The Hockey Life

PART FORTY-TWO: SEQUIN
The next day was the fifth game against the Kings. The pressure was on, since the Hawks only needed one win and they would advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
Luckily it was a home game, so I was able to go to it. Tess came with, as usual. The UC seemed to be louder than normal with excitement, but that was to be expected. It was an exciting game.
As it turned out the game went to double overtime, which was something I had never experienced before. It was crazy. Normal overtime usually made me feel like I was going to have a heart attack, but this was much worse. It wasn’t boring, not at all. Both teams had plenty of chances and close calls. I wondered why us fans didn’t all just stay on our feet to watch, because everyone was either on the edge of their seats or standing up for most of it. In the end, the double overtime paid off, luckily, because the Hawks won the game finally. They were officially advancing to the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins. They had a chance to win the Stanley Cup again.
The locker room was still buzzing with excitement even by the time Tess and I got there. I could tell the team was really looking forward to the Final. I was psyched for them. For some of the players, it would be their second Stanley Cup Final with the Hawks in four years, and that was an amazing accomplishment. For others, it was only their first but it was equally as exciting to know they had gotten so far. I liked to think that the Hawks would win again. At the time, they had a talent level that was pretty equal to the Bruins. Of course, I always said the Hawks were better, but that was coming from my biased mind. I knew it would be an interesting match up, especially for Patrick.
“How fun is it going to be to play against Segs?” I asked Pat. I knew that he had played on a team with “Segs”, AKA Tyler Seguin, during the lockout. They had actually become friends because of that experience, and although they weren’t best friends, they still often talked.
“I don’t know. It’ll definitely be interesting,” he decided. It hit me that they might not be very friendly to each other during the next few games, just because it was so crucial to win for both of them and their teams. In the end, one of them would be a champion and the other would not. One would go off and celebrate while the other would sulk. That could potentially be a temporary hard hit on their friendship that I didn’t want to watch happen, so I pushed the thought aside.
“Do you want to meet him?” Patrick wondered. I didn’t really know hockey players other than the guys on the Hawks, but it wouldn’t hurt to branch out a little.
“Who, Sequin? Sure,” I said. I smiled but Patrick just shook his head. Sequin was my nickname for Tyler. I couldn’t help myself, it was just too easy! Just change one letter and his name turned into something sparkly and girly…I was sure he had been called Sequin before at some point in his life, though. He was probably used to it.
“Seguin and I will probably hang out sometime really soon, before our first game against each other,” he told me, and he put extra emphasis on the correctly pronounced last name. “Would you want to hang out with us?”
“Yeah, that sounds fun,” I said. I was a little wary about meeting him, because of his party boy reputation. Then I realized that Patrick had that same reputation and he seemed to act perfectly mature since I had met him. I wasn’t about to be hypocritical. I decided to be completely non-judgmental when I met Sequin. That wouldn’t stop me from calling him that, though.
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“Alright, I’ll be back later. I’m going to Patrick’s,” I announced a couple days later. Patrick had texted me to let me know that Tyler had arrived in Chicago and he had free time so he was with him.
“What are you guys doing today?” Tess wondered.
“I don’t know, whatever Seguin wants to do, I guess,” I said. I decided to be nice and say his name normally for once.
“Seguin? As in Tyler Seguin?” Tess was suddenly so attentive.
“Yeah…what’s the big deal?”
“Um, hello. He’s gorgeous!” I rolled my eyes at that comment.
“Okay Puck Bunny,” I laughed.
“Jonathan Toews and Tyler Seguin are only two people, Lena. And besides, as a hockey player for life who actually has a love for the game, I can hardly be considered a Puck Bunny,” she said.
“Whatever you say. I’ll see you later,” I said before I left the apartment.
When I got to Patrick’s he greeted me at the door and I saw Tyler already making himself comfortable in the living room. I smiled, trying not to laugh thinking of Tess’ comments about him. I didn’t really see much in him. I mean, he was kind of cute, I guess. And he did have some cool tattoos. I wasn’t into him like she was, though. I guess I just didn’t really look at anyone the same way I looked at Patrick anymore.
“Well Segs, this is my girlfriend, Lena. Lena, you already know who he is.” Tyler got up to meet me.
“I hear you like to call me Sequin,” Tyler said with a smirk.
“You heard right,” I said, smirking right back at him.
After we got acquainted we left to get some food, which was a little hectic. However, we were able to relax, eat, and have fun when we got back. We mostly played video games, since I was outnumbered by guys, two to one. I didn’t mind, though. I had fun. Tyler seemed nice enough. I hoped we’d all be able to hang out again even after the Stanley Cup Final was over, regardless of the results.
When I got home, Tess asked me a million questions about Tyler, as I expected.
“Jonathan Toews still exists, you know,” I reminded her.
“I know, but he STILL hasn’t asked me out. I’m starting to think he’s not into me at all,” she said.
“You told me he was flirting with you at the beach!”
“Some guys flirt with everyone, Lean. Maybe he’s one of those guys.”
“No, Tess, he’s not. Patrick and Jonathan talk ALL the time and I can guarantee that he’s into you. Pat says he’s just weird about dating during hockey. If he’s really serious about someone, he’ll wait until he has time to make anything official, that way he can treat her right. I’m positive that’s what he’s doing right now, with you,” I explained.
“Well, he is Captain Serious, so I guess he should be serious about me…” Tess decided.
“Yeah, you’ve already got him. I’m afraid you’ll have to get over Sequin.”
“Nah, I’m allowed to think he’s hot, even if I will be with Jonathan eventually. I mean, just because you and Patrick are together doesn’t mean you guys don’t have celebrity crushes, right? Doesn’t he like T Swift or something?”
“I don’t know, I think so,” I recalled.
“And you have about a million celebrities you think are hot, so don’t be judging me!” Tess scolded me.
“I don’t have a million,” I corrected her.
“Okay, sorry. 999,999.”
“You’re such an idiot, Tess,” I said. If she had a dollar for every time I called her that…
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can go ahead and think that…”
By the time we were done bickering, it was late and we both went to bed. The first game against the Bruins was the next day. It had been decided that all of us former interns (not just Dylan and I as winners, but the other four as well) were going to try to get together for playoff games when they were at the United Center. I hadn’t been around any of them except for Dylan since New Years, so I knew I was in for an interesting and hopefully fun day.

Notes