#didn’t like it on crosby didn’t like it on mcdavid. trying not to let it affect my opinion on bedard as the next big name nhl projected 1oa

[archaicbro]

Mitch Marner as a case study for values-based coaching + mental aspect of athletic development:

His coach, Dan Noble, talked about the role of parenting in athlete development, and used Mitch as an example of how parents should be selective of who handles their kid's development as an athlete.

Noble cites Mitch's childhood skating coach, Rob Desveaux. Desveaux notably didn't want to take Mitch on at 4 y.o., but would eventually prove to be instrumental in helping Mitch develop (and re-find joy in hockey upon entering the OHL). [Read]

“Watching from behind the glass, Paul and Bonnie saw their son drift back into the joy he’d shown playing minor hockey. They saw the smile he’d worn when he pretended to be Sidney Crosby playing mini-sticks in the corner of the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex in Bowmanville, Ont., where he’d go to watch his older brother play. The pressure was gone. He was home, having fun, playing the game he loved. “There’s no problem here, Mitch,” Desveaux told Marner after they got off the ice. “You just have to get back to normal.””

Noble refers to that scoring slump in London. He observes that what Marner needed was "to remember what his game is, and what makes him special. It wasn't like he was broken, he just needed a reset."

“Even [when] I look at Mitch as a kid being at the Hill Academy, to being just rambunctious, energetic, and transitioning through his time to London, he'd face (?)—and this is the one that we always talk about, which I think is pretty cool—is that Mitch has gotten better every year of hockey. He never stays the same.

There's always been something that he's done or added. But when I think about it, like in London, he hit a scoring slump, his first year there. First time in his life, I don't know how many games it was, but he had no points and was just struggling.

This is pretty well-documented. He left, came home, went back to his coach, and all they did was reset, they went through this reset process, and talked about his game. And it wasn't like, skating around cones, or drill-based—it was his mindset. He needed to remember what his game is, and what makes him special.

It wasn't like he was broken, he just needed a reset.”

Noble notes kids should be able to own the process, and parents have to ensure their kids DON'T believe they're better than anyone on their team. Kids should also be encouraged to have a role on their team, and learn how to be accountable about their interactions.

Quoting a mentor: "If your child never played sports higher than the level they're playing right now, what would be the things that you would want them to take from this experience?"

He also notes that, in his interactions with his own son, he ensures to let his son know that he could call his old man out if Noble gets too intense, so they could have a very open dialogue about it.

Interestingly, Noble also talks about the importance of complete recovery for athletes (i.e., you're off = you're off), and identifying training objectives (i.e., specific training objectives to get desired outcomes v "get stronger" platitudes). [article]

“"It's tough," he said of the move. "I got to thank my [personal] coach Dan Noble for that one. That's a lot of groin stuff [we do] in the summertime. I try and take care of myself the best I can and keep my body loose. [I'm] kind of loosey goosey out there I guess. I always joke around with [Alex Kerfoot], the best groins in the league. (Smiles) But knock on wood."“

From Noble:

“Here's the funny part. People would look at a guy like Mitch... Even how much Mitch skates, like, Mitch won't step on the ice until mid-June, late June, and even then it's very light. They (Mitch and Connor McDavid) understand that less is more.”

More on Marner's physical development: Noble repeats what's been said about Marner's training in response to comments he's received his entire life about his size.

"He had the mentality: "I've got to go in there, and prove people wrong."" [Other quotes]

“Part two: He's always been told he's too small. At every single level. They've said that he'd never be able to do what he had done at the previous level because he's too small.

When he got to the Leafs the first year, they're like, wow, he needs to get stronger, he needs to put on 20 pounds. They want him at 185 lbs. I'm like, he's 156 lbs. This is insane.

I just said to Mitch: You need to remember who you are as a player, and what makes you special. And we stuck to our process. And we adapted—but he had the mentality: "I've got to go in there, and prove people wrong."”

That kind of mental toughness extends to Mitch Marner's outlook on constant setbacks, including the playoffs, and accountability:

“Every year, there's been adversity. Last year, with the playoffs exit, there was adversity. It's the thing, he's never looked to be bailed out.

Mitch, it's always been going back to "I need to get better." It's not work harder, he's like, "What do I need to do to get better?".”

Mitch's willingness to evolve his training to become a better hockey player has been noted by Sidney Crosby's long-time trainer, Andy O'Brien, who praised Marner's physical and mental adaptability. [A little reference to the onside thing mentioned by Marner above]

He [Andy O'Brien] talked about how Mitch is adaptable as a player from a physical perspective, but also a mental perspective. And he talked about our training style.

And I think, again, this is a part of, the on-ice part with Rob and I. Rob and I coach very similar, but Mitch is always given a problem to solve. It's never "Here's a piece of paper, follow this.". In a lot of our warm-up stuff, it involves things from a cognitive level, it involves things from a physical level.

There's no rep count—[there's] working through this, and finding it. Doing a front roll to a single leg jump. It's just warm-up, but then you watch him do stuff like what he did this year, how he stays onside and does the splits and spins around. People are like, how [did] he do it? These are the types of things that we do in our training.

We still lift weights, we still squat, we still do all that other stuff, but we build the mortar between the bricks, mentally, and physically.

Bonus: Variation of the front roll to single leg jump Noble mentioned; except here, Mitch goes > forward lunge > back roll > single leg rise [Video]

The host cites a study where the top 10% of athletes across major sports leagues (e.g., MLB, NFL, NBA, etc.) said they prefer to have guidance from their coaches; he notes the study's implications for child athletes.

Mitch exhibits this complete trust in his trainers, but it took TIME.

There's also an element of play to Mitch's training. Blending traditional methods & what can make him better while staying true to what makes him exceptional.

Noble: “There are some times where I won't tell Mitch what we're doing today. I just throw him curveballs. He'll know the theme—he always understands that, but sometimes it's about creating chaos within that environment. Sometimes it's about creating routine and structure, and then sometimes it's about pushing them outside their comfort zone and then having them do something they hate doing.

And I think that's [the] part people miss. There is so much more to just getting bigger, stronger, and faster. If bigger, stronger, and faster was the only tangible factors to performance, then the guys that test the top of the NFL combine would be the best player every year, and we all know that's not the case.

That's a piece with me with Mitch. The other thing though, Mitch has a like, with myself and Rob, Mitch has never said no to anything we've asked him to do, because he trusts us. But it took time to build that trust. It took time for us to understand him as a human, him to know we care about him.”

From The Athletic:

Cirelli, 24, and Marner, 25, are friends who have trained most summers together in Toronto since they entered the NHL. It’s a pretty eclectic and dynamic group at Dan Noble’s Noble Sports & Performance, also including Michael Dal Colle, Taylor and Darren Raddysh, and Ciampini, who played last season in Austria. They’re like a “band of brothers,” as Ciampini put it, with Marner and Cirelli the alphas when it comes to competitiveness, battling in everything from handball to “H-O-R-S-E” to medicine ball volleyball.

Noble talked about creating an environment conducive to learning, where children feel cared for by their peers and teachers.

He also notes that the real wellspring from mental resilience and mental toughness is from having connections.

“And I think that's where a lot of people miss. There's a study based on learning in the classroom. The number one thing that kids need to learn, or to be in the most conducive learning environment was they need to know that peers care about them, and that their teachers care about them. Those are the most important things. Didn't matter what their educational qualifications were, the types of technology, it was caring and connection.

And someone talked the other day about how mental resilience and mental toughness is so misguided. In the US, you see the shit they do in football, and it's not doing anything. And he (unknown), I'm a big believer in this, is that mental toughness and reslience comes from connection. When you're connected to something, connected to a bigger purpose, is that you know "I'm gonna jump in front of a shot for this team because we're connected and I care about this, I care about this team, I'm connected to the big picture that's been painted".

And that's what we try to build within our program, is that there's a connection to a bigger purpose here.”

Lastly, Noble notes that while he's sure Mitch will leave a lasting legacy, Mitch's impact on the people he cares about is of great personal importance to himself.

“As much as a guy like Mitch is gonna leave off a lot of records, and stats, and a book one day, and hopefully a Stanley Cup ring, the impact that he's had on his teammates, the impact that he's had on his family, his friends, his people, is far greater and what really truly matters to him.”

My personal takeaways:

1) Child athletes are CHILDREN FIRST, and must be developed holistically (e.g., taught they're not better than anyone else on their team, to have a role that supports their teammates, to listen to their bodies and trust their instincts, etc.)

1A) Corollary to that, children should be able to trust the adults in their life. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's so incredibly important, not only to child athletes, but children across their spectrum to know that adults can provide them stability as they grow up.

2) A recurring theme I noticed: Mitch's problems aren't about his skills, it's his mental state. From age 10, to his scoring slump in London, to 2018/19, and 2021, all of his slumps are attributable to mental slumps AND the need to redirect his focus. [Twitter] [Tumblr]

“Coach's Comments: People are naturally drawn to Mitchell and he has a unique ability to make those around him better. He is a gifted athlete and demonstrates a clear love to participate in all sports and training activites. He is extremely energetic and highly competitive but at times he needs to be refocused and directing his energy accordingly.”

But once he comes home, resets, and gets reminded that he's loved, and that hockey is supposed to be fun, he bounces back.There are better quotes for this, but linking the Zeus thing because it's recent, and quite frankly, endearing [Sportsnet]:

“I don't have any kids, and people are probably going to think I'm crazy, but, yeah, it's my guy," Marner explained, en route to history.

"He doesn't have a damn clue what I do for a living. He doesn't have a damn clue what anyone thinks about me. He just loves me for being his dad and buzzing around outdoors with him. So, that's why I put him on there — for the little remembrance to have fun.”

“Just try and do what he does out there at the field. Just buzz around and chase down the ball and be a big force.”

I have A LOT of thoughts about this, but I have work :)) So I'll end this thread here for now.

Huge thanks to Molliteum's The Difference Maker Podcast for the great interview with Dan Noble.

Podcast: Apple | Soundcloud | Youtube | Spotify

If you want to learn more about Coach Noble's training philosophy, follow GRIT Athletics, the performance center he founded with Mitch Marner. It's worth noting Noble also works with Anthony Cirelli, Erin Ambrose, Brianne Jenner, Natalie Spooner, and Laura Stacey, among others.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube

[tradetobest]

dee's march 2024 fic recs!!

once again, i am late!! BUT ... its finals season so... also i guess i did less reading this month rip but,.... READ THESE

(FIC ROULETTE 1 2 3 4 5)

rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints by anonymous

pairing: jack eichel/connor mcdavid rating: E words: 32k summary: For all the draft hype and semi-annual questions about it, that’s all there ever was between him and Eichel. No friendship, no rivalry, just a one-minute maybe in a crowded hotel room on a team that was never as relevant as Connor wanted it to be. Even if Eichel had meant anything at all by it at the time, he’s surely forgotten about it by now. **** Jack Eichel is traded to the Pacific Division and Connor McDavid is being super normal about it

OUGHHHH..... id been subscribed to this fic SINCE august 2023 and WORTH THE FUCKING WAIT LET ME TELL U!!!! literally perfect mceichel. yes.... yes go over to his house with a flamingo..... yes "does he want me to show up..... idekk" and then the friend is like "yeah hes been fucking insane obsessed w you this whole time thank gawd yr here bro" OUGH..... theyre perfect to me

scar tissue by anonymous

pairing: tyler seguin/jamie benn rating: T words: 12k summary: Jamie still remembers when they were practically living out of each other’s pockets, the memory twinging like a muscle he hasn’t used in a long time but that his body hasn’t forgotten. It was probably inevitable that they’d see less of each other once Jamie formally requested that they no longer go into the field together but it still hits him sometimes. The tangible feeling of loss despite it having been his own decision in the end. Tyler didn’t speak to him for a month after he found out. 

SPIES!!! SPIES SPIES SPIES!!! you know i am ALWAYS down for a bennguin fic and OUGH this one was SO fun..... i LOVE "trying to protect you by letting you go" and then it SPIRALS. sooooo good. twirls hair.

Hello, You've Reached Mr. Handyman by crookedsilence

pairing: jack eichel/connor mcdavid rating: T words: 5k summary: His first thought is that this has to be a prank. Because, despite the distressed clothes and faded red toolbox, there is no way this guy is a legitimate handyman.

OUGH...... OUHHHH.... CONNOR MCDAVID YOU ARE SO .... TO ME..... cradles this fic's connor in my hands.... you do not know how to fix a cabinet...... idiots to lovers at its FINEST i love it so muhc

who can grow me by thekookster

pairing: brady tkachuck & matthew tkachuck rating: T words: 6k summary: But Brady had laughed like it was a joke, and then Brady’d said, no you’re not. C’mon, you’ve never been like that, and then Brady’d gotten upset and said but wouldn’t it be easier if— And then Brady hadn’t talked to him for five months. — After Matthew loses in the Stanley Cup Final, Brady takes him to a cabin for a weekend. They have a lot they’re not talking about.

READ THIS FIC. OHH MY GOD.... this one went DIRECTLY into my recs such a great exploration of family dynamics and like. If Coming Out Goes Badly. when i recced this to an irl they went "brady wouldnt say that" and i thought it was funny but this fic is so worth the He Wouldn't Fucking Say That.... OUGH...... WHO CAN GROW ME A NEW BROTHER................ what if i sobbed

See This Through by impertinence

pairing: sidney crosby/evgeni malkin rating: E words: 32k summary: Sidney's drunk when he orders a Russian bride. He doesn't expect anyone to show up - and he definitely doesn't expect that person to be an awkward-looking guy who barely speaks English.

MAIL ORDER BRIDE FIC......................... OUGHH...... op..... op you know exactly what i want in life fr.... please read this yall it slays

[brockachu]

hey y’all ever think about how the new narrative (at least in the league, and a little from some sabres fans) is that the sabres can finally get a true rebuild done, shaking off the haunted vibes from jack, but using what he was traded for. and it’s just like. he was supposed to save the franchise right? and there is so much budding hope in the sabres i’ve seen recently.

like some ppl are already projecting tuch for next captain. the sabres seem to be developing krebs pretty well & he’s def getting more play than he would’ve in vegas. they also have a 1st & 3rd round pick from the trade that could go so many ways to rounding out that increasingly youthful roster.

and the irony is that jack maybe did finally save the franchise. by leaving.

[officialgritty]

How I Would Humble NHL Players

An essay written by bigboigritty. 

I would humble hockey players the only way I know how to, by sending them to Australia. Let’s suppose that they have decided to hold the All Star game over here (forget about it’s usual date) (forget that some players I have listed below might not be invited) (and while you're at it, please forget that Australia’s rinks are Not Good).

I think that they would suffer but in an entertaining way so it’s fine. 

First of all, their biggest concern is getting sunburnt. It would effect all of their dumb asses but I’m particularly worried about Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mitch Marner. Boys are practically translucent. Vince Dunn would be fine, he’d probably wear a shirt most of the time which is a very smart decision. 

You may wonder why I didn’t mention Nolan Patrick because I am a certified slut for him, well I don't think he would have a problem. He would spend most of the time inside and when he joins the others, I think his Virgo ass would reapply sunscreen. Maybe he would burn slightly but I don't think it'd be enough to make him uncomfortable. 

Another thing that I think they will gain from this experience is a higher pain tolerance. Now you’re probably thinking, “Zoe they are NHL players so they can handle pain.” Wrong.

Real pain is running barefoot on cement at theme parks while you race to get to the next ride. Also getting into the car and having to avoid touching every piece of metal to not get branded like a cow. Or better yet, when the heat gets so bad that there’s a black out because everyone has their air conditioning turned on.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that other countries have scary animals but I would pay to see them panic over ours. Crocodiles here can grow up to 5.2 metres / 17 feet. We have a box jellyfish season where it’s advised to avoid swimming or wear wetsuits for coverage. Funnel web spiders can survive underwater for hours by trapping air bubbles around their skin. We have several of the worlds deadliest snakes present across the country. 

Listen, I don't want anyone to get injured but the constant fear that they would have when doing anything would be enough to make me happy.

My biggest question is who would survive in the shady areas, who would survive the eshays?

Under no circumstances can you look them in the eyes or cross their path. They are not to be feared individually but in groups caution is advised. I think the players would attempt to assert dominance and that is simply not an option. You are better off to ignore the eshay.

Nolan would have no issues here if im being honest. He is big and I don't think they’d find it worth it to fuck with him. But you know who they would target? Matthew Tkachuk. “Where are you going pretty boy?” “Oi braa did we hurt your feelings ya pussy cunt?” They would make fun of his hair in particular. 

