The Road to the Cup ~ Wattys 2015

Beau?

The plane ride was quiet. The guys didn't say much to each other, to me, or to Johnston. It was nerve wracking for me because I didn't like it when they were quiet. I knew that I had to get them talking or they'd all go to bed frustrated.

"Guys, listen up. We need to talk this out before any of you fall asleep. Beau, is Tanger asleep back there? Oh, jeez. Wake him up for me, will you? Thanks," I ran my hands through my hair, "Alright guys, like I was saying, we need to talk this out. It wasn't our best game, but you don't need me to tell you that. There are things we can work on, and we will do that as soon as we hit the ice tomorrow. But for now, what are things you guys want to work on, either individually or as a team?" I looked around at the guys. They were studying random things around the plane compartment from their fingernails to the darkness out their windows to ceiling and the carpet.

"Well, don't share all at once," Johnston called.

Marc-Andre Fleury sighed, "We need to work on defense. It kind of fell apart there at the end a little bit."

Some of the defenders nodded. "Energy," Ian Cole said.

"Chemistry," Lapierre added, "Like on individual lines. We've got good team chemistry."

"No let get in our heads," Evgeni added.

"Yeah, I really want to work on that because I'm guilty of it, too," I nodded and smiled at my favorite Russian.

"We need to maintain our intensity. We're all physically fit so playing with the same intensity shouldn't be an issue but it is," Sidney said, clearly frustrated.

"I think part of that is the mental aspect of the game. If we can keep clear heads and an optimistic view of the game, we can win," I said, trying really hard to not make it sound like a lecture.

"Good, we've got a list of things to work on, now let's get ready to go, we'll be there in a few minutes," Johnston said.

The next morning's practice was quick, but we managed to work on the things we wanted to. Afterwards, we went out to lunch and I decided we should take a field trip.

"Who wants to come exploring with me?" I asked. The guys cast skeptical glances at me. They probably wanted to sleep or play wii, but I wasn't having any of that. "Think of it as team bonding," I suggested and they rolled their eyes and stood up. Sidney came to stand next to me and Geno took my other side.

"Where are we going?" Sutter asked, after we started walking.

"Well, I figured that the art museums are a bad idea since all of y'all are big guys and you might 'accidentally' check a priceless statue," I said with air quotes for emphasis.

"Rude," Geno muttered.

"And I don't know how interested you guys would be in American History, but the Natural History Museum might be nice. They have dinosaur exhibits-"

"Jagr is in a museum??" Beau asked.

"No," I laughed, "He won't be with the dinosaurs, but he might be with the mummies."

"What else is there?" Sidney asked.

"I think The National Geographic magazine has a photography exhibit. The Hope Diamond is there, mummies, animals from all of the continents. There's a ton of cool stuff. And tonight, if you guys want to, we can go on the night monuments tour."

"Is there a difference?" Olli asked.

"Yeah, it's at night," Ian replied.

"The monuments are all lit up-" I began.