Full Strength

Dean

This was my first practice with THE Chicago Blackhawks. Sure, I'd been playing for the Rockford Icehogs, the Hawks feeder program, and yeah, some of the guys on the Hawks I played with on the Icehogs. But this the NHL! I'm playing for Tom Brown; my captain is Jonathan Toews, PATRICK KANE.

I was already nervous enough, and meeting Scotland Brown didn't do any good. My buddy, Nikolai Abarnikav, who got pulled up last year, had told me the coach's daughter was pretty good looking. He also told me she practices with the team sometimes. I should've known who she was, pretty girl, bag full of hockey equipment. I was such as ass to her! Those big brown eyes made me stupid.

After leaving her at the women's locker room, I rushed to the men's. I had to drop off my stuff and stop in the coaches' office to check in. I was an hour early, so to give me time to get settled.

When I walked into the locker room I quickly scanned the room from the door. It might have just been their practice locker room, but it was still amazing. There's locker for every guy along the wall, with their names, the Blackhawks logo on the floor in the middle, a big "bathroom" off to the side. It was crazy. I walked along the wall to find my locker, but I didn't see my name. That is, until I came to a blank locker. Right in between Nikolai, and...Jonathan Toews. I set my stuff down, and headed out the door to the coaches' office. When I opened the door I ran into her.

"New Guy!" I kind of loved that she already had a nickname for me. It made feel a little welcomer here. And damn, she looks even hotter in all that hockey gear!

"Hey Scotland. Heading to the ice pretty early, eh?"

"Oh my god. You're a Canadian too?!" She sounded a little sarcastic.

"Hah yeah, Kitchener, Ontario."

"Y'all are invading Chicago!" She said and then started laughing. Now I know she was joking around. She's pretty funny. I like it. I laughed along with her.

"You can call me Scottie by the way. Everyone else does. Need help finding Dad's office?" Her face softened, and her lips rested in a small smile.

I could feel my face getting hot, so I ducked my head and said, "Yeah actually, I could use some help."

"Well, I'm heading there too, so you can walk with me."

"Not heading straight to the ice?"

"Nah, I need to check in with my dad, let him know I'm here."

By now we are rounding a corner to a red, open door. Scottie stopped and knocked.

"Hey dad! Just checking in. Can I take the ice? Oh hey Derrick! Did you come here with dad?"

"Yeah, I'll come skate with you." A taller, male version of Scottie walked out the door. We were eye level, and he looked at me confused. I have him a head nod, and he returned the gesture. Derrick Brown. Hockey Prodigy.

A voice from a man I have not seen in person yet replies, "Sure honey, go right ahead. Pucks are in the home bench."

"Thanks daddy," sure started heading away when she caught my eye. She turned back to the door and said, "oh, and your fresh meat had arrived."

She then turned around to me and gave me wink. Damn, she was hot.

"Coach Brown? Dean Gould." I held my hand out from him to shake.

Tom Brown. Former Boston Bruins player. Captain 1971-1980. He was the youngest captain in the league, until Sidney Crosby was named captain for the Penguins. Coach Brown is kind of a legend. He looks so much like Scottie, and Derrick too. With the deep brown eyes, accentuated face features, light brown hair.

"Have a seat Dean. It's great to finally get to talk to you. You're one hell of a hockey player." Coach Brown snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Thank you, sir. It's an honor to get to play for you and this team. Especially coming off from a great Cup win."

"Well thank you. We are excited about this upcoming season. Do you have any questions?"

"Yeah. I stopped by the locker room to drop my equipment there. There was only 1 blank locker, so that's where my stuff is, but I didn't really know if that's mine or not?"

"Actually, yes. That is your locker. We thought it'd be nice to put you next to friendly face, and our captain. That okay with you?"

"Yeah totally!"

"Awesome," Coach Brown paused and looked into the hallway, "ah, there he is! Dean, this is our team manager, Jim, he's gonna show you around a bit."

I stood up, and shook Jim's hand, "Jim, Dean Gould." He looked like your average team manager. Put together in his tracksuit.

"Nice to meet you. If you would, please follow me."

I said my goodbyes and see you laters to Coach Brown, and followed Jim out the office. The next 30 minutes consisted of him showing me around the locker room, where to put my stuff. I got my nameplate for my locker. I ran into a few of the guys. Like Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith. They really did spend a lot of time together. Everyone I met was very nice. They all welcomed me like I had been there before. I saw Nik in the locker room when I came back to get ready for practice.

"Hey man! Good to see you! How's it feel to be in the big leagues?" Nik emigrated from Russia 5 years ago, and his accent is very thick.

"It's good, dude. Still adjusting, but everyone is pretty nice. I met with coach early, and Jim gave me the grand tour." I had my shoulder pads on and Nik was lacing up his skates. After I threw on my practice jersey, I decided to go for it.

"So, what's up with Coach's daughter? Scottie?" My voice was very unsure about his response.

"Aw man, stay away man, she's off limits. Not only will you have Brown after you, but also you got Derrick AND a hockey team full of guys who have known her since she was at least eight. Off limits, bro. Off. Limits."

Damn, not the answer I was hoping for. I kind of figured it'd be something like that, but not that extreme. Scottie is beautiful, and even though I hardly even know her, I can tell she has a great personality. We just walked out the locker room, and Nik introduced me to Niklas Hjalmmarson and Johnny Oduya. I'll probably be playing with them a lot since we are all defenseman. Hopefully I'll be partnered with Nik because that's how we played in Rockford.

When we got to the ice, I saw Scottie playing defense on Derrick. She was skating backwards, and the way her hair whipped in front of her face made her look stunning. Derrick was winding up for a shot and Scottie dropped to the ground. Classic defenseman move. I instantly got nervous for her safety because she wasn't wearing a helmet.

"Does she always practice with you guys?" I looked over at Nik who was laughing at what was going on, on the ice.

"Pretty much. According to Duncan Keith, she's been skating around with the team since her dad started coaching here. She knows the game better than some of the guys. Some actually turn to her for advice. It's crazy."

I stared on in amazement. I'd never seen a girl hockey skate as good as her. Even when I've seen women's hockey teams play. She's a site.

NOTE: Picture of Luke Benward as Dean Gould