Hopefully the picture of Juliet will appear on the side ;)
Chapter 39:
Juliet's POV:
My leg bounced again as I sat in my little stall. No music was playing tonight as everyone was nervous.
"If we win this game. We get the cup." Dion said. I felt a little sad for him. He was being traded over the summer. The captain position would be open and given to someone else on the team.
"Demon, you need to score us some goals." Lupul smiled warmly. He was right; I was on fire during the playoffs. I was averaging two goals a game, which was extremely impressive for a rookie and a female.
"I will try my best." I vowed.
"As you always do. Are you all ready to go out?" Carlyle asked. Everyone nodded and slid on their helmets as I did mine. I buckled up the last strap and took a deep breath before walking out of the dressing room. The stadium was roaring with cheer that it calmed me a little bit. All these people came to watch and support us. The Jumb-O-tron showed outside at the Maple Leafs square and it was packed with fans. I smiled and walked out to see Caleb and I's families. I hit Beverly's hand before stepping onto the ice.
I was moved to first line because of my improvement and I took a deep breath as I stepped up to the faceoff.
"Let's have a good game boys, and lady." The ref said smiling at me. I forced a smile as the puck slid out of his hand. I instantly pulled it back and everything went insanely fast. The puck was moved up the ice by Kessel and he went to slide it back to Gardiner but a winger on Tampa was already coming back. It caused a turn-over and I busted my ass to get back. As I came back Tampa lined up and slid it back to their defence he wound up and I laid down. As I was turning my head something hard hit my ear and I yelled in pain.
The side of my head was hot and I couldn't hear anything as blood poured onto the ice. I held the side of my head and pulled back my glove to find it dripping in blood. I laid on my side and looked up at Caleb's worried eyes.
"Don't move, Greg is coming." He said referring to our trainer. I took deep steady breaths and a cloth was pressed to my head.
"Straight to the dressing room." He ordered as guys helped me up. I couldn't hear anything out of the left side of my face and it scared me. I walked off and clutched the towel to my head and walked to the dressing room. Our team doctor was already there and I threw off my gloves and sat on the table. They carefully pulled off my helmet and grimaced.
"We are going to need to stitch it. Do you have a headache or anything?" He asked. I shook my head no but he did not look reassured. He ordered me to lay down and he pulled out a needle and thread and I cringed as he began stitching my ear. It seemed like an eternity before he finnally pulled away. He grabbed a square piece of gauze and placed it over and taped it to my head and placed an ice pack on.
"It is too swollen right now. There is eight minutes left in the period. Keep this on it and you will play the rest of the game." I nodded and continued to lay on the table in pain and breathing deeply. Soon enough I heard a ruffling into the changeroom and someone came over to me.
"How are you feeling?" Carlyle asked.
"I am in a lot of pain, but I'm fine." I assured. It was the last game. No way was he sitting me out for this. He patted my shoulder and smiled.
"If anything is wrong, you let me know kid." He said. I nodded and sat up leaving the ice pack on my ear. I walked into the quiet changeroom and everyone watched me.
"You alright, girl?" Bozak asked. I smiled at their concern.
"Nothing hurts me." I said taking off the ice packet.
"That's disgusting." Rielly gagged. Everyone laughed at his rection and I reached up to feel the cold cloth.
"There is blood on the gauze and all over your jersey." He said and I looked down. My jersey was spattered with blood. I shrugged and looked at my bloody helmet. Our equipment manager came over with fresh gloves for me.
"The other ones were drenched in blood. I'll clean your helmet." He said and I nodded and then looked towards Caleb who was staring at me worriedly. I met his eyes and smiled and he gave me a weak one in return.
"It is zero-zero. We need a goal."Carlyle said. I was given my helmet back and Greg came over with new gauze.
"It was quickly done so I don't want it to get dirty or anything. I will probably have to change it a couple times during the game. Try not to block shots okay?" He chuckled. I smiled and nodded as he taped over new gauze.
Minutes later we were back out on the ice and I skated to the faceoff. As the puck drop I slid it back to Gardiner and skated forwards. He passed it to me and I toe-dragged between both the defencemens legs. I skated up to Bishop and pulled it to my backhand. I went to roof it and he got his glove up and saved it. I stared wide-eyed as the ref blew the whistle. I always scored on him like that and he finally saved it. The crowd was speechless as was I and I went back to the bench. The whole game he blocked everyone of my shots. It was the final two minutes and we were still tied zero-zero. Carlyle called a time out and everyone came to the bench.
"We need a goal. I want everything to the net okay?" He said. We all nodded and were sent to the ice in our end. I won the face off back and I zoned out. I could feel my ear heat up and blood trickled down my neck. As I received the puck from Rielly I skated up to the defence men. As I easily went past them I skated to the net. As I stared for open spots I was suddenly down flat on my face. As I turned the ref blew the whistle and the defence sighed.
"Penalty shot!" The ref yelled. I blinked a few times before getting back up as the puck was laid at centre ice. The crowd was quiet as I skated over to it. There was ten seconds left in the game and if I scored, we would win the Stanley cup. The ref moved back and blew the whistle signaling me to go.
I skated towards the puck and my heavy breathing was the only sound I heard. I gracefully carried the puck down, as I reached Bishop I faked going to my back hand and then slid it between my legs and roofed it to the back of the net. I stopped as the red buzzer went off and the ref held out his hand signaling a goal.
I raised my hands in the air and turned to the bench as they yelled with smiles on their faces. I skated to the bench and hit their gloves and then skated to Caleb and we tapped our helmets together. As the puck dropped we held onto it until the buzzer went out and everyone's gloves and helmets were off. I was immediately trampled by my team as they patted my helmet and the horn went off.
"You did it Demon!" Caleb yelled.
"We did it!" I said raising my arm.
YOU ARE READING