Travis Konecny would be an eshay. I don't think I need to make further comment. (So would Louis Tomlinson but I am not a 1D account and I will continue to repeat that until it’s true.)

I would also give them a few iconic tasks to get the true Australian experience. Activities for the ‘vacation’ include triathlon events, beach flags, bush walking and climbing the harbour bridge. They could attend a cricket match but they tend to like golf so unfortunately they would probably enjoy this :(

AFL is an extremely popular sport here and I think they would loose their shit when they learn the rules of this game. No protective equipment is used other than mouthguards, that's it. That’s all you get. And jumping onto other players for leverage is encouraged. I would thoroughly enjoy the fights that would break out because of this.

Another task would be to use a map to make their way to a servo for a slurpee. The catch is that they will be required to pass through multiple alleyways. Also, the season is Spring, it’s swooping season mother fuckers. Let’s see how brave you are when birds chase you down the block. Personally I don’t think any of them would pass this test, maybe McDavid because the birds may not be able to detect a heartbeat.

Australian food would disgust them, I just know it. Things that they would need to try are a Bunnings sausage sanga, fairy bread, lamingtons, baked beans on toast, Milo and Vegemite. Because I’m me I would give them no butter with their Vegemite. 

An after thought I had was money so I’m editing this to include it. Everything here is EXPENSIVE so they would need to learn how to budget. Upon doing research, Canadians would be fine but the Americans will be mad.

1000 CAD = 1019 AUD

1000 USD = 1297 AUD

Another after thought was the fact that they won’t be able to drive (or at least drive well) here. We drive on the left and not the right, same goes for walking paths too. I can sense a lot of them bumping into people.

Where I think players would live based on vibes alone:

Carter Hart and Vince Dunn: North Shore Beaches, NSW. Daddy’s money. Carter probably did Nippers whereas Vince was a skater boy. 

Travis Konecny: Darwin, NT. Would 100% live there and enjoy it. He would try to conduct crocodile tours but gets assigned to feeding the baby crocs and doing shows for little kids. 

Tyson Barrie: Perisher, NSW. One of the only ski resorts we have to offer, major friendly mountain man energy.

Nolan Patrick: Byron Bay, NSW. @antoineroussel enlightened me, steering away from my original thought of Katoomba, NSW. Byron Bay is a magnet for hippies and links rainforest to the ocean. Chris Hemsworth and his family also live there.

William Nylander: Perth, WA. I don’t know much about Perth other than they wouldn’t shut up about partying while the other states had to quarantine. For some reason, I also associate Perth with Tik Tok. 

Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid: Melbourne CBD, VIC. These two would live in the same apartment building in the city, Connor one level above Sidney. It’s the most boring looking block of them all and Crosby would send in complaints to the landlord about McDavid pacing during the night.

Tyler Seguin: Surfers Paradise, QLD. Party central, not many people are actually from this area and he would be sure to tell absolutely everyone that he was. I also think he would get a Meter Maid tattoo, specifically on his leg. Has definitely slept on the beach before because he couldn’t find his way home.

Jamie Benn: Hobart, TAS. Tasmania is usually forgotten about. Another one with mountain man energy except he is more creepy than friendly.

Mitch Marner: Fitzroy, VIC. @antoineroussel is responsible for this one too. Hipster central, makes you question how the hell someone so young can have so much money. Would chug $45 wine and not blink an eye.

(honourable mentions include = Sammy Blais: Hobart, Tas. Once again no comment on Tasmania. TJ Oshie: Cairns, QLD. Would do reef tours. Haydn Fleury: Western Sydney, NSW. Haydn would 100% own a ute or a white holden commodore and you can’t tell me otherwise. Roman Josi: Adelaide, SA. Small town history teacher vibes.)

I have attached a handy map for those who may need it.

In conclusion, the NHL should send their players over here to teach them some manners and while they’re at it, management should bring themselves too. Nolan Patrick could pass as an Australian if he built up a tan. (So does Nylander in this picture but we won’t talk about that.) Come over anytime baby, I’m free. 

Glossary

Servo - A service station, also known as a petrol or gas station. Example: 7/11

Theme park - An amusement park. Can be said in reference to both normal parks and water parks and usually means those in QLD. Example: Six Flags

Swooping season - August to October in Australia. When birds attack and chase humans and / or pets for getting close to their babies. Magpies are notoriously bad for this. 

Bunnings sausage sanga - A cheap feed / meal found at the front of a hardware and gardening store called Bunnings. Made up of white bread, sausage, onion and your choice of sauce.

Fairy bread - White bread with margarine and topped with 100s and 1000s / sprinkles. 

Meter Maids - Women who work along the beach dressed in gold bikinis. They top up parking meters to save tourists from getting fined and will often stop for photos. 

Nippers - Surf lifesaving programs carried out for children between 5 and 14. 

Ute - A pick up truck.

Eshay - A person who partakes in drug use, graffiti, listens to EDM and targets victims in groups. Below is the typical style of an eshay. 

Tagging a few friends so this doesn’t completely flop but feel free to ignore if it isn't your thing. I won’t be offended lmao

@scheifefe @ifiwasshawnmendesidslapmyself @d00dlebob @bowenbyram @kempe @prettyboyroope @quintonsbyfield @travisgermy @pitoftrash @kspitehockey @ballsakic @canadianheaters @bricksatlandyswindow @powerblais @brokeninsidebutnobodyknows @jamiedrysdales

[flameoutfics]

We’re Only Young and Naive Still Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Nora was scratched against Detroit which wasn’t a surprise. She hadn’t had a stellar debut and she hadn’t curried favor with Sutter, but the press had taken her first game and run with it. Everyone had told her to stay off of the internet and to not read articles about herself, but it was hard to ignore the things that popped up on her Twitter feed. There were already some reporters who asked to interview her and there were even a few names that she recognized and wouldn’t mind interviewing with. She had listened to Steve Dangle’s podcast on her morning commute to college occasionally and thought he’d been fair in his assessments. She didn’t think that he’d take cheap shots at her or try to make her uncomfortable. 

She also knew though that the publicity that was being offered to her was something that some athletes worked their entire lives for. Maybe if it was different, if she was naturally talented in the way that Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid were, the attention would be warranted, but she was just a novelty. So for the moment, Nora politely declined the interviews with the canned rejection that she wanted to focus on contributing to the team and that she would consider at a later time. 

She was on the practice squad for the scrimmage before the game clad in a white jersey with some of the other two-way players skating on the ice against the permanent Flames and halfway through practice, she was already exhausted and soaked in sweat. “Tired, Hallisay?” 

“I’m fine,” Nora said and skated back to the ice with renewed resolve. 

“Take the face off,” Sutter yelled and Nora paired off against Matthew Tkachuk. Off ice he was just aloof but on ice, he was ferocious. He was the type of player that teams hated playing against and everyone wanted on their team. He glared at her from across the face-off circle, his cold, blue eyes almost wild as their coach approached them with the puck. Nora reacted just a split second faster to pass the puck over to Jusso for the break-away. The play was called off and everyone reset with new players at the face-off.

“Lucky,” Matthew said.

“Had nothing to do with luck,” Nora replied. 

“It won’t happen again,” Matthew said, but there was a lightness in his voice. 

“We’ll see,” Nora said, knowing that the odds of her squaring off against Matthew would be few and far in between. She was a fourth-liner at best; he was on the first line. As practice wrapped up, Nora skated to the bench and grabbed some Gatorade. Some of the guys headed straight to the locker room, but Nora lingered rink side. 

“You coming?” one of the trainers asked.

“I’m going to stick around here a little longer,” Nora said, “I want to get in a little more practice.”

“They won’t let you stay too long,” the trainer warned.

“I’ll take what I can get,” Nora said. She skated back on the ice and worked on puck-handling drills. She wished she had the hands of Pavel Datsyuk, but she didn’t. It was never her strong suit on the ice. 

“Move your top hand more, it’ll give you better control” a voice called behind the bench. 

Nora stopped for a moment and glanced over to where the voice was coming from. A small group of players, already showered and changed, watched. 

“Move your hand more,” Matthew repeated, gesturing with his own hand.

Nora shifted her hands to match his, “Like this?”

“Yeah, that’s what they teach you when you’re eight,” Matthew said. 

Nora saw red. Matthew could fuck off. “Well, we don’t all have dads who can get us on the best junior teams.”

A couple of the guys chuckled, but Matthew’s jaw clenched and his face turned red. Nora felt her stomach sink as the barb landed exactly where she anticipated. If things were different, Nora would have been contrite and even as it was, she didn’t like to be the type of person that made other people feel bad, but she wasn’t just going to roll over and take it either. She knew she didn’t have the same hockey knowledge that the other players did. They had had some of the best coaches, had had the time to play for hours after school, and had had opportunities that she couldn’t have dreamed of. So yeah, they didn’t have the same background, but she had worked her way to where she was, and she deserved to be there no matter what anyone else said. 

After they left, she redid the drill following Matthew’s advice. It was better; he was right. Nora gritted her teeth and did it again and again, adjusting her grip when she noticed herself slipping into her old routine. “Fuck,” Nora murmured. 

“You have to go,” the zamboni driver said as he waited for her to get off the ice.  

“Sorry,” Nora said sheepishly and skated towards the locker room. Everyone was already gone by the time she was ready to leave the rink. 

She pulled out her phone and followed the map back to the hotel. A few blocks away from the hotel, a text message popped up on her phone. 

From Liam: Congrats on your debut. 

Nora smiled and pocketed her phone away to respond to him later. She made a mental note to text him back later. 

“A few of us are playing FIFA later, if you want to join?” Mikael said as he caught her coming out of the elevator.

Nora smiled slightly, grateful for the invitation, “Whose room?” 

“Don’t know yet, but it’ll be in the group chat.”

“I’ll be there,” Nora promised. She headed to her room, sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled up the text that Liam had sent her. Thanks, you watched?

Liam’s response was almost immediate: I saw the highlights. How are things with the team? 

Nora wanted to tell him everything, she wanted to say how hard it was, how Sutter didn’t want her there, and the team didn’t want her there, and how all she wanted to do was go home. But she didn’t. Instead she typed out, I kind of fucked up with a teammate today. 

Liam wrote back, You’ll make the right decision, you always do.

Nora sighed. 

As promised, the open invitation in the group chat said they were planning on playing FIFA in Rasmus’s room in fifteen minutes and Nora showed up just a few minutes afterwards. 

“Are you any good?” Milan asked.

“I’m horrible at video games,” Nora said. 

“You’re on their team, then,” Milan said as he nodded over to the other half of the room.

Nora glanced over at Matthew who had been leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, still looking as pissed off as he had at the rink. 

“I think I’m gonna leave,” Matthew said, despite protests from their teammates. Nora couldn’t help but feel as though it was a reaction to her joining, a remnant from their fight at the rink. 

She remembered what Liam had sent her, “You’ll make the right decision, you always do,” and she knew what she’d have to do.  

After a few rounds of watching them play FIFA, Nora stood up to leave. 

“You know where Matthew’s room is?” she asked Elias as a new game was getting set up.

“I think he’s 219,” Elias replied. 

“Thanks.”

Nora talked herself into going over to Matthew’s room. She sighed and knocked on the door, hoping that he would already be asleep or in the shower. Instead, though, Matthew opened the door and glared at her. 

“Can we talk?” Nora asked. Matthew didn’t answer, but instead pushed the door open and made way for her to come in. 

“I’m sorry, for what I said at the rink. That wasn’t fair and it wasn’t true. You worked hard to be here and it wasn’t right for me to imply that it was because of who your father is or who your family is, so I’m sorry about it. And...you were right,” Nora said, “About my hands, it’s better your way.”

There was a long pause, “This is where you would usually apologize, too.”

“Why should I? I was just trying to help,” Matthew said. 

“No, you weren’t,” Nora said, “You were trying to humiliate me.”

“What’s your problem?” Matthew said, “Why do you think we’re all out to get you or something?”

Nora paused for a moment, “I know you don’t want me here. I know most of the guys don’t want me here, and that’s fine, but it’s hard not to think that way when you know otherwise.”

“What do you mean we don’t want you here?” Matthew asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion, “Did someone say something?” 

Nora pulled out her phone and scrolled through the group chat to the incriminating messages, “You did.” She held out the phone for Matthew to read the messages. 

His eyes widened in recognition and he went to apologize, but Nora held out her hand, “Don’t. It is what it is, but I know, so don’t play dumb. And I don’t expect us to be friends or even like each other, I don’t care about that, but I deserved better than that and I don’t deserve the type of comments that you made at practice either.”

Matthew didn’t say anything and to be honest, Nora wasn’t sure if there was anything left to clear the air, “See you tomorrow then.”

She headed back to her room and saw another message from Liam, Do you need to talk?

No, I’m good, but thanks, good night Li.

Nora had woken up before they were scheduled for breakfast and she looked on her phone for a local coffee shop to try before they were set to leave Detroit. She headed to a small, locally owned one just a few blocks from the hotel that they had passed in transit and ordered a vanilla latte. She grabbed a table towards the back and pulled up some of the NHL highlights 

“Can I join you?” A familiar voice asked and Nora glanced up to find Matthew Tkachuk awkwardly standing in front of her with a cup of coffee. 

“Were you following me?” Nora asked. 

“No, yes, but I was hoping we could talk,” Matthew said. 

“I don’t think there’s anything more to say,” Nora said, “I said everything I wanted to last night.”

“I didn’t,” Matthew said, “Can I?” he gestured to the empty chair across from her and Nora shrugged. 

“Is this a conversation that we should have here?” Nora asked.

“There aren’t too many people here and it’s better here than in the hotel, I guess,” Matthew said. 

“Okay,” Nora said. 

“I’m sorry for what I said at the rink yesterday and, more importantly, for what you saw in the group chat,” Matthew said, “You were right, you didn’t deserve that and we should have made more of an effort to make you feel welcome and to treat you like one of the guys.”

“I’m not one of ‘the guys’, though, and I’m not trying to be,” Nora said, “Things are different with me and I can’t help that.”

“I know, I didn’t mean it like that,” Matthew said. 

“I know how you meant it,” Nora said, “And I appreciate your apology.”

Matthew outstretched his hand, “Let’s start over?” 

Nora eyed up his hand, but shook it, “Sure. We better start heading back to the hotel anyways.” 

“What are you drinking by the way?” Matthew asked.

“A vanilla latte,” Nora said, “Why?” 

“In case I need to know for future apologies,” Matthew said. 

“Let’s hope not,” Nora said with a small smile.

[ivyglow]

while I think they 100% dropped the ball with the wilson favortism at least with these last two suspensions it looks like they're trying to be more consistent but then that begs the questions of: are they only doing it because of the backlash? how long will they keep it up? and will they suspend a star player like crosby or mcdavid if one of them pulls this nonsense?

I don’t see consistency in a league that still didn’t punish wilson the way he deserves and fined a team organization just because they pointed it out. I also don't think they'll punish the favs just because people are mad tbh, but let’s wait and see.

[likehoneyandsilk]

Notes From Her - The Middle

Notes From Her - The Beginning

It was the big debut. Mat’s first NHL game as an Islander in the city of Washington. She had flew in the morning of, catching him in a warm hug after she rushed through the airport crowd.

“Excited for tonight?” She asked, beaming smile on her face, when she pulled back from their kiss. He studied her for a bit, trying to understand how he was feeling. Her smile fell short, confusion spreading through her eyes. With her small hands she gently held his cheeks.

“I’m nervous, excited but I’m so nervous. What if I get cold feet?” She shook he head at his response, smiling softly as she kissed him again.

“You won’t. And it’s completely alright to feel how you’re feeling. Just remember that you’ve worked hard, and you’re here tonight for a reason.” He nodded, reassurance spreading throughout him, and nuzzled his neck into the fabric of her blue university sweatshirt.

“I’m glad you’re here” she chuckled, squeezing her arms around him. “I wouldn’t miss for the world Barzy.”

Night fell soon, and the anticipation was high. Alongside his family outside the locker room, holding onto his sisters hand, she stood with a proud smile on her face, adorned in her very own Barzal jersey. He arrived in his game day suit, hair styled neatly, and the slightest nervous grin. Making his grounds he greeted down the line, starting with his mother and ending with her.

“Good luck tonight” she whispered into his ear as he pulled her in for a hug. They parted, Mat smiling at how unreal this seemed. Here she was, dressed in his jersey, cheeks rosy red like the morning of the first game she watched him play. “Thanks babe.”

. . .

“October 15 2016. Your big NHL debut. This one is for the books. I’ll be cheering loud! Proud of you Barzy. Have a great game, I love you!”

