The Road to the Cup ~ Wattys 2015

The Two-Headed Monster

I followed the boys into the weight room. Johnston did not come because he had paperwork to do. The guys had their own workout routines and I just supervised. Technically, they didn't need supervision, but I was there to learn about their individual habits and their team interactions. It was a study I did with all my teams at the beginning of every season.

I stayed around the edges of the room, moving slowly, and quietly. The boys didn't seem to notice, and if they noticed, they didn't mind. Most of the guys had already been playing together for at least a year. Some of our returning players, like Crosby and Malkin, had been here for almost a decade. They knew how the other played and trusted each other on the ice. When they were on the same line, they were lethal; the fans called them the Two-Headed Monster. I felt that they might be more useful separated so that we had a leader on each line, but I'd have to wait and see what Johnston had to say on the matter because he was in charge.

I continued walking, feeling somewhat strange. I looked at the guys in front if me and I noticed not everyone was there. I scanned the room and my eyes landed on Crosby, who was grinning and trying to say something to someone behind me. I whirled around, my hair whipping the surprised Russian behind me. "Malkin! I'm sorry, you startled me," I said.

"Don't be sorry. It is my fault for surprising you. Call me Evgeni or Geno please," he replied. He spoke more slowly than before and I knew he was trying to help me understand him.

"Okay, Evgeni. I'm Erin." I replied, shaking his hand. "Why were you following me? What was Crosby telling you to do?"

"Sidney was giving advice. I want to apologize, Erin."

"Apologize? For what?" He hadn't even done anything wrong.

"For asking if you were a bunny. It was not nice. You are not a bunny. You are a coach. A good coach. I can tell."

"Oh, it's alright. Thank you, Evgeni," I blushed. That was nice of him, especially considering he barely knew me.

"You are welcome," he gave me an awkward, sweaty, one-armed hug before moving off to work out some more.

I was rather confused by his apology and his compliment. How could he know already if I was a good coach or not?

"You look surprised," Sidney Crosby came over to me.

"I am surprised," I replied, "I'm Erin," I extended my hand. I felt like I should introduce myself properly because he was the captain.

He shook my hand, "I know. I'm Sidney."

"I know," I shot back.

"It's nice to meet you," he said with a bit of a smirk.

"Nice to meet you, too," I replied, smiling.

"Why were you surprised?"

"I didn't think anyone would feel the need to apologize for thinking I was a puck bunny. He didn't have too, it's a common misconception. I don't really look like a player anymore."

"You played?" His own surprise colored his tone.

"Yes, of course, how did you think I got into coaching?"

"I don't know. I didn't even question it once you said you were our coach."

"I'm your assistant coach," I corrected.

"Well," he whispered conspiratorially, "it seems to us that you're the one in charge," I smiled at this. Wouldn't that be something? Me as a head coach; I could hardly believe I was and assistant coach in the NHL. "What did you mean you 'were' a player? Did you stop playing or something?" he continued.

"I only stopped when I had to. They would have dragged me off the ice if the game hadn't ended a moment later."

Girl's Junior Quarter-Finals in Canada

I skated down the ice on a breakaway, the puck on the blade of my stick as I searched for my teammates. I had crossed through center ice and had made it into Ottawa's zone without being called for offsides. I measured myself up against the goalie. I had played against her before and won. I could do this. We only needed one point in the last two minutes to tie and head to overtime. I came up the side, about to take a shot when their defender slammed into me, throwing me into the boards. I regained my balance after a second and started skating after her; she had taken the puck and I needed to get it back. We had a job to do; we needed to win this game to move on.

But I couldn't catch her. The world was spinning and I could hardly stay on my feet. This wasn't the first time it had happened, but it would be the last. The doctor had told me last time that if it happened again, my career would be over. I had another concussion.

But I wasn't going down without a fight. I ignored the throbbing pain in my skull and sped up, determined to win. I focused in on the puck. They were passing it back and forth across our ice. Then number 13 came down for a slap and it went in, just as the whistle blew. It was over. I was done.

"What happened?" Sidney asked, bringing me back to the present.

"I had one too many concussions my junior year of high school. My travel team had made it to the Quarter-Finals in the Girls' Junior tournament and I got checked just right. That was my last game. I heard you've had issues with concussions as well," I changed the subject.

He looked down at his feet, embarrassed, "Yeah, I've been trying to avoid those. They haven't let you back on the ice, have they?"

"I'm allowed on the ice as long as I'm not playing competitively. I can run drills and demonstrate, which is how I got into to coaching." Sidney nodded, wanting me to continue with the story. "My high school wanted a team, but we had no one to coach, so I volunteered. They couldn't put me on payroll because I was a student, so we had a teacher help supervise, but I got experience."

"How'd your team do?"

"They won," I smirked. Sidney nodded appreciatively. "That's how I got started. I coached at Union when I went there and after I graduated until Ray Shero found me and recommended me for this job."

"Were you there when they won the national championship?" He didn't seem to mind that Shero was the one who found me.

"Yes."

"Congratulations. I hope you'll coach us to victory too."

"You and me both," I replied. I wasn't sure what else to say. I didn't really know him yet and I didn't want this to get awkward. I started to turn away when he started talking again.

"I liked your speech earlier; I meant to tell you then, but you sent us back to work," he laughed.

"Thanks, Mr. Lemieux said you all would catch on to it eventually."

"He's usually right," he paused, and I thought he might say something else, but I cut him off.

"Aren't you supposed to be conditioning?" I arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'll- uhh, get right on that," he walked away and I thought he was blushing. I saw him turn to look at me one more time before he went back to work.

Author's Note

Hi, everyone! I hope you liked learning a bit more about Erin's past and how she started getting to know the team. There will be more to read very soon. Please vote and comment to let me know what you thought! Thanks! Let's go Pens!