me grow for sure, anchored me as a hockey player. He showed me what direction to take and where such a road could lead if I abide by the principles of his understanding of hockey. After years of flopping around without direction, I suddenly knew who I was, what I could do and what more I could learn.

Moreover, I broke up with my then-girlfriend, whom I’d been dating through my teens; and as a young single guy in Prague, I also gained self-esteem I didn’t have until then. I started to live my life the way I wanted.

It all came together at the right time. If it wasn’t for Slavia, I could be driving a delivery van right now. It was only there everything started for real. I returned to Kometa the summer before my 23rd birthday as a different person. People couldn’t comprehend how I could have changed so much, and I too felt like I was starting from scratch.

What followed were two perfect years during which I made the national team for the first time and reached the goal I set for myself – I transferred abroad. I refused good money that Brno was offering me for a contract extension and left for Omsk. Not for a fortune: compared to other players’ salary, mine was closer to the minimum, but to me it was a chance to move forward. I wasn’t in want of money; I don’t need much and made a good living even as a young guy in Brno. I mainly wanted to advance my hockey. So after a year, when I could have signed in Russia for a much bigger amount, I was already looking forward. To another goal I saw in front of me.

The NHL.

* * *

I noticed Joel Quenneville in the lobby of a hotel in Pittsburgh, where we were playing our friendly games before the World Cup. At that time, he was an assistant coach to the Canadian national team, but more importantly the coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The coach of the team I signed a contract with a few weeks ago.

I thought it would be impolite not to greet him when I saw him. So I went and introduced myself to him; I considered it basic courtesy.

I approached him as much as my poor English allowed. But he was pretty suspicious of me.

Mainly because he had no idea who I was.

That’s the impression I got from him even later when he was coaching me on a team. He stomped on me a lot. I got it the first year. I understood I was new to America, I popped up from nowhere, had never been drafted. I thought he was trying to see how much I could endure and if I had the will to work hard when things weren’t going well. Sometimes I didn’t play ten games in a row, but I stomached it.

Not in my second season.

Before it started, the coach told me he was planning to give me more opportunity. And I got that indeed.

For exactly seven games.

After the last one in St. Louis, he told me I wouldn’t be playing the next time. Not because I did something wrong or made a mistake, apparently I played okay… Someone else was just going to get a chance the next time.

From that moment on, it went up and down. I would play a game, then not, until I was scratched for 13 games in a row. For a month starting in mid-November, I just skated around in practice like a tool, slowing down and sweating on a bike in the gym to stay in shape.

I entered a phase when I took no joy in hockey. There was no reason to when the games weren’t my business. I was resigned; I felt I was about as important to the team as the last bottle of water left on the boards. Not because of the guys; they were great. Even Johnny Toews cheered me up, that I’m a great defenseman and that I should be patient, that I’m probably just not what the coach is looking for. That’s encouraging, but it doesn’t help in the least when everyone is getting ready for a game in the evening and you’re off to do some extra skating.

When you miss the rush we all play hockey for.

“Your game was okay, but you’re not playing tonight.” I was starting to get nightmares about that line.

I spent that long break at the end of autumn asking myself what I was even doing there. I was losing faith in my abilities. I went from being in demand and getting offers from plenty of NHL teams after my season in Russia to the position of someone who was superfluous. I was losing everything that made me who I was as a hockey player. Even if I was living the NHL life, it was as if I didn’t belong in it. I didn’t deserve it. Not the way I saw it.

Isn’t this my ceiling? What am I even striving for; maybe I just hit the limit of my abilities…

That crossed my mind too.

I had my girlfriend with me, she was my rock, but still I kept asking myself whether there was a point in staying in America when I was only skating from board to board. Why was I so far from my family and friends? For this?

Despite all that was going through my head and in spite of feeling completely useless, I never slacked off in practice. That’s how it’s been my whole life. If I was told to do something ten times, I did eleven. Or twelve. Just for the feeling of it.

But my play suffered. Right from the first moment in Chicago, I stopped playing the hockey that got me in the NHL. I got to a point where the most important thing was not to mess up, because I was always on the edge. You screw up – someone else will replace you. My self-confidence was toast, I didn’t dare do anything. Everyone who ever did any sport knows this.

Despite that, I never – even when I was at my worst – instructed my agent to start arranging for a transfer to Europe and find me a job there. We only asked for a trade within the NHL before Christmas so I could find out if anyone at all was still interested in me.

And Washington was. The trade was in the works for three months, until the teams reached an agreement shortly before the trade deadline in February.

Today I know that if that change didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be in the NHL anymore.

Generally, my trade was presented as a situation where Chicago had no interest in me and Washington grabbed the opportunity to add an experienced defenseman to the team before playoffs. But the truth is that right after I arrived, I was told that they’ve been monitoring me for a long time and they wanted a defenseman exactly like me.

That caught me off-guard. Me? But I spent a year and a half either sitting in the stands or playing chickenshit. And they told me I was a great skater and a good playmaker, which is what they needed. The head coach informed me that he planned to have me dress for every game and that I would never be a healthy scratch. In short, that he was betting on me.

I was floored and at the same time, such words warmed me and encouraged me.

Moreover, nothing changed about them even when I wasn’t doing so well in the beginning. I let two goals past me right in the first game; I let the player get away from me. But I played the same portion of minutes the next day. And the next one, all the while next to John Carlson, our key defenseman.

Three weeks after the trade, I was on the ice for three goals scored against us in Philadelphia, one was a direct giveaway from me, and the next morning Todd Reirden, the coach of the defensemen, came to me.

“How was yesterday?” he asked.

“Sucked…”

“Huh, but I already forgot about it, you’re playing again tomorrow. I don’t care that you made some mistakes. I like what you bring to the team.”

This is what I’ve been waiting for!

For the first time, someone really believed in me in the NHL. For the first time, a coach stopped by to ask me how I was feeling. For the first time, he leaned over the bench during a game to ask how I was and if I wanted to get back on ice. I never experienced that in Chicago. I couldn’t even imagine that I would be able to knock on the coach’s door there and talk about anything.

The environment I found in Washington was such that we were all equal and everyone talked to everyone else. For me personally, Todd was a blessing.

He’s going to be the head coach now, but last season he was in charge of the defensemen. I could come to him at any time and talk about hockey stuff, but also about things that weren’t related to hockey at all. When we analyzed games, he didn’t even want to discuss what went wrong, he always turned his evaluation to the elements he liked. Even when some goal was my fault during playoffs, he was cool with it. He brought my confidence back and let me play the way I felt I should. Suddenly I had the freedom I needed for my hockey again. Everything was strict in Chicago; I wasn’t supposed to go in the right corner since I was a left side defenseman, and if I ended up in there somehow, my first thought had to be about how to get back to my side as soon as possible. I repeated to myself what I was and wasn’t allowed to do before every game, what the coach focused on. It was stifling. And here? Michal, play however you can…

No coach is happy when you help your opponent score, but now I know that I can try stuff again. I know the system of the team and I have to stick to it, but I can do whatever I want in that framework. And that’s exactly the right thing for me. Here, it’s suddenly me once more. I’m myself again and it’s Todd who gets the most credit for that. He’s been making it clear that he wants to work with me right from the start, so the name Kempný, unknown until now, can become a brand in the league.

I can’t wait to see what the next four years I signed a contract for bring.

* * *

I got an assist in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final the likes of I haven’t managed in a long time. I got the puck in the circle, faked a shot and found a completely free Lars Eller in front of an empty net. Pure hockey beauty, as you can see here.

And you know what?

In the first moment, I was thinking that I pulled risky crap again. For a second, I wasn’t even happy about the beautiful pass that helped us even the score.

It’s the fault of all the crap I’ve been getting my whole life for this kind of plays that sometimes didn’t work out.

So many times I got kicked for that.

So many times I felt down for screwing it up for the others.

So many times I saw my teammates stomp off angrily because they didn’t get a simple pass from me.

So many times I lost the puck unnecessarily, the crowd started whistling and booing, the other guys scored a goal and on top of that, the coaches yelled at me on the bench.

So many times I got to perch in the stands as punishment.

Even so, I still wanted to be the one making up plays the next time. Not a defenseman who just clears the puck to be done with it. It was still worth all the moments when I’d want to disappear somewhere.

I’m glad I never gave this style up completely. After all, there’s something good and bad to every player, they just need to find balance. Yes, I used to do a lot of stupid stuff on the ice, but it also worked many times and resulted in beautiful plays. The dumb plays made me the hockey player I am. The things I can think up during a game are what sets me apart from others and it’s on each team’s coaches to find the players whose personality fits them. Washington chose me exactly because of the stuff I can do.

Maybe at the right time. I feel my hockey evolution is slower compared to many other guys. Some come to the NHL at eighteen and can play in it with ease. I can’t imagine anything that could pique a scout’s interest enough to even be drafted to the NHL when I was eighteen.

When I see how they work with youths in America or Sweden these days, how confident and constructive players they thoughtfully raise, I’m in awe. They let them make mistakes… Maybe it’s different in our country too by now, but I always got scratched for mistakes. I learned by myself; I had to watch others to learn how to get by so I could stay myself without driving the coaches crazy. In senior teams, I listened to older players, valued their advice and gleaned from them what I thought was suitable for me. It’s one of the reasons why I’m still evolving year after year. I am gaining experience and I know better and better how to react in specific situations.

I know that I don’t always have to try a sweet pass to the second blue line and deke four times behind my own net with a guy breathing down my neck. That there’s no need to try to be exceptional all the time, but that it’s more important to show it at the right time. And that clearing the puck out of my own zone or shooting it off the boards is often the best thing I can do. Sometimes I simply pitchfork it to be done with it. The speed in the NHL forces you to think like that. Everyone had been telling me that ‘there’s beauty in simplicity’ for so long that I finally understood it.

On the other hand, if had I been thinking like that when I was twenty, if I had played according to it in Brno or Omsk, I never would have learned anything extra. I would be average.

Now I’m in the position where I tell younger kids the same thing that experienced guys used to tell me. Don’t make up dumb plays. But at the same time, deep down, I’m rooting for them and see myself in them.

I was the same kind of dumbass. But that’s the only reason I am where I am now.

There’s no ‘Pat’ or ‘Mat’ engraved on the Stanley Cup. It says: Michal Kempný.

—Michal Kempný, the first Czech undrafted Stanley Cup champion

[islesblogger]

5 Questions For The Islanders as 2019-20 Camp Opens

1. How ready are Cal Clutterbuck and Andrew Ladd?

According to reports both Clutterbuck and Ladd are skating and should be ready to go at some point early in the season. Their health, and ability to contribute will answer a multitude of underlying questions. The Islanders’ roster of forwards are a series of question marks as a whole, but these two will go a long way to answer most of them. They will determine a big portion of the roster, the salary cap management, and the style of play for the third and fourth lines.

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Andrew Ladd could be a big part of a third line centered by Derek Brassard. He could also replace Matt Martin in some versions of a bottom six rotation. Other options for Ladd would include some role in the top 6, on the second PP unit or on Long Term Injured Reserve. It appears that even after camp Ladd’s future will be evaluated on a daily basis.

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Cal Clutterbuck has been a tireless contributor to The Best Fourth Line In Hockey. He does all the things you want a bottom six forward to do. He kills penalties, he isn’t afraid to play in front of the opponents well guarded net, he gets pucks deep, he finishes his checks, and he shoots the puck at every opportunity.

Cal’s style of play definitely takes its toll, and he is definitely due for a regression in production. I don’t see him playing more than 50 games this year, but we hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

I think both will be managed into limited use this year and will be factors in the usage of Michael Dal Colle, Thomas Kuhnhackl and Tanner Fritz. I fully expect both to be either on the injured reserve or in rehab assignments early so the Islanders can get an extended look at multiple prospects.

2. Who gets waived and when?

The Islanders currently have 26+ non waiver exempt players on the roster, and the NHL only allows 23 on the active roster. Even if Ladd and Clutterbuck start the season off the active roster that would leave more than four non waiver exempt, and a few waiver exempt players competing for possibly 3 spots.

This is the way I see the current roster

John Palmieri | Islesblogger

The most likely to be on the waiver wire is Ross Johnston, with the competition broadening to Dal Colle, Fritz, Ho-Sang and Kuhnhackl as Ladd and/or Clutterbuck returns. There are also the outside chances of Noah Dobson and Oliver Wahlstrom winning spots and widening the field even more. They are both waiver exempt, but Dobson would have to go back to the QMJHL.

3. What will the third line look like?

Last year the most common version of the third line (or maybe more accurately the 3A line) was Val Filppula between Beauvillier and Komarov. Between free agency, promotions, injuries and demotions there is a good possibility that none of those players will be on the third line to start the season.

Ladd is probably the best LW after Lee and Beauvillier when healthy. But I don’t expect that to be often, at least not at 100%. So there will be some competition between Dal Colle and Kuhnhackl early on. Kuhnhackl won that battle for a second line role in the playoffs, mostly because of experience and the ability to kill penalties. I expect Dal Colle to continue his evolution into a solid middle six forward. This will be something to watch.

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Derick Brassard was signed expressly to address this center position. Over the course of the season he may find some pressure from the AHL in Otto Koivula and Mason Jobst, but he will most likely start the season as C3.

The biggest of the question marks will be at RW. I feel there are five candidates for this spot. Early on, the two Josh’s may battle for the RW spot with Lee and Nelson with the loser working on Brassard’s right side. Bailey isn’t going anywhere, but if Ho-Sang can’t win the second line spot he falls into a deeper competition for the two bottom six RW roles. He does not kill penalties, so he has to win the third line spot to stay on the 23. He is not waiver exempt, so this could mean the end of his Islander career.

Clutterbuck will be competing for this role as well, if and when he’s healthy. Tanner Fritz who can kill penalties and take RH draws is also a candidate. I feel that Komarov will eventually be part of a more defensive fourth line, but he, as well will be vying for the spot.

To start the season I see Bailey playing with Nelson, Ho-Sang with Brassard, Komarov with Cizikas and Clutterbuck’s time managed on IR or in Bridgeport on rehab.

4. How will they manage Noah Dobson?

By all accounts Noah Dobson is ready for the NHL. The bigger question is, are the Islanders ready for Noah Dobson?

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Noah finished up a tremendous junior season with his second straight Memorial Cup victory. In the playoffs he seemed to be on the ice more than the goalies, second only to the paint. There is only one thing holding him back from starting his NHL career. Competition.

Nothing Left to Learn in Junior

Dobson has had a great Canadian junior hockey career. He’s one of the better 19 year old defensive prospects in North America. His competition is not only the three right handed defensemen who patrolled the blue line for the Islanders last year, but the NHL CBA.

Noah would probably be a better fourth right handed option than Grant Hutton, and maybe even a better eighth defenseman than Sebastian Aho, who already has some NHL experience. The problem is he is also battling the terms of his Entry Level Contract. At 19, the Islanders can slide the start of his three year ELC to his 20YO season if he plays less than 10 games in the NHL.

