On November 18, 2014

Val’s POV

I, Valeri Ivanovich Nichushkin, got my first career NHL natural hat trick. Thanks in part to my awesome linemates: Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. This was how the evening went down with Dallas and my trio of goals:

We came out strong. The crowd at the AAC in Dallas was buzzing with noise. Tyler Seguin skated around in a circle, awaiting the okay and getting himself mentally ready. Jamie and I slowly came to meet our opposing Hurricane players. Soon the ref slid into position, as Tyler did against the first line center for Carolina.

I was ready. Tyler and Jamie had both given me the pre-game pep talk during warm-ups and their plan was to get me the puck as much as possible tonight. The plan was to throw Carolina off their game at once! And they weren’t expecting the clumsy Russian to get the puck a whole lot. The plan was for me to be the one to get it, while the Canes focused on keeping Tyler and Jamie in tact. Of course, chances were they’d probably still score.

Tyler won the faceoff and sent the puck back to Trevor Daley, who was partnered with Sergei Gonchar. I zoomed ahead, beating the defenseman, for a breakaway chance already. Sergei tapped the puck to Tyler, who saw me shooting into the open space, between both defenders. I got the sauce from him and muscled my way passed them. I didn’t need any fancy stickhandling moves and I just roofed it glove side on the goalie.

Goal Dallas. 1-0.

I rounded the goal, raising my hands up in celebration, instinctively and mashed together with my linemates. Jamie patted me on the head and exclaimed, “Way to go Val!”

I smiled at him and took off towards the bench, earning an extra stick tap from the primary assister. He was beaming at me as well. I skated by the bench for the fist bumps and then spun around to be congratulated once again by Tyler and Jamie. They patted me and chirped me with praises. It was almost like I had won the game or had an important game-tying goal or something like that. But it was awesome and it made me feel special.

My line entered the bench, where I earned more compliments from Lindy Ruff and his staff. They all told me “good job” and “sick goal.” Sergei leaned over and fist bumped me personally, congratulating me in Russian. I felt so loved.

The end of the first period came. The score was 4-1 Dallas. I had a goal, Tyler and Jamie each had a goal, as did Antoine Roussel. We were all happy, as we headed down the tunnel and into the locker room. The crowd was thunderous and one of the best crowds yet...at least to me. And I knew deep down that a certain fan was extremely proud of me. I figured that Evelyna Knight was watching and cheering me on.

I entered the locker room, following Jamie and Tyler. The three of us were inseparable. Jamie was like a father to me and Tyler was like my mother. They cared for me and made me feel included and they made sure I was happy. I couldn’t ask for better linemates or teammates like them.

As soon as everyone was in the locker room and at their lockers, taking in the nice twenty minute breather and break, Jamie spun around and addressed the team. “Alright, boys, we’re playing great out there. We have the lead, the power, the momentum, everything on our side. Let’s make sure that we hold that going into the second period here!”

Cheers of approval sounded around the room.

“We’re not playing our best, we can still be even better, but I like the efforts I see. Keep it up boys!” he continued on, flashing a smile and wink.

Tyler wrapped his arm around Jamie and pumped his fist into the air. I watched them, sitting in my stall. All around me, the others joined in Tyler’s chant. “Let’s go Stars!” rang around the room.

With that and a good chat from Lindy, we headed back to the ice for the second period. I was feeling alive with energy and I couldn’t stay still in my spot, I was itching to get another goal. Tyler and Jamie and I took the ice for the opening faceoff and set the pace. We picked up right where we last left off. We came out hard and strong. Many shots were thrown at the net and we had the Canes pinned in their zone for our whole shift. But somehow the puck didn’t go into the net.

We made a change, but before long the three of us were back out on the ice. And that’s when it happened. I had a lucky break. I saw one of the Canes’ players having problems controlling the disk. I zoomed over, blocked a pass with my skate, kicked it quickly to my blade and darted for the net. I tossed it back and forth, being careful not to be too cute with it, but with the right amount of tease.

In the crease, the goalie lowered himself into position. I faked a shot, spun around a defenseman, who was attempting to block my shot, and backhanded the puck into the net, over the flailing goalie’s stick and right under the crossbar.

5-1 Dallas.

“Yay!” I shouted, slamming into the boards, as once more my teammates gathered around me and congratulated me. The same charade played out and that was it for the second period. I was the possessor of two goals and extended my team’s lead. I was also feeling the scoring buzz and I was one away from getting a hat trick.

