Thin Ice (Corey Crawford)

Some Other Time

Samantha

"Can I pretty please come watch you play" my brother begs as I pack up my things. I throw my hockey bag over my shoulder as I turn to him.

"You cannot come watch me play in a beer league hockey game on a school night" I insist. Why there was even a game on a Thursday night, I don't know. But it was no place for a minor, I knew that much.

"But mom doesn't care" he argues.

"Mom isn't here to care. Just because she's at work doesn't mean the rules don't apply to you anymore" I remind him.

"Come on! Where's my fun sister at" he asks.

"She's trying to get ready for her low tier hockey game but her little brother keeps bothering her" I smirk.

"I'm bigger than you" he reminds me as he stands tall. He really didn't need to in order to prove he was a good eight inches taller than me even when I'm on skates. But he's definitely got dads genes because he was giant. At least 6'6" if not maybe a inch or two more with his curly brown hair.

"Not the point" I quip.

"Please! Please Sammy I want to come" he begs. Some 17 year old he is begging like this. I wonder what his friends would think if they saw him right now?

I stop packing up and I look into his deep blue eyes. I see our Dad in there and immediately break.

"Fine" I groan as he cheers from beside me. "But we're taking the bike."

We both put on our helmets and take the Harley over to the little rink I grew up in. It was a lot bigger now, and it had a different name too. It was now Johnnies Ice House and was under different management from from the time I played here. But they have a picture of me and my dad on the wall of fame on the wall by the ice. It's been up there since he passed away a few years back. I love walking past and seeing it up there, this place was a second home to me and I always loved coming back here. This was my dads pride and joy and they still do a lot of the things my dad enjoyed about this place in his honor.

I leave my brother with a few of his friends up in the stands and I go change. I was the only girl on the team, but that didn't phase me. It never has. I had thick skin and a hockey mouth so I can most definitely hold my own. After I get changed I sit in my stall and wait for something to happen. One of the guys on the team comes over and sits down next to me and I smile up to him.

"Hey Josh" I start.

"Hey Sammy. How was your day" he wonders.

"It was good. I had a long shift over at the hospital but I'm just happy to be here" I insist.

"I'm happy to see you here" he claims and I start to blush.

Ever since I came back to Chicago I've been into the beer leagues here. I split the time in net with a egotistical little man who couldn't even make it into the AHL but for some reason still thinks he's the shit. Maybe it's because he's the randomly selected emergency backup goalie for the Blackhawks games from time to time or maybe it's because he can happily say that he's been turned down by real teams. Who knows?

But I still find it enjoyable to play here, even though I defiantly miss being with my girls. While I don't like to play meaningful hockey these games scratched that itch I had to be on the ice. They were a lot cleaner and a lot more sober than these boys. But the guys aren't too bad either. And Josh had been my good friend for a long time now. We went to high school together and even dated a little before we went off to college. We agreed that we couldn't stay together with me in Wisconsin and him in Indiana for a while so we broke it off. Now he was the captain of the team he got me to play on and he was pretty good at this whole hockey thing. This had been something that I did to be able to play but not feel bad because my dad wasn't here to watch me since I came back home. These games didn't mean anything to me so I didn't mind them.

"You know, the guys on the other team really don't want to play you" he tells me and I just laugh.

"Why? Because I'm a girl" I ask.

"No. Because you've played in 7 games so far this season and haven't let up a goal yet" he tells me and I start to blush.

"I can't help it. I'm a competitor" I defend.

"Then you should go out and compete" he insists. 

"You know I can't" I whisper.

"Your Dad would not want you sitting here rotting in a beer league. He worked so hard and so long to make you the incredible athlete that sits here today. You could be on team USA or in the women's professional league if you wanted to be. Hell, I would put you in the NHL" he claims and I blush.

"I'm right where I need to be" I claim as I think about being with my brother.

"Shawn talked you into coming to watch you play again, didn't he" he asks and I laugh.

"Yeah. He did" I admit.

"He loves watching you play" Josh claims.

"I know. He has a bunch of my stuff up in his room. He claims it's motivation to one day be better than I was" I smile.

"He adores you so much" he reminds me.

"That's why I'm still here" I insist.

He places his hand on my hand and I look up to him. He gives me a safe smile and I return it. I wasn't sure what his intentions are, and I'm not sure I will ever find out. Josh was one of those guys who would never tell you how he really feels, that's why he's so cute but still single. He never said he wanted to be with me again besides randomly asking me to hang out every now and then, half the time my brother is there with us when we do, but that's all that ever happened between us.

After a while we all take the ice. I was the last one to skate on and I smile. I look up and see some of the guys' girlfriends and sisters in the stands holding up signs for me. They were so awesome and thought it was cool that a girl was playing in this "high tier" beer league game. Well, as high tier as a beer league can be. But the girls were all so sweet and I loved them so much. They were some of my best friends and it's awesome that they support me.

I go in my crease and stretch out a little. I take some playful shots and get warmed up. I skate around and find my brother. I wink at him before I head back to my crease and get ready.

We do the national anthem and line ups before the puck drops. Like always this was way too easy and I was having way too much fun. We easily win the game and sit atop the league in the standings. After it was all said and done I get changed and start to head out the door. But Josh blocks the door and I stop so I don't run into him.

"Great game Sam" he starts.

"Thanks Josh. You weren't too bad yourself" I admit. I run my fingers through my wet short brown hair as I try to get it untangled. Curls were nice until you wanted to run your fingers through your hair.

My blue eyes meet his brown ones as he stares me down. "I was wondering... if you were free Friday night" he asks and my face falls.

"I work the night shift... I'm so sorry" I sigh.

"It's okay. I get it. Maybe some other time" he claims. I was hoping that he would put out another date or another time but he stops trying and there was no point in trying to make him feel something he obviously doesn't feel between us.

"Yeah... maybe."

I find my brother and we hang around for a little to talk to our friends in the stands. The hockey community was a big one but we've been a part of it for forever so our name means a lot around here. Especially in this rink. We had a lot of good times here and made a lot of long lasting relationships. Everyone here knows who our dad was and how he dedicated his all to this rink and hockey in the community. Everyone loved him and that's why losing him was so hard not just for us, but for all the lives that he touched.