Part-time Player/Full-time Price

For Noah to win a full time NHL job one of the top three right side defenders would have to go down with an injury, or they would need to move one of their seven current NHL defensemen in a deal.

It would be a huge risk to waste an ELC year for a part time player, especially when there are capable NHL veterans who can do the job with little or no risk at all. I see Dobson staying with the team for 5-8 weeks, and playing 5-9 games, and then being sent back to the Q to prepare for the World Junior Championships and the QMJHL playoffs. This is what they did with Mat Barzal in 2016-17. They will have to manage the roster through injuries just to do that.

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5. How will they fix the power play?

The short answer is Jim Hiller. Hiller was hired in expectation of Lane Lambert leaving for an NHL head coaching job. That didn’t happen, but Hiller will be the Islanders assistant coach in charge of the power play. He held that role on Mike Babcock’s staff in Toronto, and I believe they go back to Detroit together as well. Needless to say, he was quite successful last year with a more talented group. This year will be a bit more of a challenge.

The Islanders have also parted ways with assistant coach Scott Gomez. They made some personnel changes in the second half of last year that will probably carry over into this year’s power play.

What Hiller will bring to the structure, and personnel will be something fun to watch for during camp. I hope they will deploy Ryan Pulock more on the top unit, and move Mat Barzal around more when he isn’t in possession of the puck.

5 Questions For The Islanders as 2019-20 Camp Opens was originally published on islesblogger.com

[jonesaf]

more soccer AU positions

(lowkey cont. from this)

America: Forward. For much the same reason as Denmark is a forward tbh. He’s a rookie playing his first season in a top-tier league, a total goober off the field, but don’t be fooled by his boyish grin --- this boy is ambitious as hell. When he’s out on the pitch, he’s surprisingly tactful and utterly merciless; he doesn’t care if they’re up 5-0, he’s gonna keep going for goal. He’s kind of a jerk on the field honestly; he’s young and his emotions get the better of him at times, and just like Den, he wants every single goal, but his style isn’t as aggressive as Denmark’s overall: his fouls are usually tactical and he’s mostly just making himself a nuisance for the opposing team --- particularly by nutmegging other players, one of his absolute favorite things to do. (It gets him in trouble. A lot.) His platforms of choice are Snapchat and Instagram, 80% of which are selfies, but also gets surprisingly political over on Twitter. He likes to hang out with kids at the park or the academy, and young fans at the stadium too, because he was one of them not too long ago and he really wants soccer to get bigger in the U.S. Much like Denmark, you either love him or hate him, there’s no in-between with this kid.

Canada: Defender (winger) Alfred’s twin brother. It’s something commentators love to talk about, because he plays in Canada, which also competes in MLS --- and I’m gonna namedrop Toronto FC here because I feel like the atmosphere suits him better than Montreal or Vancouver --- which means that the two of them are always pitted against each other, at least outside of the national team. It’s the trend we’re all familiar with: Matthew is the quieter one, keeps to himself, doesn’t do as many interviews, and isn’t a striker, so 8 times out of 10 when people are talking about him, it’s in comparison with his brother. He’s used to it, though it’s not entirely fair; Matthew is just as intense on the field as he is mild off of it, he’s just as fast as Alfred (and they are fast, holy jesus), just as skilled with the ball, and it doesn’t take long before he’s a regular in the starting lineup. This boy will shut you down. He’s the player you don’t really know anything about, but you always want him on the field, ‘cause nobody can get past this kid.

England: Coach. Previously an attacking midfielder in his playing days; all the good parts of maintaining a solid midfield, with the added bonus of scoring goals. Still young enough that Alfred and Matthew remember watching him play whenever English football was on TV, but retired due to problems with injuries; he had a rather hot-headed style of play back then that led to a lot of collisions and fouls. Tends to be hard on his players. Sometimes a little too hard --- nitpicky, one could even say, communication isn’t always his best skill --- but it’s all in the name of good football, you see. He’s not disappointed in you because you suck, he’s disappointed because what you’re doing sucks, and he knows you can be better, so what on earth was that performance? Known for getting, uh. Passionate, shall we say, on the sidelines. Probably coaching Alfred’s team. Also probably grooming Alfred to be captain one day. Maybe also putting a little too much pressure on him as a result...they’ll probably be fine...

France: Retired forward. To quote F. Scott Fitzgerald, “One of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anti-climax.” Was a star for a hot minute in his day, and probably played for a club that likes to collect star players like Paris Saint-Germain. His career came to a head somewhat early with France’s 1998 World Cup win --- that, combined with the seasons right before and after, was his best run, and something he’s still incredibly proud of. Retired early, perhaps due to injury or because he wasn’t enjoying it enough anymore, and is now in some completely unrelated industry like teaching culinary arts for kids. Still an avid football fan, however, and probably the owner of a club somewhere. A bit of a strange man, very French, but you can’t help but like him. He’s so charming... Small aside: Could perhaps be Alfred and Matthew’s weird uncle. Definitely something going on between him and Arthur. Friends? Rivals? Secret lovers? All of the above? Rumors and theories abound, but nothing has been proven.

Germany: Defender (center-back, vice-captain). This man takes “defending champions of the world” very seriously. Ludwig Beilschmidt is a one-man wall. He’s still young, close to Alfred’s age, but he’s been playing football since he was old enough to kick a ball, and he’s on his way to being one of the best defenders to come out of Germany. Would make a great goalkeeper too, and actually started out as one in his youth, but he wants to be in on the action and influencing the game. Very good at reading the situation. Also very precise, great for corner kicks, intercepting the ball, and long passes. His ambition and hard work mostly serve him well, although he does have a tendency to stress about his performance and dwell way too much on mistakes, which can trip him up and cause a cycle of frustration. It’s just really important to him. Dude is intense. Which is funny, because he’s actually pretty sweet IRL; stern-faced and awkward, but well-meaning. Isn’t on social media much, but his instagram is almost exclusively pictures and videos of his cat and dogs. He’s either a blessing or a curse, depending on which team you’re rooting for.

BONUS

Prussia: Retired defender (left-back, captain). Battled with some chronic health problems before a career-ending injury finally forced him to quit early, but still embedded in the industry somehow; coaching or working with an academy would probably suit him. He’s just as intense as his baby brother (whose praises he will sing at every opportunity as long as Ludwig’s not within earshot; despite his teasing, he’s very proud), but he’s an awesome good mentor and has a deep respect for the sport. Keeping his eye on the growing American soccer market... Small aside: a big fan of the German club Eintracht Frankfurt. There’s just something about that white&black + eagle combination that really...speaks to him...plus, how much more awesome can you get than having an actual, real live eagle as a mascot? Named Attila?! Only if Gilbert himself were playing for them could they ever be more awesome than that.

Japan: Dude is one of the best FIFA19 players you’ve ever seen. Ever. Has a degree in web design or programming, but he’s made his career out of being really damn good at FIFA. Practically an eSports legend. You think eSports is dumb? You think it’s just a video game? Just watch this guy.

China: He’s been here so long he’s played pretty much every position, and he’s not going anywhere any time soon. He’s that player who seems to have been around since the dawn of time, and yet somehow hasn’t aged a day since he turned 30. Probably immortal. May, in fact, never retire, but if he did, he’d still be breaking records for longest coaching career in the history of football.

Mexico: One of the voices urging her country to put more into women’s soccer. Although soccer is incredibly popular in South America, it’s also incredibly male-dominated; women’s soccer teams are largely amateur, and the women’s national team relies heavily on Mexican diaspora in other countries like the USA. It’s so important to her to be nothing less than absolutely outstanding, and boy oh boy, she is. I’m not sure what position she’d play, but I get the feeling she’d be very versatile on the field no matter what. This girl is out there working her ass off every single day.

[trashforhockeyguys]

Back To You (2)// Auston Matthews

A/N: Ask and you shall receive. Thank you so much for all of the love and support on the first part! You guys are seriously incredible. If you want more, don’t hesitate to let me know. 

You woke up the next morning and momentarily forgot where you were. But the moment you felt the body next to yours, it all came flooding back. You turned your head, Auston was fast asleep next to you. He looked so peaceful and somehow younger. You felt sick again, you wished you could blame your actions last night on alcohol, but you’d been sober.

Carefully, you pushed Auston’s arm off you and sat up. All you wanted to do was nuzzle back into his chest and stay like that for the rest of the morning, but you knew you needed to get out of there. You couldn’t be here when he woke up. You weren’t ready for that conversation. You weren’t prepared for the fact that he might regret it too.

After all, he was the one who broke up with you. You no longer cared if he swore he did it for you. The fact was, he’d broken up with you and left you all alone. You hadn’t even originally planned on taking the job in Vegas, not because of Auston, but because Toronto was your home. And you also knew you could work you way up in the Leafs origination and get to the point that you were at in Vegas. But he’d never even given you the chance to explain it to him that night. He’d made the decision for you.

You felt like you could throw up. You wished you’d never seen him last night. You hated yourself for talking to him, and kissing him, and letting him bring you back to his room. However, what made you hate yourself even more, was the way you liked every minute of it.

You tried to get up from the bed as carefully as possible, but the moment you felt him stirring, you knew you were sunk. Maybe if you moved fast enough, you could get out of there before he fully woke up. Maybe you still had a shot.

“Y/N, what are you-“ Auston stopped mid-sentence and sat up,” You’re leaving.”

You shook your head and tried to collect all of your clothes,” Last night shouldn’t have happened. I- I made a mistake.”

You were trying to sound sure of yourself, but all you wanted to do was cry. You wanted to crawl back into bed with him and just let him hold you like he used too. You wanted him to help you make sense out of everything that had happened.

“Y/N, I thought,” He sighed and started to get out of the bed,” I’m sorry. Fuck, I’m sorry.”

In the light of day things seemed so much more real. You couldn’t even begin to understand everything you were feeling. In part because you couldn’t process what had happened last night. Or maybe because you still weren’t sure what happened between the two of you in the first place.

You’d gone from being so incredibly in love one minute, to him yelling at you to leave the next. Suddenly, now you were here and for once, he looked like the broken one.

“I shouldn’t be here,” You stated,” I’m here for my job Auston, not to have a one-night stand with you.”

“That’s not! Y/N! Can you just-”

You shook your head, you didn’t want to hear any of it. You couldn’t hear any of it. All you could think about was getting out of that room. You pulled your dress back over your head and backed away from the bed slowly.

“I can’t be here,” Your voice was shaky,” I have to go.”

Before Auston could say anything or make another move, you turned and ran out of the hotel room. You knew by the time Auston put clothes on, you could be half way to your room. But that was only if you didn’t stop running until you got to the elevator.

You could feel your throat tightening up, making it hard to breathe. You didn’t want to be that girl who cried like this, but you didn’t have a choice. You couldn’t stop the sobs that came once the elevator door slid closed.

Your hand covered your mouth as you slid down the wall to the floor. Your curled up in a ball and just let yourself cry. You knew you had to pull yourself together before the elevator stopped though, you were here for work, you had to at least try to act professional. Even if you were in the middle of a massive walk of shame.

You looked up and saw that you were getting close to your floor. Taking a couple of deep breaths, you pushed yourself off of the floor. You forced yourself to stop crying and then wiped away your tears. You weren’t going to let anyone see you fall apart if you could help it.

You finished gathering yourself by the time the elevator doors opened. You took a deep breath before stepping out of the elevator. Your room was just down the hall, so lucky you didn’t have far to go. Maybe no one would see you and you could just disappear for a while, just until you had to start work for the day.

You made it to your room and automatically went to the bathroom. You needed to shower and hopefully forget. The problem was that you still loved Auston. He was the one that you couldn’t get out of your head. Probably because there had been a time when you thought he was the one you’d spend the rest of your life with.

You’d never been able to understand how someone could wallow in misery like this, until suddenly you were one of those people. You’d been in anguish after the breakup, because it’d all happened so fast and you didn’t know how you were supposed to start over in a new place, without having him to fall back on. Now, you didn’t know what to do now that he was seemingly back in your life. Especially now that there was a possibility that you could go back to Toronto.

You tried to calm yourself down while you were in the shower but ended up sitting on the floor with your knees hugged to your chest. You hated feeling like this. You didn’t want to feel like this, at all.

After the water in the shower turned cold, you started to prepare for the long day of press you had to do. You knew you’d have to put your personal shit aside and do your job, even if it meant being near him. How were you supposed to look at him?

Auston was the only person that you’d ever had sex with. Hell, he was the first person that you ever actually loved. Maybe that’s why it hurt so bad. You’d given him your heart and never got it back.

“Are you okay?” Sydney Crosby asked, walking up to you at breakfast.

“Y/N?” Marc-Andre, who was sitting across from you, questioned when you didn’t reply.

“I fucked up,” You mumbled,” God, I really fucked up.”

You looked up from your coffee and at the two men. Syd looked at Marc-Andre for a brief second before pulling out a chair and sitting down at your table. You didn’t know Sydney as well, but you knew he was a good guy. He’d already told you, after you’d taken a trip to Cole Harbor last summer, that he saw you as a little sister. Most of the players that you knew said the same thing. You liked having a family like that.

“What happened?” Syd asked.

You looked over at Flower, you could tell by the way he was looking at you that he already had an idea. You picked at the bagel you’d gotten to eat. You weren’t sure if you could even say it. You’d done some pretty stupid shit, but this was by far the worst.

“I left with Auston last night,” You told them quietly.

“Y/N-“

You cut Flower off,” I knew it was stupid. Jesus, I knew I shouldn’t gone with him,” You groaned,” It’s not like I can say I was drunk either, because I was nowhere near drunk.”

“Then why did you?” Syd asked.

“Because I still love him, even after everything,” You shrugged,” And I told him I got an offer from Toronto. They want me to come back and essentially run their all their media.”

“Are you going to take it?” Flower asked you.

“I don’t think I can now. I can’t exactly work with my ex, not after I slept with him last night,” You cringed even saying it.

“Okay, what if it wasn’t about him? If he wasn’t there, and if you didn’t have to think about it, where would you go?” Syd tried to help.

“I don’t think it works like that Syd,” You replied.

“No, seriously Vegas or Toronto?”

You sighed and thought about it for a second,” I love Las Vegas. Flower, you know I love working with all of you. You’re my family,” You promised,” But-“

“Toronto is home,” Marc-Andre finished for you,” It’s okay. Sometimes home is where you need to be.”

“Toronto is home,” You replied,” But going home would be so much easier if I didn’t still love him.”

Lucky for you, you weren’t covering any of the events that Auston was in, meaning you could hide out in the media room when he was around. You knew in some ways you were acting like a child, but you were trying to get your job done in any way that you could.

By midafternoon, you’d done almost everything that you could do until the next event that one of the Golden Knights would be in. You packed your laptop in your bag and made your way back into the rink. You wanted to actually watch a couple events, rather than be focused on reporting what was happening during them.

