The Coworker

The home opener is always a busy day for any person involved in the NHL from the people who scan tickets to the people who clean the garbage cans in the dressing rooms. But for someone like Bri who has to cover the entire day, she is stressed out of her damn mind.

Her mission is to update the team's official snapchat and Instagram accounts and show them every single thing she can which means she has a lot of running around to do. Her day started pretty early on when she made it to the rink for the practice.

It’s a huge rivalry game tonight against Philly so she had to get clever before the game begun. She interacted with managers and some fans who waited outside and got some down time to interview some of the players about how they were feeling ahead of the night's game.

She started with Marc-Andre since he was selected as starting goalie for the night. “Going into tonight’s season opener against the Flyers, how are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling ready. It’s always scary when it’s the first game of the season and a home opener and a rivalry game all in one, but I’m as prepared as I can be to give it my all tonight.”

“Do you have any pre-game rituals?” Bri asked, preparing to start another video clip.

He chuckled, “Honestly, for big games like this I tend to keep myself as focused as possible and tend to isolate myself. Normally I just spend time interacting with others but I need to be alone during these moments.”

“What do you do in those moments?”

“I’m an old man, I nap and get lots of rest. Then I walk around the arena a bit. I know Sid does too, but we just cross paths along the way. He’s way more superstitious.”

“Thanks Flower,” she gleamed. “You’re pretty good at press stuff.”

“I have to be, goalies have good personalities.”

“You’re too much. Good luck tonight, gotta run!” she sprinted away in her heels to get a clip of Kunitz talking to the press.

This game will be the death of her if it doesn’t go well.

Luckily for her and the Pens they won! It was a celebration like no other in the dressing room because this sets the pace for the season. They have to start on a high note to do well.

Bri gained access to the dressing room interviews and settled herself with the other reporters, not to ask questions but to get their answers for her own stuff. It’s broadcasting protocol and luckily for her she didn’t have to take demand from others on this.

Sid sat sweaty in his seat and patiently waited for people to finish getting settled before his interview. He made eye contact with Bri quickly but didn’t crack a smile. He remained stern and serious, focusing on the microphones sticking in his face.

“Sid, how do you think the game went tonight?” one reporter asked.

“It couldn’t have gone better for a first game. We played well as a team despite the beginning stages of figuring line up and forming commerotery. It’s a good way to start the season.”

“You got one goal and two assists this game, do you think this is an average you can maintain throughout the season?” another asked.

Sid sighed, “Hopefully I can do a little more than that. I understand my role will have to change depending on the way games play out. Sometimes I won’t be getting those opportunities and others they will come to us fairly easily. I can’t give an exact answer on that.”

“A few veterans went on vacation before the season started, yourself included, did you find it helped strengthen your bond?”

Bri felt her cheeks flush at the mention of the trip. How did they even know they went on vacation together. Do they know about her?

“For us vets, we’ve all been playing together for years so we took it as an opportunity to relax before the focus is solely on hockey. We don’t get those opportunities to so we took advantage to detox our minds before we can’t anymore.”

“Do you think you are too focused on hockey?” another reporter asked.

“No, I think I’ve mastered the right amount of balance. A common misconception about athletes is that we all focus on our sport 24/7 and that’s not the case because that’s when you over analyze every action and play. It’ll distract you more than you help.”

“Do you think Philadelphia was distracted?”

“Not at all. First games are always a mix of emotions and they recently got a ton of new players so they don’t have the greatest experience playing alongside each other. They do have a lot of fresh talent and in a few games they’ll easily be a tough team to beat.”

“Thanks Sid.”

“Thank you,” he replied, shoving the players away.

Bri wished she could say something to him to congratulate him, but she knew she couldn’t. Not yet anyway. Instead she just asked for a picture of him undressing in his stall for the teams snapchat. All she could manage to make out is a simple “thank you,” for taking the time to allow her to take the picture.

This season is going to be a long one if this is the way he’s going to treat her.

Notes

Outfit of the chapter: https://www.polyvore.com/black_gold_business/set?id=230334634

I'm so sorry for sucking at updating! I will have another chapter up today or tomorrow to make up for it I swear! What are you thinking so far?

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Thanks for reading :)