State of Grace - Jack Hughes

008

Jack

Before I know it, it is 4'o clock and Luke and I are in our suits for walk ins. This is a big night. We have to play strong and together. Game 2. We will turn it around.

My parents are here, they came to the arena early with Luke and I. Surprise surprise, Quinn came along. It is always good to see him. Quinn is such a strong player, and he deserves to be in the playoffs too, so it's hard to see him in the stands not working with his team still.

I did not tell anyone, but Luke, about the pass I left for Allie. I didn't even tell my family that there might be someone waiting for me after the game. As I'm thinking more and more about it, this could really blow up in my face. I hope Allie uses the pass. I know it was bold of me to assume she would.

Luke and I finally arrive at the arena, and we are greeted by our media team. Our photographer is positioned against the wall to take our pictures walking in after we have left our family in the suite. It always hard to keep a straight face when passing the cameras. I always want to look right at them, crack a smile, try and make the photographer laugh with a joke. But no. Game face only.

I remember Luke's first walk in, none of the photos were unusable because he froze and turned beat red. The media intern had to coach him on how to properly walk in. I mocked him for days. The poor intern did his best, but Luke is still stiff as a board.

Our friendly soccer games are the highlight of the pregame activities. It's always nice to see the guys lose having fun before we have to go fight for our lives out on the ice. It's going to be a physical series, it's good to keep losing and having fun.

Time is ticking slowly. The anxiety of the game makes every minute feel like an hour. Coach makes us turn our phones off an hour and half before the game to "tune out distractions", but it doesn't help. I still feel like my mind is in a million places all at once. Before I had turned my phone off, I got a text from anyone that I consider close. The real kicker, even Lexie texted me wishing me luck. I wonder if Allie told her about the tickets.

Nico rises from his stall as we are all getting into our gear. He starts off with a roll call for the guys before leading into a short speech of encouraging words. While the words are usually very similar the sentiment behind this one felt different.

"Boys, the last game was rough. We are young, scrapy and quick learners. We worked hard to get here. Playoffs is a new beast. Only 2 of us have ever faced it. Let's go show those New Yorkers they can't fuck with Jersey."

The room breaks out into hoots, hollers, chants, and high fives as the team starts to pick the energy up. The feeling is good. We are present. Strong. A team. The music in the arena starts and we take that as our queue to go line up in the tunnel for our entrance for warmups. There is always an extra tingle of excitement as we wait in the back for the announcer to bring us on the ice.

While we are waiting, I walk over to Luke, even though he is not dressed, he is still waiting with us before joining our family in the suites. He puts his hand on my helmet and gives my head a shake.

"You got this Rowdy. Play like you know you can. Like your life depends on it." He says sincerely, "Because it does." He huffs at the end.

"Thanks kid. I'll see you at the end."

We nod to each other, and he makes his way out of the tunnel. I hang back in the line to make sure I am behind Nico. I try not to be superstitious, but our place in line is one thing I don't change.

The line starts to move, and we glide out onto the ice. The arena is on fire, loud, everyone on their feet. There is excitement in the air. One that only exists during playoffs. I find my way to the bench after our little laps and look up into the stands. I try to avoid looking in the stands before games, or if I do it quick, just taking inventory of who is sitting directly behind us. Today is different.