As Tyler and Jamie and everyone on the team told me, “A hat trick is nice and a great reward for being sharp, on point, and playing your game well, but winning the game for your team is much more important!”

So, with that in mind, it was off to the locker room once more and time for second intermission. I sat down in my stall, beaming with pleasure. Tyler kept pestering me with his comments of how great I was doing. Jamie was pleased as well. The two of them said that I was playing my best game yet.

They also said not to let up. Keep pushing. Keep shooting. Keep making stellar plays and being a star. (And I would of course.)

The third period began and the Canes attempted to push the momentum their way. As they did that, one of them ended up making a huge mistake at center ice. Tyler stole the puck and zoomed off, showing his youthful lightning speed. He deked a defender, lost the puck for a moment and then found it again and managed to tip it in through the five-hole.

6-1 Dallas.

Celebrations commenced, before it was back to business. But with the strong lead we had, there was nothing that could stop us. Carolina had lost and we were in their heads. They knew it. They were timid and careful. Extremely careful. Too careful.

Lindy sent our line back out onto the ice. By the looks in the eyes of the first line for the Canes, I could tell they were scared of us. Tyler pressured one of the forwards, who coughed up the puck again. I shot into the offensive zone, but was roughly slammed into the boards by one of the Hurricane players. I shoved him off of me, but he took that as a threat.

Before I was stuck in a fight, I didn’t want to be in, Sergei came to my rescue. He slammed the player into the boards and nodded to me. “Go Val!” he exclaimed in Russian. I thanked him rapidly and sped down to help out Jamie and Tyler, who were battling along the boards in the corner. Tyler was tripped up and I saw him fall to the ice.

Instantly the whistle blew and the play was halted, just as Jamie was cross-checked in the chest. He laughed darkly and retaliated. But the ref missed it and was busy leading the Hurricane player, who’d tripped Tyler to the box. Jamie turned away and I joined him. Together, we helped him to his skates. He brushed himself off and glared at the Carolina players.

“Real mature Staalsy!” Tyler barked. “Way to spin the momentum your way...by tripping me!”

“Shut up Seggy, you 2010 draft bust!”

“Say that to my 11 goals and lead in the NHL! How many goals you got? Oh, right, two. That’s cute.”

“Alright, Tyler that’s enough!” Jamie snapped.

We went to the bench and the power play unit came on. After nothing on the first half of the power play, Lindy Ruff whispered something to his staff behind me. Seconds later, someone tapped me on the shoulder and told me to join Tyler and Jamie on the ice. I was shocked and also excited. Apparently I was so hot and playing so well, that they entrusted me to play special teams. I wasn’t going to let them down!

I skated to the faceoff dot with Jamie and Tyler. Tyler leaned into position and won the faceoff. He tapped the puck across to Jamie, who streaked down the ice, only to lose it. It skipped back out of the zone and down the ice, into the corner. Sergei collected it. We regathered and charged back down the ice into the zone. We set up the look and passed the puck around several times, trying to line up the shot. I jostled in front of the net with my guy.

I glanced up at the screen. 10 seconds left in the power play.

9….

8….

Tyler had the puck, he slapped it from the blue line. I raised my stick up, to try and get a piece of it. Sure enough, I managed to touch it and it fooled the goalie, crossing the line. Another goal with two minutes left in the power play.

7-1 Dallas.

I had scored my first special teams goal: a power play goal. And I had my first career hat trick too. I HAD A HATTY!! I beamed with pride, as the hats came raining down...all for me! I could hear everyone chanting my name, including my teammates on the ice and on the bench.

“I got a hatty!” I cried out to Sergei, almost jumping into his arms. I repeated it in Russian to him. He was smiling at me.

“Way to go Val!” Tyler shouted out, skating across the ice to me.

Jamie added on, “Way to go Nichy!”

We all headed to the bench, where everyone was energized and happy for me. As I leaned on the railing and awaited the end of the cheering and hat parade, soaking in the rare moment, I thought about how happy and proud Evelyna must be.

****

Evelyna’s POV

For once, I wasn’t busy with a millions things occurring at once. Film Club was cancelled and so I decided to put on a hockey game. I streamed the Dallas Stars game, since I wasn’t in the mood for a depleted Bruins group and Nichy was better than ANY Bruin. (Oh, and there wasn’t a Hawks game on...) So I began the streaming.

