Stadium Series 2014
The remainder of 2013 passed as normal for me. Amanda went to the Stanley Cup Parade in Chicago. She had a great time, while I caught bits of it on the news and over social media. I didn't have TV at home besides NetFlix, so once the 2013-2014 season started, I only caught the occasional Blackhawks game when I was at my parents' house. I did ask and receive my Shaw shirt for Christmas, which I wore proudly every other Friday on jean day at work. I wasn't yet vested in Hawks like Amanda was, as the buzz of watching that first game and the excitement of winning the Stanley Cup had faded for me.
In March of 2014 was when the hockey bug bit again, and this time it wouldn't fade. I was out at a dinner function for work. On the TV in the room was the Blackhawks V. Penguins stadium game at Solider Field. I watched intently as the snow came down harder and harder making it impossible to see the puck. I watched as the ice crew shoveled inches and inches of snow off the ice.
I said to my co-worker, Steve, "How in the world are they even seeing the puck?"
"I don't think they can." Steve said.
The announcers kept talking about the difficulty of playing outside, especially in the snow. They talked about the difficulty in judging the reflection of the puck off the ice and not having any normal markings to discern the trajectory of the puck. However somehow, the Blackhawks goalie, Corey Crawford, stopped the puck time and time again.
It was that game that my love of Corey Crawford truly began, and it has yet to diminish. After that game, I made more of an effort to watch the Hawks games online or I would happen to be at my parents' house or out at dinner on game nights. I began intently following the happenings of the Blackhawks and Corey Crawford. I followed the Blackhawks on Facebook and Twitter. I was beginning to be able to hold conversations with my friend, Amanda, about the Hawks. It pretty much became an obsession to find out as much as I could about Corey Crawford.
Later that month, I was in Dick's Sporting Goods looking to get my son some cleats for baseball when I saw it: a black Stadium Series shirt with the #50. Crawford! I immediately grabbed it. I still have it and wear it regularly even after all this time and even though the black has faded and the numbers are cracked.
Little did I know that purchasing that shirt would change my life.
YOU ARE READING
Netting Crow (Blackhawks Fan-Fiction)
FanficThe moment when you discover a new passion and it takes you on a path you never imagined. This is the story of a fan netting the one person she never thought she would, Corey Crawford.
