Aspiring

A Taste of the Playoffs

Percy took the ice, running laps around the rink, warming up. He felt the adrenaline pumping through him. He rushed by Jeremy and then Jonathan, both yelling out, "Welcome back!" And he could feel his renewed energy hitting him, filling him with an unrelenting anticipation. He skated by his teammates, who welcomed him back with pats and cheers and even Crow's chirping.

Crow flicked his stick out to tap his teammate's leg. "Hey, you haven't missed a beat, Kaner, ready to score like ten goals tonight?!" he chirped. He smiled, like he thought he was funny or something.

"Haha, we'll see, Crow! I'd like to get a few goals, but I'm willing to just go with the flow and help the team out in whatever way I can!" Percy yelled back.

"Damn, Perse, you've been hanging around Jonny too long!" Scooby cat-called.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Percy questioned, sending a wink to Jonathan. He gently whacked his stick against his captain's leg, rounding him and skidding to a halt.

"Hey why are you chirping the boy, Crow?" Tyler Marchand skated up. "You couldn't be the hero last game!"

"I didn't want to." Crow skated off with Tyler, as they got into a playful little conversation battle.

Percy shook his head, as he was rammed into the boards gently by the double team of Jeremy Sagan and Brampton Benn. Percy thudded against the glass, his helmet dipping low on his head. He pushed it back up a little bit.

"Thanks for the welcome back, guys!" Percy exclaimed. "I mean it. It feels so great to be back!"

"Hey, just making sure you are really okay, Kaner, man!" Jeremy stated with a laugh.

Percy laughed as well, as Brampton shoved him back with a cross-check again. The young Blackhawk fought back against his two teammates, eventually managing to chase them off. He collected a puck into his stick blade and warmed his hands up.

Mid-way through his stickhandling drill, however, he glanced up. His eyes instantly landed on his best friend, the captain. He noticed that he was looking back at him, as he leaned against the railing at the bench. He smiled and waved kindly to him. He waved back to him. He felt something deep down inside of him that made his heart pound in his chest. He'd never really felt quite like this before. And it wasn't love. He was perfectly straight.

Crow's annoying pesky voice broke into my thoughts. "Hey Kaner man....KANER!!"

"What?"

"Come to the bench, the game's ready to start!"

Percy noticed that apparently he'd been standing there, staring at his captain for awhile. He was the only other person, apart from the starting lineup of the Blackhawks, who was staring at him. He skated over to the bench and quickly jumped in.

"What's wrong with you?" Jonathan Getzlaf asked, concerningly. "You can't be distracted like this. We need you!!"

"Sorry. It's just...it's great to be back...playing with everyone..."

"Oh, no start crying Percy," Nikita complained, playfully.

"He's in love Getzy, I saw his face! Percy's in love with the captain!! Percy and Jonny--" Crow teased, jabbing number 88 with his stick.

"At least I can manage to get a woman, Crow!"

"Whoa, I can get women too."

"Okay. Being drunk off your ass after a celebration of a win, doesn't count."

"Fuck you, Percy! You'd better get us a goal!" The pest turned on the bench and starting chirping Nikita Nichushkin, who wasn't exactly in the mood. The Russian buried his head in his hands.

Percy turned back to watch the puck drop and Jeremy win the face-off.

Jonathan was still looking at him in concern though. "Is it true though? Are you in love? With me?"

Percy smiled at him. "I'll tell you later, but I think I am."

"Aww, I knew it! Good boy Percy, you both are like Kazer 2.0...get it!" Crow chirped once more.

"Alright, Crow. That's enough. If you aren't careful, Percy may slam you into the boards or trip you up on "accident," right Perse?" Jonathan laughed. "Now enough chirping your teammates!"

Percy dipped his head, cracking a cheeky smile. "That's right, watch out!"

Crow frowned, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow at the younger forward. "You can try, but I don't think you'll succeed!"

"Then I will do it! Or better yet, maybe I'll accidentally punch you in the face again?" Jonathan joked, smiling.

"Jonny, Kaner, Marchy you're up!"

The trio hopped over the boards and onto the ice as their names were called out. They zoomed into their positions, Jonathan easily managed to steal back the puck and send it across the ice to a flying Tyler Marchand, who deked a defender. He pulled back and sent it back to the open slot, where Zady, the other alternate captain was. In turn he sent it across "d-to-d" to Nesty. Nesty halted and sent it to a revolving forward in Percy.

Percy deked two opposing players and pulled a sick spin-o-rama. He shot the puck at the net, aiming just over the glove side. The small black disk managed to squeak by the rising goalie's glove and just evade him. It hit the netting and lit the lamp on top. Goal!

"Yeah! Showtime!!" Percy screamed as he whipped around, turning his back to the boards and crowd there. Jonathan, Tyler, Zady and Nesty all came forward to him. They smashed together in celebration, patting him on top of the helmet and cheering, "Way to go Kaner!"

Percy skated back to the bench, and as he fist bumped his rowdy teammates to their goal song, he gazed up into the crowd spotting a cute woman on her feet. She was screaming and clapping. It filled him with a new sense of energy. Forget about being nervous, he was going to get a hat trick and make her proud to know him.

He was going to do his best and be hot on the ice. She would love it and she would love him even more! He'd taken a few tips from Jeremy about milking females... He might be considered a show off now, but he didn't care or mind! It would be worth it in the end!

This was insane!

The Boston Blackhawks ended up winning the game with a score of 4-3. However they ended up losing the series and were out of the playoffs after the first round. Sure the other team had applied pressure and made things entertaining and made it a game, but the Blackhawks came out with the "W" and made it a rather tough series.

Percy had two goals and an assist to a Jonathan Getzlaf goal. That line was on fire though the whole night. The fourth goal had come from a short-hand courtesy of the team's "pest" in Crow. (For once.)

The Boston Blackhawks had a taste of the playoffs and now, they wanted to return and get the Cup even more!!