Caitlyn was out, but Kaitlyn was there. She agreed to watch the game with me and see what all the talk was about. Turns out, this was the best game I could have showed her. She was a little taken in by the ladies’ man and I had to roll my eyes and laugh.

“Yeah, everyone wants a piece of him...that’s Tyler Seguin.”

“He’s a stud man!”

“I wouldn’t tap that...ever!”

“Yeah, yeah, you have your baby Russian there, right?” she seemed to sigh and moon over number 91.

“Hells yes...Val’s mine!” I folded my arms and raised my head up.

“So I can have the hot centre right?”

“Yeah.”

Kaitlyn giggled and clapped her hands together. We watched as the puck dropped and the game was underway. I saw Val start the scoring off. He used his big Russian presence to dagger the Canes hopes of a strong start right off the bat.

“Yay Val!” Kaitlyn and I cheered energetically.

The game continued on. Kaitlyn gasped and blushed when Tyler scored his goal and the camera zoomed in, getting a close up of the young 22 year old as he gleamed with happiness. But my eyes were on the stellar Russian, who appeared so animated and clueless. He was such a cutie.

The first period came to an end with a score of 4-1. Dallas was owning the Hurricanes. And it was mainly because of the Russian right winger sensation. As the intermission began, I turned to my roommate. She was excited. I knew she was hooked.

Who couldn’t fall in love with the sport? It was the only one with down-to-Earth personalities. And I couldn’t wait to introduce her to the Dynamic Duo from Chicago. If Kaitlyn loved Dallas and Tyler, wait until she met Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

“Whoa, now I see why people in Canada love this sport so much. It’s intense, yet exciting,” she said. “Wow. And the players...they’ve definitely gotten younger, more talented and not to mention HOTTER!!”

I giggled, glancing at the screen and glimpsing the scores from the other games going on. “Alright, I’ll give you that. They aren’t all rough and tumble guys.” I saw that Boston was leading the Blues by 4-0 in the second or maybe it was the third now.

“That’s true.”

“They’ve got sick flow!”

“Sick flow?”

“Uh...awesome hair?”

Kaitlyn giggled now. “Yeah. Who else has some sick flow?”

I pulled my phone out and showed her a picture of Gabriel Landeskog with his wavy hair and youthful looks. She went crazy.

“Who’s that?”

“Gabriel or Gabe Landeskog. I call him Landy. He’s the Avalanche Captain.” I scrolled through more images of him and then showed her Nathan MacKinnon, Patrick Sharp, Andrew Shaw, Reilly Smith, Ben Smith, Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Drouin, and other apparent NHL hotties. (Except for Sidney Crosby...cause I don’t get why people like him...he’s like a mad monkey on drugs.) Each picture she seemed shocked by. I ended by showing her my top favorite Blackhawks: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

“That’s “Kaner” and “Tazer”?”

“Yup. I call them ‘Kazer’ or ‘Kanerboo’ and ‘Jonny’...Patrick Kane’s initials are PK and his teammates call him ‘Peeks’ or ‘Lil Peekaboo’...so I combined ‘Kaner’ and ‘Peekaboo’ together and created the name ‘Kanerboo’!” I explained to her. “It can be both a childish nickname and a taunting nickname for the opponent…”

She gasped and looked at me with a smug look. “Kanerboo, eh? I like it.”

“I know. I’m going to get the name out there, so in a behind the scenes video, maybe Jonny or Shawzy or someone can use it!”

“That’d be hilarious!”

“Yeah, it would.”

The second period started up. It was pretty much the same as the first, only less scoring. Dallas still held momentum, but the Canes’ goalie stood tall...until Valeri Nichushkin zoomed in undetected and scored a nasty highlight-reel goal.

I literally jumped up out of my chair and high-fived Kaitlyn. Then I sat back down, clapping, giggling and fangirling. “Nichy’s on a roll! They need to get him the puck MORE!! He could have like, what, eight goals by now!? Double hatty or even a triple hatty!”

The second period came to an end and the camera person showed a close up on Val, as he walked toward the tunnel, beaming. His teammates - Tyler and Jamie - were still applauding him and patting him on the back.

“He’s such a little Russian cutie!!” I squealed, as I saw that familiar clueless grin creep onto his face. It was the one I fell in love with. The one he’d had in the Holiday video. The sweet look of innocence that only my baby Russian could have. And I couldn’t help but blush at him.