You had fun watching the skills and updating official accounts as to what was going on. You’d always thought that this was one of the best parts about your job. But you couldn’t help but wonder what would change if you went back to Toronto.

No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t shake the feeling that it wouldn’t matter where you decided to go, your life was going to change. Either way you knew everything would be different. You knew that part of it went back to Auston. Most of it went back to Auston.

But either way, you had a decision to make. Go to Toronto and try to face him and everyone else. Finally get your dream job with the team you’d loved since you were a little girl. Or, stay put in Vegas and keep hiding. Sure, your current job was amazing, but it would take years to get a position like Toronto was offering you.

“What are you going to do Y/N?” You asked yourself that night,” Stay? Or go back to him?”

You played with your hands and tried to come to a decision. You weren’t being pressured by either team to give an answer, but you knew you needed too as soon as possible. Your lease in Vegas would run out in the next two months. If you didn’t take the job you needed to renew it or find a new place. If you took the job in Toronto, you needed to make arrangements. You’d need to find a new place and move all your shit.

You started to feel oddly overwhelmed. You hadn’t had time to think about all of this last time. But now it all seemed too much.  How were you supposed to make a decision like this all on your own? You were supposed to be an adult, but right now you couldn’t help but feel like a little kid.

You were just about to fall asleep when your phone lit up with a text. One glance was enough to make your heart break all over again.

A Matts: Can you meet me downstairs? I promise, I just want to talk. Please.

[leafsbabe]

Auston Matthews imagine - sweet baby

this took so long, i’m so sorry

i wrote like half of this in one afternoon but after that my brain stopped working 

 i hope you like it anyway

3.2k words

 To say that Isabella had been a surprise was an understatement. You had flown out to support your boyfriend's professional playing career in Switzerland and left with a little something. At first you felt like a total freak, like one of the girls on 16 and pregnant that had no idea how to handle anything. But as your pregnancy progressed you found out that people were far more accepting than you had hoped. Your parents didn't kick you out and your friends didn't abandon you.

The hardest thing to do was tell Auston he was going to be a dad. He was still off in Switzerland playing hockey and on top of that it was his draft year. He couldn't afford to be distracted.

But, before telling Auston you had to call the person most likely to tell you to get your shit together and tell Auston he was going to be a dad.

So, after many sighed mija's and estúpida's and tonta's Ema told you that even though it was a very stupid thing to do during a very stupid time she was confident that Auston would react well to the news and be exited for the baby. And she had been right. As always.

He was super excited even though he knew that it would be a lot of stress and pressure and that you would need help from your families he stayed confident. You visited him as often as possible before your pregnancy forbid it. But even after that you continued to Skype nearly every day and he hang your ultrasound picture up in his room. He was a bit embarrassed by that but Ema sent you pictures.

Hockey season ended and so did high school.

You managed to graduate from school with relatively high grades and Auston even managed to be there for it. He was cheering for you like you were the hockey star and he was the fan.

That evening you were cuddling in your bed in your childhood room and you couldn't have been happier. You showed him all the cute little outfits you had bought for the baby. You wanted to be surprised by the gender so you just had a bunch of neutral colored tiny outfits. But your favorite thing were matching shirts for Auston and the baby. It was simple white with a black hockey stick for Auston and a puck for the baby. It would look adorable when he held them.

Soon after The Draft happened and Auston went first overall to the Leafs. You were nearly 8 months pregnant at that point so you couldn't fly to Buffalo so Alexandria drove you up. It was fun and the two of you had spent ages talking about the baby.

Moving to Toronto was easier than expected. Since you didn't want to buy furniture for the baby before you knew which city would draft Auston you had some shopping to do once you had relocated to Toronto. Getting a place to live and even the furniture wasn't the problem. The biggest challenge was assembling it. Ema and you stood by giggling while Brian and Auston tried to put together a crib.

Isabella Matthews was born a few days before training camp started and Auston couldn't get enough of her. He refused to put her down and was constantly talking to her, telling her how much he loves her or just describing ordinary things.

By the time his first game rolled around Bella was 4 months old and the cutest baby the TML organization had ever seen. You tried to keep her hidden from the public as long as possible but players and WAGs and Coach Babcock alike were all fawning over her tiny smile.

You had talked to Bella's pediatrician and she said that she was allowed to go as long as she was dressed warm and wearing noise canceling headphones. You were sitting with the Matthews family and cheering for Auston, getting more and more exited with every goal he got.

The ecstasy you felt during that game didn't lessen over time. Auston somehow managed to have an amazing first season and be a loving boyfriend and father at the same time. Your little Isabella kept growing and growing and soon you were celebrating her first birthday in Arizona. Ema and your mom had worked together to make a cute cake and Bella kept laughing the entire day, enjoying the attention from your families.

It felt like time flew by and soon Bella was walking, stumbling and waddling around the apartment and even talking. While it was mostly nonsense she had the basics mommy, daddy, food and no, down.

She was a toddler now. One and a half years old. 18 months. All grown up but still your little baby.

When you started to feel sick again you didn't think anything of it. Maybe you ate something bad or had the flu. Only after it lasted for more than two weeks you realized that maybe, just maybe it was more than a flu.

Not wanting to have any doubts you went straight to the doctor to get your blood tested. It was hard acting calm around Auston and Isabella. When you finally got the call your fears had come true. You were pregnant again.

This time, while you weren't scared to tell Auston it was still hard. This season was harder than the last and even more pressure was on his back. Even though you had managed to handle Bella until now it still hadn't been without a lot of help from friends and teammates. Ema and Brian had moved to Toronto with you. One of them was always around while the other was back in Arizona taking care of Breyana. You had wanted to finally start college the next year.

Not knowing what to do you decided to talk to Ema since she had helped you last time.

The first thing she said was an exaggerated "¿No sabe cómo usar un condón?"

Looking at you she sighed and shook her head. "Oh mija, just tell him."

Even though you told her you would you put it off and always found another excuse. It wasn't until Auston and Isabella came back from a daddy-daughter-day dressed in matching outfits (a black hoodie, black pants and olive sneakers) that you broke down. Bella immediately ran towards you and hugged your legs. She looked up at you with her big brown eyes.

"Mommy, why cry?"

You quickly picked her up and settled her on your hip. "It's nothing sweetie, mommy is okay. Why don't you go play for a bit? Mommy and daddy need to talk."

You pressed a kiss to her cheek and put her down again and she walked towards her little play area in the corner of your living room.

Once she was out of earshot you turned to Auston who stepped closer to you and bend down to press a kiss to your forehead. He always did that when you were sad or nervous.

"What do we need to talk about babe?"

"Aus..." you started but broke off. You tried to find the right words but came up empty. Why was this so hard?

"I'm pregnant...again." You winced at your awkward wording. Surely there would have been a thousand better ways to break the news to him.

Auston let go of you and walked backwards until his legs hit the couch and he sat down. He stayed quiet as he ran his hand down his face, covering his expression. After what felt like hours he finally spoke. "Shit." He leaned forward and rested his head in his hands before he stood up and walked back towards you. "Shit. Okay."

Auston wound his arms around you and pulled you against his chest, holding you close and letting you bury your head in the crook of his neck. You began openly sobbing, letting your feelings out. "It's okay." He whispered before pressing a kiss to the top of your head. "It's okay. We can manage. We managed with Isabella and we can manage now." Auston hugged you tighter. "I love you. Everything is going to be alright." He then moved one of his hands from where the supportingly rested on your back to your front and between your bodies.

"We're going to have another baby." You pulled away just enough to see his face. Even though there were tears in his eyes, he was smiling.

Your last pregnancy had been fairly easy. There was barely any morning sickness or cravings and the bump was relatively small. Now though you basically exploded. During your first trimester you spent most of the day either throwing up or eating. The other WAG's that didn't have university or their own small children to worry about were over at your place more often than not. Auston spent his free time either worrying about you or preparing for the new baby. He had decided that your apartment was too small for your growing family so now he was house hunting, driving all around Toronto and the suburbs to find the perfect home.

By the time your second trimester came around the morning sickness stopped for the most part and Auston had found the perfect house with a big backyard for a small outdoor rink once Bella and the baby were bigger. Isabella loved the idea of being a big sister and had been drawing pictures for the baby nonstop since you told her.

Since Auston and you had wanted to keep your pregnancy with Isabella private so reporters wouldn't follow you around you never really got a chance to announce the pregnancy in a cute or funny way so this time you wanted an adorable over the top announcement picture. So, kind of as a surprise, you went to the doctors to get a sonogram picture for the announcement. The nurse recognized you because Auston had always come with you to appointments and she was a Leafs fan.

Since the waiting room was mostly empty you only had to wait a short amount of time before your doctor was ready to see you. When it was your turn a nurse first took your vitals and then made you lay down on an examination chair and told you to wait for the doctor.

While you waited your idly ran your hands up and down your belly. It was way bigger than it had been while you were pregnant with Isabella but your doctor in Arizona told you that it was normal that some women show more than others. Maybe that's the reason.

Soon after the doctor joined you in the room and asked you to lay back and expose your stomach. You did as she told.

The first touch of the cold gel on your belly made you shiver but it quickly warmed up. This was only your fourth visit but you're already used to it. The doctor pushed the wand around a bit until the image on the screen became clearer before turning back to you.

"You're around five months now so if you'd like we can try to find out the sex of the baby." She said.

She begins to move the wand around a bit until the sound of your baby's heartbeat fills the room. It immediately makes you tear up although it sounds a bit different from the other visits.

"Hmm, that's odd." The doctor said while moving the wand around some more. Panic begins to spread through your body before the sounds become clearer and she continues. "That's more than one heartbeat. Looks like you're having multiples."

You were overcome by a sudden rush of nausea. Oh shit. One baby was already more than enough but two?!

"I can't say for sure why we only discovered it now but it seems like their heartbeats were synced up until now and just recently started beating in different rhythms. From what I can hear right now everything seems to be working correctly though. We're just gonna look around a bit to get a good look at all of them." Your doctor moved the wand around a bit more and even stood up and went around the chair to be able to go lower on your sides before she finally stopped and smiled.

"Here we go." She pointed to the display showing your the ultrasound. "Here's baby number one, over there is baby number two, and if you look closely there is baby number three hiding behind number two."

You were pretty sure you blacked out after that because the next thing you knew was that you were back home looking at the pictures of your two baby boys and your little baby girl.

To say you were panicking would be an understatement. One baby you could handle. Two babies seemed like an impossible task. But three? You didn't have enough time to worry however because it was time to pick Isabella up from daycare. And Auston would be home soon and then you'd have to tell him. You were five seconds away from calling either your mom or Ema when one of the babies decided this would be the perfect time for a well placed kick to where your hand was resting on your stomach. Deciding that you would just wait with the worrying until your entire family was home you made your way to the daycare and then to get some crafting materials. First you picked up Isabella and then you picked up some colorful paper, fake flowers, and simple white onesies. Might as well make the announcement cute.

Bella helped you by placing the pink and blue flowers all over the floor while you cut out numbers and gently placed them and the onesies onto the flowers. It looked adorable and you took several pictures including the sonogram pictures and Isabella.

After putting Isabella down for a nap you quickly cleaned up before Auston came home. You had decided to just give him the picture and wait for his reaction. Thankfully you didn't have to wait long since Auston came home only a few minutes later, and he brought home half the team.

Mitch, Willy, and Zach entered the apartment after your boyfriend and you felt relieved and irritated at the same time. You knew if you didn't tell Auston now you would chicken out and having the boys there could shield you from a bad reaction but it was also meant to be a private moment just between the two of you.

"What are you guys doing here. Don't you have girlfriends you need to bother?" You asked while standing up to give Auston a kiss.

"Steph has to study for uni so she kicked me out for the evening, which means I'm all yours mama." Mitch said while hugging you, careful because of your bump.

Zach sighed but he hugged you too. "Same with Alannah. I'm actually supposed to tell you to text her so you can set a date for brunch when you're both free."

Willy had just thrown himself on the couch and was already turned on the tv and playstation. "Don't have a gf, I'm just here because I'm lonely. And to see my favorite girl. Speaking of which, where is Bella?" He looked around the room as if he was looking for her.

"She's taking a nap so it would be nice if you could be quiet. Also, Auston can I talk to you for a moment? In private?" You quickly took his hand and lead him to your bedroom, ignoring the teasing from the boys.

"What's up, babe?" Auston asked and pulled you close. His hand came up to gently touch your bump since you seemed anxious and he knew that it would help calm you down.

"I have a surprise for you and I don't know if you will like it."

His smile fell from his face and he looked at you with a bit of fear in his eyes. "Is everything alright with the baby?" His hand had stopped roaming and was now splayed on your stomach as if he was afraid of hurting you.

You quickly took his hand and lead him over to the bed so you could both sit down. "No, no Auston everything is good. I went to the doctors today and they're all very healthy. That's actually what I wanted to tell you, I just wasn't sure how you'd react. I wanted to get a good sonogram for a nice announcement picture and well..." you reached into your pocket and took out one of the pictures the doctor had printed out for you. Auston looked at it curiously but apparently he couldn't find anything unusual because he looked back at you confused.

"That's a nice picture babe and I'm sure we can make a cute announcement with that but why were you so nervous to show me this? You said the baby was fine, right?"

You took a big breath before looking at Auston. Here goes nothing. "The babies Auston. There's three of them." You waited anxiously for him to say something but all he did was laugh and fall back to lay on the bed.

"We're fucked. Our parents are gonna kill us."

You let yourself fall back beside him and he immediately put his arm around you and pulled you close.

"I don't think they're going to kill us, they're just going to be disappointed."

Auston sighed again. "That might be worse."

You continued to lay there for a moment just thinking before he leaned over and pressed a kiss to your temple. "We'll manage. We can get a nanny and Isabella is going to be excited. Everything is going to work out somehow."

"You really think so?" You asked him quietly.

"I know so." He answered before kissing you again.

Later when you walked back out to see what chaos the boys had made in the living room you saw Isabella's tea set and set up in the living room and the boys and some of her stuffed animals decked out in tutus, tiaras, and glimmering necklaces.

"What's going on in here?" Auston asked.

"Hi daddy." Bella said before turning back around and pouring some tea into Zach's cup.

William, who was wearing a bright pink tutu and a big crown decided to fill you in. "We're having a tea party and just fyi I'm definitely the prettiest princess in the room." He took a sip of tea before Mitch punched his arm. "Hey!"

"Okay second prettiest princess. Bella is the prettiest." Willy relented.

"There's actually something I'd like to talk to you about." Auston said in a serious tone that made all the boys look at him. "Remember how you all fought about which one of you gets to be godfather of baby Matthews?" The boys all nodded in agreement. "Well looks like you can all have one each."

It took a moment to get what he was saying but you knew they got it when Zach gasped loudly. "No!"

"Yes." You laughed as he lost his cool and clued in the other clueless boys. They all celebrated loudly while Auston and you stood nearby and watched them. Isabella was laughing with them even though she had no idea what was happening.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Auston.

