The Hockey Life - A Patrick Kane Fanfic

Part Six - The Interview

PART SIX: THE INTERVIEW

The next morning was my last one at my parents’ house until Christmas. My mom knew that so she made breakfast for me - chocolate chip pancakes. I got ready quickly so I would have time to enjoy them, but before I knew it, it was time to go.

When I got to the UC I realized that Dylan had parked next to me, because he was just getting out of his car when I arrived. We walked in together and by then going in and meeting up with Brad and our fellow interns seemed like a routine to me. The only thing that wasn’t routine about it was that we didn’t always know exactly what we would be doing when we came in.

“So what do you think we’re doing today?” I asked Dylan.

“Who knows? I hope it’s something good, though.”

After a couple minutes, every intern was there and Brad was too. He finally explained to us what we would be doing and it both made my day and ruined it at the same time.

“As I told you yesterday, today you all will be working more with the media side of things. As you know, the Hawks are always talking to the media, whether it’s post game or post practice interviews, Blackhawks TV videos, NHL specials, or even the annual Blackhawks conventions. Here at the UC, we have people whose jobs are to talk to the players in situations like this, mostly for practices and games. Today, you all are going to find out what that’s like. You each are allowed to choose one player to interview. There will be cameras around to film these interviews so that you can get a feel for what it would be like to have a media job like this. If you do a good job on your interview, we will edit the film and it will be posted on Blackhawks TV for the fans to see.”

At first, I was extremely excited. I would get to interview a Blackhawk! More specifically, I would get to interview Patrick Kane! And that’s when I realized how much of a problem that would be. If I got as tongue tied around him today as I did yesterday, I would be in big trouble.

I didn’t necessarily have to interview him, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to have a good talk with who I saw as the most inspirational player on the team about my favorite sport. It would have to be him.

I thought this all over as the other interns talked, clearly really looking forward to their interviews. I was spacing out, stuck in my own little complicated world, and Dylan seemed to notice that I was the only one who wasn’t talking.

“How cool is this? We actually get to talk to the players! Best day ever!” he exclaimed, getting my attention.

“Oh, yeah, it’s awesome. A once in a lifetime opportunity that I’ve always wanted,” I answered unenthusiastically.

“Well if you’ve always wanted to do this then why don’t you seem happier?”

“Because I have to talk to Patrick Kane, and I don’t know if you remember yesterday, but that wasn’t even a real conversation and I screwed it up. How am I supposed to have a whole interview with him?” I worried.

“Just focus on the game you know well. Think about the sport and all the things you’ve wanted to ask him. Maybe if you focus really hard on the things you want to talk to him about, you’ll forget about the other stuff and you’ll get through it easier,” Dylan suggested. I wasn’t sure if his advice would help or not, but I didn’t have much time to wonder about it. Before long we were going into the locker room after practice to do our interviews.

When I got in there, I watched everyone else go to their players they had chosen to talk to. Puck Bunny had chosen Andrew Shaw, which wasn’t surprising to me. He was one of the many players she had attempted to charm the day before. Alex, the most outgoing intern in the group, had chosen Jonathan Toews. Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith had also been chosen. Dylan chose Corey Crawford, and then there was me, extremely reluctant to make my way over to Kaner. I took a deep breath finally and went over to him.