Problems With Love

Chapter 30

Brandon's POV

It's the 3rd period. Score tied at 4. 2:14 left. I sit on the bench watching the game. Jared almost scores but it's blocked last second. Time's ticking down. 1:03. 1:02. 1:01. 1:00. "One minute remaining in regulation. One minute!" the announcer says.

Finally it's my shift.

I hit the ice with Kane and Shaw. We're down in our zone but quickly move the puck out. Shaw has the puck. 30.7 left. He passes to me. I get as close to the net as I can. I shoot but Niemi blocks. 15 seconds. Shaw gets the rebound. He passes back to me. I pass to Kane. 9 seconds. He shoots. 5 seconds. 4 seconds. 3 seconds. I watch the puck fly past Niemi and hit the back of the net. The United Center erupts. Everyone jumps to their feet as The goal horn sounds. Chelsea Dagger starts blasting through the Madhouse. Kane drops to his knees and does his heart-breaker celly. We all surround Kaner to celebrate. "Nice goal man!" I say. We head back to the bench and fist bump everyone and head back to center ice. The puck drops. The Sharks try one last rush but time runs out. Final score, 5-4. We go down and say good job to Crow.

The whole team gathers at center ice. We skate around the logo and raise our sticks. The fans are at their feet cheering. I swear the hawks fans are the best fans in the whole league. Possibly in the whole world of sports.

Then we head back to the locker room for the 3 stars of the game. "You're number 3 star of the game with 1 goal and 1 assist from the Blackhawks, number 81! Marian Hossa!!" Hoss skates out onto the ice. He skates in a small circle in the spotlight raising his stick. The crowd cheers Then he heads back to the locker room with the rest of the guys. "You're number 2 star if the game with 4 assists from the Blackhawks, number 20! Brandon Saad!" I smile. I skate out onto the ice and did the same thing as Hossa, the crowd still cheering. "And your number 1 star of the game with 2 goals from the Blackhawks, number 88! Patrick Kane!" He goes out does his circle salute and an interview and heads back to the locker room.

After Kaner's interview the 3 of us head back to the locker room. The locker room is a crazy bustle of guys talking and interviews and post game workouts.

I walk over to my stall and take my jersey and pads off. I sit down and take a swig of Gatorade. The media almost immediately swarms me with questions.

Time skip

After the media left, I took a quick shower and change into normal street clothes. "Hey Manchild! The whole team's going celebrate the win! Wanna come?" Corey asks. "Yeah of course! Where are we going?" I respond. "Harry Carrey's!" he says. "Sweet! I love that place!"

I go out to my car and drive to the restaurant/bar. By the time I got there, the while team was there. I walk in and get a beer. I find Shawzie and go talk to him for a while. Then I see Kristen. I smile. She looks beautiful. She's wearing a red Crawford jersey, black yoga pants that end at her mid-calf, and black vans with white laces. Her long hair is French braided on top and goes into a pony tail. She has only a small layer of make-up on. I walk over and hug her from behind. I kiss her head. She turns and smiles. "Hey Brandon," she says hugging me. "Great game tonight!" "Thanks," I smile. We sit and spend the next few hours talking with Andrew and Chelsea, and Ellie and Corey. I put my arm around Kristen. She smiles and rests her head on my shoulder and puts her hand on my leg.

A few beers later I start to notice some guys getting pretty drunk. I have only had 3 beers so I wasn't really drunk. Jared however, is really drunk. He stumbles over by us. "Hey Kirsten," he slurs. She sits up quickly. I feel her body tense up.