"I'm just thinking about how Fred is going to be sad that you don't want him to be a godfather."

"Don't worry, he can have the next one."

You playfully slapped his chest before walking over to the boys. "Nope, not happening Matthews."

"You're saying that now, future Mrs. Matthews. We'll see."

[crosbytoews]

hockey rpf fic rec

this is an assortment of all the hockey rpf i have bookmarked. it is organized by pairing. if any of this is not your thing that’s valid but i don’t wanna hear it 

these fics are posted on ao3 and most of them are locked so you will need an ao3 account to access them!

obviously i like everything on here but i bolded the urls of my absolute faves

JAMIE BENN/TYLER SEGUIN

Look at the wonderful mess that we made by sherlockelly

A name-on-wrist soulmate AU where being outed by a same-sex name is still newsworthy if you're in professional sports and is a very real concern for some NHL players. Despite the shifting attitudes, no one in the sport has ever come out publicly.

Tyler has always felt relieved that 'Jamie' could be a male or female name, it makes hiding his sexuality a lot easier. Jamie's not been so lucky.

Door to Door by Ferritin4

"Hey," Jamie says, pounding on the door. "Hey, open up!"

The dogs shut up.

"Hi, shit, sorry," says the stupidly fucking gorgeous man who opens the door in a tank top and boxers. "Shit, were the dogs loud? They get really excited when I come home."

"It’s three in the morning," Jamie says. On cue, a dog pokes its head around the corner to the entryway and bounces over to the — to this guy. It’s followed by another, browner dog, and Jamie has a moment of surrealist sleep-deprived horror where he imagines an infinite string of dogs forever bounding gleefully towards —

"I work two jobs. I’m Tyler," Tyler says, extending his hand. "Do you want to come in?"

Well, he’s not doing anything illegal, Jamie thinks, shaking it, because no criminal in the history of crime has ever willingly invited a cop into their house, and there is no one in the city of Dallas who hasn’t pegged Jamie as a cop within six seconds of meeting him.

Stating the Obvious by StormDancer

In which Tyler transfers to Dallas, makes some friends, and has emotions, none of which he's prepared to deal with.

Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin

King and Lionheart by thehoyden

Sidney’s wedding day doesn’t go quite as he’d planned. When he’d bothered to imagine it at all, he’d thought of a nice June wedding in Nova Scotia, outdoors with the sun streaming down. He hadn’t imagined this hurried affair on the tarmac on a rainy and unseasonably cool day in early September, a month after his twenty-fifth birthday.

And Never Been Kissed by thehoyden

Sid didn’t introduce himself in the hallway, and he certainly doesn’t assume that people know who he is. So it would only be polite to thank Malkin again, this time more personally.

He could write him a letter. An email? No, a letter.

There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe by Shoshanah-ben-hohim

Amidst rising political tensions between Russia and NATO countries, the KHL and NHL failed to renew their labor agreement this summer. Due to the failed agreement and intense political pressure at home, the Russian NHL players do not return to the NHL.

By March, Geno has played almost a season in Russia, and accepts this is his new reality, no matter how much he misses Sid – until he finds the first child. This sets him and everyone he involves down a dangerous path of international intrigue.

Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner

as long as it's about me by Anonymous 

It takes about the length of their first practice for Toronto media to decide that him and Mitch are best friends. And, like, Auston’s been warned about the press in the city a million times, so he gets it. They want a story. He’d be fine with it, honestly, except for the small issue that Mitch Marner is the most annoying person on the entire planet.

I Never Thought He Wouldn't by MycroftexMachina

Mitch loves people. And usually people love him back. Usually.

we've got each other (and that's a lot) by LottieAnna

“I’m gonna be a groomsman,” Mitch says, then flops dramatically into the chair across from Auston, grabs Auston’s glass of whiskey, and takes a long sip. It burns as it goes down, and he makes a face. “Again.”

JONATHAN TOEWS/PATRICK KANE

don't taze me, bro by staraflur

He doesn’t think Zeus is supposed to have a sword, but their Zeus does. So now Jonny does, because of course he’s in charge. He looks, Patrick is drunk enough to acknowledge, far better than anyone has a right to in a grody old Halloween costume that’s probably soaked up the butt sweat of dozens, if not hundreds, of Theta-presidents past. Jonny wears it, Patrick gets the sword. Win-win.

AKA that time there was a frat AU (of course).

Same Time, Same Place by brutti_ma_buoni

It should be a one-off, an awkward airport first meeting that goes nowhere. But this one goes somewhere. Back to Jonny's, for a start.

It shouldn't go any further, a one-nighter with no strings, and plenty of reasons for Patrick not to go back there. But Patrick won't let it go.

It should be a disaster, a mismatch, a scandal, a shoddy secret regret. But... maybe not?

bring it if you really want it by staraflur

It starts like this:

Well, okay, Patrick has no idea how it actually starts. But as pertains to him (in other words, the important part), it goes a little something like so:

America, being a nation composed in large part of a melting pot of immigrants who may or may not have taken over land already owned by others using less-than-savory means, doesn’t have much of a magical national identity. Much less a magical continental identity. There’s no grand heritage going back thousands of years. Magical families home-schooled all their kids until, like, the 1800’s, and tough for the muggle-born, apparently. Hopefully you got noticed by someone who knew what to do with you before you got burned at the stake. Since you probably can’t control your powers, sport.

Call Me Royal Blue by cupstealer 

He’s always gotten his kicks giving Jonny shit, but never like this. He feels like the first person to combine ice cream and soda—A) in that he has combined two amazing things to make a more amazing thing, and B) in that Jonny is not having it.

Patrick and Jonny haven't been close friends in six years. Nothing a little friendly competition can't fix.

Random Pairings 

Jeff Skinner/Eric Staal

If Heaven’s Hypothetical by impertinence and shoemaster 

Jeff runs away from Toronto and finds himself homeless in Raleigh, where he accidentally starts serving eggs to Eric Staal.

Andrew Ladd/Ryan Kesler

Nothing Worth Knowing by beatperfume and shoemaster

Ryan Kesler hates Andrew Ladd on sight. College AU.

Erik Johnson/Gabriel Landeskog 

A Month of Sundays by Kelfin

Unlike some guys, who freak out when things get even a little bit gay, Erik is fine with this stuff. Erik's not even fazed when Gabe's attempts at flirting with him start to get semi-public, a fact that, by his own judgment, makes him at least five to seven times more tolerant than your average forward-thinking American.

Sidney Crosby/Claude Giroux 

The Battle of Pennsylvania by Robinjay

When they play at Worlds together, Claude Giroux firmly expects a fight to break out. At the very least, he expects derogatory remarks and barely contained fury. Instead of doing any of those things, Sidney Crosby just stares and Claude Giroux loses his damn mind.

In Hours Uncounted by remiges

Claude's grandparents take him to get his first name when he's ten—younger than most people start, but older than his grandparents when they'd had theirs done. His grandmother's skin is threaded red and gold with names, and Claude wants that, wants that sort of history for his own.

Sidney Crosby/Tyler Seguin

All New Kinds of Weather by concinnity and Pennyplainknits

Sidney Crosby, Tyler realizes, has just asked him about hooking up. Sidney fucking Crosby. Tyler blinks at Sid and takes a long drink of water. He has possibly never been as grateful for his slutty reputation as he is in this moment. Because, out of a whole room at least 30% of which would happily give Sid what he’d just, hesitantly, asked for, Sid chose him.

Also there are pancakes.

Alex Galchenyuk/Brendan Gallagher 

ain't never had a love like mine by bluejayys

Anna installs Grindr on his phone while he drives them back to his place, snickering as she fills out his profile.

“In your About Me section I said that you enjoy hockey, can speak three languages, and have been commended by fans for your excellent stick handling,” she says gleefully. Alex wonders when this became his life.

Brent Seabrook/Duncan Keith

Summerboys by stlkrchck

Brent Seabrook has no interest in working at Camp Quaquanantuck the summer before university. Unfortunately, his mom's signed him up, and he has to go. But between a cabin full of campers obsessed with Lady Gaga, a prank war with two other cabins, and his co-counselor Duncan Keith, Brent might just find himself enjoying the summer after all.

Tyson Barrie/Gabriel Landeskog 

Left-Handed Kisses by oflights

The one where Tyson's fooling around with Gabe, already way out of his league, and then finds out he's apparently fooling around with a prince. And he might be a little bit in love with him. It's pretty brutal.

[thewallofmilessimpson]

Seems like Miles lives in fantasy land, everyone is a POS, except for Miles of course

Miles Simpson <simp2172@bellsouth.net>To:Kevin StrattonSun, Mar 25, 2018 at 5:58 PMHello Kevin, I had my back surgery thursday and I’m better. I was able to stand up friday with a lot of difficulty so they let me come home. I’m still sore but I’m much better and home. I’m going to Covington next week and buy a new mattress. I have a Tempur-pedic memory foam top dollar one but I’m tired of it. It’s hard for me to turn over. It doesn’t give like a regular mattress. The hospital bed I was in was a killer. A hospital staff woman ask me before I left how was the nursing staff and I told her excellent but you couldn’t give me that bed for free. My weak ass I can’t roll over to my right and barely to my left. The best example I can give is it feels to me like I’m laying in a ditch or apiece of 2’ diameter pipe so if I try to roll right or left I’m trying to roll up the side of a concave angle. Sheila fell and fractured her femur bone and is walking with a walker and using my manual wheelchair. She’s still taking care of pos Rita’s kids. Rita has total control over Sheila even monitor’s her phone calls. It’s freaking crazy weird and sad. Tom Benson died. I hope his wife doesn’t move the Saints. She seams to be a money loving woman and may do it for more money. More money more money more money! Later brother man I’m going to chill horizonal for a while. Miles On Mar 17, 2018, at 10:03 AM, Kevin Stratton <johnst13@yahoo.com> wrote: > I saw this in a magazine and thought of you. > > All the Best! > > Contrary to ordinary there is nothing like a dream to create the future! > > Kevin Stratton > Roatan Island Real Estate - Owner/Broker > johnst13@yahoo.com > Office: 011-504-2445-4168 > Cell: 011-504-9922-5638 > www.roatanislandrealestate.com > www.guanajasales.com > * Member of NAR > * Member Roatan Real Estate Association >  and Canabirh Association of Honduras > * Owner of Roatan Island Home Inspections >  for Construction and Home Inspections > * Fiberglass Swimming Pools<Ask Miles.jpg>

Miles Simpson <simp2172@bellsouth.net>To:Kevin StrattonThu, Mar 29, 2018 at 10:23 AMHey Kevin, I really don’t know what they used but I don’t think it was a laser. Surgeon’s can do amazing things with the human body. They will heal you or kill you one. I still talk like a frog from the thing they stick down your throat when they knock you out but my back is still doing good so I’m happy. The rain has arrived. Probably rain most of the day. I like to smoke and fuck on rainy days. Will only do one today but as soon as I win the power ball the pussy will come. I have two gators in the pond now. A 6 or 7 footer and a 3 footer. Both won’t come close enough for me to shoot them. A friend is bringing over some gumbo. Talk to ya later Amigo. Miles On Mar 26, 2018, at 11:29 AM, Kevin Stratton <johnst13@yahoo.com> wrote: > Good morning Miles > > Glad to hear your back surgery went good. What did they do? Not the laser one I was asking about. > Wow not being able to turn over to get out of bed is going to be a problem sooner than later. Do you think > you can work on getting that strength back so you can do it by yourself? Or there is a powered machine > that can pick you up and swing you over kind of like the ones you see to get you into a pool. You know > you don't want to go into a nursing home. A home nurse coming by twice a day to help you out during > the times she stops by. No coffee in a nursing home would drive you crazy. It would to me too. I hope a > new harder mattress would help you get out of bed by yourself. So you can push off easier. > Wow Shelia can really fuckup when she try's.  And that daughter of her's running her is so crazy that > I almost feel sorry for her but not much at all. > I heard that Benson died but that was to be expected. I'll bet his wife sells the team and the new owner > might move the team to who ever pays the most. Maybe someone like Jazy and his wife Beyonce and > P'didy or Drew Breese. Or the Mannings? Still working on my roof and trying to sell properties to keep the > work going. Sorry but got to run. I hope you keep getting better! > > > All the very best my friend! > > k

Miles SimpsonHey Kevin, I haven’t written in a while because it’s the same olds shit around here. No news to tell. The gumbo I mention a friend brought was chicken and sausage. He had a big pot and rice he even brought a new pack of Glad 1 Qt plastic containers and put up 7 Qt’s in my freezer while I was eating a Qt. His name is Kevin also. He’s really a buddy to my nephew but a friend to me too. I only see him when he comes fishing. You said you might build a motorcycle garage. Grandpaw built one for his HondaMon, Apr 9, 2018 at 3:27 PM

