Dream On (Jonathan Toews)

Chapter Twenty| All Good Things Come To An End

Jonathan

24 games in and we have gotten a point in every single one of them. 21-0-3 to be exact. It's kind of crazy to think about what we've been doing out here. Hockey isn't like other sports where teams go on streaks like this. It's hard and unpredictable which makes what we're doing that much more impressive. Maybe the lockout really was the best thing to happen to us. Maybe Mary Kate is our good luck charm. I don't know. And although it is inevitable that we'll lose a game in regulation, it's pretty impeccable what's going on around here.

After a tight win against the Av's yesterday we flew out to Colorado to play them again tonight. Since it was the second of back to back games Joel didn't have us practice today so I was able to wake up on my own. "Good morning sleepy head" I say softly. Mary Kate rolls over with that bright smile on her face as usual and taps my nose. "Morning Jon" she says messing with my hair. We lay there in each other's embrace until she decides to get up to take a shower. After a while she comes out in a sports bra and spandex again and I find myself staring... again. She never says anything to me when I do but she knows what's happening. "Wanna do a light workout downstairs in the hotel gym" she asks and I nod. We head down and warm up on the treadmill before hitting the weights and elliptical. "I think your abs are getting better than mine" I laugh looking at us in the mirror. "Okay, but your arm muscles are real fucking huge" she says wrapping her gentle hands around my arm. "We're really cute together" I tell her looking back into the mirror. "We are, aren't we" she smiles.

Come game time it look liked our worse fears were coming true. Defense wasn't doing much of anything and the same goes for offense. I wasn't expecting for us to play to a high level every game but never imagined we would play this bad. The same team we beat yesterday was now handing us our asses on a silver platter. I usually never count us out of a game but this one couldn't end soon enough. "This is hell" Hossa mumbles as the Avs score yet another goal. "Yup, pretty much" I agree. It sounds bad when the captain of a team that is currently 21-0-3 complains about a loss but man, this was making me sick. We end up losing 6-2 and no one said much in the locker room. We've never been beat by more than one goal all season and we weren't sure what to say. After removing all my pass and under armor I hop in the shower and let the hot water roll down my body. To be honest I was a little relieved that streak was over, all the talk and hype, people were starting to forget the good old fundamentals of hockey. It's all people ever talked about and all we wanted to do was play hard and have fun doing it. We never got cocky, I wouldn't allow it. But we were proud of what we accomplished, no other team had done that before and probably wouldn't do it again any time soon. As I finish up my shower I head out to change and go to the plane. We do our interviews which were painful and agitating. The bigger they are the harder they fall I guess. I give my statements before heading home.

I let out a long breath and slide into the seat on the plane next to Mary Kate. "Hi" she says with a cheesy grin and I couldn't help but laugh. No matter how angry or upset I was, she always made me feel better. "Hi" respond matching her grin. She quickly kisses my cheek and I feel her take some of the weight off my shoulders in the process. "Why does this hurt so bad" I ask looking into those oceans of eyes. "Because this team means more to you than you will ever know. It's more than just a team, it's a family and you're the heartbeat. You don't play for yourself, you play for them and the fans so you feel their pain too. I'm not gonna say get over it because what you did was historical and it's upsetting that it has to be left in the past in order to keep moving forward. I'm not going to say it was just one game because in this shortened season we both know how important every game is. I'm not going to lie to you just to make you feel better, you deserve better than that and you aren't stupid. But I am am going to say this. Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" she says lightly running her fingers along my jawline. I close my eyes and let her words sink in. "How do you always know the right thing to say" I ask her. "Because I don't treat you the same I would treat, say Patrick. Patrick liked the physical comfort and just needs to be reminded how good he is every once in a while. Crow wants to hear that his stats are far better than anyone else's and it's not just because of your great defense. It's easier to deal with people when you can just tell them what they want to hear as long as it still holds true" she admits. "That sounds like cheating" I laugh. "It is, but you feel better don't you" she asks and I nod. "Exactly".

As the season goes on we continue to win, and when we did lose Mary Kate was the first person I went to for comfort. Our home record was kind of frightening, but when at least 21,000 of the 22,000 fans in the united center are Blackhawks fans, we take advantage of it. We finish out the regular season with a record of 36-7-5, the best in the league by far. Along with the presidents trophy we had home ice for any playoff rounds which was music to our ears. We didn't really care where we played but preferred to be home. First round we were playing against the Wild and we were all more than excited to face them.