We Can See STARS

Future Chapter 3: Day with the Cup

Jamie's day with the cup finally arrived. He decided to take it to his old rink in Toronto and I was happy to go back home with him. Our lives had been in quite a frenzy since Dallas's win the month before. The parade was pure chaos and seeing a beyond drunk and happy Jamie on the parade float brought back that same pride I felt for him the night they won. The amount he was getting recognized on the street grew and a number of dinners together got interrupted. But this was the day we were most looking forward to: spending some time in his childhood rink with the Stanley Cup.

On the car ride over that morning, I took his hand while his leg shook uncontrollably. "Jamie, this is gonna be great. This town is so excited to see you."

"Mmhmm." He wasn't hearing me. I saved my words and rubbed circles on his hand with my thumb while looking out the window.

As we pulled up to the rink, there were already news vans and fans lined up to see their local star. He hopped out of the car, slightly waving and smiling at the crowd. As we met at the front of the car, he grabbed my hand again, squeezing it as we reached the door.

A rush of cool air passed by us, welcoming us into the rink. A shorter, fast talking guy in dark blue glasses, a red lanyard and clipboard zoomed up to us and immediately started discussing how things were set up while I let my mind wander. Once he left, Jamie asked me "did you get all of that?"

"I really didn't." I said, shrugging.

"Alright," he sighed heavily. "Let's do this." He was so obviously nervous which caused me to be oddly calm on his behalf.

In the middle of the ice, there he was: Lord Stanley in all his glory. Long carpets stretched on the ice, allowing people to walk on the ice, meet Jamie and Stanley, and get back off. The cup was much more sparkly than I remembered it being. The thrill I got from touching it the night they won it was exciting.

—-

The cheers in the arena grew louder as the clock counted down the last five minutes in the 3rd. Dallas was up 2-1 after a long series against the Hurricanes and could win this as long as they kept Carolina at bay. With each shift, I could see the guys getting tired and more winded but determined to make sure they didn't let this game pass them by.

It was amazing to see how hard they were going while we knew what injuries they were battling: Benn had broken a finger and bruised the inside of his right knee, Seguin was dealing with an old injury being aggravated in his hip, Esa and Klinger each had ankle injuries from blocking shots and my Jamie, while attempting to slam someone in the boards, managed to fall into them himself and mess up his right shoulder and elbow.. Despite all of this, they played as if none of those injuries happened.

With 3 minutes left, Aho managed to score on Bish evening the score at 2-2. My heart was really pounding now and I watched intently with my hands clasped at my mouth. "C'mon boys, c'mon. You can do this."

Ana, at my side, was equally nervous and intense. "Ugh...I can't watch any more! My poor heart can't handle this suspense." Quickly, she turned around, facing the crowd behind us. "Just...just tell me what happens."

"Okay weirdo. I can't believe you want to miss this!!" I agreed to her request anyway. Back and forth they went across the ice until, somehow, Dallas found another gear and set up their final play. "Okay, both of our Jamie's are on the ice right now. This might be it!"

I grabbed Ana's arm with a tight grip as she grabbed the back of mine with her other hand. "Okay, Jamie just reached and got the puck back," I was nervous he'd get a last minute tripping call but with some skilled skating and deft stick handling, my Jamie was able to get the puck and pass it up the ice to Miro. "Okay, Miro has it, he's skating through the neutral zone and passing it to Rads." Just as I said this, Radulov passed it to Benn who was waiting on the other side of the goal. "Ana! Ana!! ANA!!!! They might..." I shook her arm, tightening my grip and jumped in excitement as Benn perfectly dropped to his knee and knocked the puck into the net. Ana turned around just in time to see the puck hit twine.