“Anything you wanna share Barzal? Smiling pretty big there.” Captain Tavares chuckled behind his new teammate. Here was Mat, dressed in his alternative Islanders jersey, wearing his name and number proudly. Tavares patted his shoulder, smiling at him, glancing into the note in his hands.

“Your girl out there earlier?” Mar nodded, cheeks flushed, tucking the note into his coat pocket. “Let’s give her a good game then huh?”

. . .

“Oh my goodness. Is that Sidney Crosby?!” She squeezed his arm her voice high and her tone surprised. He followed her bewildered eyes to the podium where the Sidney Crosby himself was answering questions from the media. Mat chuckled, turning to meet his girlfriends gaze. “Yup” it was so nonchalant, as he nodded his head, staring at him in disbelief.

“Wow” she whispered, as he continued to guide her through All Star Media Day. Camera flashed everywhere and the auditorium was packed. Mat was currently making his way towards his podium where he’d be answering his own set of questions, but he’d managed to find some time in between the cameras and questions to steal her from the other wives and girlfriends and give her a personal tour.

Although this was his first All Star Weekend and he truly was honoured, she seemed to be far more amazed. Her eyes traveled throughout the auditorium, her face lighting up everytime she saw a player she’d watched over the years. Not on for cameras and lights she stuck close to his side, stepping back as he was stopped for interviews and watching proudly from behind the scenes.

The next morning she woke up next to him in the hotel bed. “Good morning All Star” her whispered greeting was warm, and her pulled her towards him, her nose pressing into his chest. Her lashes fluttered against his skin, and her grazed over his side. The San Jose sun beamed down on them from the large windows, painting them in gold.

His brand new suit hung across from them against the wall, and within in an hour a team would arrive to help him suit up. He had a red carpet to walk, and then it would be time for the Skills Competition. One she’d been looking most forward to.

Their solitude cut short, she poked his side. “We should get up” she mumbled, pulling herself away from him. Lifting her body off the mattes she towered abov him, her right arm holding up her weight. Her hair fell to one side of her face, strands resting against his broad shoulder. Mat smiled underneath her, his hair messy atop his head, his face freshly shaven. “We got an hour” he stared, his morning voice sending a surge through her veins, as he pulled on the collar of the shirt she wore to bed, one of many Islanders shirt that were far to big for her.

She shook her head teasingly. “Nope. No distractions.” And with a cheeky smile she lifted herself up, laughing as he protested. “Let’s go All Star!”

“Please tell Sidney Crosby I say hello! Have fun Barzy! Show McDavid what you’ve got!” Followed by a smiley face and a heart he chuckled to himself, as he got off the red carpet. She was waiting back in the locker rooms, adorned in his jersey while she chatted with another girlfriend.

He greeted her with a kiss, wrapping her hand in hers. “So I want you to meet someone” he guided her furthur into the locker room, towards the one and only. “Oh no I don’t think I should ...” her cheeks flushed as she protested.

“Sid! Hey, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend. You’re her second favourite hockey player.” Mat teased and joked with Sidney.

. . .

“I’m so sorry the team didn’t make it. But the effort and time it took to get where you are today as a team will not go unoticed. I love you.” A sad and heavy sigh escaped his lips. The Islanders were officially out of the Tsanley Cuo Playoffs, after a devestating loss to the Carolina Hurricane. The trip home has been tough. The season was over for him and the team.

He’d called her after the tough loss and as soon as he was on the bus home. T he wives and girlfriends had met up to watch the away game together, decked out their boys jerseys. The loss was heart breaking, watching as their men fell apart, the looks on their faces of disappoint. Knowing very well they wouldn’t be able to answer their phones the girls agreed to give the boys time, before all heading back to respective home, awaiting the arrival of what would be a devestated hockey player.

It was late when he arrived. Her textbooks were still sprawled across the kitchen table, the light above it still on. She could finally get back to the books. His fingers trailed over the thing pages aimlessly. She was always such a good sport. Combating an intensive and hard program in university while simultaneously going through this hectic journey with him, and working herself. He wasn’t sure how she did it, but she did and after the loss today he felt guilty of all she’d gone through this year with him, only to lose. A win was what they owed to their fans and loved ones.

He trailed into their bedroom. He could hear the bathroom tap running, the bathroom door closed halfway. He waited patiently by their bedroom door. He was tired, bruised and in need of rest. His mind felt foggy and his chest heavy. He hadn’t noticed when the bathroom door swung open and she appeared. He missed her surprised gasp, and then the gentle latter of her feet towards him.

“Mathew?” Her voice was gentle. His eyes met with her soft and comforting ones, her smile sad yet warming. The bedroom lamps cast a yellow golden hue in the bedroom, hitting off the walls and leaving her exposed skin glowing. Dressed in her blue cami pajama’s and an old grey zipped sweater. Her hair was held back in a loose ponytail.

“Barzy” she whispered, finally reaching for him and wrapping him in a tight hug. She held him for a few minutes, and he held onto her. Her fingers grazed through his hair. “It’s gonna be okay” he couldn’t help but let a few tears fall from his eyes, holding her closer.

“I’m sorry love. I’m so sorry.” She wiped his cheeks with her thumbs, “I missed you” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers. “I missed you too.” She rubbed his arms lovingly, but underneath her touch he was still tense

“Let’s get you ready for bed. You need to rest up.” He felt numb as he nodded, letting her guide him towards the bathroom. She motioned first him to sit on the vanity, while he watched her prepare the tub with a warm bath, filling it with soothing salts and oils. He laid out his razor, ready to shave off the outcome of what his playoff beard was.

Finishing up with the tub she turned back to him. “Are you sure?” She asked, eyes falling to the razor. “I’m sure” he stated, and without a another word she set to work. Her hands helped him out of his suit jacket, her fingers working through his tie, and then undoing all the buttons of his shirt. He watched her as her face focused on the sole task of helping him relax and somehow feel better.

His legs tightened around her body as he position herself between them. With time and attention to detail she began to complete the task of shaving his playoff beard. Once done and clean shaven, she smiled softly, holding onto his jaw as she pulled him close, and pressed her lips against his. He melted into her, holding onto her waist. Her hands trailed down his bare arms, and Mat groaned softly when she pulled away.

“I’ll see you in bed when you’re ready.” She motioned to the bath, and with a final peck to his cheek he watched as she left the bathroom.

30 minutes later and much less tense Mat arrived out of the bathroom. Clean shaven, smelling like musk and lavender. A familiar pairs of grey sweatpants hang off his waist, his chest exposed and brown hair messy atop his head after his shower. She smiled as she put her book down, laying on her side of the bed, her hair down and the grey sweater on the nightstand next to her. She’d fluffed his pillows and prepared his side.

“Come here” he followed suit, laying in between her legs and placing his chest underneath her neck. He breathed in her scent. Let himself loose as she held him. His arms wrapped around her waist. They stayed that way for a while, her holding him. As her fingers began to massage his scalp, and her heartbeat settled into his ear he spoke.

“I feel like I let everyone down.” Her fingers paused for a second. An then start abruptly. Mat knew this was her cue to let him finish. “I let down Coach, the team, the fans, my parents, and ... you” his voice cracked. She sighed, shaking her head.

“Mathew” her fingers trailed to his back, where she gently rested her palms. He shuffled beneath her, turning to his side and falling next to her. He searched her eyes for answers. She lay next to him, close as she could and rested her hand against his cheek.

She smiled softly, rubbing soothing circles against cheek. “You didn’t let me down. Please don’t think you let me down” he relaxed against her body, wrapping his arm around her waist. “And the fans will always be fans. It’s a loss for them too but at the end of the day you boys made it this far and for fair reason. Regardless of the end the season was successful enough to bring you into playoffs. There’s always plenty more Stanley Cup Playoffs.”

She paused, letting her words settle in him. “You’re team is going through the same thing you are. It’s a team effort to play this game. You can’t take all the blame and you can’t play the game alone. And your parents. Mat they are proud of every one of your achievements. You haven’t let anyone down”

Her words settled in, as he thought over them. “I know this is tough, and I know it hurts. I can’t imagine what this is like to be on your end. But I can assure you no matter what, you never let me down.” She pulled him in silently then, letting him relax against her and his eyes began to drift to sleep overtime.

“Thank you babe. I love you.” He whispered to her in the silence. “Of course. I’ll be here every win and every loss. I love you too Barzal, I love you too” 

. . .

“Good luck tonight!” Mat chuckled at the note she’d tucked away in his suitcase. She appeared through the hotel room door, shutting it behind her and catching his attention. “I see you’ve received my note” she teased. When he looked up he was speechless. 

“You look beautiful” he wrapped his arms around her a tight hug, before kissing her cheek. Her hair had been styled in waves and was placed perfectly to one side. She was radiating in a beautiful baby pink dress. She blushed, thanking him. “And you look dashing yourself” she pointed out, letting her eyes travel all over his figure, decked out in his special NHL Awards suit. 

She’d skipped out on the red carpet with his family, waiting inside the large Las Vegas Luxor Hotel and Casino. Now as they settled into their seats, the anticipation grew. Mat was nominated for the Calder trophy, and his entourage was sure he would in it. Mat’s parents and sister rose from their seats, smiling at the couple. “Gonna go say hello to some of the other parents! Be back soon.” his mom announced, smiling as she walked away with his father, arms linked. 

Mat sighed, beginning to get nervous. “Hey” she wrapped her hand in his, patting it gently. “It's going to be fine.” He leaned into her, nodding his head. “It’s a huge honor to even be nominated for this, let alone winning. You’ve worked hard and proved your worth. You have a real big shot at this.” her voice was comforting, her smile rewarding. 

And within a few minutes the award ceremony had begun. Over time more awards were given and more time was passing. By the minute Mat was beginning to get more anxious, and then they announced the next award they would be presenting. His mother patted his shoulder in reassurance, his father smiling at him. His sister sitting two seats down gave him a quick glance, biting at her lip hoping her brother would win this award. He turned to look at her next to him for a split second, sighing in relief when she smiled, nodding towards the stage. He reached for her hand, squeezing it in nervousness, and then they were ready to announce the winner. 

“The Calder Trophy winner is … Mathew Barzal!”

“Congratulations!”  she whispered into his ear after he hugged his parents, wrapping her in a hug, a proud smile on her face, and he kissed her on the cheek before making his way to accept his award. 

. . .

“I can’t believe Summer is almost over” the stars above them painted pictures in the dark sky. Down below they lay atop a pile of bedsheets in his old pickup truck, the hood of the trunk open and their shoulders pressed against each other’s. They’re hands interlocked between them.

“I know” he replied, turning his head to look at her. Illuminated by the silver scatters above, her cheeks still had their natural rosy tinge, lashes long and bright and her pink lipgloss faint from being worn all day. The pretty sundress rested atop her body, the straps thon atop her collar bone and the green dress with the white flowers brought out the glow of her skin.

After hockey season had ended and her Spring semester exams had been completed, the couple had set back to Coquitlam for the Summer holidays. With no hockey for him and no school for her, they’d agreed that the Summer would be spent back home. And now months later the arrival of school and hockey was soon coming upon them. The leaves were beginning to change colour and the Summer breeze that wrapped them at night was becoming colder day by day.

Summer was filled with time well spent with family, friends and one another. From lake days to backyard bbqs. The cliche parties with friends from the past. Drive ins and trips to the best tourist spots in Vancitt they knew by heart. Road trips and endless combination of milkshakes and fries at their favourite diner. Of course Mat took our time everyday to train for the season, and volunteered through plenty of hockey organizations to get back to the community. And she was volunteering at a local hospital, to gain more experience and knowledge of the career she was pursuing.

Needless to say the thought of heading back to New York was bittersweet.

“We should head home” she announced, turning on her side to face him. They packed up their makeshift mattress and settled back into the truck. Deciding to head back to her childhood house, having it all to themselves with her family out of town. Mat followed her upstairs to her old room, although he could easily navigate through this place with his eyes closed. As they approached the top of the staircase, Mat began to think of all the times he’d climbed her balcony back when they were younger. She’d left him a note one night, reminding him that her father could and would hear everything. Surprinsgly he never got caught.

Her old bedroom hadn’t changed much, most of her art and pictures still hanging on the walls, things she hadn’t taken with her to New York, having the peace of mind that this bedroom would still feel like hers when she came home. She parted from his grasp to close her balcony door curtains and Mat caught sight of an old picture of the two on her night stand. It was from the Workd Juniors, they’re smiles big, a Canada toque on her head and his jersey around her. She held him close and he held her. He turned the frame over in his hands, chuckling as he read the tiny note she’d taped to the back.

“World Juniors 2017. Good luck tonight! I love you!”

“I never got this one.” She settled next to him on the bed, resting her head atop his shoulder. She chuckled at the tiny note, remembering she had never given the note to him. “That’s because when I tried to be as smooth as possible and sneak it into your coat pocket, and it just didn’t go well.” They laughed at the thought. She gently peeled off the note from the back, placing the frame back in its spot.

“You can have it now if you’d like.” Holding out the note for him with a mischief look in her eyes. Mat studies her for a second, before shaking his head no with a smirk on his face. She withdrew her hand, shrugging and then getting up to place the note back on the frame.

“However” his voice rose in the air and with surprise he pulled her into his chest, holding her firmly while pressing his lips against her neck. “To make up for the missing note I have an idea.”

Her cheeks flushed red as she shook her head teasingly with a smile. “That’s a little unfair. Over a little note Barzy” She teased, her clumsy fingers aging with the strings of his hoodie. She bit into her lip as she waited for him to make his move, her eyes yearning for his offer.

“You be the judge of that. I’ll stop when you tell me to” with a smirk acros his pink lips he pressed his lips against her. She kissed back instantly, pulling him onto the bed above her. “I’ve made my decision. I’ll make it up to you.” She whispered against his lips, before he swept her away for a while, skin to skin and lips to lips.

. . . 

“Don't forget to come find me when it’s nearing midnight!” He’d been pocketing the note all night after a few girls had dragged her away from him. She’d arrived with him from the rink after their win, making a quick stop home to change for the party. Presuming that she’d be split from him seconds upon arrival, she’d snuck a note into his blazer pocket before kissing him on the cheek. New Years Eve in Times Square was grand, but this year the team had decided to celebrate together, as many of those who could, along with other friends. They’d rented out a cabin in New York to get away from the business of the city. And now as the clock approached midnight and the party guests began to get excited, the music began to die down and Mat searched for her in this over crowded cabin. 

He made his way up the stairs that lead to the balcony. There were only a few minutes left before the count down began. In relief he found her on the balcony, looking out at the fireworks that someone had already started to explode into the night sky, before it even approached midnight. “There you are!” he exclaimed, closing her off between the balcony and him, his arms cascading around her and hands resting on the balcony rails. She smiled, giggling at his remark. 

“It’s freezing up here. Aren't you cold?” he wondered, pulling his blazer off and wrapping it around her bare arms. She protested, but he shrugged her off, already wearing a sweater underneath and fairly warm. She looked remarkably pretty in her long black dress, that was sparky and scattered with white stars. Her heels gave her a light advantage to her usual height, but still not enough, that he leaned down to bump noses with her. “I know” she mumbled, pausing as the countdown began down below them. “It was the only way to get alone.” 

“5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1!” Down below them their friends cheered loudly, fireworks erupted all around them far and near. And Mat pulled her against him, kissing her so passionately. The taste of cherry Chapstick and faint traces of liquor merged together, and she smiled against his lips. Her arms snaked through the large blazer, her small hands resting against his sides. Pulling back after a while she sighed, her long lashes fanning over her cheeks as she closed her eyes for a second, content and processing everything.

“Happy New Year” she mumbled, before leaning in for another kiss. He chuckled, “Happy New Year babe.”

Notes From Her - The Future

[leondraisaitlsglove]

Transcript: Peter and Leon Draisaitl in a double interview ahead of the NHL Global Series Challenge

[This is a little rough, yo. Obviously not an exact translation but I tried to stay as true to the original wording as possible while getting the general meaning across properly. The result is a bit stilted. Rick Goldmann (interviewer) speaks a dialect that obviously doesn’t translate here and Peter mumbles a bit in places so I had to take some liberties there. The general tone of the interview is jokey and casual, Leon and his dad are bantering, but there’s heartfelt and serious bits too! I also chose to keep ‘Papa’ (dad) and ‘Mama’ (mom) in their original German bc I think it’s cute, lol. But anyway, YEET! Let me know what you think. Theres two lil McDrai moments in there if you squint.]

I LOVE YOU ANON THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY MCFREAKING DAY IM GONNA READ IT NOW AND THEN SOUND OFF IN THE TAGS WHEN IM DONE. THANK YOU. YOUR HARD WORK IS VERY APPERICATED.

