The Sweetest Save

Fan

It was the first game the Blues ever won in the Stanley Cup Finals in franchise history. Game 2 ended as a 3-2 overtime victory for the St. Louis Blues, tying the series at one game apiece.

Tuure was the only Maple Leaf who knew this fact. He was all alone as the only Blues fan on the team.

He had mixed emotions about the win similar to the ones he had about the series in general. He wanted to be happy about this historic milestone that he got to witness, but he felt like he couldn't. As a Blues fan on the Maple Leafs, he felt torn in two.

Everyone knew he was a Blues fan, too. It's not like the rest of the team was clueless—after all, Tuure had a tattoo of the Blues logo on his left lower back. However, no one ever discussed it. It was as if the topic was some sort of taboo.

At least he was still in Toronto. Tuure knew he would be going out to Missouri with the team in a few days for the third and fourth games of the series.

Flashbacks seemed to be hitting him at every moment. As he packed his bags, he remembered the excitement he felt as a twelve-year-old preparing for his first trip to the United States of America. As he saw the giant Canadiens flag in his daughter's bedroom, he remembered the way he decorated his entire room with team spirit in mind after returning from the vacation to St. Louis.

Climbing onto the plane and reading his destination felt sort of surreal. Here he was again, headed to Missouri and ready to watch the Blues play hockey. Even though he was going in order to try to defeat the Blues, he felt just like he did when he climbed onto the airplane as a child, very excited and anticipating seeing his first ever NHL match.

More vivid memories continued to strike him as he walked along the street, going into shops and restaurants and eventually into the hotel where the Maple Leafs were staying. He confirmed with his parents and brother that it was the same exact hotel that he and his family had stayed in on their vacation over nineteen and a half years earlier.

"I bought my first piece of Blues merchandise in there," Tuure mentioned as he pressed his hand against the window of a sports shop. Alexej and fellow Maple Leafs player Pascal Beauvais looked on. "It was a hat. I still have it, and it's adjustable, so I can still wear it."

"I hope you're not going to wear it during this series!" Pascal laughed as the group continued to move down the street. "That will cause some confusion among the fans."

"Of course not," Tuure assured him. "During this next week or so, I am a Maple Leaf first and foremost. For now, the Blues fan in me is gone."

Walking into the Enterprise Center, which he recalled being called Kiel Center in 1999, still made his heart beat a little faster. He remembered rushing into the building as an eager preteen with his parents and younger brother close behind him. He remembered the electrifying feel of the large crowd and the incredible sound of the Blues goal horn. He remembered how loud he cheered when St. Louis won.

He was staying loyal to the Maple Leafs for the Finals, but he wasn't afraid to admit to himself that it was not an easy task.

The Blues ended up winning the fourth game, and they took the fifth as well. No Maple Leaf played his best game in Game 4. The offense could barely make it to the net, the defense was all over the place, and Tuure was not as focused as he could have been.

The score of Game 5 was a low 2-1, but it definitely still stung. Toronto kept receiving what they saw as unfair penalties, and it seemed as if their skaters were skating through mud. If they didn't improve for the sixth game, they would lose the series.

Tuure wanted to help his Leafs win, even though it was possible that his favorite team could win the Stanley Cup in the very same building where he became a fan nineteen and a half years earlier. He knew that no matter how he felt about the Blues, his job was to prioritize the Leafs above any other team. And it would also make him happy if the team he played for won the big prize, even if that required breaking his heart by defeating St. Louis.

As the Maple Leafs proceeded to take the sixth contest by a score of five goals to one, Tuure looked out at the stands. He memorized the very seat he had sat in during his very first game as a fan. Every time he vacationed to St. Louis as a player, he looked over at the seat and imagined himself there as a preteen. What would twelve-year-old Tuure think of this?

It never really crossed his mind as a child that he could possibly play for an Eastern Conference team that would end up competing against the Blues for the coveted Cup. He thought about it once or twice, but he thought it unlikely that this exact situation would happen to him. There was just such a slim chance.

A slim chance is still a chance, though, and he had learned that very quickly as soon as the Cup finalists were announced in late May. Still, he decided after Game 6 that he was going to enjoy this time. After all, very few people get the chance to participate in a championship contest along with their favorite team, whether they are playing for or against said team.

In addition, Tuure had his family to support him. His parents and brother told him that they would be rooting as hard as they could for him to come out on top in this series, even though they had all declared themselves Blues fans after their trip to St. Louis almost twenty years earlier. His daughter assured him that he would do a great job stopping all Blues shots in Game 7.

And as he looked over at Alexej sitting on the home team's bench after taking the ice for the seventh and deciding game, he could tell that his boyfriend was rooting for him too. He saw that hopeful optimism in the blue eyes of Alexej Hasek.

Tuure would win this. He would win it for his mother, for his father, for his brother, for his daughter, for his boyfriend, for his other teammates, and for the millions of Bruins fans all around the world.

The puck was dropped. He stared intently at the Blues, stuffed all his memories about being a Blues fan into the back of his mind, and prepared to beat the St. Louis team as hard as he could.