Page 3 of Playing to Win

If they let Faith play the third, media storm and all good for the Blaze.

Nothing might come of it, but I’d tried. Tried to make history for my sport, women’s hockey. For all women’s sports.

The second intermission was calm enough that I took a pee break, well needed by that point. Interest in the intermission show on the ice was limited so I stopped for a coffee as well. I wanted to be alert for the fallout from this game.

Posts were racing in when I got back in front of my laptop. I checked to see how support for Faith was doing now that the teams were back out for the third period. And promptly choked on my drink.

Faith skated out to the Blaze net, and I almost passed out from the thrill of it. One of ours was doing it, playing in an NHL game. I swore I heard the glass ceiling crack.

Chapter2

Of course he did

Braydon

Around me,the locker room buzzed with that winning vibe. I hunched over on my borrowed bench, staring at the logo on the locker room floor again. I’d just made my first start in goal for an NHL team, what I’d been dreaming of for twenty years. I’d played two periods, let in only one goal, and the win was mine in the record books. But I wasn’t talking and excited. I was more…deflated.

I shoved my hands through my hair and drew in a long breath. Why didn’t I feel it? I let the air out of my lungs, slowly, and almost choked when a large hand slapped my shoulder.

“Good game, Mitch!” Cooper grinned down at me, definitely feeling that winning buzz.

I forced a smile in return. “Thanks.”

“Your first W.”

I nodded. Hopefully the first of many.

He looked around, the space emptying out as players dressed to leave. I had already showered and was in my suit, which was nowhere near as tailored and expensive as the ones worn by the other permanent players here. Cooper’s? Fit like a dream, even with his hockey player body. My jacket was snug around my arms and the pants loose around the waist since I’d bought it off the rack. Alterations only went so far.

“Normally we’d take you to the Top Shelf after your first start. But it’s a big thing for Dev too, and she has to get home so we’re moving the party to her and Hunt’s place. Give me your phone and I’ll send you the address.”

He held out his hand, so I pulled out my phone and gave it to him. “Maybe I should just head back. I live out in Oakville, and we’ve got an early practice.”

Cooper passed back the phone. “De Vries is going to be out for at least a week. You’ll be with us. Come for a few minutes anyway—some of the team will be there and you can meet them properly. And Faith—I don’t think you got to talk to her in all the rush.”

She’d barely made it to the bench in time for the start of the game and I’d already been on the ice. She wasn’t in the locker room for intermission, and when she started the third period it was my turn to sit and watch the play. She set a record as the first female to play in a regular season NHL game. I’d heard her husband played for the Blaze before he retired, so the team was friends with her. I was just a random called up for one game. Maybe Cooper was wrong. Maybe they’d keep her to play with Petrov.

Cooper passed me back my phone. “Sorry, did you have someone you were meeting up with? Your first game is a big thing.”

I shook my head. My teammates were playing in Belleville tonight and wouldn’t be back for two or three hours. My parents lived in Montana and hadn’t been able to make it for the game. My circle of friends who weren’t connected to the Inferno? Didn’t exist.

“Then come with us. Next game, we’ll go to the bar.”

“I’ll think about it.” There’d be a next game, right? I’d been a little shaky at first, but I’d found my footing, only letting in one of twenty-one shots in the two periods I played. The coaches assured me I wasn’t pulled for the third period because I wasn’t doing well.

Probably why this first NHL game of mine was so different than what I’d expected, and once I’d dealt with that I’d feel that winning buzz. Knowing I’d played a game, that I had a win, that there should be more games. Games where I’d feel like part of the team, part of the NHL, not some dummy holding a place for the real players. A little spark ignited inside.

“Hey Coop!” One of the suits from management, someone I’d never met, called Cooper from the doorway. “Frank Devereaux just showed up. Can you handle him?”

Cooper snorted. “Of course he did.” He turned back to me. “Faith’s dad. I need to deal with him. See you in a bit.”

I kept the smile fixed to my face and watched him leave.

There were hardly any people left in the locker room, so I pushed myself to my feet. I grabbed my wallet from the cubby, running my finger over the nameplate,De Vries. Someday that would beMitchell. I just had to keep fighting, keep focused.

I slipped out the door and made my way to the exit to the players’ parking lot, only taking one wrong turn. My ten-year-old pickup looked out of place among the new trucks and sports cars still there. I jogged over to my truck, the air still cold at the beginning of March. Hockey playoffs would start next month, and the weather would get warmer. Probably. This was Canada after all.

I hit the fob to unlock the doors, and by habit opened the back for my gear. I didn’t have my bag though. At this level there were people paid to take care of it. I’d brought it with me, driving over last minute for the game, but the equipment guys had taken it after I changed. If I wasn’t staying with the Blaze, where would I find it?

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