Miles Simpson <simp2172@bellsouth.net>To:Kevin StrattonWed, Apr 11, 2018 at 1:15 PMHi Kevin, Yup that’s what they did to me. I had a bulging disc putting pressure on my nerve. When I was getting the steroid shots in my back the doctor’s assistant looked at my mri last year and said I didn’t need surgery. The surgeon said after the surgery my disc was worse than what showed up on the mri. I’m soooooooo glad I had the surgery at least so far. Sue’s brother Wayne came over last week and we smoked 40 lbs of chicken quarters. We did 20 lbs then took them off and put on another 20. The last batch only took 2 hours since the smoker was already up to temp. We then vacuum sealed them and he took 10 lbs and Karen my house cleaner took 10 and I kept 20 lbs. The dam quarters come off giant chickens! Ten lb bag has 9 quarters! The last ones I smoked were the same way. I gave Sheila $4,000 monday the 9th. The 8th was one year since Mom died. Three years ago I bought Sheila a $3,000 lawn mower. Two years ago I gave her $3,000 for a down payment for a car she’s about to lose now for being 2 months late on her note. Now $4,000 cash. Enough is enough! That’s $10K in three years. She feels and looks like the walking dead. She has no help to help her keep the place up. Rita has NEVER mowed the yard or even tried to. I wish I had the strength to beat her up but I don't! Pelican’s play their last game tonight against the Spurs. It’s a big game towards the rankings for the playoffs. Later, Miles On Apr 9, 2018, at 4:45 PM, Kevin Stratton <johnst13@yahoo.com> wrote: > Wow that was a surgery to watch. Was that exactly what they did to you? Did you have a chipped broken piece of bone off a vertebrata like in the video? > Sorry I can not be there to help you get around and make it easier on you just living in the house. I am working on being able to come if you ever really need me to. > As I sure wish I lived closer right now. I need to finish the work on my house and not run broke doing it. So I have to keep earning and not retiring as yet like I wanted to when I hit 66. I will be 68 next week on the 13th. Yep Friday the 13th this time. And hopefully no bad luck for me as I sure don't need any at this time. I would like to taste the gumbo . Even chicken and sausage sounds good to me as I miss Louisiana cooking like that and crawfish boils. Nothing like that here. I need a good gumbo recipe as I can follow directions pretty good as I do most of the good cooking here at home now. I just made a pot of shrimp and hot Italian sausage with Alfredo sauce with noodles. It has allot of other ingredients to make it a bigger pot to make it for more people and freeze some. > The roof is completely done and we are enclosing the outside walls to get them ready for new windows in the next week or so. > I was out walking a parcel of land 5.5 acres with the owner from Colorado. He is looking to buy a 1.25 acres along side his property to help get a access > out to a main road. Right now his 5.5 acres is land locked with no access. They are asking a arm and leg for the 1.25 acres as it has 165 foot of beachfront > which we are always running out of on a island as they are not making anymore beachfront in the best area. !0 years ago he bought the 5.5 acres for $550,000 > and they are asking at this time $670,000 for the 1.25 acres right next to him and they started at $735,000. We are still trying to get the seller down in price. But > part of this deal is the seller has to get a road to the property and he still need a old family member to give him access to get to his 1.25 acres as part of this deal to make it happen but they are holding up saying they have not determined the cost of getting the road through and paying off the relative to let it happen as we want > a deeded recorded access to make it fit our needs. Both parcels of land will be worth something like $2,000,000 when it is finished and it works out. My buyer that I have been working with for 10 years or so has big bucks. He owns the largest outfitting store in Steamboat Springs Colorado for skiing and like a Bass Pro outfitter or a Cabela's. > What are you going to do for your sister? Anything? I know you do not want to. And she would be back for more no matter how much you give her. > I still have my fingers crossed for you to win the power-ball. I hope the Saints get a good draft and then pickup a couple of good older players in free agent market. > And build a good team for Drew's last couple of years and make a real run for the Superbowl again one more time. I still try and catch as many NBA games as possible. > And the playoffs start on the 14th of this month. I still have not picked a team to win as yet but I think it wont be the Toronto Raptors even if they are the number 1 one seed at this time. > > Write you again soon and keep getting better! > > k > Contrary to ordinary there is nothing like a dream to create the future! > > Kevin Stratton > Roatan Island Real Estate - Owner/Broker > johnst13@yahoo.com > Office: 011-504-2445-4168 > Cell: 011-504-9922-5638 > www.roatanislandrealestate.com > www.guanajasales.com > * Member of NAR > * Member Roatan Real Estate Association >  and Canabirh Association of Honduras > * Owner of Roatan Island Home Inspections >  for Construction and Home Inspections > * Fiberglass Swimming Pools<Ask Miles.jpg>

[leafs-lover]

Because Two People Got Drunk: 21

Series Masterlist

Chapter 21

A/N: Italics are your thoughts

Summary: You and Fred begin your trip in Denmark by spending time with both of your families. You are nervous to see his dad and your grandparents, given that last time you didn’t have good conversations with either.

Warnings: Drinking, swearing, smut, Freddie being a dad

Word Count: 7600

July 7, 2023

“I remember our last flight to Denmark being much more fun” Fred whispers in your ear as you lie in bed. You arrived a few hours ago for a visit and are staying in a hotel. You kept your first day pretty relaxed as you all tried to adjust to the jetlag.

“Well I don’t think our in-flight entertainment from 2 years ago would be suitable with him around” you say looking to Oliver who is sleeping.

“That’s fair” Fred laughs. “He wasn’t that difficult to fly with last year”

“Well babies typically fly better because you can feed them and they fall asleep and don’t notice the pressure changes. Unfortunately he is old enough to feel it, making our flight very interesting.”

“And you didn’t want to fly private” Fred jokes kissing your head.

“I didn’t think it was necessary…” you trail off. Oliver spent most of the flight crying, you tried soothing him and playing movies, trying to get him to nap but nothing would help. You had almost gotten him to sleep when the plane hit some turbulence waking him up. “But flying commercial would have been brutal; I would have felt so bad for everyone onboard. You were right.”

“What was that?” he asks grinning at you. You know he heard you perfectly.

You smile and turn your head to him “I said you were right.”

Fred pumps his hand in the air “yes” he exclaims quietly to not wake Oliver. You laugh lightly when Fred rolls on top of you and kisses your forehead.

“I like being right” he says smiling at you.

You cup his cheeks and kiss him lightly “keep it up and it won’t happen again.”

Fred laughs and kisses you again. He drops down and places his head on your chest, his hand slides under your shirt, lightly rubbing circles on your skin. Your hand slides up to his hair and you gently begin running your hand through his red hair.

“Ready for our families?” he asks lightly.

You groan in response “I don’t know if I will ever be ready.”

It’s the first time you will be spending with Fred’s family in almost two years. You have talked with his mom a bit, but most of your conversations have been about Oliver. The only time you have talked to Ernst is when Fred is on the phone and you would tell him to say hi for you.

If you weren’t nervous enough for seeing his family, your grandparents are also coming to town. They were going to be in London for part of July and Fred suggested (and coordinated) for them to visit a few days. But they aren’t just spending time with the three of you; they are also meeting Fred’s family and siblings.

“It’s not going to be that bad skat” he says stroking up your side.

“Last time I saw your dad he called me a gold digger” you whisper.

Fred stills on top of you before pushing himself onto his elbows. “My dad wanted to talk to you last year at his birthday, I asked him not too. I didn’t want it to take away from his first birthday for you.”

“Well I’m not overly worried about your family” you explain. “Your mom messaged me on Instagram saying she was excited to see me, something about a girl’s day with your sister” Fred smiles at that before you continue. “Last time I saw my grandparents they basically told me they didn’t approve of how I’m living my life or raising my son.”

“Okay, but that was a year ago. Things have changed since then.”

“But they shouldn’t have to; I shouldn’t have to be with my father’s son to get their approval. Like obviously I am very happy we’re together, but that shouldn’t impact their opinion of me. And they won’t approve of us not being married but living together” you exclaim.

“They should have supported you from the beginning. I’m not going to argue that, and I’m sorry that this has been happening. But maybe they have realized they’re wrong and want to try and repair the relationship. Why else would they agree to see you?”

He moves to lie on his side, and pulls you in tight to his chest. “Because they haven’t had the opportunity to meet him” you say looking to Oliver.

“Or it’s because they love you and miss you” he says kissing your temple. “Try to sleep, everything will be fine. And if it’s not well it’s only a couple days, and I’ll be by your side the entire time.” Fred lightly draws circles on your waist as his breathing slows. You feel him drift to sleep beside you; you lay there staring at the ceiling.

A million thoughts run in your head as your heart races. You focus on Fred’s breathing trying to match his in attempt to calm your heart. You shouldn’t be this worried, you know Fred’s family is happy to see you, and his mom has given you subtle hints that Ernst is excited as well. And you have dealt with your grandparents your entire life; it’s not new to you. Eventually you shut your mind off and drift off.

“Momma” you hear as you feel a little body crawling on the bed. Your eyes flutter open to see your son smiling as he crawls up the bed.

“Up momma” he says jumping on your stomach.

“Umph” you say as air leaves your chest. A wide smile spreads across your face as you pull Oliver in to tickle him. Fred sits in the bed and sets a coffee on the table. “Little man said it’s almost lunchtime so you had to get up.

Your eyes go wide, “lunchtime?” you question. You turn and look at the clock and realize it’s after 11 “wow, I didn’t get a good sleep last night.”

“I know, you woke me up with all your tossing and turning” he says, you look up at him and see the bags under his eyes. Guilt washes over you as you realize he has been up for the past few hours with your son, playing with him and keeping him quiet so you could sleep when he himself didn’t sleep that well.

“I’m sorry babe” you say looking up at him.

“Its fine” he says sighing “but I told you that you don’t need to be stressed. Everything is going to go well, and we will have a few days to relax once this is all over.” Fred kisses your forehead and takes Oliver out of the room so you can get ready.

An hour later you are ready for the day and walk to the living room. You can hear Oliver starting to fuss a little “Ollie bud you ready for lunch?” you ask as you adjust the clasp on your watch. He runs over to you “yeah” he yells.

“Okay, let’s get your shoes on then we can go.” You all head to the door and put your shoes on “let me just grab my hat” Fred says wandering to the bedroom. You hear a knock on the door, and without even looking through the peephole you open it.

“Grandma, Grandpa!” you exclaim staring at the people in front of you. “What are you doing here? You aren’t supposed to be here until tomorrow.”

“Your grandfather told the movers to come on the 10th not the 12th by mistake and we weren’t able to reschedule. Instead of having one day with you, we decided to come a day early and get two days with our great-grandson.” Your grandma bends down to Oliver’s eye level and him being the social butterfly he is immediately says hi to her with a smile.

“You’re moving?” you question.

Your grandma has a conversation with Oliver about the ninja turtle shirt he is wearing while your grandpa answers “yeah, we’ve been finding it hard to do the back and forth between Toronto and England multiple times throughout the year.” “So you’re moving back to Toronto?”

“For now, that house is too big too and we can’t do the grass cutting and snow shovelling. We don’t need the space so we are going to move somewhere smaller with no maintenance” he responds.

A ping of guilt washes over you because they are right. They are around 80 and you can see the frailness in their eyes. The past few years you haven’t had much of relationship with them, but that was your choice. The last time you saw them was last summer, and your visit was cut very short. They had reached out and you had been too bitter to respond, and now almost 2 ½ years had gone by since you had any real contact with them.

You want them in your life; they are the only family you have left and you love them. But you don’t know if you can handle the judgment and ridicule. You feel a lump in your throat but before you can respond Fred rubs up beside you.

You didn’t even hear him walk down the hall and are only snapped from your thoughts when you hear your grandpa speak.

“You must be Frederik” he says. “I’m John and this is Debbie, we’re (Y/N)’s grandparents.” Fred gives you a sideways glance before sticking his hand out to shake his hand. He turns to your grandma who immediately hugs him.

“(Y/N) told me you were a hockey player, but she never said you were this handsome” she says pulling back.

“Grandma!” you exclaim. A blush spreads across both your and Fred’s face.

“There was mix-up with the movers so they decided to come down early to get more than a day with us” you explain.

“Great” Fred says. “We were going to grab lunch and then take this guy to the park; we’d love for you to join us.”

“They just got in Fred, they probably want to unpack and relax -” you start to say.

“Oh nonsense” your Grandma cuts you off “we’d love to come, just don’t want to impose we know its very last minute.”

“It wouldn’t be an imposition, I insist” Fred says to them. With that the 5 of you leave the hotel and walk to a small café and grab lunch.

“He reminds me of you as a baby” your grandma says partway through lunch looking to Oliver who is peacefully sitting in his highchair eating.

“You were always a well behaved baby. When we would take you out to restaurants, neighbouring tables would always give us concerned look, since some babies don’t do well in restaurants. But you would just sit there and colour while waiting, and would eat quietly. Half the time you wouldn’t even know there was a baby with us.”

You smile lightly “I never knew that.”

“I see a lot of you in him. Not in his physical appearance, he is a spitting image of his father, but in other ways” your grandpa says.

“What was she like as a baby?” Fred asks. “Or even as a kid? I don’t know much about it. She showed me one photo album and told me a few stories but that’s it.”

“Trouble” your grandpa says laughing. “She was an angel in public, but at home she went a mile a minute. Basically ran before she walked, and nothing could stop her.”

“She always wanted to be outside, getting messy. Jumping in mud puddles” you grandma adds.

Fred laughs at that, giving your thigh a light squeeze “sounds like a toddler I know” he smiles.

“Well we have cases of photo albums and home movies that are being shipped back to Canada. Next time you’re in Toronto stop by and we will show you them” your grandma says. “We have a lot of stuff, some blankets, bibs, stuff that was your dads, which you used as a kid too. Your first pair of hockey skates was his first pair.” A smile spreads across your face, you didn’t even know they had this stuff, let alone kept it.

“I will definitely come over to look at all these things, but you have to promise me embarrassing stories too” Fred says half joking.

“Why wait until you come to Toronto, we can tell you some now” your grandma responds.

You groan loudly in displeasure. “I think it’s time to go to the park now” you say trying to change the conversation.

While at the park Fred, John and Oliver play together while you and your grandma sit on a bench watching. “I’m sorry about what I said last time I saw you” she says lightly.

“So am I grandma” you agree.

“No, you reacted how you should have. We shouldn’t have said those things to you. It’s taken us a bit to realize that times have changed, and that not everyone has conventional families. You have done a great job raising that boy; he is happy, well-behaved and loved. That’s all that should matter.”

Tears have begun to well in your eyes; you grab her cool hand and hold it in yours. “I am happy that you and Fred are together and you are all a family now. But if that changes, you will always have my support. I just wish I could have shown you that before.”

You kiss her cheek and rest your head on her shoulder “Thank you, but I hope that never happens” you say.

“Your grandpa and I have talked about moving to Pittsburgh so we can be near you and spend some time with Oliver. We understand that you are staying there with Fred, and we would like make up for lost time and –.” Before she can continue you wrap your arms around her.

The tears have now started to spill down your cheeks. Your grandma looks at you “oh dear, I didn’t mean to make you cry” she says wiping them.

“No no Grandma, these are happy tears. I would love it if you came, and so would Fred and Oliver. I think it would be awesome. Be good for Oliver to have family so close since Fred’s family is in Denmark.”

Your grandma smiles and pulls you in tight for a hug. You eventually wander back to the hotel. As you are in the elevator your grandpa says “maybe we can all grab breakfast tomorrow.” “No” Fred says. “We’re not done seeing you today. Join us with my family tonight.” “Oh Frederik we wouldn’t want to impose” she says.

“You wouldn’t be, they are excited to meet you. I’m sure it would be fine” Fred responds.

“That’s okay dear, we are kind of tired from the flight and chasing this guy around the park” your grandma says looking to Oliver. “We will meet them tomorrow as planned though.”

“Okay grandma, love you” you say walking over and hugging and kissing them both on the cheek before they open the door to their hotel room.

You walk into the room and set Oliver down for a nap. Fred’s large arms immediately wrap around you, pulling you in close “you okay? I saw you crying at the park.”

“Yeah that was just from regret I think. All the things I missed, they missed and Oliver missed because I was stubborn. I just…I’m happy I have the time to repair my relationship and Oliver can get to know them.” You feel Fred’s lift graze your head as his arms stoke up and down your arms.

“They mentioned they might move to Pittsburgh” you say looking up at him.

“Yeah John mentioned that to me at the park, I think it would be great” he responds kissing you lightly.

“Me too” you say with a smile.

That night you head to Fred’s parents’ house. As soon as you open the door you hear laughter and music being played and loud conversations. Fred’s parents invited some of his aunts, uncles and cousins down to see you guys.

“Down mommy” Oliver squeals wanting to get inside and see everyone. You set him down and he immediately takes off running into the party. You and Fred laugh as you make your way into the house.

“Frederik” Charlotte exclaims wrapping him in a big hug.