The second intermission came and went. Kaitlyn and I got some dinner and sat down for the final period.

“Val could actually get a hatty,” I said.

“You keep saying hatty, what is that?”

“A hat trick...but it’s just a shorter and quicker way to put it.”

“Oh.”

The puck dropped on the screen for the third period. Halfway in, Dallas scored again to extend the lead to 6-1. I groaned, as I watched Mr. Showoff/Mr. Milk-the-Crowd do his thing and get the goal. Kaitlyn was beside herself though. She enjoyed it.

“Oh come on, Tyler’s not that bad.”

“You don’t know him. Trust me. Once you do...you’ll roll your eyes as well, I’m sure.”

“I think he’s just a very flamboyant hockey player…” she trailed off, gazing dreamily at the screen, which was focused on the superstar once more.

With about two minutes left, one of the Hurricanes, Eric Staal, the Captain, was battling for a puck along the boards with Tyler, Jamie and another guy. Up ice, slightly before the cluster, I noticed Val get slammed into the boards and it made me a little furious inside. I was boiling with hatred and the man was egging Val to fight him. Luckily I saw number 55 come to the rescue. Daddy Russian to save Baby Russian!!

Sergei Gonchar rammed the Hurricane goon into the boards and I saw Val streak off toward the pile. As soon as he arrived, I saw Tyler crash to the ice. Now it was Kaitlyn’s turn to gasp.

“Tyler!”

The whistle blew, as Jamie dug the puck out. Tyler was on the ice still, a bit hesitant to get up. Jamie was jostling with Staal, who was eventually pulled away by the ref. Val and Jamie went to help Tyler out. Then a close up showed Tyler shouting with Staal. I guessed they were chirping one another. It came as a bit of a shock to me. Tyler didn’t chirp...did he?

Apparently he did. And he seemed to have quite a temper, but he didn’t fight. He could stand up for himself though. Odd. Kaitlyn cocked her head with curiosity as Staal was shoved into the penalty box, still uptight and mouthing off.

“Dick,” I muttered.

“Tyler?”

“Yes! I mean no, Staal.” In my head, I was also calling Tyler a dick...cause he was. She “oh”ed. I explained to her what was going on and that there was a power play coming for the Stars. And then I told her what a power play was and what it entitled, which launched me into talking about the PK or Penalty Kill. She nodded in understanding. I was about to tell her more, when I gasped.

Taking the ice for the power play was...Valeri Nichushkin.

Val was on the power play? I mean he was playing his best game of the season tonight and had hot hands...but this was special teams and it was his first time...I mean, I was happy. And he looked happy and shocked as well. Tyler and Jamie were with him though and the three shared a brief conversation with one another, before the ref called them to action.

The puck dropped. Tyler won it. He sent it to Jamie. With ten seconds left in the power play, I was on the edge of my seat. Kaitlyn was too. We watched Tyler take the slap shot and I saw Val deflect the black disk off his stick and into the net, fooling the goalie.

7-1 Dallas. And with two seconds left on the power play.

“My baby scored!! My baby got a hatty!!” I screamed, jumping up again. I felt like I wanted to run outside and shout at the top of my lungs. But I calmed myself down, beaming with pride and happiness. I watched Val skating around and looking so joyful. The hats continued to rain down.

I turned to Kaitlyn who was just as happy as I was...almost. I was happier...cause it was Val! Not Tyler. Valeri Nichushkin had a hat trick.

“That’s his first career hatty! And on a special teams power play too!” I gushed. “I have to congratulate him after the game! I have to text him!”

Kaitlyn and I sat back down in our chairs and finished the game off. When the horn sounded the crowd of the AAC went nuts, as did the two of us and I pulled my phone back out and typed a text message to Val. I typed congratulations and I also typed the Russian word, “Поздравляю.” I knew he’d appreciate that.

Notes

Fact: My roommate is a smart woman. She has good tastes in men, like me. And she agrees that Valeri is WAY cuter than Tyler. But Val's mine! :P
She also likes Landy too, and I mean, who doesn't? Landy's hair is GORGEOUS!! It's so wavy and blond and movie star-like, almost fake...but real as ever! Take good care of your hair, Landy! :P Kinny, you too. Kanerboo, we need to talk about that "mullet" and what you call "hair".


Next up: What could've happened...but didn't...because of the stupid hockey player hip shit...Valeri gets hurt, but a different way and not horrible, but enough to make me come to him. (December)