Monica

I watched the other team as they warmed up. Ovechkin skated up to the centreline to talk to me. I started to stretch in place. We didn't make eye contact, we both just looked at our teams or into the crowd.
"It's been a long time hasn't it?" he asked in attempt to breaking the ice.

Ovechkin and I met when I went to one of my dad's games. It was the same night he had his notorious and well-known "hot stick" celebration. I simply loved it, but my dad ranted to me about it for days. He was telling me that's not how a hockey player should act. I repeatedly remember him telling me he didn't want me to be unsportsmanlike.

After my game, I went to talk to Ovechkin and he was friendly. He knew plenty about me, just like everyone else did. It was highly talked about when I was drafted to the Windsor Spitfires. I was only given positive compliments from Alex, but my dad forcefully made me walk away from him as I shouldn't be associating with those type of athletes. My dad had a bad habit to overreact.

"Not long enough, Alex," I responded.

He laughed a little. "So 106th, hey?"

I gritted my teeth in disgust. "Fuck you, Ovechkin."

"Hey I didn't mean it to offend you. I was going to say that all the teams that passed you up are stupid because now they don't have a quality winger." His laugh made me drop the attitude.

"Well now I'm here to prove to the league that I do belong here," I emphasized.

"Good. Now you better stop talking to me because your team is starting to stare over here, kid." Ovi pointed to Asham, Read and Hartnell who were obviously talking about me. A couple of the other guys gave us some glances and weren't too fond of our conversation.

I skated back to my group. I looked at some of the signs. A few of them were humourous. I started to come across some that had my name on them. A man wearing a Caps jersey had a sign and it read: Go Ovechkin!

I seen a little girl's sign and it said: Girls Score More - Mojo

I skated over to the little girl and I motioned to ask if they had a marker. Her dad was smiling and nodded. He pulled out a grey permanent marker. He threw it over the boards and I grabbed it before I picked up a pick. I signed it happily and tossed it back over. The little girl was jumping up and down in excitement. It was going to be yet another highlight of my new NHL career.

.......

Giroux

"Look at her," Lappierre said pointing at the girl who was signing pucks and throwing them over the boards. I swear that if they made her pay for those, she wouldn't. The girl was hard headed and it was sexy. "She's going to change to face of hockey, forever." Her smiles and laughs were gold. The fans were completely in love with her. I knew that she wouldn't be getting the same reaction when we play away.
"I know, but now she's going to be put to the test. The media, players and fans will be testing her. They want to see how much she can handle before she breaks," I told him as we took shots on Emery.

"She'll be fine. She's Rick Tocchet's daughter."

.......

Monica

I lined up for the face-off. Ovechkin was next to me. I heard him say quietly, "Let's fucking go, kid." A shit eating smirk whipped across my face.

I turned to watch G take the face off. It was won and picked up by one of our D. It went D to D and then passed to me. I took the puck. I seen Backstrom coming up to challenge me. I moved out of the way and passed it to Claude who went to try hold the zone by dumping the puck in the corner. I chased it, but only to be hit hard into the boards. Tons of fans stood up with their hands in the air, hoping to get a call.

As I skated by the zebra I yelled, "You got to make that call, ref!"

I went down, but I knew I would be okay. I couldn't go down for long because then they would know I was weak. I forcefully got back up. It was nothing. I seen the number 28 skating away, innocently and I cursed knowing who it was. Alexander Semin.

The puck was being rushed down to our end. I skated in attempt to back check. I recovered and was able to lay a big retaliation hit on Semin, who barely got to touch the puck. I managed to get the puck back, but I passed it off as it was time for a line change.

.......

It was 1-0 for the Caps. We wanted to leave the second period with the lead. I seen a new set of guys come on as I seen our D pair head off the ice. Giroux managed to slip off as well. I wasn't tired yet so I stayed on. James bailed on me late and went to change. I went 1-on-3 as Morrison and Matt Bradley straggled behind me. I brought it straight up the middle. I passed the flat-footed Chimera easily. The two defensemen were set and ready. I went toe-drag on the right defenseman. He was behind me now, but I managed to go under the stick of Jeff Schultz to get a backhand roof-daddy-stunner.

I felt a small cross check to the back before celebrating, but I could have really cared less. It all happened so fast because I was jumping into the boards and banging my stick around. I kissed my glove, touched the ice and then pointed to the sky. That one was for you, Tate. In seconds the guys were all hugging me and celebrating a beautiful goal. My first goal.

Jose Theodore was nice enough to hand me the puck afterwards. I gave him a pat on the head and said thank you. Usually goaltenders had it out for me. It was a nice change.

"Fucking rights, guys!" I yelled.

I skated to the bench and went to slap leather. I had the biggest smile. Leighton opened the bench door for me. I took a seat next to Van Reimsdyk, who was sitting next to Claude.

"Stop trying to show off," Giroux yelled over James.

"That's what happens when you try to bail out. It wasn't even that long of a shift, buddy," I chirped my teammates. The two just grinned sheepishly.

"Nice goal though. You totally undressed 'em," James said patting my leg.

.......

I left the game with a goal and an assist. I was named the first star to our 3-1 win over the Capitals. My dad couldn't make the game tonight because the Lightning were playing. He promised he would record it and call me afterwards though. My brother's were at the game for sure. The two of them were in the junior leagues. I had them come to the locker room afterwards. They waited around and talked to some of the guys while I was interviewed. Everyone wanted to talk to me over anyone else.

"So, does this go down into your favourite hockey moments?" I was asked by a man.

I pulled down the hat I was wearing. All of the lights were starting to blind me a little. "Well yeah, of course. I got a goal, which is also my first NHL goal. It's truly something I'll remember. Plus the fans were great and really supportive. It went amazing."

"Why did you stay on longer than needed on that shift where you scored on Theodore?"

I laughed a little bit. "I just didn't want to give up on the play, plus I seen one of their guys a little flat-footed and I thought I seen a small opportunity. But you have to remember there has to be a last person coming off the ice."

"The hit you recieved from Semin, any words on that?"

I thought about it for a while. "Well there's nothing really to say, he took a run at me and I took a run back. It's just the way hockey is. But he's definitely a skilled player and it was an honour to play him tonight."
"Speaking of skilled players. What were you and Alexander Ovechkin talking about during warm ups?"
I chuckled, again. "Well I know Alex from my dad's work and all, but we were just talking about the game and chirping each other a little."

"Your dad. He didn't attend because of the Tampa Bay game tonight against the Bruins, but did he talk to you at all before the game?" I thought in my head, what kind of question is that?

"Uh yeah. He called me and wished me luck. My little brother's came though, so that's the upside. But my dad is my main supporter and he really wished he could have came tonight."

"We should probably let you get going, but is there any words you want to say to your fans out there? This being your first game and all," a nicely dressed lady asked.

I looked over at the camera's as I took off my hat and put my hair up. "Well I just want to say to all the female hockey player's out there, don't ever think that you can't play with the boys. I also want to thank everyone back home and the little girl who took my puck home." I smiled into the camera as the people backed away from me.

Notes

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