March 19th, 2019.
Edmonton ➜ St Louis
— — —
"I lied."
"What?" "I've been lying to you all for the last few days." Craig, our coach, laughed.
"About tonight's mystery spot, huh?" Sammy asked. "Obviously," he nodded, "what else?"
"Well there's an hour until the game, so we have to know who it is." Robby said.
"Oh I know," he nodded again, "that's what I'm here to talk to you all about."
Everyone shared a look with each other.
"Unless of course, she wants to tell you herself." He shrugged and motioned towards me.
I stood up and walked to the front of the locker room, not even getting a chance to say anything before they all cheered.
"I knew it!" Sammy laughed, "I was right! I knew it! Oh my god!" I couldn't help but giggle, they seemed like they were more excited than I was, even though it seemed impossible.
"How long have you known?" Robby asked.
"I found out like four days ago, Vince and I-"
"Wait Vince knew?!" Sammy asked.
"He went with me." I laughed.
"And you didn't tell us?!" Sammy laughed as well, shaking his head, "some friend you are." He said, sarcastically.
"She wanted to surprise you guys, calm your tits." Vince laughed.
"Are you playing tonight?" Alex Pietrangelo, our team captain asked.
"Yea," I nodded, "I wanted to come back in front of our home crowd, so I waited for tonight." I giggled and looked at Vince.
— — —
We waited as they did pregame things on the ice, just having fun with the crowd, when our coach grabbed a microphone and we all heard his voice over the speakers.
"How you feeling tonight St Louis?!" The crowd cheered, which felt amazing.
"Good, good! I think you guys can feel even better though.." He stopped, knowing they were confused. "Remember that open spot on the lineup?"
The crowd cheered again, knowing exactly what was coming.
Social media had been on a buzz, knowing my return would be sometime soon with how long I was out.
"Well it belongs to a special someone, who you all know very well."
Hearing the crowd chant my last name for the first time in five months felt amazing.
THIS is why I wanted to come back in front of our home crowd.
Neither Pittsburgh or Buffalo could've gave me a better reaction.
"Please help me welcome back.."
The fact that he didn't have to do this, and still did, made me feel so much better.
This was a surprise for me too, I had no idea he was going to make such a big deal of it.
"McKay Davis!"
I giggled and made my way onto the ice, waving to everyone, keeping a big smile on my face.
I skated to the middle of the ice, where coach was standing, and we shook hands. "Congratulations, we're all so proud of you."
"Thank you so much, I really appreciate it." I had a big smile on my face as I giggled.
— — —
"Alright, you ready?" Vince asked, coming up behind me.
I was standing by the entrance, looking at the ice and the crowd.
"Yea," I nodded, "just a little nervous."
"You'll be fine, don't be nervous," he stood beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, "did you see how excited they were to see you?" He whispered.
I looked up at him and saw what looked like the same smile I had on my face just less than an hour ago.
"I know," I giggled, "I can't believe coach actually did that." I shook my head, still not believing it.
"I just thought you were going to skate out there when the game started." He laughed.
"I thought so too but I guess not." I shrugged and pulled away from him.
"My skate is loose, so you should be a gentleman and tighten it for me." I said, as a joke obviously, but he bent down anyways.
"I was kidding," I giggled, "I can do it-" "Yea but we can't have you injuring your arm again." He stood up, laughing.
"You're an ass." I laughed.
— — —
"Come on Kay, go!"
"Shit."
I missed.
Tonight had been a struggle.
I had possession of the puck every time I looked down, and still had missed every shot I took.
I was starting to lose my confidence.
Of course I knew it was gonna be hard to get back into the game, coming back after months was going to throw me off a little, but I never thought it would be this bad.
The horn blew and first period was over.
I sighed as I skated off the ice, I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
Vince came up behind me once again, laying a hand on my shoulder, "you did good, get out of your head."
"I'm not-" "You are Mickie, I can see it on your face." He nodded and walked away.
