NHL Short Stories

daylight - jake oettinger

WC: 1992
Song associated with this story: "Daylight" by Taylor Swift

Taking Jake's hand as we glided along the translucent, lightly snow covered lake as snow fell around us on a chilly, January, Minnesota day.

The Stars were in Minnesota to play the Wild later tomorrow night, but the team took an early flight this morning to land in the State of Hockey for a little day vacation and for the main event. On the plus side, both Jake and I were from Minnesota, so this welcome back to the state always brought happiness inside of the both of us.

"Are you gonna start tomorrow night?" I giggled as we glided along the ice again, taking strides together to keep us balanced.

He chuckled, turning himself backwards, our hands still interlinked together as a blow of chilling wind blew past us. "I started our last game when we were in Winnipeg," he responded. "I'm sure Wedgie will start tomorrow to give me a break,"

I smiled, nearly erupting into a small bustle of laughter as his statement. "You've went six games in a row before," I said, looking into the gaze of his deep, brown eyes.

He rolled his eyes, skating backwards in graceful strides. "Yeah, but that was the playoffs. Regular season is different," he told me, holding tighter as we went faster on the frozen lake.

I giggled again. "I know, I'm just messing around with ya," I said, poking him in the chest with a smirk.

He blushed. "Awh, I know," he giggled. "I always look forward to playing against my childhood team, though,"

"Of course," I responded, a glint of amber sparkling across his deep irises, "Doesn't everyone?"

He shrugged, reflecting the smile I was giving him back at me. "I dunno. It's bittersweet, that's for sure," he chuckled. "Not sure if everyone likes to, but it holds a special place in your heart."

I nodded my head in agreement. "Of course," I responded again.

He looked down at our feet gliding along the frozen lake with our skate blades, holding me tight after he brought me in for a hug. His warm cheek brushed against mine, his breath making its way partially into my ear and past to blow a chunk of my hair away. "Speaking of a special place in your heart," he said, letting go.

I stuffed my hands into my pockets and watched Jake rummage around his thick, winter coat pocket for something. He smiled as our eyes locked each other, then he took his hand out.

"Hey, what's up guys?" asked Wyatt Johnston as him and his girlfriend skated onto the lake that Jake and I were on.

I looked at Jake in confusion. "I thought you said we were gonna be alone, Jake," I told him, nearly drowning at the sight of Wyatt and his girlfriend Haylie gracefully skating around us like what Jake and I were just doing.

Jake glanced at Wyatt and his girlfriend before looking at me. "Sorry, Syd," he said, frowning in defeat. "I didn't realize they were gonna be here,"

I hid my eye roll from Jake, knowing that this wasn't just some coincidence. Minnesota was the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes. There are a lot of lakes around the Minneapolis metropolitan area, so the odds of Jake and Wyatt being at the same one were nearly impossible.

Of course, not that I hated either Wyatt or Haylie. They are both good people, and Haylie and I were really good friends. It was just...Jake and I haven't hung out in a while by ourselves, and a skating date seemed logical since it brought back our old hockey roots from high school here in our home state of Minnesota. Especially since they were a few games away from the all-star game and break, so the Stars were on a race to the midpoint of the season so they could try to keep the first spot in the Central Division during the all-star break.