This is the interview for anyone wondering

Rick Goldmann: Welcome, Peter and Leon Draisaitl, to what I’m going to call a ‘family interview‘ here on Sport1 [channel name]. I’m guessing this kind of interview, a double interview, has been done more frequently recently now that you [Peter] are the coach in Cologne [of the Kölner Haie ‘Cologne Sharks’, Colognes Hockey team in the DHL, the German pro Hockey league] and you [Leon] are here [in Cologne]. How often has this happened so far?

Peter: Not really that often. We’ve maybe done it one or two times, three maximum. It hasn’t been that many times.

Leon: Yes [agreeing noises]

RG: So you’re not getting tired of it?

L: Not yet, no. I think we still have quite a bit of that ahead of us in the following days, especially before the game.

P: Yes.

RG: Let’s just start at the beginning. You could say that you two spent the summer here in Cologne together. What did that look like?

Peter: Leon spent two bigger chunks of time in Prague, where he prepared with his trainer. We took a vacation together for three weeks, in Spain. When we were in Cologne, he [Leon] trained here with us [the Kölner Haie] to get ready, both ‘dry’ [gym etc.] training and going out on the ice with us. [Starts grinning] But by now he’s hanging out with the boys more rather than spending time at home with us.

PG: So when you’re in Cologne, Leon, you stay with your Papa?

L: Yes, with my parents.

RG: Who’s responsible for cooking? Not you.

L: Not me, no. [Huffs] Certainly not me. Mama, mostly, when we eat at home.

RG: Okay. But you went on vacation together. You did that together this summer. It’s been a brutally hot summer. I heard you actually don’t enjoy water that much. Is that true? If yes, how did you even survive?

L: Where did you hear that?

RG: Maybe I didn’t come prepared.

L: No, it’s true, I’m not much of a … I mean I do like cooling off, but if I do it’s more likely to be in a pool rather than the big open sea where you never know what’s swimming around underneath you.

RG: So you respect the ocean?

L: Yeah, for sure.

P: I could prove that with a picture or two.

RG: Where did that come from? Has that been the case since he was little?

P: Hmm. Yeah, actually, he was still wearing those little red … what’s the word?

L: Water wings.

P: …water wings or whatever they’re called, and he already didn’t trust the water back then. And he has kept that up to this day.

RG: [Jokingly] Did you not inflate them properly?

P: [Laughs] That’s certainly possible.

RG: I’ve heard something else along with you not liking the water – that in juniors, you actually didn’t play hockey for a year. [Leon nods] How did that happen and what did you think of that, Peter?

L: Yeah I mean my parents were actually pretty… they essentially supported me in whatever… from the beginning it was clear that if I didn’t like Hockey, it wouldn’t be a big problem. I essentially tried out every sport; I’ve played golf, I’ve played tennis… I experimented a lot, and there was a time when Hockey for me was – I think it was actually because we were moving house, moving house a lot annoyed me about Hockey so I stopped playing for a year and played soccer, but it turned out that wasn’t for me [chuckles].

P: [Chuckling]

RG: [to Peter] What did you think? He’s not a soccer player? Or did you not care?

P: Let’s be serious for a while: If he had stuck with soccer, that would’ve been fine for us. We realized, or learned, or understood early on that there’s no sense in pressuring your children into it. Just because I was stomping around somewhere sometime [aka playing hockey], that doesn’t mean he absolutely has to do the same thing. If he had told me; ‘Papa, golf, tennis suits me more’ that would have been…

Leon: Fencing.

P: …been fine for our family. Fencing, sure. With your motor skills… I don’t think so. [Leon grins] It would’ve been okay. I don’t remember, was it even a full year?

L: I don’t know either. Not sure if it was a whole year.

P: He dipped his toes into it, at Fortuna was it?

L: [Offended] That’s Fortuna Düsseldorf. It was Victoria Köln.

P: Or Victoria. No idea.

L: Victoria Köln, yes.

P: But I think that stopped after a few weeks or so.

L: Because they wouldn’t let me take the free kick once, yeah.

RG: That made you not want to do it anymore?

L: Yeah, I lost my motivation after that.

[All laugh]

P: He came back to Hockey after that.

RG: If there’s a list of things you guys don’t want to hear anymore: How far up there is ‘The German Gretzky?’

L: You mean as a nickname?

RG: Yeah, that people call you that.

L: Ehhh, Actually… I try to distance myself from that a little bit, nicknames and all that. Stuff like that tends to come from the media anyway, and if they enjoy writing stuff like that, whatever, go ahead.

RG: Of course it comes from the media, but you still notice it. As a former player I’d say how do you come up with bullshit like that, but they need their headlines. When you heard it the first time, what did you think about it, Peter?

P: As I’m sure you can imagine I wasn’t exactly thrilled with it, because it puts unnecessary pressure on the young guys. Like everyone in this sport knows, there has only ever been one and there will only ever be one [Wayne Gretzky], and that comparison with the name alone already isn’t fair. And in the end it doesn’t even make any sense. But it’s actually pretty cool that Leon is able to – and has always been able to – absorb stuff like that and then put it aside. He doesn’t dwell on it when he generates headlines like that, generates ‘hype’ like that, as it’s already happened in the past, with the junior draft and the NHL draft, interviews and so forth. So far he’s always handled it pretty professionally.

RG: You’ve brought up an interesting aspect: the mental aspect in professional sports. Especially now with how Hockey has developed, maybe in comparison with other players in the DHL, in Europe, with the NHL - what kind of importance does it have for you? The ‘mental strength’ as some people call it?

L: In my personal opinion, over 90% of it takes place in your head. Without wanting to disrespect anyone, when I train with the guys here: they’re not slower – well maybe when compared to someone like McDavid – but generally they’re not slower, their shooting isn’t worse than that of the guys I train with overseas, but in my opinion it’s something in your head. It’s all mental games, mental stuff that plays a huge role in Hockey, and in sports in general.

RG: [to Peter] If you think back to your career and you compare it to Leons, what would you like to have that he does and you didn’t?

P: If you move beyond the fact that times were different back then – no videos, no social media – the NHL was so far removed from us for most players, and definitely for me, that I wasn’t even thinking about it. But putting that aside, maybe his maturity or his mental strength. Because I figured out pretty late what this sport was about, I wasted years of my time playing hockey by not taking it seriously as a team sport, not knowing what it meant to be part of a greater whole. Where I needed to position myself to be actually useful. And he [Leon] understood that much earlier.

RG: If you had to describe him as a player how would you do that?

P: As someone who … maybe partially already is, but will definitely succeed in being a dominant two-way player. Who, with his skills, should be able to carry a line, to lead and direct a group of five players. Moreover he has the ability to score - to set up plays and also score himself. I don’t think I’m wrong when I say that Leon is developing that way. I think that’s his overarching goal he wants to reach, so he can compete with the superstars of our sport. People like Crosby, who have already won tons of stuff, who have proven not just once but over and over again that when it really counts, they can bring it.

RG: [to Leon] How would you rate that evaluation by a coach, by your Papa?

L: He knows me, of course. He knows that it’s my goal to get there someday, to be a two-way forward that can score goals but who doesn’t think he’s above doing the dirty work defensively. Who takes important face-offs and who’s a complete, all around good hockey player.

RG: Leon, this year was the first time you’ve done your prep work in Cologne. How did that happen and why did you choose to do your training camp for the NHL season in Germany?

L: I’m from here. I grew up here. This is the perfect scene for me, and with my dad as a coach here, it gives me every opportunity to prepare successfully and well. A weight room, I can go on the ice, every day, use the gym every day, so that’s a no brainer for me.

RG: When you’re on the ice here, your Papa is the coach. What’s that situation like for you, when he’s the one blowing the whistle?

L: [Grinning] By now I’ve gotten used to it a little. Since I’ve always kind of done it like that over the years, that I go train wherever my dad happens to be at the time. Sometimes when he gets a little louder it’s a bit weird for me, because I only know my Papa from what he’s like at home, talking shit, joking around. So when it gets serious all of a sudden… but other than that it’s pretty normal. I know it’s a business, I know this is his job and I’m smart enough to separate that from home life.

RG: So I guess that means when you were little, you were just like all the other kids, following your dad into the locker room and getting to know Hockey like that. Was it essentially a pre-decided thing that you’d get into hockey yourself?

L: If you follow basic logic, of course that had something to do with it. I don’t know, a couple of weeks ago I saw pictures of me where I could barely walk and was wearing a giant red helmet and gloves that were half my…

P: And a pacifier, don’t forget that. A pacifier.

L: …half my entire body size. So of course I got into it via my dad. But I think the passion, to a certain degree, you have to develop yourself.

RG: When you think back, what’s the first thing you remember of your dad in regards to Hockey?

L: For me, the coolest thing was after the game when the kids were allowed to come down and onto the ice and were handed over the glass by one of the parents. Then taking a victory lap with Papa, that was the best… I always loved that.

P: And my back check at Schalke.

L: And his back check at Schalke in 2010, that was also…

P: Formative. Formative, definitely.

L: I’ll never forget that.

RG: Your back check at Schalke?

P: Yeah, I burned my equipment after that. Before the game there was a match against the Grasbrunner (?) guys, a pre-game.

RG: At the World Cup Germany were hosting? In front of 70000 people?

P: Exactly, yeah. That was when I realized…

L: Let it go. Hang them up.

P: Stop playing.

L: Give it up.

P: And that was the last time I played a hockey game.

RG: Oh, really?

P: Yeah.

RG: Mine too, by the way.

P: There you go.

RG: I saw you and thought to myself: better not try again.

P: That’s it, now it’s over.

RG: When did you realize what kind of talent Leon had, the potential he had?

P: The first time I thought it could be enough for a higher level was when I was overseas at Prince Albert and it was starting to look likely he’d get drafted at the junior draft, or rather the NHL draft, relatively highly. And then you obviously have the hope, if you’re talking about the first round or something, that he could end up in the best league, in the NHL.

RG: [to Leon] You’re 22 years old, turning 23, how much would you say have you reached your potential as a hockey player?

L: I’d say I have a lot more in me. Or rather, I know I have a lot more to give. At 22 no Hockey player, no athlete is at the point he can reach by 26, 27, 28. It’s a process I’m looking forward too, but I also know it’s very hard work. I’ll try to get better and better each year.

RG: Now there’s going to be this game, the global series that’s taking place here. The game was sold out within 10 minutes. When did you first find out there would be the opportunity to play against an NHL team as a coach here in Cologne?

P: I don’t remember, or I somehow… [Leon murmuring] excuse me?

L: I think it was through me.

P: That’s possible. I think at first I didn’t even realize it. I heard about the Oilers playing here, I thought it was a joke at first. When it became official I thought okay, well, this is a fact now. Again, for ‘Kölle’ [nickname for the city in the regional accent] this game, and the winter game later in the season, are huge, fantastic events awaiting us. I think this event, this game against the Oilers will be really fun for everyone involved.

RG: The global series, Leon, to explain the basics, what’s the idea behind it? Why does the NHL play games abroad, in Europe?

L: I think it’s to push markets in countries where Hockey isn’t as popular. To increase the importance of Hockey worldwide, and especially in countries where it’s relatively unknown, like China, like Germany, I don’t know where else. Or in smaller countries, to push the sport. I think the NHL is doing a really good job, and I personally really like that they’re doing these kinds of matches. I think for the DHL teams as well, or with New Jersey in Switzerland, for the Swiss teams, it’s a highlight and everyone is looking forward to it.

RG: In this game, Edmonton Oilers vs. Kölner Haie, how important is the Draisaitl vs. Draisaitl duel? It’s not every day you get the chance to beat your dad, and it’s not every day you get to coach against an NHL team either.

P: Well this is going to be his only chance, because in table tennis and every other game [Leon protests by puffing up his cheeks and laughing] he can’t keep up, so maybe Wednesday will be the only time he gets the opportunity. But I don’t see them beating us yet.

L: [Grinning, then mock-serious] This is going to be one of many times I’ll beat my dad, in various things. No, like he said, it’s going to be an outstanding event, for our family it’s going to be special as well. And I think for them [Kölner Haie] it will be the hardest, I think they don’t quite know what’s in store for them yet. Being neutral is [unintelligible]

RG: If you absolutely had to pick a player from Edmonton to play with the Kölner Haie – and you have to, otherwise you’d say you wouldn’t take any – you need to take one.

P: I have to, yes.

RG: Who would you pick?

P: He would start right now? For the season?

RG: Yeah, exactly. Who do you pick?

P: I’ll have to think for a little bit. There’s quite a few who are… I would have to decide between McDavid and Leon. But you only want one.

RG: Yeah, and why you’d pick him. Who and for what reason.

P: I’d pick McDavid. Leon will have to deal with that.

L: [Mockingly] Incomprehensible. Can’t understand that choice.

P: He needs to be strong now.

RG: if you had to pick one for Edmonton – one of the Cologne guys.

L: From the Cologne team. Hmm. [clicks his tongue] Pfohli [Fabio Pfohl]. I think he has the potential. His Hockey IQ is on a really high level. In my opinion it should be his goal to play in the NHL.

P: Okay.

RG: [to Peter] You’ll stick with your choice? McDavid?

P: [nodding]

L: [grinning, shaking his head] Can’t understand that.

[All laughing]

RG: Okay, thank you!

[andrebearakovsky]

This Week in Caps: Week 6

Welcome to This Week in Caps, a weekly newsletter where I recap everything important that’s been going on in the world of the Washington Capitals this past week.

This Week’s Games

11/05/18 vs Edmonton Oilers, W 4-2

The Caps got a four-game homestand started, Pheonix Copley got the start, and Travis Boyd made his return from injury and his season debut in place of Nic Dowd. And he’d help get the party started early.

Two and a half minutes into the game, Boyd drove to the net, Devante Smith-Pelly gathered the puck and sent it to Jakub Vrana, who scored to give the Caps an early 1-0 lead. The fourth line didn’t stop there; exactly three minutes later, Boyd cleaned up an Oilers turnover in their own zone, tapped it to Smith-Pelly, and DSP ripped it home, and the Caps had a 2-0 lead courtesy of the fourth line.

McJesus was displeased by this development, so he did something about it. Halfway through the first, Connor McDavid got the Oilers on the board on the power play, cutting the lead to 2-1. Eight minutes into the second, T.J. Oshie restored the two-goal lead, scoring top-shelf off a great pass from Nicklas Backstrom. Two and a half minutes later, Leon Draisaitl cut the lead again, deflecting a shot from the point right as an Oilers power play ended. Three minutes later, Alex Ovechkin had the final word, scoring on the power play to give the Caps a 4-2 lead, one which they would hold all throughout the third period. But it wasn’t for lack of trying to increase that lead; both Ovi and DSP hit the post on the same empty net.

The Caps ended up getting outshot 33-23 and had the disadvantage on faceoffs at 41.9%. The Caps went 1/2 on power play chances, while the Oilers went 1/4 on theirs. Copley saved 31/33 shots.

Copley, in a rare home start, had a very good game. The fourth line of Vrana, Boyd, and Smith-Pelly was fantastic. Madison Bowey was in yet again for Brooks Orpik, and both he and defensive partner Christian Djoos had good games. Additionally, Dmitrij Jaskin looked good on the top line with Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. And as always, I enjoyed getting a look at Alternate Captain John Carlson (from this point on, just assume Orpik is out, Bowey is in, and Carlson has the A unless I say differently).

11/07/18 vs Pittsburgh Penguins, W 2-1

It’s our favorite/least favorite day of the year — the Penguins come into town on Wednesday Night Hockey. Would this game end up in satisfying victory, or agonizing defeat? Either way, it’s going to be agonizing.

Early in the first, T.J. Oshie got high-sticked under his visor, was bleeding, and had to leave for the rest of the period (he would return at the start of the second). Amazingly, there was no penalty on the play.

Twelve minutes into the first, the devil laughed at us as Sidney Crosby scored on the power play to make it 1-0 Penguins, and we were forced to listen to all of the commentators salivate until the Caps responded. Said response happened seven minutes into the second when the Caps had their own power play, and Alex Ovechkin scored from his office off a great John Carlson pass to tie the game 1-1.

Things got interesting in the third period. At the 3:27 mark, the Penguins were on a power play, and Evgeni Malkin elbowed Oshie in the head, and Oshie had to leave the game for concussion protocol. Malkin was given a major penalty and ejected from the game (later he would receive no supplemental discipline, which is a bit of a joke). The five minute penalty would be served by Patric Hornqvist; there was just over a minute of four-on-four, and then just under four minutes of all you can eat power play for the Caps, which they did nothing on.

