My name is Ashely Ella Hastings and I am seventeen years old. I grew up in Minnesota near Duluth. I attended a prep school and played on the boys hockey team. Through hockey, I met my current boyfriend, Auston Matthews. He plays for Toronto.
He is eighteen years old and was drafted into the NHL. We have been dating for only about a month. We were doing long distance right now. I'll never forget his first NHL game, I was there with his parents and he scored four goals in his first NHL game. I was so proud of my boyfriend.
However, I was going to be in the NHL. We had the draft and I was drafted to the Blackhawks. I had just finished my junior year, and in two months I was moving to Chicago. I was able to graduate high school early, which was super sweet!
I have two very supportive and amazing parents, my mom, Sarah and my dad, Mark.
I have an older sister, Allison who is twenty and is attending a college in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
My younger brother is fourteen. His name is Ryan and my little sister is twelve and her name is Courtney.
I spent the rest of my summer spending time with my family, friends, and Auston. The summer flew by and I was in my condo with my parents.
They stayed with me for a week and today they left and I went to my first practice with the team.
"Hi, I'm Johnathan Toews, the captain.."
"Hey, I'm Ashley Hastings.."
"Nice to meet you.." He said
I was getting ready and all the guys seemed pretty cool.
"How's the NHL so far?" Sharpy asked me
"It's good, I'm still terrified."
"Hey, we're your teammates, which makes us your brothers, and we got your back, no matter what.."
"Thanks." I said
We had testing today and we were benching. Some guys were benching more than I could squat. For my bench press max, I got 135 pounds. Which is a lot for me, considering that I only weight 130 pounds.
"Is that all you can bench?" Patrick asked walking by
"Yeah, how much can you bench?" I asked bitchy back
"More than you.." He said walking away
Okay, so maybe the one guy I didn't like was Patrick Kane.
We squatted and then tested broad jump, vertical jump, etc.
I went home and I showered and drank my protein shake. I unpacked and I facetimed Auston.
Auston: Hey, how did testing go today?
Me: Fine.. It's kinda weird being the only girl here
Auston: Are you okay?
Me: Yeah.. I just miss my family, friends, and you
Auston: Well, I get to see you in about a month when we play you
Me: I can't wait because I miss you so much
Auston: I miss you too! Don't even think about how hot any other guy on the Hawks is
Me: Wouldn't think of it
We both laughed and continued to talk for hours.
The next few days of practice and testing went well, I was exhausted.
Q was announcing lines and I was on a line with Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome.
"You better not fuck my season up.." Patrick said quietly to me about the line combination
"How will I mess your season up?" I asked confused
He walked away and Strome said, "Don't worry about him."
We had our first pre-season games and they seemed to go okay. I wasn't really that nervous... It was just pre-season.
However, I was at the United Center tonight for our first game of the regular season.
Tazer wanted to talk to me.
"How are you feeling?" He asked
I was almost in tears when I said, "So fucking nervous.."
"Hey, calm down. It's all going to be okay. I promise that I won't let the boys pull anything on you. You are an amazing hockey player and you've worked your ass off to be here. Go out there and have fun."
"Thanks Tazer!"
We were warming up off the ice and Patrick comes up to me and says, "Lot's of fans out there.. Make sure you don't make any mistakes because they'll hate you.."
I was already super nervous.. I started to cry and he rolled his eyes and said, "Great.. The game is the last thing on your mind and I'm stuck on your line.."
"You are such an ass!" I said back to him in full tears as I walked away
We were going on the ice and Tazer came up to me and said, "You're going to kill it out there!"
The puck dropped and my nerves went away. I was having fun and things were going extremely well. It was the middle of the second period and Strome gave me a pass and I shot and the puck ended up in the back of the net.
I just scored my first NHL goal! The United Center was going crazy and I jumped into Patrick's arms and Strome and the defense joined.
"Nice goal, Hastings!" Q said when I got back to the bench
We won that game 3-1 and after the game, I got interviewed.
I took a shower in my personal shower and went out to see my family. They all hugged me and were so happy to see me.
They went in the locker room and Auston was standing there.
"Auston!" I said shocked
"Hey, you played amazing!" He said
"What are you doing here?" I asked crying
"I had to see my girl play in her first NHL game and be able to kiss her after" He said kissing me
Patrick walked out of the locker room and said, "No PDA out here, kids!"
"You're just jealous that I have a girlfriend." Auston said
"You're just jealous that you didn't go first round draft pick to a good team and you haven't won the Stanley cup three times." Patrick said
"Damn, you're good." Matthews said
"You don't need to point out the obvious." Patrick said walking away
Auston kissed me and said, "I'm so proud of you.."
"Thank you for coming!" I said
"Of course, you were there for my first game and I wouldn't miss your first game.."
"Aww, you're so sweet.." I said
"Will you sign my jersey?" He asked as he was wearing my jersey
I signed it as "To the best boyfriend ever" with a heart and my signature.
I still couldn't believe my boyfriend was Auston Matthews.
I took Auston to the airport as he had to get back to Toronto as they had a game tomorrow morning.
On the drive there I told him about Patrick Kane and how he acted like a complete dick to me.
"I've heard so many things about him. He's not a guy you want to be around. He is constantly getting drunk. He has a criminal record of punching that New York can driver after a night out and he got away with rape. The league just paid the girl big bucks to cover it up. He's an alcoholic man whore."
"I really like Tazer, he's always looking out for me. I wish you were on the team.." I said
"Me too, maybe you'll get traded.." He said smiling
"I kinda like Chicago.." I admitted
"I like Toronto.." He said smiled back at me
"Let's compromise and go play for the flyers.." I said laughing
"Deal.." He said
We said our goodbye and he was going back home to Toronto.
I went home and my whole family was over.
"How did it feel playing in your first NHL game?" My mom asked
"It was good, unreal.." I said
Everyone was so proud of me and I was still in shock that it was all real.
I talked to my family for a while and then I went to bed.