Netting Crow (Blackhawks Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 1

Stanley Cup Final 2013

I was sitting in my hotel room flipping through the channels on the TV.  I was out of town for a work thing, and I was staying in for the night.  I spent the previous night out having way too good a time, and I paid for it all day.  Tonight I was going to relax, watch some TV and get a decent night's sleep.

As I flipped through the channels, I came upon Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, Boston V. Chicago.  My friend, Amanda, is a huge Blackhawks fan and is always talking about the team and hockey in general.  I'm more of a baseball girl, but there wasn't anything else on so why not see what she was so interested in.  Being from around the Chicago area, it would probably be a good idea to support my local team.

I grabbed my phone and texted Amanda, "Hey, I'm watching this Hawks game. I have no idea what is happening."

She replied, "About time you took my advice.  Just watch.  Eventually you will pick up the different whistles and stuff.  The most important thing is for us to get the puck in the net."

Did she think I was that dumb? "Well obviously!"

I leaned back against the pillows and the headboard watching the game. However, as the game progressed I began inching toward the TV. So much was happening so quickly, this was nothing like the slow-paced baseball games I normally watched. I was getting nervous and excited as the clock began to wind down. I didn't understand anything that was happening, but still I was on the edge of my seat.

Then it happened, Shaw got hit in the face with the puck.  And with that, I was hooked.

I texted Amanda, "OMG!  Shaw just took a puck to the face. That's brutal."

"LOL.  That's nothing; a few games ago Duncan Keith took a puck to the mouth and lost a bunch of teeth." She texted back.

I made my first of many Blackhawks social media posts that night.  Shaw was my favorite player, only because he was the only one I knew.  After I got back home, I picked up a Stanley Cup championship t-shirt and knew that the next shirt I got had to be a Shaw shirt.

You can call me a bandwagon fan if you want. However, my love for the Hawks wasn't caused by their success; it was caused by their desire to win and the joy and determination with how they played the game.

Had I known the passion and pain I would experience from watching that game and becoming a Hawks fan, would I have turned the channel?  I would like to say yes, but then I'd be lying.