Page 97 of The Husband Game

Matty scoffed. “But what fun is that?”

“Yeah, fair.” Dustin stood with a groan.

Well, lesson learned there. No more day drinking, then marathon sex sessions with his husband. Or at least not without more electrolytes to balance it all out.

As Dustin ate lunch with the boys after practice, he shot a text to Charlie asking how he was doing. He didn’t get a reply back but he wasn’t surprised. Charlie was undoubtedly busy with his workday and he always responded when he could.

After lunch, Dustin drove across town to where the Puck Thoughts Podcast was filmed.

It was a fairly new podcast, started last season, and he’d listened to most of the episodes.

The hosts had a great handle on the game itself and did many interviews with current and former players throughout the league.

The questions were deep enough to be interesting and Kate was strongly in favor of him doing an episode in the off-season.

“It’ll give fans a chance to get to know you better, Dustin,” she’d argued when he hesitated. “You’ve been very private throughout your career but this could be a nice opportunity to give them a small glimpse of who you are as a person.”

So he’d agreed, then done his homework on the show.

Now, he went through the usual rigamarole of being touched up by a stylist—since the podcast was also filmed and released on video—and was introduced to the hosts.

One of them was a former women’s hockey player turned broadcaster who had broken through more gender barriers than Dustin could ever imagine.

“Liz Newman.” Her smile was warm and her handshake firm. “It’s great to see you, Dustin. We’re so glad you could join us today.”

“It’s great to be here,” he said.

Her co-host held out his hand. “Tad Taber.”

“I think we played against each other once or twice, no?” Dustin asked with a laugh.

Tad chuckled, nodding. He was a former NHL player who’d been with the Los Angeles organization when he retired. He was twelve years older than Dustin, so his career was winding down as Dustin’s was heating up.

“I think we did.” His voice was deep, great for on air.

The three of them made small talk for a few minutes until they were ready to begin shooting.

Once they’d gone through all of the soundchecks, they began with their usual introductions.

What followed were some softball questions about his history, which Dustin answered easily, but when Liz straightened in her seat, squaring her shoulders, Dustin knew it was about to get more serious.

“I know this is no one’s favorite question,” she said. “But, as captain, how did you feel about the playoff loss last year?”

Dustin chuckled, because what was he supposed to say to a question like that? “Well, I can’t say I enjoyed it. None of us do. We show up to win and when we don’t, it’s always a disappointment.”

“Do you feel the team has been erratic the past few years?” her co-host asked.

“I would like to see more game-to-game consistency,” Dustin admitted. “The goaltending has been an adjustment. Noah Boucher’s injuries and return were a bit rockier than we’d hoped.”

“Were you disappointed in his retirement immediately after winning the Cup two seasons ago?”

Dustin shrugged. “Look, we all know when La Bouche was healthy, he was an elite player. Sure, a part of me would love to have him in net for as long as possible but his contract was up, he’d accomplished what he’d wanted in his career, and he knows his body. I don’t think anyone can blame him for wanting to retire with an intact knee following our Cup win in ’21.”

“And Anton Makarov?” Tad asked.

“Macky is very skilled. Is he La Bouche? No. But he’s still young. We know that position takes more time than any other to develop. The playoffs are always a challenge to our netminders and we need to keep focusing on building depth all around and doing our best to support his growth. I will say this, I like what I’m seeing from his training this summer.”

“There were rumors of friction between you and Noah Boucher before his retirement. Is that true?” Liz asked.

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