Chapter 10

Thanks for all the comments! I'm glad that people actually enjoy reading this. I'm going on vacation this upcoming weekend and won't be able to post anything during that time so I'm going to do my best to get as much up as I can before then. Thanks again!





A few weeks had gone by and the Penguins were playing their last game of the season. All the teams in the Eastern Conference were close so seeding hadn’t yet been decided for playoffs. Everything depended on tonight, the last night of the regular season. I met up with the girls for dinner and drinks before the game. They were a nervous bunch.

“My stomach hurts just thinking about tonight,” Vero said. I looked over at her sympathetically.

“I don’t even know how you do it, dating a goalie,” I told her.

“You can’t help who you love. Lots of wine helps too,” she joked taking a sip of hers. We all laughed.

“So if they lose tonight they drop from second to fourth?” Bri asked.

“Yeah, and I’d rather they play a team further down in the standings than one that is just as good,” Abby responded. I just listened to most of the conversation. They all had reason to be nervous from here on out, but I was still a bit of an outsider. My life wasn’t affected at all by whether the Penguins won or lost from here on out.

When we finished eating we headed to the rink. After grabbing some more drinks from the wives’ room we headed to our seats. The Penguins were playing Montreal who was the only team to secure their seed winning first in the Eastern Conference. They were a fast-paced team constantly on the attack making them a tough opponent. They also never sat on a lead making it nearly impossible for teams to come back against them while down, especially at the end of games, so scoring first was key for the Penguins.

Scoring first is exactly what they did when Petr Sykora put one in halfway through the first. They held the lead into the first intermission thanks to some stellar goaltending from Marc. Montreal had put a lot of pressure on the Pens so another goal would be huge for them. Unfortunately Montreal scored two quick goals five minutes into the second intermission. The Pens came out hard in the third and thanks to a power play goal by Malkin the game was tied.

With just four minutes left in the game Marc made an unbelievable post to post save on an odd man rush and the puck was passed up to Sid who streaked down the ice in on odd man rush of their own with Montreal’s players stuck in the offensive zone. He was going in 2 on 1 with Malkin but Montreal’s defender took away the passing lane. Sid faked a pass anyway causing Montreal goalie Carey Price to cheat a bit off his angle, but then picked a spot top corner shooting the puck into the net.

The sold out Igloo went nuts cheering the go ahead goal. Usually pretty calm during games, the girls exploded in excitement jumping up and hugging each other, myself included. The excitement was contagious and I felt myself cheering as hard as everyone else in the rink despite the fact that if Pittsburgh lost the Devils would win the Atlantic Division and receive the second seed for playoffs. The Penguins held on for the win and we all waited for the guys downstairs. Each time one of them came in, the room erupted in cheers.

Vero and I were the last two left in the room knowing that Sid and Marc were probably hoarded by reporters more than anyone else. They eventually came in together. Vero greeted Marc with a hug and a kiss and congratulated him in French.

“Nice move on the goal, Crosby,” I said to him as he walked over. His smile grew.

“I tried,” he joked.

“You realize that you are the sole reason tonight that the Devils didn’t win the division,” I told him. He put a hand over his heart.

“Oh no, what was I thinking?” he asked sarcastically. I laughed and gave him a light punch in the arm. “So we’re playing Boston first round.” I made a face. I’d always hated Boston.

“Kick their asses,” I said. He laughed and I followed him out to his car. He easily spent 20-30 minutes signing autographs for cheering fans while I texted Phoebe, Reagan, and Sheila. When he finally managed to pull away we met the guys for some dinner and went out to Diesel to celebrate the win. My friends met us there and we partied long into the night.

Playoffs were a completely different vibe than the regular season. Every team had made it because they were capable of winning the Cup and every fan believed this was the year for their team. The first two games at the Igloo were insane. The only place I’d ever been to during playoffs that could compare was Montreal. The fans were loud and cheered until the final buzzer and even after. Pittsburgh went to Boston for games 3 and 4 up 2-0 in the series.

For game 3 all the girls met up at the Malone’s house to watch the game together. Phoebe, Reagan, and Sheila were included because they’d gotten to know the girls too. Unfortunately the party wasn’t as fun when Boston pulled out a win at home making the series 2-1. I decided to host the watch party at my place for game 4 and went all out cooking food and stocking the bar downstairs. The girls joked that every game was going to have to be watched at my place now when they saw the spread. The guys won the game and had a chance to win the first round at home, which they did.