“Hey mom” he says kissing her cheek. She lets go and wraps her arms around you “where is my grandson?” she asks.

“He took off as soon as we opened the door, was too excited to see everyone” you say smiling.

She immediately hands you each a glass of wine and chats with you as she gets some of the food ready. A few minutes later Oliver comes running into the kitchen “daddy I have a drink?” he asks tugging on Fred’s hand.

Before he has the chance to respond Charlotte scoops his up in a large hug “of course you can” she says walking to the fridge “what do you want?” she asks listing off the choices.

“Can I have juice?” he asks.

“Of course you can. I also made some chocolate chip cookies, you want one?“ she asks and Oliver nods with a big smile on his face.

“Mom” Fred groans.

“Oh hush he can have one before dinner” she says opening the container and handing one to him before he runs off.

“Every time she sees him she spoils him” Fred groans causing you to laugh.

“That’s what grandma’s do” you laugh. “If my mom was here, she would be the worst for it.”

After dinner Fred is pulled into conversations with some of his dad and uncles, as you are in the kitchen with Charlotte, Amalie and a couple of his aunts. You are looking out the window as Oliver plays with Fred’s brothers, it is way past his bedtime but you know he is too excited to sleep right now.

“If you aren’t careful your glass will never empty” Amalie says drawing your attention back to the room. You look at your glass which is now full, Amalie nods towards her mother “she has a reputation for bottomless wine.”

“Not a bad problem to have” you say laughing and taking a sip.

“That is until Oliver wakes up at 7am” Amalie smiles.

“Yeah and Fred has had more than me, one of us should be responsible tonight so we can feed him in the morning.”

“I’m really glad you are with him” Amalie says moving closer to you. “I know we don’t know each other all that well but Fred was unbearable last summer when he came to visit” she says to you.

“Yeah, that was my fault. Wish I could have figured this out sooner” you say lightly.

“Would have been good, but you’re here now. That’s what important” she starts taking a sip of wine. “Two years ago when you were pregnant and visited I knew you would end up together. We both did” she says nodding to her mother. “Fred didn’t see it, or maybe he didn’t want to see it but we could tell. When I watched you two experience his first kick, I knew then. I’m so happy you’re with him and now I have a sister.”

You wrap your arms around her “I’m so happy to have a sister, I was an only child growing up.”

You turn your head and see Fred staring at you smiling as he watches you. Soon you hear Oliver crying which draws both of your attention. Fred walks over to him and picks him up and carries him to the kitchen.

“Somebody thinks they are a big boy and can stay up late. And then he falls and normally would get up and keep running, but because it’s almost an hour and a half past his bedtime it’s the worst thing ever” Fred says of the screaming toddler in his arms. You laugh and kiss your sons cheek which doesn’t help his tantrum “let’s get him home and to bed” Fred says.

Oliver fuses while you say goodbye to everyone, and screams when you attempt to buckle him into the car seat. Before you had even made it down the street Oliver had fallen asleep in his car seat.

“All that fussing and he is asleep in under a minute” Fred laughs.

When you arrive at the hotel you carefully remove Oliver and make your way to your room. You put Oliver to bed and see Fred lying fully clothed in bed. You walk over and pull his shirt over his head when Fred wraps his arms around you pulling you into the bed with him.

You are a tangled mess of limbs when he starts kissing your neck. “Babe” you groan “you’re drunk.”

“So? Hasn’t stopped you before” he jokes. He tries to shuffle his weight to be over you, but instead he trips and falls onto the bed. “You haven’t been this drunk before Freddie. I’m not going to take advantage of you.”

You try to move away when Fred places a sloppy kiss on your cheek “take all the advantages you want babe” he growls.

His arms wrap around you and he nips at your ear. You through your head back and laugh as he slides a hand up your shirt.

“Not gonna give up are you?” you joke to him.

“Nope” he says nipping your neck “might as well give in babe.”

You roll to straddle him and place a soft kiss on his lips. “Make you a deal” you whisper against his lips. “I’m going to the bathroom to get ready for bed. If you are still awake and have your pants off when I get back, we can do whatever you want.” You kiss him and he moans into the kiss, you pull away and smirk at him before walking into the bathroom.

When you walk back into the room Fred is asleep his legs hanging off the side of the bed; he has unbuttoned his jeans but never managed to pull them his legs. You laugh at the sight and swing his legs back onto the bed, you attempt to pull his jeans down but Fred mumbles and rolls over.

You give up and crawl into bed beside him pulling the duvet over the both of you. You kiss Fred on the cheek before turning the light off. The next morning, because Oliver stayed up almost 2 hours past his bedtime he slept in until 9. You however had woken up at 8:15, alarmed to see Fred beside you as you assumed Oliver would have woken up by then.

Fred is sprawled out on his stomach, you see a half drank bottle of water on the table beside him. His hair has fallen in front of his eyes, the duvet is hung low on his hips. You see his jeans in a pile on the floor, indicating he woke up at some point in the night. You hear his soft snores, you lean over and place a soft kiss on his temple before crawling out of bed.

You have a shower and order breakfast to the suite when Oliver finally stirs. You quickly walk over and pick him up “hey bud” you whisper “gotta be quiet daddy is sleeping.” You place a kiss on his forehead and get him changed for the day when the food arrives.

You set the food up and put a plate in front of Oliver. You stand up to grab a coffee cup when Fred wraps his arms around you. You can smell the whiskey and wine on him, and feel his warmth from his shirtless body pressed against you “morning” he groans kissing your cheek before sitting down.

You pour him some water and hand him a coffee and breakfast. When you sit beside him you see bags under his eyes, his face is flushed and he is eating slowly indicating his stomach isn’t feeling the best. He pushes his eggs around on his plate, picking at his breakfast.

“Daddy uncle ‘Bastian is so funny” Oliver says. Fred looks up at him and smiles lightly while Oliver rambles on about some of last night’s activities. Oliver finishes his breakfast and Fred helps him down before leaning back in his chair taking a large sip of water.

“I feel fucking terrible” Fred says quietly. You stand up and kiss his cheek before handing him some Tylenol.

“Thanks babe” he replies taking the Tylenol. “How are you doing?” he asks.

You smile and take a sip of coffee “much better than you” you joke and he chuckles.

“No I’m actually doing okay. I stopped before you, and drank a lot less than you. I also had water before bed. Tried to get you to drink some but you passed out with your jeans still on.”

“Yeah I woke up around 4 and drank some but it was too late then” he explains.

“Go have a nap babe, it’ll help you feel better.” Fred stands up and kisses your check before walking to the bedroom and closes the door. You and Oliver play in the living room for a few hours when you hear the shower turn on.

A half hour later Fred walks out and you see some colour has returned to his cheeks. He has on a pair or cargo shorts and a white tee with a black Nike hat “daddy” Oliver squeals running to him.

“Hey big guy” he says throwing Oliver up in the air and tickling him.

“Feeling better?” you ask Fred. He kisses your cheek “yes, the nap helped.” He places a soft kiss on your lips before turning his attention back to Oliver.

“Told my grandparents we’d be leaving in an hour” you say to Fred who is play wrestling with Oliver. You can tell he didn’t really hear you as he pretends to body slam Oliver into the couch “again daddy again!” he squeals. Fred looks up to you and you point to the bedroom, indicating you are going to get ready. He nods before turning his attention back to Oliver.

That afternoon you all arrive at his parents’ house, and are greeted with large hugs. You are so nervous you could almost puke. Fred said not to worry, but you have been so anxious about being around his dad. With everyone over the night before you didn’t have a chance to talk with Ernst much, but tonight it is a much smaller crowd.

Tonight it’s just his parents and your grandparents. His siblings aren’t even home so you know you will likely talk with Ernst at some point. Oliver wanders off to play with some toys Charlotte has set out for him. You are immediately given a glass of wine although you doubt Fred will drink much; your families introduce themselves to each other.

“So you live in England?” Ernst asks to your grandparents.

“We split our time between England and Toronto” your grandpa explains. “I was born in England and have some family here, so we have a flat that we stay in throughout the year. But we recently decided it was too hard splitting our time.”

“So you’re moving back to Toronto?” Charlotte questions.

“For now yes. We are considering moving to Pittsburgh to be closer to (Y/N). Maybe babysit Oliver…” your grandma says.

“Oliver would love that” Fred says.

“I know, spending time with him is the best. We are spending 4 nights with Oliver after you return to England and I am so excited for all that time with him.” Charlotte says.

You shoot Fred a questioning glance “4 nights? Interesting, I didn’t know we were going anywhere without him.”

“I have something planned” he explains shrugging walking over to Oliver to play with him.

“Do I get to know these plans?” you ask.

“Nope” he responds, popping the “p” while grinning before he turns his attention to Oliver.

“A surprise vacation” your grandma says “that will be exciting!”

“Yeah, he has a tendency to plan surprise trips and not tell me” you explain shooting a sideways glance to Fred who is sitting on the floor smiling while pretending not to hear you.

“You’re father used to plan surprise trips for your mother. Sometimes they would be day trips, but he did plan their 10 year anniversary trip without her knowing, even booked time off with her work and everything” your grandpa tells you.

“She loved them, would come back smiling and couldn’t stop talking about them for weeks” your grandma explains. Fred has picked Oliver up and is walking over to you.

“Hopefully this one goes better than the last one” Fred jokes. Everyone sends confused glances towards you both.

“Last one started really well, it was the last couple hours that went horribly” you laugh lightly. “But that won’t happen this time, guaranteed.”

You look at Fred who is now standing beside you; he kisses your forehead “good” he says lightly.

“Dinners ready” Charlotte says. You all sit around the table eating and drinking, your grandparents sharing many embarrassing stories from your childhood. You can tell Fred loves hearing all this content as a smile hasn’t left his face the entire time. You look over to Oliver and notice him beginning to doze off, so you scoop him up and change him into pyjamas before taking him to a room to sleep. When you make your way back to the living room you see people are making their way to the living room.

Ernst walks up to you “(Y/N) can I talk to you for a second?”

“Yeah of course” you reply as you follow him outside to the patio, butterflies filling your stomach. You sit on one of the patio chairs while Ernst leans against the railing.

“I wanted to apologize to you for what I said when you visited last time”

“You don’t have to apologize you were protecting your son. It’s something I understand now more than ever.”

“Still I shouldn’t have said that to you. I genuinely am sorry. I also wish this apology came much sooner. You have been good for Frederik, I haven’t seen him this happy before.”

“Thank you for the apology. But I understand. It wasn’t an ideal situation how all this transpired. But everything worked out and I wouldn’t change it.” You pause for a second before laughing “Actually I would have met and been in a relationship with him before I got pregnant to make things a million times easier. But everything worked out.”

Ernst laughs a little at your comment. “Yeah it sure did. You and Oliver have changed Fred. I see it. I’m happy you’re in Fred’s life and a part of this family.”

You stand up and walk over to him and give him a hug. You look inside and see Fred staring out at you, watching the exchange.

“I’m also sorry for my comment about your parents. That was completely out of line.”

“Ernst I forgive you, I did a while ago.”

“Still I needed to acknowledge it” he says pulling you in tighter. “I like you (Y/N). You make my son very happy, I wish I could have seen it sooner.”

“It wasn’t an easy path Ernst, all that matters is where we are now” you say smiling at him as you separate.

“Well I’m glad you’re here. And thank you for sending Charlotte the abundance of baby content. Even though we didn’t have the best relationship, you managed to put family first. It really shows the type of person you are and how you were raised” he says.

You can feel a ball forming in your throat, before Ernst continues. “Hopefully Fred locks you down before you wise up and realize you’re too good for him.” This causes you to laugh “I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

“Good, I can’t wait to call you my daughter-in-law. Maybe that’s what he has planned on your trip” he says winking and walking back inside.

You stand outside dumbfounded for a few minutes. Is Fred going to propose? I only recently moved back in and we haven’t had conversations about this. A proposal is normally a surprise, but I should have some inclination that it’s coming at some point. We haven’t even said I love you yet, not that I don’t love him. I do love him, and I think he loves me. But shouldn’t we say it to one another before an engagement? After a few minutes and many deep breaths you finally join everyone else inside. You sit on the couch beside Fred who gives you a concerned glance; he watched the entire exchange with his father and can tell your demeanor has shifted. You shoot him a soft smile, trying to reassure him you are okay but you honestly don’t know if you are.

“Are you okay” your grandma asks. “You are awfully quiet.”

“Yeah I’m just getting kind of tired” you lie, but it is somewhat believable since it’s almost 11:30. Everything since your conversation with Ernst has been a blur; you have barely been engaged in the conversation. You can tell Fred is worried about you, you have felt him constantly staring at you all night.

“Yeah” your grandpa blindly agrees. “If we stay we will open another bottle, and we will hate ourselves on our flight tomorrow for it.”

“We should probably be getting back” Fred says squeezing your thigh as he stands up.

You make your way to the door while Fred carefully collects Oliver without waking him. You hug his parent’s goodbye before heading out the car for the drive home. Fred carries a causal conversation with your grandparents as you stare out the window.

A half an hour later you have returned to your hotel, and Oliver is fast asleep in the other room. Fred has changed and is in bed, his back pressed against the headboard. You move to the bathroom to start your night routine, taking your time. You know Fred is going to want to talk about what happened that night, your conversation with his father.

You however are so anxious you could almost vomit. Things are going good between you, and if you’re being honest with yourself you do see yourself marrying him in the future, you just aren’t ready yet. You take extra-long in the bathroom, hoping Fred has fallen asleep and you can avoid this conversation for now, but when you open the door you see him still awake and the lights on.

You crawl into bed, laying a foot away from him looking at the ceiling. You sit in silence for what feels like an hour but was likely only minute before you head Fred take a deep breath.

“What’s going on (Y/N)?” he quietly asks.

“Nothing” you whisper.

He turns his head to you, but you can’t make eye contact still staring at the light fixture on the ceiling.

“Please don’t lie. I saw you outside with my dad for a bit, and he left you out there. You stayed outside a bit after he came in, did he say something? If he did, please tell me so I can talk to him. It’s not okay…” You can feel your heart rate pick up. You can’t focus on what Fred is saying as he keeps rambling.

“Are you going to propose?” you whisper, unable to speak louder.

“What?” he asks.

“Are you going to propose?” you repeat much louder this time. You turn to look at him. He stares at you for a minute before bursting out laughing.

“Is that why you were acting so weird? What gave you that idea?”

“Your dad” you mumble.

“My dad?” he asks.

“He said how he can’t wait until I’m his daughter-in-law. Then he said maybe you had planned on doing it on the trip in a few days.”

Fred shifts in the bed to lay beside you “Elskede I’m not planning on proposing to you on this trip, I don’t have a ring. I’m glad you and my dad are getting along though, I was really worried about what happened.” You roll to your side to look at him, he pushes your hair behind your ear and kisses you lightly. “It’s good to know where you are on that though, would marrying me be that terrible?”

