Angels of Long Island | Mathew Barzal

~1~

"Lexi!" I hear my dad yell up the stairs at me.

"Yeah?" I yell back.

"Want to come do a fitting with me before lunch today?" He yells.

"Sure! But it better not take long, I'm starving." I say, getting up off my bed and pulling my shoes on.

I run down the stairs to meet my dad, who asks if I'm ready to go before opening the door for me.

My name is Lexi Callahan, I'm a junior majoring in Journalism at Stony Brook University. My classes for the week got cancelled so my roommate, Sophia and I split and went to visit our families while we had the chance.

My family lives just outside of Long Island, New York in the little town of Roslyn. We live in Roslyn Estates village. My dad's parents, my grandparents, lived here in Roslyn Estates and still do and this is where he brought my mom back to after they got married.

My dad is a CCM rep for New York, he goes to the rinks in the area for the hockey teams in this state and the surrounding ones. He goes and does fittings all the time for players to get them new skates, bring them new sticks or helmets. It's pretty cool that he gets to meet some famous people. He never asks me to go with him but I'm home from college for the week and he promised me lunch.

My mom is a pediatrician at a hospital in the city. It's nice because the pediatric wing of the hospital closes in the evening so as a kid, she was home when I got home from school or shortly after, making dinner. My dad on the other hand would go out of town for a week or two at a time, mostly on the east coast meeting clients but sometimes, CCM would send him across the country to meet with players where he was really needed. He had a pretty cool job.

I have an older brother, Colton, who just graduated from NYU last year with his Bachelor's in law and is working for a lawyer's office as an assistant attorney.

My dad was taking me to lunch at a hibachi restaurant in town after his meeting with the New York Islanders. But that meant we had to drive to Uniondale, which was an hour away. We kept pretty occupied on the ride there, he asked me about my classes and I told him I was making good grades, friends and memories. He asked me about my professors and what I did to keep myself busy this semester. I didn't tell him about the couple lacrosse frat parties I went to with Sophia, who was dating the captain of the team. He didn't need to know. I just told him I ate at the dining hall a lot and stayed in my dorm with Sophia and watched Netflix, which was technically true. Sophia and I lived with a couple other girls in the West Apartments. That was nice because everyone had their own room and space and our apartment had its own kitchen and living space so we didn't have to share with an entire floor. I am really close friends with all the girls in our apartment. There's 6 of us but usually there's only about 3 or 4 in there at a time, due to conflicting schedules.

"So, who are the players you're getting stuff for today?" I ask my dad.

"Rob Lehner and Jordan Eberle." He says, not taking his eyes off the road. "Lehner needs a new stick and skates and Eberle needs a new blade on his skate, he broke it in the game the other night but I'm going to fit him anyways." My dad explains. I never got into hockey but my dad played and my brother played in high school but with college he got too busy so he stopped. I just never hopped on board with the sport.

"Now, I'm not technically supposed to have you in the locker room but I'm making an exception today so please act professional. These guys are all pretty serious even down to the equipment managers." My dad says sternly. "Dad, I'm 21, I know how to not act like a kid." I say. "I'm just saying. Don't be a fangirl just because you're around some hockey players." He says. "I won't." I say.

He pulls into a spot in the Northwell Health Ice Center and we get out. I follow him silently into the building and am hit with a gust of cold air. It's a good thing I wore a sweater today. I follow my dad to the locker room where I can hear music playing and men laughing. Just outside the door, a man dressed in a black track suit with the Islanders logo on the shoulder approaches my dad and shakes his hand. "How's it going Trotz?" my dad smiles. "Nice to see you, Rich." The man responds. They talk for a few minutes about the season and the game that was the other night. While they're talking, I look around, taking in the sights. A few guys come in and out of the locker room. One guy in particular caught my eye. He was about six feet tall and had dark hair, a strong jaw line and brown eyes. He was wearing black athletic shorts and a blue hoodie that I noticed had ISLANDERS HOCKEY on it and the number 13 on the shoulder. His eye met mine momentarily before smiling at me and turning to leave, sliding his phone into his shorts pocket.

My dad went into the locker room after most of the guys had left and sat down on the bench next to who I'm guessing was Rob Lehner because they were talking about goalie equipment. My dad did what he had to do with Rob for about 20 minutes before finding Eberle. My dad pulled out this device to measure his feet so he could get fitted with new skates, which he wouldn't need but he wanted to get a new design. My dad pulled his work iPad out to show Jordan the different styles of boot, tongue and insole for him to choose from. Once they were finished there, my dad told me he was ready to go and I followed him out of the locker room and through the hallways to the rink. The guy wearing number 13 was talking to another guy who I'm guessing was another player. When my dad and I walked by to leave, he smiled at me and I politely smiled back as I followed my dad out the door.

When we were at the car, my dad and I sat in silence for most of the ride to the restaurant until we got there and I questioned my dad "who's number 13 on the Islanders, dad?" "Mathew Barzal, why." He asks, giving me a questioning look. "Just wondering, I saw him at the rink and he was looking at me." I say, getting out of the car and walking towards the Japanese restaurant. "He's from British Columbia. He just got done his rookie season. He's really lighting it up." My dad explains. I nod, taking in what he was saying. "Why do you ask? Got a crush?" He laughs. "No, I don't do guys. I'm too busy with school, plus guys are nothing but trouble anyways." I say, thinking back to my last boyfriend, who also played hockey. He stood me up multiple times and was a pathological liar. Turns out he was cheating on me. Why should I put myself through it again if I don't have to? I need to focus on school and getting a good job and being happy with myself. "Good answer." My dad says. Besides, the chances of me ever seeing that player again were slim to none.