The Hockey Life - A Patrick Kane Fanfic

Party Seventy-Five - Hockey's Back

PART SEVENTY-FIVE: HOCKEY’S BACK

Dylan’s P.O.V.

It was the moment of truth. I had spent months of my summer training and staying in shape for my hockey career, and it was finally time to play on Blackhawk ice. Not a real game or anything - it was only our first practice - but still. It meant a lot to me. I arrived early; much earlier than any of the other players. I just wanted my first Hawks practice to happen already, plus, it wouldn’t hurt to make a good first impression for some of the staff and players that didn’t truly know me. I was already dressed before any of my teammates arrived, and Sharpy just laughed at me when he saw me sitting by my stall in full practice uniform.

“Rookie,” he mumbled, and I gave him a shove.

“Hey! You were one, once,” I reminded him.

After a few minutes, the whole team was dressed and ready to go, and Lena had showed up in her trainer jacket looking ready for whatever the day would bring her.

“Hey. Ready for your first practice?” she wondered.

“I was born ready,” I told her cockily.

I headed out onto the ice and went through some familiar drills as well as some unfamiliar ones. The new things were difficult to adjust to at first, but I wasn’t too worried about them - I was a fast learner. I got to know some of my teammates a little better and even though they didn’t hesitate to treat me like a rookie, it was an overall good first practice in my eyes.

The first day seemed to be the icebreaker. After that, everything quickly turned into a routine. I felt good on the ice, but the preseason arrived abruptly. I didn’t play during the first few games, which honestly was a relief to me. But then Coach Q told me I was going to be in goal one day at practice, and I thought I was going to die. I immediately turned to Corey Crawford for help.

“The first game is always the scariest, preseason or not,” he admitted. “But everyone knows it’s a first for you and you’re going to be nervous and make mistakes. That’s okay. It’s only the preseason right now, so it’s not a big deal. Just try not to be too hard on yourself. I’m guilty of that a lot, but you just have to keep your head up.”

I was still afraid after that, so I went to Lena for support. I texted her a few hours before game time.

<Hey.

>Hey Dylan, what’s up??’

<Nm, just freaking out, nbd

>Still nervous, huh?

<Extremely.

>You have every right to be nervous, but just try not to let it consume you, okay?? You’re excited, right??

<Of course I am. Excitement just isn’t my main feeling right now.