The Road to the Cup ~ Wattys 2015

Not a Puck Bunny

Erin's Point of View

It was almost nine o'clock by the time Mike and I had finished going over the plans for practice. There was no film to watch yet, which meant it would be shorter than regular season practices, but the boys had quite a bit of conditioning to catch up on.

I could see Mike mentally preparing himself for this. He wanted to make a good impression on his new team. He had coached as an assistant for other NHL teams, but he was the head coach now, which meant things were different. I knew he wanted to be a role model who was close to the team, but not their best friend. It was a smart approach.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as the guys came out of the locker rooms. I checked them off on the roster, we couldn't have them missing the first practice! Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Kunitz were first on the ice. Fleury, Bennett, Adams, and Comeau followed. Eventually, everyone was on the ice, with Maatta and Greiss bringing up the rear. They warmed up a bit and stretched before coming over to stand near the bench where Mike and I were.

I felt their gazes flick over to me from time to time. A few whispered, clearly wondering who I was.

"Alright, listen up," Mike yelled. They shut up. "We've got a long season ahead of us and I wanted to start off on the right foot when we play against Detroit in a few weeks. As you may have noticed, I'm not Dan Bylsma. I'm Mike Johnston, I used to coach-"

"We know who you are," Maatta interrupted.

Sidney Crosby shot him a look, then turned to Johnston, "What do you want us to do, coach?"

"Conditioning," Mike replied, sending a dark look at Maatta. It seemed to me that they might not get along very well this season. "It's been a long summer and we need you all to be in shape before we can work on form and skills. We're going to start with..."

I watched as the guys skated back and forth doing suicides and basic puck handling, well, it was basic to them. To anyone who didn't play professional hockey, their drills would have been insanely difficult. I took notes as the played, building upon the knowledge I already had of their skill sets. Crosby and Malkin, of course, were key offensive players, Fleury would be starting in goal, and Bennett could play in the second or third shift if he worked hard enough. Martin and Bortuzzo would be first shift defenders. This, of course, would only happen if Mike agreed with my analysis of the players, but it was still early and things would change. The team didn't even include anyone we might pull up from farm teams yet. Players could be traded or injured, which seemed to happen a lot to this team.

As I watched the guys practice, many of them watched me. I saw Maatta motion to me while talking to Bortuzzo, who then nodded. Crosby and Malkin were eyeing me as I jotted down notes. Sidney laughed and Evgeni joined in, his booming laughter echoing around the arena. They all came in for a water break and I looked up when Evgeni Malkin skated right up to me. "You are bunny, no?" He asked; I could hardly understand him with his accent.

"What?" I asked.

"He wants to know if you're a puck bunny," Bennett said.

"No. No, I am definitely not a puck bunny." I replied. That was offensive. I wasn't some totally fake girl who just watched hockey for the guys. I had always been a fan, certainly, but I was also a coach.

"Then who are you? Today's a closed practice; we don't let visitors in on closed practice days." Bennett asked.

"Are you Johnston's wife?" Bortuzzo joined in.

I looked at them all, trying to decide if I should answer, or let them keep guessing.

"Hang on," Sidney said. They turned to look at their captain. I smirked, finally, someone was catching on. "The whole coaching staff was fired after the semifinals series against the Rangers," he turned to me, "You're a new coach, aren't you?"

"She's a girl!"

"You can't be serious!"

"I am not going to be coached by a puck bunny!" Several of them said.

"Well, you aren't being coached by a puck bunny. You're being coached by Mike and myself. I am not a puck bunny. I've coached high school and college hockey for the past twelve years and now I'm coaching here at the recommendation of Ray Shero-"

"He got fired too! How are you supposed to help us win the Cup if he recommended you?"

"Hey!" I yelled, effectively shutting them up, "You aren't the only ones who want the Cup. Why do you think Mike and I are here? We want to win it, too. Granted, you all will be on the ice and him here and me here or in the box upstairs, but we will be working together, as a team. We all have a responsibility to this team.  We're going to work hard, we're going to train hard, and we're going to play our hearts out do you understand me?" They nodded.

"When you all joined the league what did you say you'd do?" I asked.

Sidney was the first to answer, "I will play for the logo on the front of the jersey and not the name on the back."

"Excellent! That is what you all will do. You will play your heart out for the logo on the front. This is your team, your family, and the sooner you all realize that, the better. Then we can play our game; then we can work on winning that Cup. Are we clear?"

"We're clear," they replied.

"What are we?" I demanded.

"A family."

"Damn straight! Now get back to work," I said.

"Coach, you haven't introduced yourself," Maatta said.

"Fitzpatrick, my name is Erin Fitzpatrick, and I am not a puck bunny." I declared and the guys all laughed and went back to practicing.

Author's Note

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter :) Please vote and comment to let me know what you thought! Let's go Pens!