Oshie would return to the game, and he ended up completing the heroic narrative. With a minute fifteen left in the game, Oshie collected a great pass from Carlson and roofed the puck top-shelf to give the Caps a 2-1 lead, which would end up being the winning score.

The Caps were outshot 42-22 and won 47.5% of faceoffs. The Caps were 1/6 on power play chances, while the Penguins were 1/3 on theirs. Braden Holtby saved 41/42 shots.

The Caps were severely outplayed this game, and Holtby standing on his head was the only reason they won. Oshie also had an adventure of a game that he likely won’t forget but won’t be eager to repeat.

11/09/18 vs Columbus Blue Jackets, L 1-2

There were a lot of roster shakeups prior to this game. Brooks Orpik was placed on LTIR, so Madison Bowey will be in the lineup until further notice. Additionally, John Carlson was announced as day-to-day and would not play in this game, so Jonas Siegenthaler was called up from Hershey and made his NHL debut. We’d also have the even more rare appearance of Alternate Captain T.J. Oshie.

The Caps drove play in the first period, but they were unable to cash in. And to make things worse, the first goal was scored by Columbus. Seventeen minutes into the third, the Jackets had a power play, and Nick Foligno sent a great between-the-legs pass to Oliver Bjorkstrand, who scored on the wide open net to make it 1-0 Columbus.

The Caps would respond on their own power play, eight minutes into the second. As there was no Carlson, the power play had a much different look with Matt Niskanen quarterbacking the first unit, but on this particular power play it worked out just fine. Niskanen fired home a slapshot to tie the game 1-1.

The two teams dueled for a majority of the game, but it turned out to be special teams that did the Caps in. Five minutes into the third, Anthony Duclair flipped home a puck on the power play, giving the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish.

The Caps were outshot 36-24 and won 52.5% of faceoffs. The Caps went just 1/5 on power play chances, while the Jackets were 2/3 on theirs. Braden Holtby saved 34/36 shots.

Ultimately, it ended up being a goalie duel, and Sergei Bobrovsky outshined Holtby, who was no slouch in net. This game also ended up being decided by the special teams, and the Caps were not stellar in their special teams tonight.

A fun fact: with Siegenthaler getting into the lineup, everyone on the Capitals blue line tonight was from a different country (Bowey — Canada, Djoos — Sweden, Kempny — Czech Republic, Niskanen — USA, Orlov — Russia, Siegenthaler — Switzerland).

11/11/18 vs Arizona Coyotes, L 1-4

The throwback third jerseys made their triumphant return tonight, making their season debut. John Carlson also returned after missing one game, and some intense line shuffling meant the reunion of the treasured 8-19-77 line. And that was about it on the positives for the Caps this game.

After the majority of a lazy first period, the Coyotes struck first on the power play, with Vinnie Hinostroza dunking home a nice pass from Dylan Strome after the Caps got too excited on a shorthanded chance and got caught in the other zone. Midway through the second period, Richard Panik drove up the ice on a two-on-one and ripped home a shot to make it 2-0 Coyotes. However, the Caps would answer back quickly. Less than a minute later, Alex Ovechkin threaded a beautiful pass to Nicklas Backstrom in front of the net, and he sent it home to make it 2-1.

But the Caps would never really get the comeback going after that. Two minutes later, Alex Galchenyuk crashed the net on the power play to make it 3-1. The Capitals killed off a T.J. Oshie double-minor a minute into the third, but they were unable to gain any momentum. Derek Stepan scored on the empty net to seal the Coyotes’ 4-1 win.

The Capitals had the advantages in shots 39-22, and on faceoffs at 51.6%. However, their special teams let them down; the Coyotes went 2/6 on their power play chances, and the Caps went 0/2 on theirs. Braden Holtby saved 18/21 shots.

The Caps were unable to come up with any sort of finish, and Darcy Kuemper just flat-out stoned them all game. Overall, the game was sleepy and sluggish, passes weren’t great, and the special teams, especially the penalty kill, is something to be a little bit concerned about.

Current record: 7-6-3

What’s Going on in the World of the Caps

Roster Moves

The Caps made a number of roster moves during the week. On November 5, Nathan Walker cleared waivers and was sent to the Hershey Bears. On the same day, the Capitals recalled Travis Boyd from his conditioning loan, and he made his season debut that night against the Oilers. On November 9, the Caps made another flurry of moves. John Carlson was announced as day-to-day, but only ended up missing that night’s game against the Blue Jackets and returned the next game. Brooks Orpik was placed on LTIR retroactive to his last game in Calgary on October 27. The Capitals called up Aaron Ness and Jonas Siegenthaler from Hershey.

Nicklas Backstrom 600 Assists Ceremony

Prior to the November 7 game against the Penguins, the Capitals held a pregame ceremony honoring Nicklas Backstrom for reaching the 600-assist plateau. The Capitals showed a tribute video, and Ted Leonsis presented him with a golden puck and a crystal with the number 600 engraved into them. Check out the video and highlights here.

Jonas Siegenthaler’s NHL Debut

After a strong training camp, Jonas Siegenthaler was called up from Hershey and made his NHL debut on November 9 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, filling in for an injured John Carlson. Siegenthaler admitted getting the opportunity was the happiest he’s been in his life, and he played pretty solidly alongside Madison Bowey. And he was, of course, given the rookie treatment.

Caps Cancer Night and Skate

November 9 against the Blue Jackets was Hockey Fights Cancer Night in Washington. The Capitals wore lavender jerseys during warm-ups, and Linda Laughlin, wife of Caps color analyst Craig Laughlin, dropped the ceremonial puck. Linda was recently diagnosed with a rare form of uterine cancer. After practice on November 10, the Capitals hosted their Hockey Fights Cancer Skate, and skated with kids from Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic. Each kid was paired with a Capitals player for the skate. (x)(x)

Other Miscellaneous Happenings

Ovi bites Andre

A look at the 2019 Canine Calendar, which goes on sale November 21

Check out Braden Holtby’s suit

Andre broke the glass at practice

Nicklas Backstrom has a cute family

Player of the Week

Braden Holtby had his best week of the season, including a stellar game against Pittsburgh that he completely dominated. In his three games this week, Holtby had a .939 save percentage and a 2.03 GAA. He also saved all but one shot at even strength, saving a total of 81 of 82 shots.

Social Media Post of the Week

As Tom was unable to be on the ice to support his buddy TJ after his adventure on November 7 against the Penguins, Tom went to Twitter to show his support. (x)

Stars of the Night Season Leaderboard

Over the course of the season, I will be keeping track of the Caps stars of the night, translating them into points, and organizing them into a leaderboard.

1st star = 5 pts, 2nd star = 3 pts, 3rd star = 1 pt

1. Kuznetsov — 16 2. Ovechkin — 13 3. Holtby — 9 4. Carlson — 7 5. Backstrom — 6 6. Copley — 5 7. Oshie — 4 8. Smith-Pelly — 3 9. Eller — 2 10. Boyd — 1

Achieved and Upcoming Milestones

On 11/05/18 vs the Oilers, Alex Ovechkin scored a power play goal to become tied for 8th on the all-time NHL power play goals list (234); on 11/07/18 vs the Penguins, he scored another to take sole possession of 8th on the all-time NHL power play goals list (235); he tied and passed Marcel Dionne On 11/11/18 vs the Coyotes, John Carlson played in his 623rd NHL game, passing Sylvain Cote for 6th all-time in games played among Capitals defensemen Nicklas Backstrom is 7 points away from being tied for 2nd in Caps history in points (825) Nicklas Backstrom is 1 power play goal away from being tied for 5th in Caps history in power play goals (67) John Carlson is 2 power play goals away from being tied for 7th in Caps history in power play goals among defensemen (25) Evgeny Kuznetsov is 1 assist away from 200 career NHL assists Dmitry Orlov is 4 assists away from 100 career NHL assists T.J. Oshie is 5 goals away from 200 career NHL goals Devante Smith-Pelly is 3 points away from 100 career NHL points Madison Bowey and Travis Boyd are searching for their first NHL goals Dmitrij Jaskin is searching for his first goal as a Capital

Next Week’s Upcoming Games

11/13/18 @ Minnesota Wild (8 PM) 11/14/18 @ Winnipeg Jets (8 PM) 11/16/18 @ Colorado Avalanche (9 PM)

[fratboyvivimatthews]

“who’s crosby again?” - casey mittelstadt

summary: with his favorite player being sid the kid it spikes some tension between the two, causing them to diss each others favorite players. 

warnings: play fighting, little brothers, rude comments towards crosby (sorry i’m not a fan), teasing, fluff, shots at william nylander, auston matthews, and connor mcdavid

word count: [2,305]

“Luke!” I yelled calling for the younger Mittelstadt to settle Casey and I’s fight. I looked up from my spot in Casey’s lap to see that the youngest brother still wasn’t present when I needed him to be. “Luke Mittelstadt get your butt down here,” I screamed again knowing very well that he would listen to me eventually. 

Casey remained quiet his eyes glued to the TV watching replays of Crosby’s best highlights. “He may love you Y/n/n, but you might want to try saying please.” Rolling my eyes at the oldest I watched as he smiled seeing as he managed to push my buttons for the millionth time this afternoon. 

“Luke could you please come down here?” I then asked my voice loud enough for him to hear me. “We both know I’m your favorite person in the house right now so please, for me?” With in a blink of an eye the teenager was present in front of me with a smile. Casey did a double-take seeing as that I got his little brother to come downstairs, whereas he couldn't even do that. 

Out of breath Luke panted before smiling at me. “Sorry I was playing Fornite. What did you need Y/n/n?” A smirk spread across my face as I felt Casey’s whole body stiffen. “It’s about Crosby isn’t?” He then asked looking back at the TV to see the one-handed goal from last season. 

Luke sat down next to us watching as Crosby managed to walk two defenders. “It in fact is. So Luke could you please tell me who your favorite player in the league is?” I asked looking up to Casey to gage his reaction. 

Without even thinking Luke started listing players that he liked counting them all on his fingers as he went. Once he finished and Crosby wasn’t anywhere near the top of his list I smiled evilly up at Casey. His blue eyes looked down to meet my e/c ones before shaking his head. “That doesn’t mean anything you know. Luke doesn’t even know what he’s talking about. Sid Crosby is the best player in the NHL right now.” 

My eyebrows rose as looked to the TV. The YouTube video of Crosby’s highlights had ended, and now was replaced with one of Connor McDavid’s. “Oh really? Mind telling me who won the Art Ross Trophy last year, Case?” 

He glared down at me and a laugh escaped Luke’s lips as he watched the scene play out between us. “Not Sid the Kid that’s who,” Luke added clearly taking my side in this argument. “Pretty sure it was McDavid, seeing as he’s the best in the league right now.” 

I smiled over at my boyfriends youngest brother before high-fiving him. “Oh shut up you two. Of course Crosby’s better than McDavid. He burns him every time they play against each other.” My eyes rolled right as there was a video of Connor beating Sid to a puck to score. Casey fell silent. “This isn’t over,” he huffed before shoving me off of him. 

My laughs mixed in with Luke’s filled the living room area as we watched Casey turn the video off before stomping away upstairs to his room. “I think we just started a war,” I then said once catching my breath only to start laughing again. 

“Trust me Y/n/n knowing Casey he’s going to find video’s of Crosby’s best, and then he’ll find videos of Crosby beating your favorite player to prove his point.” Luke gave me a pointed look before smiling back at me, “But until then wanna go play Fornite with me?” 

Nodding my head I smiled, “I would love too.” 

I was seated in between John and Luke for dinner. “Has Casey seriously been up in his room all day?” John then asked as I took a bite of my pasta. Nodding my head to answer him he shook his head with a laugh. “Well you better hope he doesn’t know who your favorite player is.” 

My smile I held on my face fell, “He won’t find anything. If he would have found something he would have rubbed it in my face already.” John and Luke both nodded their heads to agree with my statement. If Casey really had found all of the video that he would need to prove to me that Crosby doesn’t suck he would’ve placed the computer in front of my face by now proving I was wrong. 

“He’s such a sore loser,” the middle brother said under his breath trying not to catch the ear of his mother. However, the fact that she leaned across the table and smacked him proved to all of us she had in fact heard him. “Why’d you do that mom?” John whined before running his hand through his hair, “He is a sore loser.” 

Dede glared over at him and he shut right up not willing to speak out against her again. “John drop it, I’m sure this isn’t the kind of family dinner Y/n wanted to have.” The only other female at the table smiled over to me, “Even if she’s witnessed worse dinners.” 

I laughed at this remembering the when Casey, John, and Luke were fighting over who got to sit by me at Forth of July. The two boys sunk into their seats and stayed quiet while eating the pasta in front of them. “Tom will you please go get your oldest son, he’s being immature about this whole sit-” 

Dede didn’t get the chance to finish her statement because Casey sauntered into the dinning room with a smirk resting on his face. “Casey Mittelstadt it’s about time you came down for dinner. You‘re lucky Y/n’s here other wise it wouldn’t be good for you.” 

His emotions stayed in check as he walked around the table away from his seat. That’s when I noticed the lap top he was carrying behind his back. Luke looked over to me unsure of what was happening, but once I looked to John I realized he found the videos he needed. 

My plate was moved from out in front of me and replaced with the lap top. “Here you will witness Sidney Crosby being the best player in the league.” The video played as Dede tried to argue with her son about bringing it to the table. 

“He is not better than McDavid!” Luke then cried slamming the lap top shut. Casey glared at his youngest brother before starting his rant on why Crosby was better. “To bad he’s such a big cry baby,” Luke called cutting his brother off. 

“He has a point, at least McDavid doesn’t fake injuries like your favorite player does,” I added narrowing my eyes at the blond standing behind me. 

John stared to argue along with the three of us leaving Tom and Dede to sit in awe at how much this mattered to all of us. "Crosby pays off the refs!” I then yelled, “All of the refs take the money straight out of his pocket, like Edina people!” 

This sparked a surge of more energy between the two sides. “At least he doesn’t get bench when playing a better team,” Casey taunted referring to when William Nylander didn’t get to play in the third period earlier this year. “And he’s the captain!” 

“So is Connor McDavid!” 

“Who won the Hart last year? Oh yeah McDavid, who’s a cheap shot that slashes peoples fingers off: Crosby!” 

“At least William Nylander doesn’t have to pay the refs off to win a game because he’s so disliked. Crosby has to pay people to be fans of him!” 

“He didn’t pay me!” 

Turning away from facing him I opened his lap top again to look up highlights from Auston Matthews and William Nylander. “Bet Crosby can’t do that,“ I huffed pushing the computer into his chest for him to watch. His mouth hung open a little staring in awe before he slammed it and he lap top closed. 

“Yeah that’s good and all, but Nylander and Matthews are only good when they’re together. Nylander can’t even record a point without Matthews. Crosby can score one handed.” My eyes rolled at him as I stood and walked away. “See you’re walking away because you know I’m right.” 

I turned on my heels to look at him, “No I’m walking away so I don’t punch you in the face Case, but this isn’t over.” 

He smirked while crossing his arms over his chest, “Oh don’t worry Y/n/n this just got real.“ I continued to walk away Luke and John behind me. 

“Let’s go find some dirt on Crosby.” 

Sighing I wasn’t ready to admit defeat. “Why can’t we find anything? There is so many awful things he’s done and we can’t find one of them,” I huffed running my hands through my hair and then down my face. “It’s like they all disappeared.” 

John laughed at me while Luke sat there wide-eyed. “Could Casey block them from us to watch them?” The youngest then asked while the middle child laughed at me. “He can’t control that can he?” 

“No he can’t,” I said narrowing my eyes at the blond who was peaking into the room. “Now if he would please leave us alone that would be great thanks.” His laugh filled my ears as he pushed the door all the way open and then walked. 

Casey smiled at me before kissing my cheek, “Come on babe don’t be like that.” His arm was then wrapped around my shoulder trying to pull me close to him. “You know you love me.” 

I shook my head and looked to John. “I don’t actually, I love John. John doesn’t like Crosby therefore, he is now my favorite Mittelstadt.” This caused both Casey and Luke to glare at me before starting to argue with me. John sat at his desk smiling proudly that he was my new favorite. 

“Oh Y/n/n you can’t be serious,” Casey whined. “I’m your favorite.” 

A smirk crossed my face as I thought of my plan. “Made if you agreed with us that Crosby is a dirty cheater and isn’t the best in the league anymore then you’ll be my favorite.” My boyfriend then started to pout at me. “But I guess if you can’t agree to that then we’ll have some problems, the main one being you’d no longer have a girlfriend.” 

This caused him to glare over at me and the two younger Mittelstadt’s to stare at me in awe at what I had said. “Okay Y/n you might have taken that a little to far,” John stated. 