“No babe. I can see that, the white dress, you and Oliver in matching tuxedos; I’m just not there yet. Like I know it’s been two and a half years since we met, but we weren’t together for that whole time. We just moved in together, and I love living with you, and being a family. I’m just…”

Before you can finish Fred presses his lips to yours briefly before pulling back “I know” he whispers, pulling you in tight to his chest causing a light sigh to leave your lips. He tilts your chin up and looks down at you.

“Don’t worry skat, this trip is just about you and me spending some time together. Thought it would be nice to have a few days together, just you and me before the season starts.” He kisses your forehead before continuing “I just wanted to show you how much you mean to me. How much I appreciate you and everything you do. You deserve a couple days off of mom duty, and my mom is super excited to have a few days with him.” You laugh lightly at that comment before Fred closes the gap, gently pressing his lips to yours. You bring your hand up to his chest as you sink into the kiss.

“You deserve to relax” he mumbles against your lips. “Let me help you relax” he says pushing you onto your back.

You slide one hand up to his hair lightly running your hands through it, and your other slides down his stomach toying with the hem of his shirt. His hand slides down to your hips slipping under your shirt. He begins to lightly draw circles on your bare skin, you moan into the kiss.

Fred pulls away and looks down at you, you stare into his brown eyes seeing love look back at you. He stares at you for a moment, staring down at you, but it feels like he is looking into your soul. You want to tell him, you feel it on the tip of your lips but before you can open your mouth Fred kisses you. There is fire and passion behind this kiss.

His hand reaches up your shirt, palming your breast. He is playing with your nipple, before he squeezes it causing you to jump slightly. He chuckles pulling your shirt over your head, his mouth moves to your neck sucking on your sweet spot. Your head leans back into the pillow as you moan, your fingers sliding further down his back.

“Du er så smuk” he whispers in your ear before he pulls your shirt over your head “så smuk.”

His mouth attaches to your nipple, sucking on it. You bend your leg, he brings his hand to stroke up and down the back of your thigh. He slides his hand up into your pyjama shorts gently touching your folds. He slowly slides two fingers in, your hands have now moved down to cup his ass as he moves his fingers in and out slowly.

You moan his name loudly while his fingers continue to slowly thrust in and out of you. He is swirling his tongue around your nipple. You bring your hands up to his elastic band of his shorts and slide them underneath. You try to slide his boxers down his large thighs but are overcome with pleasure as Fred has increased the speed of his fingers; you can’t get your hands to fully work. He pulls his fingers out of you and helps you pull them off, his cock slapping against his chest as it frees from its restraints. He pushes your shorts down your legs, and throws them to the side.

On his way back to you, he places light kisses on the inside of your thigh as he approaches your core. His hands glide over your body, while he plants light feathery kisses on you. You melt into his touch, your moans filling the room. Your arousal is at a peak, you are practically dripping and can’t contain yourself when you feel Fred place light kisses on your wet pussy before finally licking you.

A deep moan leaves your mouth as he looks up smiling, his eyes now dark with lust. He returns his mouth to your core to lick your folds a few more times. There is something different about tonight, it isn’t rushed. Every movement is lined with passion, it’s soft and sensual.

He is gently placing kisses on your folds, while his hand lightly caresses up your thigh. He turns his head to your thigh and places soft kisses on you.

“Babe” you moan softly as he reattaches his mouth to your clit.

He lightly sucks on it before opening you up and sliding his tongue inside you. He gently pushes his tongue in and out of you, your hands slide to his shoulders while his tongue glides over your wetness.

He pulls back to suck on your clit and brings his fingers up grazing over your folds. He slowly slides a finger in, then two, slowly he slowly starts pumping his fingers in and out, curling inside as his mouth sucks on your clit.

You know that this speed won’t have your orgasm crashing over you any time soon. But tonight is about more than that and you both know it. Fred slips his mouth from you, and begins to make his way up to you, leaving a trail of soft kisses on your stomach, chest and neck.

His fingers continue to slowly pump in you, as you moan. Fred brings his head to yours and kisses you, you taste yourself on him when you feel his fingers slip out and it’s replaced by his tip which is pressed against your entrance.

He brings a hand up to your hair and engages you in a deep kiss before he slowly thrusts into you, bottoming out while keeping his lips on yours. You wrap your legs around his waist as you lift your hips and begin rocking with him. He sets a slow and sweet pace as he thrusts into you, one hand placed on the bed beside your head, the other holding your leg around him.

“Fuck you feel so good” he groans. “You’re so tight” he mumbles biting your neck gently; sending shivers through you.

Your hand is wrapped around his neck, your other on his back tightens, nails digging into his muscles. He keeps his pace slow, but every thrust is deep, pressing into your g-spot. You can feel your high slowly approaching as he keeps pushing into you. He peppers your collarbone and neck with soft kisses.

“Freddie” you moan as his cock pushes deep inside you. He almost pulls out completely before pushing back in fully. His head dips down and he starts sucking on your hard pink nipple, swirling his tongue around it. He can feel your high approaching as he keeps his pace “wait for me baby” he whispers rocking into you.

“Always” you reply.

You take your hand from his back and bring it around to your sensitive bud and begin rolling circles onto it.

“You’re something else babe” he says lightly in your ear before gently biting it.

“Fuck” you mutter, arching your back further to increase the angle he is hitting you. You hear Fred begin to mumble curse words above you as he becomes erratic and sloppy. His hand slides up your thigh to your ass lifting your hips higher, he grips your ass tightly as he continues his deep slow thrusts. Sweat is dripping down his chest, his forehead glistens in the light.

“Babe, I’m gonna…” Fred starts to say. You cut him off by kissing him passionately, you feel yourself be filled with his warmth. The feeling of his warm cum inside you has your high comes crashing over you. An intense explosion erupts within you, as you pulsate around his cock.

He collapses onto you, kissing your cheek as he stills inside you. You both take a minute to regain your breath. After a few minutes he lifts himself on his forearms and looks into your eyes, he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. He embraces you in his grip, locking you into a fierce kiss. He pulls out, some of his warm cum spills out and down your thigh. He gets up and heads to the bathroom for a few minutes.

He returns a few minutes later with a pair of boxers on and a warm wash cloth. He gently cleans you up before pulling one of his t-shirts over your head. Fred crawls into bed beside you, pulling you into his chest.

Fred lies on his back, you tucked tightly into his arm. You have your hand placed softly on his chest as your hear his heart beat. The beating of his heart is a soothing sound and you begin to doze off when you hear him whisper “jeg elsker dig.”

“What was that babe?” you mumble.

“Mm, oh nothing. Go to sleep babe.”

Next Chapter

[junker-town]

5 NBA stars who could be traded next

Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

The NBA stars who could get traded next, ranked by how soon they might move.

The NBA never goes too long without a superstar changing teams via a trade. The summer of 2017 saw Jimmy Butler traded to the Timberwolves and Chris Paul traded to the Rockets. In 2018, Kawhi Leonard was traded from the Spurs to the Raptors while Butler was dealt again to the 76ers. In 2019, Anthony Davis was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, Paul George was traded to the Clippers, and Paul was traded to Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook. Paul was on the move again to the Suns in 2020, while James Harden’s trade request hung over the season until he was mercifully sent from the Rockets to the Nets two weeks into January.

The biggest trade of this offseason so far is the five-team deal headlined by Westbrook’s arrival to the Lakers. Now that most of the player movement in free agency has settled, all eyes will again turn to the trade market as players consider their futures and teams assemble their best offers should a star fully hit the market.

Since star trade speculation is always one of the biggest topics in the league, here’s a look at the big names who are rumored to (maybe) be the next to move, and when it could happen.

5. Karl Anthony-Towns

When could it happen? Summer 2023 at the earliest.

There has been speculation that Towns wouldn’t sign a third contract with the Timberwolves from the moment he inked his super max extension in 2018. That deal has three years and $101.3 million remaining, and Minnesota remains far away from contention.

Can Minnesota build a winner before Towns is up for a new deal? For as promising as Anthony Edwards looked in his rookie season, the West remains a gauntlet and there isn’t a clear path for the Wolves to make a big jump up the standings. It isn’t hard to envision a scenario where Towns signals he’d like to change teams when his deal is up, and Minnesota not wanting to lose him for nothing.

Towns remains one of the best skilled offensive bigs in the league with the ability to unleash high volume and highly accurate three-point shooting from the center position. Even with question marks defensively, there’s no doubt the soon-to-be 26-year-old looks like he will eventually be in line for another max deal. He can’t become a free agent until the summer of 2024.

4. Bradley Beal

When could it happen? Summer 2023 at the earliest.

Trade rumors have swirled around Beal for years as the Washington Wizards have struggled to build a sustainable contender following John Wall’s Achilles tear. Washington swapped Wall for Russell Westbrook and earned the No. 8 seed in last year’s playoffs, and then flipped Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers for a bunch of depth pieces at the 2021 draft. Beal was reportedly considering his future with the franchise in the run-up to those moves, but Washington’s latest bold move of the offseason — a sign-and-trade for Spencer Dinwiddie — seems to have quieted speculation that Beal could be on the move soon.

The latest reports from insider Shams Charania said Beal now has no intention of leaving the Wizards, and is eyeing a five-year, $235 million max extension next summer.

While the Wizards still don’t look like a contender in the East, this report makes sense from two different angles: a) Beal wants to lock in his long-term money before seeking a new team, and b) he might be impressed with the way the front office has re-tooled the roster after the Wall trade. Washington still has lots of work to do, but it’s possible Beal is happy there for now. There will be plenty of interested suitors readying big trade packages if the Wizards ever do finally deal him.

3. Damian Lillard

When could it happen? Summer 2022 at the earliest.

Damian Lillard has been vocal about his loyalty to the Portland Trail Blazers over the years, but that might finally be changing as he enters his 31-year-old season.

Dame was vocal about his disappointment after the Blazers were knocked out in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs by a Denver Nuggets team that didn’t have injured star Jamal Murray. There was plenty of speculation Lillard could demand a trade this summer, but instead he’s made public comments pressuring the team to improve quickly. What happens if they don’t?

Portland re-signed Norman Powell to a $90 million deal, but otherwise their “big” free agent additions this offseason were Tony Snell and Cody Zeller. If Portland doesn’t make an all-in move before the season starts, it’s easy to envision a scenario where the team has another early exit in the playoffs and Lillard demands a trade in the summer of 2022.

A Lillard trade demand would likely be similar to Harden’s in Houston, with a list of preferences informing the market. The rest of the league will be waiting anxiously to see if the Blazers can fix things before Dame wants out.

2. Pascal Siakam

When could it happen? Any moment.

The Raptors won 50 or more games for five straight seasons before missing the playoffs (and play-in tournament) during a disastrous 27-45 season last year. Toronto had an easy excuse with the pandemic forcing the team to relocate to Tampa Bay for the season, but the loss of Kyle Lowry to the Miami Heat this offseason has quelled any optimism that Toronto could be a contender again next season.

The Raptors drafted Scottie Barnes at No. 4 overall, re-signed Gary Trent Jr. and Khem Birch, and otherwise haven’t done much yet to reshape the roster. It’s hard to tell what the long-term vision for Toronto is right now, which makes the reports that Pascal Siakam is available on the trade market even more difficult to decipher.

Siakam trade rumors have been out there all offseason. A recent report from Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee states that the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, and Los Angeles Clippers are reportedly “enamored” with Siakam. The Warriors feel like the most tantalizing fit, with three lottery picks under 21 years old — James Wiseman, Moses Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga — potentially fitting the bill if Toronto is looking to rebuild.

It’s possible Siakam could be on the move later this offseason if the Raptors want to fully commit to a youth movement. There really shouldn’t be too much rush for Toronto, though. Siakam is coming off an underwhelming year by his standards and is under contract for the next three seasons. It’s certainly possible he could raise his trade value during the upcoming season if Toronto holds onto him, and there’s a more robust market for him at the deadline or in the summer of 2022.

1. Ben Simmons

When could it happen? Any moment.

The NBA has waited with bated breath for a Simmons deal to finally come to fruition ever since his immense offensive struggles contributed to a second round playoff flameout for the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in June. Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid both appeared to throw Simmons under the bus after Philadelphia’s series-clinching loss to the Atlanta Hawks, setting off a wild summer of speculation about the 25-year-old All-Star’s future.

The draft came and went with Simmons still in Philadelphia. The Sixers didn’t do much in free agency, either, signing Andre Drummond and re-signing Danny Green but otherwise opting to keep the same team intact while they wait for the right offer for Simmons. What we appear to have now is an old fashioned standoff.

Simmons and agent Rich Paul reportedly want to be sent to a new team. Morey is asking for the world for Simmons at the moment. The real goal for Philly is likely to wait it out, let Simmons recoup some value, and then make him the centerpiece of a package for Lillard or Beal, should they ask out. Is the relationship between Simmons and the Sixers too broken to get that far?

The Simmons situation sure seems like it will be a major distraction if Morey lets it bleed into the season. At the same time, the team wants to make sure they can get the absolute best return for him. Until this is resolved, the Simmons trade rumors will remain one of the biggest stories in the NBA.

Wildcard: Zion Williamson

Williamson was reportedly a little bummed out that the Pelicans won the lottery when he was the clear No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft. There are already rumblings he isn’t happy in New Orleans only two seasons into his rookie deal. He hasn’t been shy about expressing his love for New York. The Pelicans’ offseason — whiffing on Kyle Lowry, letting go of Lonzo Ball, adding Devonte’ Graham and Tomas Satoransky as their headline acquisitions — hasn’t been super encouraging.

Williamson still has two years left on his rookie deal. Before his fourth season, he’ll be offered a max extension by New Orleans. If he doesn’t sign it, his only move is to play on the qualifying offer that would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after his fifth season. It’s extremely rare for a superstar to turn down the money and play on the qualifying offer because of injury risk, and Williamson’s own extensive injury history would make that route an incredibly bold choice.

If Zion really does want out of New Orleans, his only move might be to publicly pressure the front office to trade him. The fanbase has been through this before with Chris Paul and then Anthony Davis, and will pray the Pelicans can take a huge leap up the standings before that happens. Williamson was amazing in his second season, and will only get better if he can stay healthy. For now, this is a situation to monitor even if Zion doesn’t have a lot of easy options.

