The Road to the Cup ~ Wattys 2015

Winner Winner

I woke up in the morning ready to rock and roll. I went to our morning skate full of energy because I knew the boys would be ready to win. The team also seemed to be in high spirits. Even Johnston had a smile on his face, which was unusual. "Morning, Coach, " Malkin called across the ice.

"Hey, Malkin! Ready to kick some ass?"

"Yes."

"Alright, good. Morning, Bortuzzo!" I called as he sped past me. He turned around so he was skating backwards and grinned, waving at me. He almost tripped over Bennett who had looked around upon hearing his buddy's name.

"Hey, Bennett," I laughed.

"Hey," he nodded.

"Coach," Crosby said as a greeting.

"Crosby," I replied. If someone had been eavesdropping, it would have sounded as if we weren't on good terms, but we were both grinning.

Johnston clapped me on the shoulder, "It feels like a 'W' kind of day."

"It does," I agreed.

Afterwards, Sidney and I went out to lunch at the restaurant on the edge of town. To Sidney's obvious displeasure, I denied his request for pizza yet again, but joined him in eating a salad. I quite enjoyed watching his expression as he forced himself to eat the dreaded lettuce.

We went back to his place after lunch, per usual, and I called my mom as he showered. "Hey, mom!"

"Hey, Erin! You have a game later, right?"

"Yep. We're going to win."

"One of those games, hmm?" She knew what I meant from watching my brothers and I play for so long.

"Yup. They're fired up. We're carrying out the ritual right now."

"You never explained yourself the other day. What are you doing with Sidney Crosby?"

"We're just friends, Mom."

"Mhm. That's what you said, but you're at his house and he's showering and you are...?"

"Mom! I'm not showering with him! He's in there right now and I'm talking to you, just like last time."

"Okay," she still seemed to have doubts.

I decided it was time to change the subject, "So we're coming back to play in Detroit for one of our last preseason games in a few days."

"I know! You're going to stay here, right? And you're going to bring the boys by for us to meet, and I can make dinner. Oh! You can have a team dinner at our house before the game!"

"Mom! Mom, calm down! I'm staying with the team in a hotel, and we can't come by before because we have our rituals to follow!"

"Oh, right, I forgot about those. Can you still bring them by so I can meet them?"

"Are you coming to the game?"

"No, we couldn't get tickets for all of us. Even Jules tried," she was upset.

"I can come by before we leave the next morning. I won't bring all the boys because it will probably be before breakfast and they eat a lot," I chuckled.

"Okay. Good luck out there tonight, " she said.

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later, Mom. Love you!"

"Love you, too, Erin."

I hung up just as Sidney came out into the living room with his tie in hand. I shook my head, but went to help him with it anyways. I couldn't help but ask, "So, was what Geno said about you being able to tie your own tie true?"