I shrugged my shoulders, “I’m just kidding guys.” This caused Casey’s whole body to relax and lean into me. “Now if you’d please give me your car keys, me and your brothers have a couple things we need to do before we come back for movie night.”  

Casey rose his eyebrow at me, “What are you going to do with my car? Why can’t you take yours or John’s?” A smile crossed my face knowing very well that he would give into me. “Fine you can have them.” 

“Thanks Case,” Luke said grabbing them out of his brothers hand before running out of his room and down the stairs. I kissed my boyfriends lips before pulling away to see him smiling up at me. 

“At least you’ll kiss me now,” he muttered with a pout. “You wouldn’t earlier today.” I gave him a cheeky smile before kissing him again, “You know Y/n/n you could stay back and little them go. I’m much more fun to hang out with.” Casey was giving me a suggestive smile but I smacked his chest causing him to stop.

John started to groan waiting for me at the door. Pulling away from Casey I walked to the door where his brother waited with a scowl on his face. “Let’s just say this, once we finish our errands you aren’t going to talk to us for awhile.” 

“Now before we started family movie night, I have a little movie of my own to show everyone,” Casey said with a cheeky smile looking straight at me. “Please put your hands together for Sid the Kid Crosby.” 

Letting out a groan my head fell back on to the back of the love-seat as Casey took his seat back next to me. “You couldn’t let it go, could you?” I asked turning my head causing my h/c hair to fall in front of my eyes. 

Pushing the stray pieces behind my ear Casey smirked at me, “You started this fight.” My eyes rolled as I watched Crosby did charity work. “If you wouldn’t have bad mouthed my favorite player tonight would have gone a lot different.” 

Just as the video finished I leaned over to him, my lips brushing against his ear. “Who's Crosby again?” It was now Casey’s turn to groan and throw his head back as Luke, John, and I made our way in front of the TV. Smiling right back at Casey like he had with me I started to speak. “After seeing the movie Casey has presented about Crosby, we would like to show our research we had conducted tonight.” 

Luke and John were working on plugging in the lap top to the TV. “Nobody was harmed in the making of this film,” Luke started to say. 

“Well other than Casey’s ego,” John finished for his younger brother with a smile. Dede looked between the two teenagers standing next to me, to the one sitting in my spot. Once she saw that Casey wasn’t to fazed by the statement she settled back into her seat. Tom on the other hand hadn’t stopped laughing, and only stopped once the beginning of the video started. 

Our movie we had made started with highlights from each of our favorite players beating Crosby in battles. It then went into our research opening with my questionnaire with random people we met at the hockey rink. “Hi can we ask you a few questions?” The little boy nodded, “Great I’m Y/n, that’s Luke and John. What’s your name?” 

“Jack.” 

As our investigation continued to play on the TV Casey turned to look at me not impressed with what we did. “That’s why you needed my car, to go ask random people about Crosby?’ I nodded my head with a cheesy smile. “You’re never getting the keys to my car again Y/n, I hope you know that.” 

Kissing his cheek causing a smile to break out his face I answered, “I know, but I also know you’ll forgive me in a day or two.” His eyes rolled at me as I kissed his cheek again then his lips. 

“No kissing the enemy Y/n/n,” Luke whined turning his attention away from me asking somebody if they knew who Crosby was. 

“Who’s Crosby again?” The person answered with a confused look crossing their face, “I’ve only heard of Matthews.” All three of us turned and smiled at Casey. The Buffalo draft pick threw his head back not looking at us anymore.

Under his breath he was muttering about how unfair this was to him. “Mom can’t you do something about this? They’re bullying me,” he then whined turning to look at his mother. She offered him a small smile. “I’m taking that as a no.” 

Just then Dede and Tom showed up on the screen causing Casey to let out a shocked gasp. “You turned my own parents against me Y/n!” Giving my boyfriend a cheeky smile I reached over to high-five his family members. “That’s unforgivable. Maybe I don’t love you anymore.” His arms crossed over his chest as we listened to his parents talk about their favorite players.

“Personally I enjoy watching my three sons,” Dede said with a wide smile. “And this Crosby character sounds terrible. Is it true he slashed a persons finger off?” Casey glared over at his mother and father before standing and running in front of the TV.

Narrow his blue eyes at me and his brothers he huffed, “I disown all of you, I’m no longer your son, or your brother.” As he went off on his rant he pointed to each one of us. “And you,” he seethed pointing his finger back at me, “I make one comment on how William Nylander got benched and you turned it into this. You can sleep on the couch tonight-” 

Only my voice from our homemade movie cut him off. “Okay so clearly you already know my name-” 

“No you have to say your name,” John’s voice called from behind the camera. Luke was standing next to me asking the questions.

“Okay fine. I’m Y/n Y/l/n  and my favorite player is Casey Mittelstadt.” This caused the blond haired hockey player to turn away from glaring at me, to smile in awe at the TV. Looking to Luke I smiled seeing as his idea worked like a charm. “What’s your favorite thing about him? Why is he your favorite?” Luke asked trying his hardest to keep a straight face. 

My shoulders shrugged, “I guess I like his speed, and his style of play. He never gives up on it, and always has a positive attitude towards the game.” I watched as the blush spread across Casey’s cheeks and neck. His smile grew in size as my compliments went straight to his head. “He just has this unique thing going for him. I mean did you see him play in World Juniors? Man was I impressed with him.”

“So would you say that he’s better or worse than Crosby?” The youngest asked with a smile. Casey turned to look back at me with a open mouthed smile his cheeks burning red. “I would say that once he gets into the NHL and has a chance to play a couple games, he’ll be right up amongst the top players.” 

The movie ended and I had all of the Mittelstadt’s looking at me with loving smiles. “Well now it’s our turn to pick the movie, so I’ll get that started,” Tom announced breaking the silence that had taken control of the living room. Casey stayed frozen in his position his smile only growing. 

“Y/n/n you’re too good to me,” he then stated before walking back to our seats. Pulling me up to stand with him by the pocket of his old U of M sweatshirt he kissed me. My smile grew as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Best girlfriend ever,” he then whispered with a glowing smile. 

It wasn’t long until we had two young Mittelstadt brothers complaining about us kissing. “Oh shut up John it’s not like you and your girlfriend don’t kiss in front of the whole family,” Casey huffed pulling me down to sit in his lap. “In fact if I remember correctly you guys had a make-out session on that couch yesterday.” 

Luke jumped up from his seat next to his brother making a face before walking to his mother and father. “Great now we have another thing to fight about,” I mumbled causing Casey to look down at me as John started to go off about us. 

“Don’t worry Y/n/n now that we’re on the same team again, and almost four years of dating I say we got this one in the bag.” My eyes rolled before I leaned back into his arms. “He’s got nothing on us, trust me.” 

[miriyos]

i’m a little stitious (wc: 1,858)

(I definitely took the title from The Office, no shame. Based on this. Written as if it was the start of the season.)

Geno hates the connotation that comes along with being superstitious. Like most other players, he has his routine that he sticks to. That’s what he calls it. He’s played hockey for what feels like his entire life. Very rarely does he take something that works out of his routine, and only if he feels like he’s in a drought does he consider taking something out.

Some people he’s dated have taken the time to be considerate of the schedule he keeps. A few long-term relationships down the road, none of them have ever really played a role in preparing Geno for a game.

Except, now, Sid.

Sweet, a little bit shy, and most certainly, hockey crazy, Sidney Crosby. Geno has never really met someone like Sid before.

The Penguins are visiting Minnesota for a game. They’re given a day off while Minnesota is busy on a back-to-back when Geno catches word that St. Cloud University is having a women’s hockey game. Their arena is an hour away but if the young boys plan on going out to pick up, Geno would almost rather have them mingle with girls their own age than mess with cougars.

What a concept. Geno never heard of it until he came to America.

That’s where he meets Sid for the first time, always the first person to jump up out of his seat during an exciting play, complete with an embarrassing sign with his sister’s name on it clearly made with their mother’s touch. It’s nearly a full house for a women’s college game and Sid just might be the loudest person in attendance whether it be cheering or simply talking to himself.

The Huskies are on a 2-3 lead at home hoping to solidify the win when the away team pulls their goalie. Crosby in the net thinks about freezing the puck, decides against it, and sends it flying across the ice so fast Geno’s not even sure if McDavid could catch up to it. Huskies get the empty net and Geno promptly smacked in the face with Sid’s cardboard sign.

He might play up the pain a little bit in front of the boys, but he’s the captain so he can always glare the rookies into submission later. Right now, he’s focused on the beautiful man holding his face, checking for paper cuts.

Sid must apologize a dozen times in his Canadian politeness before he agrees to let it go.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologizes again after apologizing for apologizing so much.

Geno just laughs, ignoring the shocked faces of his teammates. “If so sorry, you come to Pens game tomorrow? Cheer me on?”

Me, not us. He suffers from chirping on his pickup line skills for weeks. It’s well worth it the way Sid’s face gets a blushy red. Geno doesn’t usually do this, try to pick up where people can see him. It’s one thing to do it at the club where it’s dark and there’s so many bodies around it could be easy to mistake Geno for anyone. But here, Geno can hear some whispers of people who’ve recognized them and he doesn’t care.

“I’d love to,” Sid says, a bit shocked and breathless. “Can I bring someone? My sister?”

“Of course, I’m love to meet her.”

*

Sid lives in Pittsburgh and after four months of dating Geno, moves in with him. A notable amount of Sid’s things were already in Geno’s house and with Sid’s lease up, it seemed like a good opportunity to bring the topic up. He steps back long enough to make sure he isn’t rushing things and decides screw it.

The worst Sid can do is say no.

Sid doesn’t. He asks every other variation of making sure Geno thought things through and making sure if Geno won’t get tired of him if Sid moves in too early. Geno doesn’t think that’s possible.

“He makes a good trophy husband,” Flower teases Geno one day. Sid has successfully gained Scarlet’s favor and is showing her his best impression of his face off look.

Silently, Geno agrees.

*

While Geno is prepping for his pregame nap, Sid is coming out of a fresh shower after coming home from the gym. He just looks soft with his hair wet and dressed comfortably in a Pens shirt Geno is pretty sure Sid stole from him. It doesn’t take much to persuade Sid to lay down with Geno for a while, just until he falls asleep, but when Geno wakes up, Sid is still tucked under the curve of his arm, perhaps even closer than how they started off.

Geno has never taken a better nap.

Sid wakes up with him and makes enough pasta for the both of them as a late lunch, early dinner. Geno spends the majority of that time admiring how good Sid looks in his kitchen. No longer awkward and afraid to ask where things are or if he can use them. Some things on the higher shelves Geno had to move down just so Sid could reach them.

Geno never mentioned it but Sid must’ve appreciated the gesture if the spontaneous makeout on the couch was an indication.

On the way out to the arena, Sid gives Geno a good luck kiss in the doorway of their house. Sid gets perhaps a lot more handsy with Geno in his suit, which gives him so many ideas he’ll have to touch on with Sid later, however, he gathers his inner strength and walks away.

The jumbotron catches Sid later filming the replay of Geno’s second goal of the night. For the rest of the duration of the game and an hour after, Twitter is buzzing wanting to know who the attractive man behind the glass was.

Flower screenshots every last one of the comments and sends them to Geno.

*

The Pens take bets on how many open practices Sidney will show up to. So far, since meeting Geno, he’s five for five.

Tanger and Flower have completely monopolized Sid’s time away from Geno. In the midst of their poorly veiled interrogation on his intentions toward their captain they discover Sid played hockey. So now, the rest of the boys are equally impressed.

At some point, someone gets Sid one of Geno’s sticks and a roll of tape. The rookies watch awe of Sid’s meticulous taping skills, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth in the cutest way as he gets Geno’s stick the way he wants it.

Geno doesn’t have the heart to tell Sid that that isn’t how he likes his sticks taped. He just asks Dana on the side to prepare another one. Somehow, the stick ends up on Geno’s rack and later in his hand anyway. It takes until the puck hits his stick that he notices something different. He still manages to score on Flower so maybe Sid didn’t tape it badly, just not the way Geno would have.

The stick stays, taped and all, a weird request Geno has never given before. It goes with them to Philly where it ends up in Geno’s hand again. By the end of the night, Geno has three assists and a new method of taping his sticks.

He can’t manage to replicate Sid’s method on his own though.

“You do much better than me,” he tells Sid with four sticks lined up to be taped.

“Are you sure?” Sid still asks. “Wouldn’t you rather tape it the way you like it?”

Geno shrugs. “I like your way better.”

“I could just teach you,” Sid suggests although clearly in hockey mode. His tongue is poking out again. Geno briefly thinks that he should definitely kiss his boyfriend.

So, he does.

Sidney has to tape the stick all over again from scratch though for being distracted. Worth it.

*

The Metro Division is something of a mess right now. The Pens are trying their best to secure a wildcard position. It’s going to happen. Geno won’t let this go on for much longer if he has anything to say about it. The Capitals, however, are top of the Metro. Ovi aside, the Caps need to win a little less so the Pens can rise through the rankings.

And Philly. And maybe the Devils too.

Geno just wants to win. As back to back Stanley Cup champions, they’ve been doing that a little less often than they were expected to.

Caps play the Detroit Red Wings, a team Geno couldn’t really if they won or lost, except they’re playing Ovi so he’s officially Team Detroit.

Sid misses much of the heart attacks caused from the three periods played. Regulation ends in a tie, they take a commercial break to prep for OT just as Sid walks through the door, home from work finally. He gets out greetings for Geno and all his teammates, barely kisses Geno on the cheek when bam. Tomas Tatar scores in OT.

Red Wings win.

Right after the Devils play the Bruins at home. Sid isn’t allowed to leave the room unless there’s a commercial. The Devils also lose.

Now the Pens are that much closer to a playoff spot.

*

Roadies were difficult before, but now they’re even moreso. Geno’s routines are all messed up.

He can’t call Sid before practice, not when Sidney’s at work, but Sid does manage to call him later on the way home. It’s later in Pittsburgh than it is in LA which works in their favor. Geno gets enough of his Sid time before he has to start trying to nap. He ignores all the kissy faces Flower is giving him.

Later, he goes out, plays hard, feels his stick crack in his hands while he’s coming down from an adrenaline high from having one of the best shifts of his career.

“Broke?” he asks Reaver on the bench for a second opinion. A few cracks are probably nothing.

Reaves at first nods, then begins to shake his head when he sees the damage. “Yeah, pretty sure sticks don’t crack that much.”

Geno curses in Russian briefly. “I’m sore, I can’t change!”

Unfortunately, Geno’s stick doesn’t hold on.

During intermission Geno sends Sid a long string of frowny faces without eyes.

When he can finally go back to Pittsburgh, he and Sid sit on the couch. Sid taping five more of Geno’s sticks while Geno randomly fills out bubbles on a blank scantron. He colors in six C’s in a row before Sid leans against his side.

“You should probably throw some other letters in there, too. The kids get panicky when they’re the same letter for too long,” Sid advises.

So Geno does.

He spells CAB three times before he comes to where Sid told him to stop. It’ll probably be the most second-guess endusing quiz Sidney will ever give his students.

Sid ends up sprawled out on the couch, petting their foster cat, which certainly will end up being adopted by them anyway, his legs on top of Geno’s. Domestic, Geno thinks.

“What?” Sid asks eventually, seeing Geno staring.

Geno shrugs. The kiss probably does most of the talking for him.

[fastcars]

the leafs’ season is officially over, but here’s some food for thought. this team carried high expectations from everyone over last season where they went from dead last to a wildcard playoff team, and exceeded those expectations.

this team was essentially permanently third place in the atlantic (and were second place for a while), was in a playoff position by december basically, never lost a game by more than 4 goals during the regular season, didn’t have their franchise centre for a large portion of games over 3 separate injuries, lost 3 of their top 4 defencemen at one point (nikita zaitsev lost three pounds over five missed games) yet still managed to come out with a 49-26-7 record, which is a 10 point improvement from last year’s 40-27-15 and a 36 point improvement 29-42-11 from the year prior. in the first two games of the season, this team scored 15 goals and when they were the toronto arenas for a day, they destroyed the carolina hurricanes 8-1.

this is a team that had 5 sophomores and yeah they might have had seasons where production dropped but it was all less than 10 points. mitch marner went on a 11 game tear, him and nazem kadri and patrick marleau produced 39 points across a 17 game stretch. the power play destroyed opponents especially with various plays like jvr’s constant tip ins or auston matthews from william nylander. nazem kadri had back to back 30 goal seasons whilst being a shutdown centre, facing talents like mcdavid and crosby night to night.

this is a team who’s goaltending has been absolutely remarkable. frederik andersen faced the most shots in the nhl (almost 200 more from the next goalie) and posted a .918 save percentage. curtis mcelhinney, a 34 year old waiver pick up from last season was all we could’ve asked for in a back up goalie, posting a .934 save percentage with 3 shutouts in 15 starts whilst seeing extremely limited ice time but never once complained and quietly did his job.

this is a team who had 3 rookies on the back end at one point, and 2 of them were call ups. justin holl who played college, echl, ahl (was even an ahl all star this year) scored twice in two back to back games, setting a new leafs record. let’s not forget andreas borgman, who albeit shaky at times still was impressive with his first year on north american ice. morgan rielly and jake gardiner both played an offensive role on the back end, each putting up career high 50+ point whilst being mostly defensively reliable.

what i’m trying to say is, even if this isn’t the playoff run anyone had expected, let’s not forget about the memorable and historic season the team has had. yes, the 82 game season is all about making the playoffs and for the stanley cup, but brilliance of a team’s season should not be determined by the outcome of their playoff run. this team will once again be absolutely dominant next year, and perhaps in the foreseeable future, we’ll see the stanley cup back in toronto. 

