Game of Stromes

Push in the playoffs

You usually cheer for your favorite hockey, football, baseball, or any sports team to go to the playoffs and hopefully make it further right? Well me? I have 4 teams to cheer for: Toronto, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia.
I would love for all of them to make the playoffs and onto the Stanley cup but there's not always a happy ending. They would eventually have to play one another and that would make it harder for me but them especially.

"I'm so happy for you brotha" I give Matthew a huge bear hug and congratulate him on his huge goal and the teams big win to get back in the standings.
     "Thanks but I felt like we could've done better, if Pittsburgh wins today we're not going to get in the playoffs."
He's one of the ones who critiques himself the most. I feel like he thinks since he's very young and fresh in the league, he has to be the best and cannot make any mistakes. You can't be perfect, even Wayne Gretzky wasn't perfect.
     "You guys can always work on being better- just don't put yourself down over it. You got the dub and now it's time to think about the next game. Don't think about other teams right now."

I was getting dressed brushing my teeth as I heard my phone go off from the other room.
From: Ry Strome- "hey! I'm leaving New York now, see you in a couple hours!"
< "yay! Can't wait, how did the appointment go?"
> "We'll talk about it when I get there. Not great news, but better than expected."

New York to Philly was about 2 hours away which isn't a bad drive at all. The rangers and Ryan season had ended last night sadly but now we get to watch our brothers push for the playoffs.
I finish getting ready so Matthew and I could grab something to eat and some coffee before he heads off to the arena.

"Payton?" I hear as I stand in the hotel lobby waiting for Matthew to come meet me.
I turn around to find a tall, dark-bearded man in red.
Tom Wilson.
"Tom! Hi! How are you?" We give each other a hug since I haven't seen him in years.
"I'm doing great! How about you? I haven't seen you in a while, never expected to run into you here. What are you doing in Philly?"
"He's the reason." I laugh, "Matthew. He got called up last week so I came and wanted to show my support. You know how great of a sister I am."
"I have to get going, but it was very nice to see you again. Here-" he hands me his phone, "Put your number in here and we'll keep in touch. See you out there on the ice later Strome."
Before I walk away I say one last thing, "keep your hands off of my brother, Wilson."
He winked at me like it was a joke which is wasn't.

We get coffee at Starbucks and my favorite thing from there- cake pops. Of course we had to get actual food in us, especially Matthew so we grabbed a few breakfast sandwiches and parfaits.
We bring it back to the hotel room to eat there since it was so busy. It was around 1 so the lunch crowd was there.

He took a small nap and went to the arena to get ready for the game in a couple hours.
I stayed back to wait for Ryan who should be here very soon and watch the Penguins-Maple Leafs game.

*knock, knock, knock*
I look through the peep hole to find my brother Ryan trying to hide off to the side to scare me but it didn't work. I open up the door and squeal.
He gives me a hug and I help him with his bags since he's injured.
"Sooo? How was it? What did the doctors say?"
"I don't need surgery which is the great news but I will be out 3-6 months depending how fast it heals. Did Matthew head out already?"
"Yeah. I haven't told him anything and you'll just surprise him at the tunnels before the game."
"Awesome. I'm excited to watch him. How about this game?" He asks turning towards the tv.
"Bad news, 3-1 Penguins. About to start the second soon. Everyone's going to be keeping an eye on the score so when we get to the arena we'll find out what has happened there."

I change my sweats to jeans and put on my 'Strome' flyers jersey.
I drove Ryan's car to the arena which was about 10 minutes from the hotel we were at. It was a Sunday afternoon so there was barely any traffic at that time.

The guards let us around back and head down the tunnel by the locker room. I wasn't sure how to get him out so I had asked the media anchor to go ask him to do a quick interview before warmups.
"He'll be out in a minute" she runs out and whispers.
He walks out full gear all ready to go and even looks at me but turns again to make eye contact. He drops his stick and brings Ryan into a 'bro hug'.
"What the fu-?" He was so confused and all I could do is smile. I'm so bad at surprises and keeping secrets so getting this to work was amazing. "You knew he was coming Pay? Where's mom and dad then? They around the corner?" He jokes.
"Yeah I knew a day or two ago. Last night when you were asking me if I seen about him being hurt was so hard because I just wanted to be like 'yeah I know he's coming since he can't play' but no I wish they were able to come that would top it off so well."
They chat for a couple minutes and take a photo until Matthew had to go out for warmups.

"Any update on the score?" Ryan questions.
I give him a look, "do you really want to know?"
He shakes his head up and down, slightly.
I get out my phone and see a bunch of notifications. I scroll down to find the final score- 4-1 with a Toronto loss.
"Man. That really sucks. Now they're 6 points back." Ryan says. All the fans start to boo.
"Whelp, there was our answer. But I know, Toronto had to win this one to even make the playoffs. They were doing so well at the beginning of the season but it just wasn't their year." Now all we could wish for is Dylan winning that Stanley cup since they won the first playoff game against Columbus.

This game finally starts after we had learned Pittsburgh had won.
They played their hearts out, but they had lost to the Capitals 5-2.