I sighed again, just a couple minutes later, we found ourselves in the locker room.
"Look, I hate to say it, but if she is going to keep shooting like that, we can't let her have the puck so much." Pietrangelo nodded.
"He's right-" "He's not, shut up Kay." Sammy shook his head.
"God damn," I laughed, "that was fucking rude." "Sorry." He laughed as well, obviously not meaning to sound mean.
"She just needs a second, she can make the goal," Vince nodded, "this is her first game since October, just give her a minute and she'll get it."
"Here's what we need," Pietrangelo started, "we need her to play the same way she did during practice."
"What practice?" I asked, confused.
"The one where you made five goals." Vince nodded. "Oh that one!" I laughed.
"Yea, that one!" Sammy mocked me, "can you do that for us?" He asked.
"Don't you think I'm trying? I'm not purposely missing every shot." I shook my head.
"We'll give you two more shots Kay. You miss, no more for the rest of the game." Pietrangelo said, "if you make it, do what you want." He shrugged.
— — —
Second period started, and less than thirty seconds in, Pietrangelo had made a goal.
He turned and looked at me, motioning towards the goal. Which would have made me laugh, if he wasn't taunting me.
I nodded and gave him a high five anyway, obviously just to keep things professional.
About six minutes later, I once again had the puck, which made me more nervous than ever.
I had one opportunity to make this, I knew that if I failed, I would never live it down.
All I needed was a few seconds and apparently an assist from Vince and Tyler Bozak, and I did it.
"Thank fucking god." I dropped my stick and put my head in my hands.
Vince was right there beside me, pulling me in for a hug, "fucking, thank you!" He smiled.
Sammy and Tyler were wrapping their arms around us as well.
There wasn't an ounce of me that actually believed I was going to make that, but I did.
We pulled away and went to continue the game.
Pietrangelo pointed at me once again, but he smiled this time, giving me a nod of approval and put his focus back on the game.
Less than two minutes later, I had made my second goal.
Vince was right beside me once again, "now you're just trying to outshine me," he laughed, "nice job though, congratulations."
"Thank you." I giggled, pulling him in for a quick hug before we continued the game.
— — —
Second period had ended, we were currently on our way back to the locker room for intermission.
"I have to admit," Pietrangelo started, "I was too quick to start judging. You did great, keep it up."
I smiled and gave each other a lazy fist bump, "thanks." I breathed a laugh and looked at Vince, who was still smiling.
"Did anybody happen to catch the score? I wasn't paying attention to it after I made that second goal." I laughed.
"Four to two, us." Sammy replied, I was shocked. I knew we were winning, but not by four. And we still had third period, meaning we really had to keep it up.
— — —
Third period only had about ten minutes left, David Perron had made a goal about six minutes in after the puck bounced off his skate, giving us our fifth point.
About seven minutes later, Bozak had passed it to Thomas, who let the puck slip.
I took the opportunity to steal it and attempt a wraparound. I thought I missed it, but when I heard the horn, I knew I had made it in.
I couldn't help but laugh, knowing that was my third goal of the night.
The crowd cheered louder than they did all night.
I had regained my confidence.
Vince was once again by my side, pulling me in for yet another hug. "You're fucking insane, oh my god!" He laughed.
I giggled and wrapped my arms around him, "actually thought I missed it!" I laughed as well, pulling away from him.
We were down to our final few minutes, the crowd was still excited, making everyone on the team feel even more confident than they had been all night.
The clock was ticking, and with less than a minute and a half left, Bozak had passed me the puck. I hesitated before I shot it, which is one of the worst mistakes you can make.
But it paid off.
I shot the puck, right over the goalie, and managed to get a hat-trick.
"Holy shit!"
I laughed, there was absolutely no way.
Vince dropped his stick and wrapped his arms around me, letting his arms fall to my waist before he started laughing, "she's fucking back!"
— — —
7-18-23
Hopefully this made up
for all the fillers 😽🤭
Hope you enjoyed <3