[spine-buster]

Chapter 23 - The Beginning and the End of Everything (Finn Balor)

@wrestlewriting @wrasslin-x @thegenericluchadora @thewriterformerlytaggedas@fan-fiction-galore @anerdysouthernbelle @spot-of-bother @amaranthine-reign@baleesi @flnnbalor @smuppies @sarahmatthews7 @daintymissdevitt@newjapan @corey-renee @running-ropes @balorsomega @karleedaniels27@kazuchika @ileana0300 @alexahood21 @ohcristimhookedonhavocimsodunne@fembxt @heelturn-timesten @kaitlynwwefan @50shadesofadamcolebaybay@50shadesofkennyomega @chasingeverybreakingwave @thyestean-feast @thecandicej @devittsbalor @sp00kylesley @danahart @sietefinns@kaydee-kayyyy @powerbombshell @swedish-strong-style @blondekel77@irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @nickysmum1909 @houndofjustice-imagines @wwesmutdonedirtcheap @wweximaginesxd @indywrestlinglover-life @mandi512 @kakakatey @ourscratcheddreams @sleeplessandcynical @badame124 @thevixeniris

“How do I look?” Gemma asked one last time as the limousine stopped, the driver putting the car in park and exiting.

“Like I said…you look delectable,” Fergal eyed her.  She’d chosen a floor length black dress with a gold belt and straps, and an exposed back.  At first she wanted to wear something that looked like a nun’s habit but he managed to convince her out of it.  He was trying every day to make it known to her that despite the “new body” she always harped on about, she was still attractive and sexy; still allowed to feel like a million bucks.  She had looked at herself in the mirror for a good ten minutes with the dress on.  When she made a quip about gold being her colour anyway, he knew she’d chosen the dress.

They posed on the red carpet for a few pictures before a handler ushered them inside.  Upon entering the building they were met with a few more photographers, taking informal pictures of them before Gemma had to do the media scrum.  

Fergal watched as she looked around the room, mentally counting the amount of reporters lined up interviewing hockey players.  He squeezed her hand to get her attention.  “You alright?”

Before Gemma could answer him, her name was called loudly from beyond the media scrum.  Gemma turned her attention away from Fergal, trying to find the voice that had called her name.  Fergal watched as Gemma’s face lit up.  “John!”

A good looking man in a very well tailored suit speed walked towards her, engulfing her in a giant hug.  Fergal noticed the media pass around his neck sandwiched between their bodies.  “God, I’m so glad I get to see you before the ceremony!” the man exclaimed, letting go of his hug but still keeping his hands on her arms.  Fergal was watching closely.  “How are you?  How’s everything?”

Gemma shrugged her shoulders, a giant smile on her face.  “Everything’s good.  You know.  Could be better but it’s still good.”

“Making the best of a shitty situation.”

“As always.”

Fergal stood awkwardly watching the interaction before the man looked his way.  His hands dropped from Gemma’s arms.  “You must be Fergal,” he said, extending his hand.  Fergal shook it politely.  “I’m John Patterson.  Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Fergal nodded his head.  “How do you know Gemma?”

“We’ve worked together in the past,” Gemma answered for him.  “John works for the Leafs now,” she looked towards him.  She backhanded his arm playfully.  “Are you head of PR yet or what?”

“I’m working on it,” John blushed.  “But speaking of, make sure you stop by Patti for us so we can get an interview with you – lifelong Leaf fan and all,” he turned to point out the reporter in the scrum Gemma would need to speak to.  “Will I see you at the after-party?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, good.  I’ll come find you,” he hugged her again.  He turned to Fergal.  “It was really nice to meet you, man.  I’ve heard so much about you.  But I’m working tonight, so I’ll catch up with you at the after-party.”

“Yeah, cool, nice to meet you too,” Fergal said, John leaving halfway through the sentence.  

Yet another man in a suit approached them, this time much older.  “Ms. Fitzgerald, are you ready?  You’ll begin just as Mr. Bergeron moves on.”

“Yes sir,” Gemma nodded her head, flattening out her dress.

Fergal knew that was the moment where she’d be gone for at least fifteen or twenty minutes and he’d be left alone in the background.  He knew he would have to ask her the only question that was currently on his mind.  “That John guy, you said he worked with you before?”

“Mhm.”

“Where?  Hockey Canada?”

“Uh, not entirely.”

“Well, where then?”

Gemma gulped, wishing the first reporter would call her over.  She saw Patrice Bergeron moving along to the second reporter.  “You remember how I told you I’ve only really had one serious boyfriend before you?”

Fergal’s heart fluttered for a moment – not in the good way.  “That was him?!”

“Mhm.”

“That’s your ex-boyfriend?  He works for the Leafs?”

“Mhm.”

“Wait…” Fergal replayed the conversation.  “Why did he say he’s heard so much about me?”

Before he could say anything else, the older gentleman approached them again.  “Ms. Fitzgerald, you may go ahead to the media scrum now.”

“Gemma.”

“I’ll be back.”

“Gemma,” he said sternly, but she left him there to process what he just heard and ask himself a million more question he’d have to wait to get the answer to.  

He watched her every move as she made her way through the scrum.  In that time, his brain was on overdrive trying to come up with some answers.  So, she had an ex-boyfriend who worked in the hockey world.  He knew she had one; she just never specified who he was or what field he worked in.  Now Fergal knew.  John was attractive.  A ‘Suit’ type.  Slightly older than Gemma but of course, younger than himself.  Anyone Gemma knew would be younger than him, Fergal reasoned.  He was ten years older than she was.  He was an old geezer.  And it was possible (was it clear?) that they still kept in touch.  How else would John know she was with him?  Nobody mentioned it on WWE programming.  He never tweeted out any pictures of them together.  She didn’t tweet out any pictures of them together.  This was their first official event together.  He didn’t even hug her during his return match, at her request.  Unless he knew because of Fergal’s attendance at the Leafs game where they honoured Gemma.  But they weren’t even together then.  Did she tell him over text?  Over phone call when he wasn’t around?  What was that conversation like?  Why did she even feel the need to tell him?  Why -----

“You alright?” Gemma’s voice interrupted his spiralling train of thought.  “We should go sit down.  It’s just through there.  We’re in the fourth row.”

Fergal didn’t want to wait any longer for answers.  “What happened with you and John?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why’d you guys break up?”

Gemma tugged at his arm, pulling him through the black curtain so they were alone in the area between the media scrum and the main area, where nobody would hear what they were talking about.  “We were just on different paths,” she began, looking at him.  “I was traveling a lot and then he got the job with the Leafs.  There was never any ill will or anything.  It was very mutual, and we knew it had to be done.  We were very mature about it.”

“That’s why you two still talk.”

“Yeah.  He’s a good guy.  There aren’t many like him in hockey – at least in the offices.  He doesn’t let his position get to his head.  That sort of thing.”

Fergal calmed down considerably.  There was no way he was going to completely freak out.  She was so calm about telling him.  And there was no way he was going to ruin her night at the NHL Awards by getting angry with her.  John did seem like a pretty levelheaded guy.  And if he was good enough for Gemma to date and still keep in touch with, he would be good enough for Fergal.  “So I shouldn’t be worried about him?”

“Oh no way,” Gemma scoffed.  “He’s married to his job now.  He wants to be like, head of PR for the Leafs by the time he’s thirty…he’s a career man.  Always was, really.  He’ll be one of those guys that doesn’t settle down until he’s in his late thirties or early forties.”

“Like me.”

Gemma smiled.  “Like you.”  She leaned forward and kissed him quickly on the lips.  “You don’t have anything to worry about Ferg.  He’s great but he’s not Fergal Devitt level great.”

The NHL Awards were fun for Fergal.  Though he was in a different environment than what he was used to and felt a little bit out of his element, he was enjoying the ambience and ceremony.  The more important thing was that every time he looked at Gemma, she looked like she was having the time of her life.  He absolutely loved seeing her so happy.  Throughout the night she had hockey players – guys she loved and respected and probably watched on TV – coming up to her and telling her how much they loved her.  Fergal could tell it was surreal for her.  Every time one left, she’d squeeze his arm and dig her nails into his skin.  She’d tell him who the person was, as if he would know how much weight their words and praises had on her.  ‘That was Joe Sakic, Ferg.’  ‘Ferg, that was Sidney Crosby.  Sidney fucking Crosby.  People say I’m the female him.’  ‘Holy mother of God, Fergal.  Mark Messier!  Mark Messier!’

Gemma received a standing ovation from everybody when she went out on stage, and Fergal knew she was trying very, very hard to keep her emotions in check.  To be given an ovation in a room full of your peers was a lot to handle.  He could tell, too, that one of the cameras panned right to him, standing and clapping along with everyone else, but at that point he didn’t care.  He was there for Gemma and Gemma only.  If hockey writers and reporters wanted to speculate about who he was and do some digging, he didn’t care – he was there to support his girlfriend.  That was all that mattered to him, and that was all that should matter.  

Gemma said a few kind words before presenting the Hart Trophy some young guy a guy named Connor McDavid.  It was about five minutes before he’d see her again, and by that point it was the end of the show.  Everybody in the arena began to leave for the afterparty, which is exactly where he and Gemma were headed for a bit before calling it a night.  He knew she would want to mingle with everyone so he made sure to have an extra shot of espresso to stay awake.  

As they began to make their way out of the T-Mobile Arena, both Gemma and Fergal both heard an extremely loud ‘GEMMAAAAAAAAAA!’ from behind them.  Gemma spun around quickly, only to see P.K Subban running towards her.  Her face lit up immediately as he picked her up and spun her around.

“PK!” she squealed as she set him down.  “About time I saw you!”

“I had to surprise you!  Look at you in this dress, girl,” he gave her the up down.  “Did you choose this or did your boyfriend over here?” he nodded his head towards Fergal.

“Hey, be nice,” she pointed her finger at him comically.  “And for your information, I chose this dress all by myself.”

“You must be the infamous PK Subban,” Fergal chimed in, completely taking Gemma by surprise.  She had no idea how Fergal knew who he was.  Bless him, but he was completely clueless about hockey – as clueless as she was about wrestling.  “I’ve read a lot about you.”

“I hope you’ve only read the good articles,” PK quipped.

“You bet.  One of my best buddies is from Montreal and he told me about your donation to the children’s hospital.  You’re the fucking man, PK.”

PK put his hand over his heart solemnly.  “Hey man, it’s my honour to do stuff like that, you know.  You understand completely, don’t you Balor?”

Gemma couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  Fergal knowing who PK was, bringing up his donation to the Montreal Children’s Hospital; PK bringing up Fergal’s wrestling name?  “Are you stalking my boyfriend, PK?”

PK rolled his eyes.  “I don’t stalk your boyfriend, sweetheart.  My little cousin is obsessed with him,” he focused his attention back to Fergal.  “He’s got the bodysuit and everything.  I had to buy it for him for Christmas.  He wouldn’t shut up about it and now he won’t stop wearing it.”

Fergal couldn’t help but laugh.  He always found wrestling in the most unconventional of places.  “Well in that case, he should get a little too sweet from me.”

PK’s eyes bulged out of his head as he whipped out his phone.  “Dude, he’s gonna freak.  Next thing you know we’re gonna be doing a buddy cop movie together.”

“PK --” Gemma tried to interject.

“I’ve already thought about this – what about something simple like Subban and Balor?  Or do you want to be first?  Balor and Subban?  Who’s the good cop and who’s the bad cop?” he chatted as he took the selfie.  

“PK --”

“Ooooooh dude, what about a sitcom?  Like the odd couple?  Hey could you get John Cena to make a cameo?”

“Pernell-Karl,” Gemma emphasized his full name.  “Stop scaring my boyfriend.”

“I’m not scaring him!” PK defended himself.  “He loves the idea.”

“Hey PK, let’s go!” another voice shouted from within the crowd.  

“Hey listen,” PK put his hand on Fergal’s shoulder.  “Anytime you’re in Toronto with this one over here, you let me know.  I know people who can get the pilot script going in no time.”

“PK!  Let’s go!”

He disappeared into the massive crowd of people as Fergal continued to laugh at the prospect of them in any sort of TV show together.  Judging by how well their brief meeting went, any hypothetical time they’d spend together would drive Gemma nuts.  “I love that guy,” he chuckled.

“How do you even know who he is?” Gemma asked, shaking her head.

“Hey, I do my homework.”

At the after party, Gemma was having the time of her life.  She milked her drink for a while, only because so many people were coming up to her and talking to her.  Some conversations were jovial while others were more serious – some even whispered or talked in low, hushed voices so no-one else would hear.  Gemma would nod along secretively.  Fergal wondered what they were saying – but then again, he’d know the second they got into their hotel room. 

It was only when they were alone together, briefly, that Fergal noticed her eyes go wide for a very brief second.  She immediately looked down and away from whatever she had been looking at.  

Fergal looked behind him.  Was it PK again?  Was it someone else she idolized?  “You alright?” he asked.

"Don’t look now…but…do you see that woman behind you? In that tight bandage dress?" 

He looked behind him immediately and saw exactly who Gemma was referring to.  "Yeah..." 

"That's her. That's Amanda Robinson."  

Fergal tried to remain calm.  He really did.  But at the mention of that name, he felt his blood begin to boil.  He took one good look at her and promptly decided she was the absolute ugliest woman he'd ever seen in his life. Sure, she was conventionally attractive to some, but knowing what she had done to Gemma, knowing how she had no remorse, that she practically bragged about it and was still allowed to step foot on the ice made her the ugliest woman in the world. No apology. No acknowledgement of wrongdoing.  Nothing.

"Want me to get Becky on her?" he asked, his jaw tight. 

"That sounds tempting, but I'll pass. She's not worth it."

“I ought to go over there and give her a piece of my mind,” Fergal said through clenched teeth.  

“Ferg.”

“I mean it.  She fucking injured you, Gemma.  What is she even doing here?”

“I don’t know, but please don’t.”

“This is your night.”

“Technically it’s Connor McDavid’s night.”

Fergal looked at her.  “You are the best god damn female hockey player of your generation.  Don’t you ever forget that.  She can show up here and try to get attention but nobody, nobody, not the least her, is ever going to change the fact that you’re the best.  Fuck, you’re probably better than half the guys here.”

Gemma couldn’t help but crack a smile.  “Thanks.”

“I’m stating the truth.  You’re the best Gemma.  That’s what’s going down in the record books.”

Gemma was tired as she answered questions for a room full of reporters the next morning.  There would later be a luncheon for everyone involved in the ceremony last night, especially for those who won awards.  Gemma had been invited and thought it was a nice way to cap off the weekend.  She wasn’t told about the press conference beforehand, but she participated nonetheless.

It was very different from the last press conference she held, to say the least.  At the last one, of course, she had to announce how she couldn’t play hockey again.  It was the hardest thing she ever had to do.  And to do it in front of a room full of people?  That made it even worse.  Things were different now, but she still felt slightly uncomfortable.  Usually when she did these, it was because of a good game or a win in an international tournament.  Now, instead of questions pertaining to her game, she was getting questions about her ‘retirement’.  She asked them specifically not to call it a retirement.  She wasn’t retired.  She was twenty-six, for heaven’s sake.  No twenty-six year old should be retired.  

“Ms. Fitzgerald, I’m from the Vancouver Sun.  I was wondering if you saw Amanda Robinson at the ceremony last night?”

Uncomfortable murmurs made their way through the room.  What was this douchebag trying to do?  “No, I didn’t see her.”