[fromfantofan]

TORONTO RAPTORS DRAFT OPTIONS

AND WITH THE 4TH PICK IN THE @NBA DRAFT, THE RAPTORS SELECT JALEN GREEN!!(@jalen) (Detriot-1. Cade Cunnignham @cadecunn1ngham, PG of the future)(Houston-2. Evan Mobley, Trust Kevin Porter as the PG of the Future, grab his partner in crime)(Clevland-3. Jalen Suggs, committed to Darius Garland as PG of future but not Sexton at Shooting Guard)(Toronto- 4. Jalen Green) The Toronto Raptors currently have 3 Starting positions that seem locked by current players; MY ASSUMPTION IS THAT WE DO NOT HAVE KYLE LOWRY(nor did I assume we got a player in trade) **Our PG Fred Vanvleet.**Our Forwards(SF/PF) are Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. 6'7 180 pound Jalen Green @jalen is a player that can come in and develop into a star scorer for the Toronto Raptors. He played 15 games in the G-league this year, dropping 20+ in 8 games, including 9/14 for 26 points. He then played 1 playoff game against the @Raptors905 where he played 41 mins, scoring a career high 30 points on 11/20 shooting. Jalen Green is a flat out scorer who has all the moves you want your shooting guard to have. He is one of the most deadly isolation scorers in the G-league due to his smooth counter moves when defended tightly, and his timely explosion into a scoring move. Though he stands 6'7 with shoes, he moves so quick through his go too dribbles and dribble counters that he looks like a 6'4 guard. He played shooting with the NBA 3 point Line and shot 36% on 5.7 attempts, while competing against former NBA players. He has a lot of Zack Lavine to his game, loves to get the ball on the move and immediately start going downhill and putting pressure on his defender.   The Raptors have an amazing system and our staff could REALLY turn Jalen Green into 1 of the leagues very best shooting Guards. On offense as I said, he reminds me of Lavine because he is always using his quickness to keep consistent pressure on the defense. He is a great shooter and does not lack confidence. In his first year I would expect Jalen Green to start the season on the bench, and finish the season as the Raptors starting shooting guard. Gary Trent Jr will get his chance at starting, but Jalen Green coming in and playing the 6th man role will give him the freedom to be our Jordan Clarkson. (and trust me, Jalen Green can already score that good) and it will be amazing for his development as a scoring guard. He does not have a high Point guard IQ, BUT does have passing in his arsenal of counter moves.  He can definitely get some drive and lob/drive and kick assists. But he is NOT a combo guard like Mitchell or Booker, he is a playmaker much like Norman Powell, Anthony Edwards, Zack Lavine for a more elite comparison. Either way his role right now would be to SCORE. Predictions: Jalen Green's role is to score.*** As a starter with Fred and Pascal's presence making the game easier for him, we could see Jalen Green do 18PPG. He is a deadly isolation scorer, and can get 12PPG by himself unassisted. (yah, boy can score man) and with the @Raptors system all he has to do is make open shots when assisted and bam, 18PPG. ***as a 6th man ? maybe 12-15PPG on 46% shooting. The biggest hurdle for Jalen Green is all PHYSICAL. He needs to get STRONGER as he is only 180 pounds and he needs to work on his STAMINA so that his shot does not get tired. Stamina will be the biggest difference between him averaging a lot of points and a lot of minutes. Ceiling: Prime Indiana Pacers Paul George. Current player comparison? Zack Lavine. a Guy you don not RUN your offense through but he is very good in your System and can still create for himself and others. Jalen Green could stand 6'7 and be a solid 25PPG scorer.Floor: Prime Jamal Crawford. Current player comparison? Jordan Clarkson. Jalen Green has alot of moves man. but can he develop more into a playmaker for others as well ?? What do you guys think ? is Jalen Green the next guy for us ??  

[giovanniis]

howdy HEY, i’m dab, i’m 19, i prefer she/her pronouns, and i’m currently chillin over here in pst ! rlly excited to be here and get to write w all of you honeys !! under the cut, i’m gonna ramble about this b*tch, so if anything piques ur interest... smash that mf like button so we can plot DJSADDJS

❛ chicago’s very own GIOVANNI NARCISO has been spotted in new york city in a maybach exelero. welcome ! your resemblance to shawn mendes is unreal. according to tmz, you just had your twenty-first birthday bash. your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re sarcastic, but being determined might help you. i guess being a gemini explains that. three things that would paint a better picture of you would be bruised knuckles, broken hockey sticks, and 24k gold rings. & ( cismale & he/him )

𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋  𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄 :   giovanni stephano narciso

𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄(𝐒) :  gio

𝐀𝐆𝐄 :  twenty-one

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑  +  𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐒 :  cis male + he/him

𝐒𝐄𝐗𝐔𝐀𝐋  /  𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂  𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍  :  bisexual  /  biromantic

𝐙𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐂  𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍  +  𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘  :  gemini  +  june 18th

𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄  𝐎𝐅  𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇  : toronto, canada

——  *  background  info  !

giovanni narciso was born in toronto, canada on june 18th to a world-renowned hockey player and his socialite wife. needless to say, gio lived his life in the spotlight from the moment he was born, and he’s always had everything he’s ever wanted right at his fingertips.

from a young age, gio was encouraged to be active all the time. he started skating almost as soon as he learned how to stand up by himself. it’s no wonder that he had such a knack for it with his father being a hockey legend and the fact that he got so much practice. when his father realized that gio had a natural affinity, he put him onto a club hockey team as soon as he was old enough, and started making gio work with a private coach to give him a one-up on his teammates and everyone else on the ice (despite the fact that he was only seven when he started ).

because of this, he always felt a lot of pressure to be the best he could possibly be… how could he not ? there were sports reporters showing up to his games to get the scoop on how he was doing, and how he compared to his father, and if he’d ever actually make it in professional hockey.

his parents divorced when he was eleven, and his mom moved to marry a much older, wealthy man in chicago, illinois. so, much to his despair, gio lived his life switching from toronto to chicago. the only constant in his life was hockey. so even though it stressed him the fuck out, it also made him feel at peace. he knew no matter where he was, he could get on the ice and kick everyone’s ass.

because he hopped between the two cities so often, gio was homeschooled and that’s honestly probably the only reason he got a high school diploma… had he been in regular school, he would’ve done terrible. he spent absolutely no time studying, instead spending all his time releasing his frustrations on the ice.

at sixteen, he was signed to a minor league hockey team in chicago. because of this development, he stopped going out to visit toronto as often ( especially when it was game season ). this caused a lot of buzz in the hockey community because oh my god giovanni narciso, son of a hockey legend, was breaking into the scene

he gained a huge following despite the fact that he was only on a minor league team( that was mostly thanks to his dad’s rep and the fact that gio was fantastic at the sport just like him ). it wasn’t surprising when the new york rangers offered him a spot on the team as soon as he turned eighteen. of course, he accepted the contract, and moved to new york city to pursue his hockey dreams.

now he plays as the first-string center, and has a huuuuuge following on social media. he’s one of those obnoxiously famous athletes yk ? if you like hockey even a little bit, you’ve definitely heard of giovanni narciso. fun fact: he’s #2 !

more fun facts about gio + hockey ( my otp ): the youngest captain in the nhl ever right when he turned 19, has one of the biggest contracts in nhl history

phresh out of high school, he got married to vera. which would’ve been all fine and dandy maybe if they didn’t rush into things, but they definitely did. gio was like... headass in love with her, but over time, their relationship got more and more difficult and straining, and all they ever did was fight, so they got divorced after a year of marriage, and it really fucked him up :/

——  *  personality  ! 

hockey is a rough-around-the-edges type of sport, and that’s reflected in gio’s personality. he’s very charming, and is typically a pretty nice person ? he doesn’t go out of his way to be kind or anything, but he’s not completely standoffish either

he’s terribly stubborn, and once he’s set his mind on something, it will happen no matter what or who he has to do. this could be good because in a way, it just means he’s very ambitious, but it’s also bad because he will do and say things without a thought about how it makes someone feel

narciso is a fitting last name because he’s incredibly full of himself. how could he not be ? he’s the son of a hockey legend, and he’s made a great name for himself too. he’s an amazing athlete, and he knows he’s good looking too. it’s no secret that he’s a little big-headed sometimes.

he has a very short temper. he blows his lid very easily, and will say things he probably doesn’t mean just because he wants to hurt you.

he just??? doesn’t think. he doesn’t have a filter literally at all. will say the first thing that comes to mind always and it’s usually fucking stupid sdjdjas… he’s also a big jokester and very sarcastic and witty

also has a problem with being honest ? lies about everything? the type of person to smile in your face while he stabs you in the back? will lie when there’s no reason to? you could be like “gio did u eat breakfast” and he’ll be like “ya.” even if he didn’t like… dumb shit. don’t ever trust him about anything

so he comes off as cocky like... externally... but inside, he’s really insecure? like he believes that love exists because he’s felt it but he doesn’t.... think it was meant for him, if that makes sense. because every time he loves someone, they go away. because of this, he has a really poor vision of love n everything. uhhhh can u say trust issues?

most people think he lives up to the ‘dumb jock’ stereotype, which is something he’s also really insecure about. it’s not that he didn’t try in school. he did to a point, but then he just flat out stopped caring. school was always really difficult for him. he was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was 7, and it always made him feel really out of place in school... to the point where he just stopped caring because all it did was made him feel frustrated and dumb when all he needed was some extra help?

he’s misunderstood

and also just… a whole mess tbh DJSAIOS….

i’m gna make a seperate post for wanted connections, but like.... [sharpay vc] i want it all !

[hockeyknowitall]

i live in australia and i recently got into the sport and want to watch games- which are the most idk famous? or world wide? teams i can get into and watch despite being so isolated from the game

Have you watched AIHL games? They stream on youtube for free and they’re australian based so it might be easier for you to access! 

There’s also this facebook fanpage for australian NHL fans (thanks @tahaiga) 

I would say the most popular teams are always going to be the Original 6 teams and the last team to win the stanley cup. 

The Original 6 teams are:

The Montreal Canadiens - This team basically made the NHL like i;m not joking they decided to leave the previous NHA because they didn’t like one of the teams Owners and started their own league which is now the NHL. They’ve been around since 1909 so they’re the oldest hockey team in the league by far. Currently though their future is very bleak. They have the best goaltender in the world (who’s currently out injured) and absolutely no one else. They don’t have any good players who are about to break into th elineup anytime soon either. Plus they have a few players known for saying slurs. Once the team has done a rehaul they might be fun! and going through a struggle with a team makes seeing them succeed more fun! so you might want to jump on this wagon now before they get good again?? maybe??

The Toronto Maple Leafs - the Leafs are the biggest canadian team in the NHl if not the biggest team. They have the benefit of being in the biggest metropolitan area in Canada but that also means most of the other canadian teams hate them for it. The leafs are at the opposite end of the cycle from the Canadiens, They currently have a bunch of really good young players who are only going to get better in the next few years, plus some elite players who have not made the team just yet. They play a really fast and high scoring game, but sometimes this means the high scoring goes against them. But if you want an exciting team to watch and enjoy, the leafs are probably up there but they have a history of being bad to mediocre so be prepared for the “history repeats itself” thing.

The Boston Bruins - The Bruins are my team so I’ll try to keep this as objective as possible. But the bruins were the first american team in the NHL, and because of that have a pretty big following. They were known as the big bad bruins and because of that have a reputation. the stereotypical view of hockey is usually what people think the bruins are. I don’t really know what to tell you about this teams prospects. There’s a lot of pressure on them to be one of the best even when they aren’t even close. But it’s always up in the air. They were supposed to be terrible this year and are one of the best teams. They’re unpredictable I don’t know what they’ll look like in the next two years but in at least 5 they should be stable and good again. 

The New York Rangers - This team I don’t have much of a scouting report on because I just don’t follow them that closely at all. But I do know that they’re not doing well this year. They have a goalie who for a long time was considered the best in the NHL but he’s getting older like a lot of the team. However, they seem to be in transition right now which usually means they’re getting worse to ultimately be better. So that could be a good thing for the same reasons you’d follow the habs (their nickname). If you get on while they’re bad and they succeed it’ll feel like you battled through it with them. They have a few really good young players and if the leafs aren’t the most popular team in the NHL It’s these guys.

The Chicago Blackhawks - I’m gonna be honest. I barely recognize these guys as part of the NHL because personally I believe some of the decisions they’ve made in regards to how they handle their players and the fans are despicable. Basically, do your research on them. They haven’t been good this year and their morals are questionable. That’s what i’m going to leave you with. 

The Detroit Red Wings - The wings are iconic. They were one of the most consistently good teams in the NHL for my whole life until these past two years. They had the longest playoff streak in the NHL, now they didn’t win the cup that much in that time, but at that point it doesn’t reallymatter because they had the opportunity to win the cup every time they made the post season. Now recently they seem to be in the same boat as the habs. There’s not a lot of hope for them in the future. They have some really godo players but because of the way the salary cap works i personally have no idea how they’re going re-sign a guy like Larkin who is supposed to be their future. But who knows. This may be a team you have to wait out a little while. Because while I know how a team like the rangers can get out of their predicament. I have no idea how the wings are going to fix their mistakes.

So those are the Original 6 teams and tend to have the biggest world wide following but the recent stanley cup champions also tend to be big so those are going to be two main teams I haven’t mentioned yet.

The Pittsburgh Penguins - They won the stanley cup the last two years. They’re the only team to repeat since the game almost completely changed. So even though I’m not penguins fan I can’t in good faith say they’re not the best team in the NHL. They have the best player in the NHL and probably the world, Sidney Crosby and on top of that they also have maybe the best Russian NHL player, Evgeni Malkin. You’re tallking a team that’s made up of some the best NHL players currently. I don’t think they’re unbeatable, i’ve seen my team beat them quite a bit this year. But if you like the monsters this team is the current monster. the only problem is if you’re in it for the long haul, general trends say what goes up must come down and the penguins rae peaking right now after being abysmal for a while. So just be aware that they probably can’t go much higher at this point.

The LA Kings - Last time they won was in 2014 which is pretty long ago now but they won in 2012 too and are big because they were one of Gretzky’s team. This was the team that basically brought hockey to california (sorry ducks and sharks fans). Again I don’t have a good scouting report on this team. You might also want to do your research into this team because of some of the problematic things they’ve done in the past. And they tend to be a very controversial team becuase a lot of people just hate the LA Kings. And i can’t really tell if they’re going down or up at this point. 

And finally:

The Washington Capitals - While not a Original 6 team or a recent champion I would also include them because of their general world wide popularity. They have probably the best goal scorer in the world and probably one of the most popular hockey players of all time, Alexander Ovechkin. He just scored 600 goals which is a major milestone and he did it in under 1000 NHL games and I believe that makes him the 4th player ever in history to do that. He’s a beast. In my opinion he’s the best goal scorer in nhl history. On top of that they have some amazing players to support him like Nicklas Backstrom who is consistently considered the most underrated player in the NHL, Braden Holtby who is basically a Vezina candidate each year (MVP for goalies), Tom Wilson who is a rough and tough big player who also happens to just be a great player as well, and TJ Oshie who got the nickname TJ Sochi after he went multiple times in the shootout at the Sochi Olympics during the Russia/USA game that made him an american hero basically.  But similar to the penguins being at the top now means there’s more room to fall than there is to grow. But I do know the Caps are pretty big in Australia. 

I of course couldn’t go through every NHL team so I’m sure there’s some guy from Alberta who’s pissed I didn’t mention his favorite team. But from what I can tell these are the teams that are generally the most popular and therefore if you’re looking for a huge fan base, the teams that are going to be easiest for you to get into!