Some of the other series still continued on and we had to wait to find out who the second round opponent would be. In a complete upset Buffalo ousted Montreal in six games making the Penguins the highest seed for the next round. It also meant they would be playing Buffalo who was the lowest seed. I had real mixed feelings about that.

I was happy because Thomas would be in town and I hadn’t seen him at all this month. The problem was going to be keeping anyone from knowing that we were dating again. My friends knew all about him and it would be tricky keeping them apart. I also wanted to make sure Sidney didn’t find out. I justified my feelings on that one by telling myself that even though Sidney and I were just friends he had been interested in me before and he didn’t need to be hurt if those feelings were still there. I was just looking out for a friend.

The Sabres came into town the morning before the first game in Pittsburgh. Thomas called me immediately to make plans to have dinner that night. I promised him I’d pick him up at the hotel and cook him dinner at my house. Even though I knew I should be excited to see him I went through work that day almost on auto pilot. For some reason the butterflies just weren’t there this time. I told myself it was just because I was scared of being found out.

After I got out of work I picked Thomas up and brought him home. He requested lasagna for dinner so I went to work preparing it when we got to my house. He walked around admiring the house, never having seen it before.

“You’ve got a nice place here, Lee-lee,” he told me coming into the kitchen and sliding his arms around my waist from behind. I nestled my head back into his chest.

“Thank you. Sorry that I had to buy the lasagna noodles at the store instead of making them myself. I didn’t have time with work today,” I apologized. He kissed my cheek and pulled away.

“It’ll still taste unbelievable, I know it.” When I finished cooking I poured a couple glasses of wine and we talked over dinner. He offered to give me a ticket for the game but I lied and told him I had a connection with the team through my father so I already had tickets available to me. No reason to mention Sidney to him, I thought.

The two games in Pittsburgh were hard fought. Buffalo was obviously a better team than the standings had shown. They played the Pens hard and were just more physical. The series was tied 1-1 after the first two games. The next two games were in Buffalo and I suddenly wasn’t so sure that Pittsburgh would be able to pull out a win in this series. I’d managed to avoid any awkwardness after the games by agreeing not to go see Thomas since we still hadn’t thought it was necessary to tell anyone we were dating.

The games in Buffalo weren’t much better for the Pens. Buffalo won both games putting them up in the series 3-1. Although the teams weren’t really rivals, a bad blood had quickly formed between the two. Cheap shots were being taken on both sides and no one was immune. The teams went from being just opponents to enemies.

I cooked dinner for Thomas again when they came back to town for game 5. Then I went to the game the next night and cheered against him as the Pens won guaranteeing at least one more game. Both teams left for Buffalo that night and again it was up to me to host a watch party for game six.

For whatever reason it seemed that game six was the worst of the series. A scrum broke out after almost every play. Both goalies were getting run on a consistent basis causing Vero to drink more than she’d intended. More than once we witnessed guys from each team being cut open thanks to cheap shots. Nonetheless it was a close game that went into overtime. A third overtime was needed and when a fluke goal bounced off of a skate, then a leg, and went in behind Marc we all fell silent staring at the television in shock.

The city of Buffalo celebrated as we cleaned up the basement in complete silence. Almost at once everyone’s phones began to ring as the guys called. I felt bad for them having to deal with the guys now after such a heartbreaking loss. My phone rang and I was surprised to see that it was not Sidney, but Thomas. I left the room before answering.

“Were you watching?” Thomas yelled excitedly into the phone. I tried to sound like I was happy for him when truthfully I was sad.

“Yeah, I was. Congratulations on the win. It was hard fought,” I told him. I could hear voices in the background yelling excitedly and I figured he was still at the rink around the guys.

“It was awesome. I wish you could have been here to see it in person. I’ve got to get going. We’re heading out for a big dinner to celebrate. I’ll talk to you later,” he said as I heard a female voice yelling that they were leaving. I assumed it was another guy’s wife and told him to have fun.

I said goodbye to the girls and promised that I would make sure to see them all before they left for the summer. I did some more cleaning before I went to bed. I should have been happy for Thomas but I wasn’t. I told myself it was just because I’d become good friends with the Pens and was sad that they’d lost. My last thought before drifting off to sleep was that Sidney hadn’t called after the game.