“Did you hear the remarks she made?” he asked again.

“No.”

“May I have permission to play the recording?” he asked, but barely waited for Gemma’s answer.  He pressed play and a reporter’s voice filled the air, asking about what Amanda thought about Gemma presenting the Hart Trophy.

“She looks good though.  I mean, I thought she was pregnant at first, but when I was told she wasn’t I figured her body just filled out,” Amanda’s voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard.  “I saw her still limping from her injury tonight, which is a shame because by now she should be walking fine.”

Gemma felt like her entire body was on fire.  She tried to maintain her composure, to not let the room full of press know how angry she was getting, but she rolled her eyes slightly.  It was the only action she actually wished got caught on camera.  She figured there was no more front to put up.  No more grace for the sake of Hockey Canada; no more polite attitude for the sake of her spot on the team.  

“Any response?” the reporter asked.  

“You can tell Amanda Robinson I’m still limping because it’s heavier to carry gold around the neck than silver.”

[lovedyouless]

connor mcdavid/leon draisaitl masterpost

tbh this is all you need to know about them:

posted and captioned by teammate and frequent linemate patrick maroon. 

but if you want more ...

connor mcdavid

everyone in hockey knows who connor mcdavid is. drafted number one in 2015, connor is frequently mentioned in the same breath as wayne gretzky and sidney crosby (he’s canadian too, of course). he’s fast, he’s skilled and he was named as the youngest ever nhl captain at the start of 2016′s season. anytime you see connor on the ice, he’s probably wearing a ‘c’ whether it’s for the erie otters where he played in the ohl, for the oilers, team north america or even the 2017 all star weekend. he’s a Big Deal and everyone loves him (except maybe brandon manning).

connor is very humble

(x)

okay connor but you’re VERY GOOD AT HOCKEY, YOU CAN’T HAVE EVERYTHING IN LIFE 

his bff during his ohl years was dylan strome (drafted to the coyotes). connor hung back after his draft to watch dylan get picked. connor and dylan are Very Soft

connor is very polite to his elders, referring to them by their title such as mr crosby

(x)

sid finds this hilarious.

connor is so good that subban, one of the best defencemen in the league, can only resort to blatant hugging cheating to contain him

(x)

connor’s rookie year was going great until he got injured (damn you manning) and broke his collar bone. 2016/2017 marks his first full year in the nhl. 

leon draisaitl

leon was born in germany and is two years older than connor (more like 14 months but who’s counting). occasionally he fools people by pronouncing ‘out’ like a true canadian, but he’s definitely german. his dad was a german hockey player. leon is the highest drafted german player ever in the nhl - he was drafted third in 2014. leon can speak four languages. like connor, his natural position is center BUT MORE ON THAT LATER. 

leon, by the way, just very casually looks like this: 

(x)

AND I AM VERY MAD ABOUT HIS FACE ALL THE TIME. this is a rare smiley leon though. usually his interviews look more like this: 

(x)

by the way, this is his face after he scored the overtime winner for team europe. excited, huh?

before they became nhl superstars, leon and connor were baby prospects together touring the Rogers Place during it’s build. the whole video is great because leon is just SO INQUISITIVE and asking lots of questions and connor mostly spends the video laughing at leon?

in a fun twist of fate, leon scored the last oilers goal at Rexall Place before they moved to Rogers Place

try and control your glee there, leon.

connor and leon have become regular linemates in the 2016/2017 season and have killed it this year

leon’s natural position is center but he’s spent much of this year on connor’s wing. did i mention that connor is very very fast? 

"I just saw Connor take off and it's pretty hard to keep up, let me tell you," said Draisaitl. "I just got on my horse and tried to catch up and get open for a shot."

it’s okay though, because connor is not great at everything (yet). leon takes most of his faceoffs in games and they practice them together (warning: leon turns into a competitive giggly monster when he wins and connor accepts his loss with a happy grin)

(x)

because usually-grumpy-looking leon actually smiles a lot around connor

(x)

also their hugs are ridiculous

(x)

like who raises their arms like that, leon??

(x)

here it is from another angle and it’s just as terrible. also, connor LET GO OF DARNELL because he saw leon coming and wanted two arms free so they can octopus around each other?? THE WORST.

(x)

this is connor’s ‘about to hug leon’ face and it’s just as terrible as you thought it was gonna be

i like to call this their ‘caught red handed but we’re still not letting go of each other’ pose

(x)

this is great because leon is a huge solid hunk of man who is almost impossible to knock off his feet and connor is very much smaller than him but leon drops his arm and lets connor fold himself into leon

(x)

did i mention that connor is smaller than leon? because here he is fitting himself into a tiny space next to leon rather than, i don’t know, standing somewhere else with more room??

@ edmontonoilers: pre-game pals

EVEN THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM SHIPS IT

(x)

also here is leon chilling in the sin bin. wanna guess why he’s here? if you guessed that he took a run at manning (as previously mentioned, he took out connor in his rookie year for a few months and cost connor the calder. he also apparently chirped connor earlier in the season to say the hit was deliberate, so obviously leon stepped in to avenge his captain)

anyway. as it turns out, they’re pretty close off ice too. here they are enjoying a date night by hanging out with patrick maroon and his son and playing some ball aka pat knows his teammates are in love aka connor is trying to show off for leon but anthony is kicking his ass

(x)

here they are enjoying a double date with nuge and ebs (leon of course looking cool as fucking ice while the other three look like idiots)

here they are being interrupted on their date with darnell. you will often find darnell third wheeling

inseparable. also they all look super hot here.

THE OILERS KNOW, GUYS. THEY KNOW.

okay, leon, okay

leon deliberately cropping out darnell so he can post a picture of him and connor, and both of them sounding entirely unapologetic about it

“Leon, you and Connor are one point away from one hundred, wouldn’t it be kind of special to get that point on the same goal?”

“Yeah I mean, it’d be fun. Obviously he’s played about 1000 games less than I have, but um, you know it’s a nice milestone and it’d be nice to get it together.”

FUNNILY ENOUGH ... okay they didn’t get it on the same goal because connor is an overachiever always and got his 100th point first, but leon’s 100th point came in the same night, an assist on a connor goal of course

ANYWAY it’s not all about the hugs and fate and being bros together

or giggling off the ice

(x)

(honestly, have you ever seen leon this happy when he’s not scoring/assisting/winning games?? no, no you haven’t)

they’re also super supportive of each other

(x)

or that time when the Flames tried to hook leon and then took a hit (which didn’t even knock him off his feet because he’s a fucking tank, tkachuk falls to the ice though which is hilarious) and connor takes offence and defends leon’s honor

“Leon, this morning Connor said you might be one of the most underrated players in the NHL. Does that matter to you?

(x)

HAHAHAHAHAHA WELL IT SURE MATTERS TO ME IN CASE ANYONE WANTS TO KNOW

we should also talk about the fact that connor has this strange habit ...

of just taking leon’s things? 

totally normal to have an interview wearing your teammates hoodie. tell me connor, does it carry leon’s scent? does it hang off you because leon’s shoulders are ridiculously broad? DID YOU TAKE IT ON PURPOSE??

MOVING ON. we should definitely talk about connor’s 100th point this season to win the Art Ross because i love FATE. of course connor gets his 100th point on leon’s goal. OF COURSE. connor really, really wanted that 100th point which is understandable because who wants to finish the season on 99? he turns to hug leon immediately (of course) and leon stops for a quick hug before he’s off to grab the puck for connor JUST IN CASE IT GOES MISSING GUYS, HE WANTS THAT PUCK FOR CONNOR except he realises that caggiula already has it so he goes back for another hug EXCEPT the rest of the guys are there and that’s fine, but leon wants his own hug so he grabs connor from behind as they head for the bench and they just coast together for a second, completely flush against each other and i’m super chill about the whole thing, guys.

(x)

anyway this is the most important moment ever caught on camera. also, leon just leaps into the air with him and catches him and he lands without even a stumble like?? HOW STRONG ARE YOU LEON??

anyway, in conclusion, these two fools are in love and everyone should jump on board and they’re probably gonna accidentally kiss one of these days after a goal

[carey-pricemas]

Playoffs- Connor McDavid

(Type Connor McDavid into search, get pics of Leon... Tumblr knows)

Ok so we had a break without any smuts for my nice youngins (and those not comfortable with it) but now we're back and you'll have 2 smuts today! Today you get a lot of updates, mainly cause I was sick yesterday so I wrote all day and because I have another submission for you guys! So enjoy! If you're not joining us, up next is: Sidney Crosby!

Warning: smut, smexy time, sex, cussing

@astilinski24 Request: Could I get a Connor Mcdavid imagine where they clinched playoffs(bc they did) and you surprise him at the game after saying you had to spend an extra day in Toronto for volleyball and then the celebrate after the game. If you do smut maybe do that

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/

              "Babe I'm sorry, but I'm stuck in Toronto" you said, staring at the plane in front of you. Connor sighed over the connection.

              "Yeah I know you can't help it I was just kind of hoping..."

              "I know. I wish I could be there, but-"

              "No I understand! It's fine. Love you!"

              "I love you too, Connor. You'll do great tonight!" You finished saying your goodbyes and hung up the phone.

              You were in Toronto for a volleyball tournament, but the Oilers had a chance the clinch a playoff spot tonight against the Kings, so you were flying back early.

              Connor just didn't know that.

              Your teammates were bringing your suitcase, so all you had on you was your phone and McDavid jersey as you waited for your plane to be called.

              You probably had had better ideas, but this was a big game for Connor and you knew how worried he was about it.

              A 20 year old captain of a team that hadn't seen the playoff picture in 11 years had a lot of stress.

              It was do or die.

              Not that anyone in Edmonton would blame Connor if they didn't make it.

              No, Edmonton worshipped the ground your boyfriend walked on.

              But Connor would blame himself.

              "Now boarding flight A235 to Edmonton..." You grinned and moved towards the gate.

              You won your tournament, now it was time to see Connor win his game.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/

              Your body hummed in excitement as you waited by Connor's car after the game.

              They won! Connor was leading the Oilers to the playoffs!

              Connor, Leon, and Milan all exited the building together, laughing over something. You saw Leon nudge Connor and Connor's eyes snapped to you. You bounced up and down excitedly. Connor started walking towards you, but you were too impatient, so you ran at him, jumping and wrapping your arms and legs around him like an octopus as he caught you.

              "What are you doing here?"

              "Like I was going to miss you demolishing the Kings" you said, rolling your eyes. Connor kissed you hard.

              "Get a room" Leon said, bumping his shoulder into you. You laughed as Connor steadied you.

              "Not a bad idea, eh?" he said, winking.

              "I'm down." Connor set you back on your feet and led you to your car.

              "Use protection" Leon said laughing. Milan shoved him slightly, but snickered as the two waved at you.

              "Babe" you said. "You did it!"

              "I know! (Y/N)" he said slowly. "I. Am. PUMPED!" You laughed before rolling the window down and leaning your head out.

              "LET'S GO OILERS!" you screamed. "PLAYOFFS BABY!" You leaned your head back in as you heard cheers from around the street. Connor shook his head laughing as you rolled the window up. "I'm so proud of you."

              "It's not just because your precious Oilers are going to the playoffs?" he asked, teasing you.

              "No" you giggled. "It's because my wonderful boyfriend, who I just embarrassed the crap out of, led my precious Oilers to the playoffs. I couldn't love you more right now."

              "What if I hoisted the Cup?" You paused.

              "Ok then maybe I'd love you more." Connor laughed. As Connor parked and you both got out, Connor frowned. "What's up?"

              "Where's your bag? Wait... how'd you get to Roger's Place?"

              "Relax" you said, leading him towards the apartment. "My team's bringing it back tomorrow and Kelly swung by the airport and picked me up." As Connor unlocked the door, you grabbed his tie and pulled him inside. "Now, let's celebrate." Connor shut the door behind you while your arms circled his neck and brought his lips to yours.

              Connor backed you up against the entryway wall and pressed his thigh between your legs, rubbing hard. You whimpered against his mouth and brought your hands down his shoulders to his chest. You pushed the suit jacket off his shoulders and Connor let it fall to the floor in a heap. Your hands quickly worked on his tie, pulling it away and dropping it as well.

              "(Y/N)" he groaned, trailing kisses down your neck.

              "Bedroom" you panted. Connor nodded and bit down on your neck, making you hiss as he picked you up in his arms. Once again you found yourself wrapped around him like an octopus as he carried you through the apartment. You were able to shift your hips and rub your center along his hardness as he walked, making him groan.

              He tossed you on the bed, making you bounce. You giggled as you watched him trying to work the buttons on his shirt.

              "Dammit" he said as one ripped. You laughed and knelt on the bed before him, your hands pushing his away. You bent forward, pressing open mouth kisses to every inch of his chest as it was revealed. As soon as the last button was through the hole, Connor ripped the shirt off. You ran your hands over his chest, your fingernails gently catching on his nipples. "Fuck" he hissed as he jerked in pleasure. You grinned and moved to his belt buckle.

              Before you could get it completely undone, Connor stopped you. He pulled your hands away and held them over your head. You left them there as his hands skimmed down your body before grabbing the hem of your jersey and lifting it over head and tossing it to the side.

              "Beautiful" he murmured, his fingers tracing the lace of your bra. You shivered as he continuously skimmed over your already hard peaks. His hand reached behind you and flicked the clasp open. You both allowed the fabric to fall down your arms. Connor picked it up and tossed it aside as well.

              His eyes stared at your heaving breasts, licking his lips. You whimpered, your hand coming up to tweak your own nipple, hoping to spur him into action. Connor's eyes watched as you played with your breasts, drawing whimpers and moans out. He crawled on the bed in front of you, slowly leaning in until he was hovering over you as you laid in the bed, your legs tangled together. He pulled your hands away and continued to gaze at your taut nipples. He bent down and pressed a kiss over one nipple, before moving to the other. You arched your back, hoping to draw him closer to your aching body. Connor circled the nipple with his tongue before blowing on it. Your hands twisted the bedsheets as you cried out in pleasure. Connor moved on to do the same to your other nipple, getting the same reaction.

              Your already damp panties were soaked now.

              "Connor" you whimpered, shifting your hips to urge him on. You knew the adrenaline was still coursing through both of you, but if he didn't hurry up, you had a perfectly good vibrator in the drawer you could use.

              Connor's hand moved to the button of your jeans, popping it and sliding down the zipper. His hand dipped inside and you widened your legs to allow him access.

              "Connor" you moaned as his fingers brushed your clit. "Please."

              Connor retracted his hand and pulled away, making you whimper at the loss of heat. He quickly moved to stand at the end of the bed and slowly slid your jeans and panties down your legs. You lay before him completely naked, his eyes focused on your glistening pussy. His hands moved to his belt buckle, sliding his pants and boxers down his legs. He climbed back over you and hovered, his forearms resting on either side of your head.

              "I love you" he whispered. You grinned up at him.

              "I love you too, Mr. Next Great One." Connor shook his head, but kissed you hard. Your arms wrapped around his neck and Connor reached between you, lining himself up with your core. You whimpered into the kiss as he slid fully in.

              Connor waited a moment for you to adjust before he slid out, slamming back inside. You gasped as Connor trailed kissed down your neck as he continued to thrust into you. Your hips thrust against his in an urgent rhythm.

              "Connor" you panted. He kissed you hard once more, nipping at your bottom lip to silence you. You whimpered and shifted. The orgasm that had built since the moment you stepped into the apartment was ready to spring, but Connor would not give you what you needed.

              You tried to rub your nipples against his chest, but Connor sat back, making you cry out.

              "Connor please" you moaned. Connor moved to cover you once more, pressing a quick kiss to each breast before kissing you.

              "Please what?" he asked, slowing his thrusting down. You made a whining noise in the back of your throat.

              "I need to cum" you whined, trying to urge Connor on. Connor chuckled.

              "What's in it for me?"

              "A pretty girl screaming your name" you said. Your hand moved between your bodies, but Connor caught it before you could go further. You made another whining noise.

              Instead of responding, Connor pressed his thumb hard on your clit, rubbing circles over it as he thrust into you hard.

              It didn't take long before you called out his name and came. Connor pulled his hand away and thrust into you a few more times before shooting into you. He rested on your chest, keeping most of his weight on his arms still. You ran your hand through his hair and listened as his breathing slowed.

              "I'm so proud of you Connor." He looked up at you and grinned.

              "Thanks for coming." You rolled your eyes playfully.

              "Like I would miss you making history." Connor laughed and kissed you. "Love you, Captain."

              "Love you too."

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Ok there you have it! A little Connor appreciation! Let me know what you guys thought! Up next: Sidney Crosby!