" i was so blinded by you
the way that you love me
and all it takes from me "
Jo Wyatt comes from a family of dedicated hockey fans living in Plymouth, Michigan, home of the National Team...
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⟶ 7:45 PM
THE GAME IS STILL TIED, and at this point it's anybody's to win. Eli is currently moving the puck down the ice, dropping it off to Erin who soon gets chased into a corner by Trevor. "Trevor! Get your ass out of here, I'm trying to score!" Erin laughs at him as he just tries to hold her against the boards to be a pest.
"What? I can't hear you, sorry! Hey, Liam come get the puck, I found it just sitting over here!" Trevor messes with her, waiting for Liam to scoop the puck away from my friend.
As soon as Liam is a safe distance away he lets her go, "Oh, Erin! There you are, we were looking for you," he laughs while she attempts to beat him up. They each skate off, now focused back on the game.
I glide up the rink, keeping my eye on Liam in case he tries to make a pass. Jack eventually catches up to him, fighting for the puck until Cole carries it away from the pair, so I call out for him to pass it to me because I'm only a few yards from the goal and could hopefully win us the game. He shoots it in my direction, but just as I'm about to get a handle on it, Eli the speed demon flies in front of me to steal the puck and makes a quick turn to take it back in the opposite direction.
"You're slower than a damn Zamboni, Jo," Cole jokes with his goofy smile.
"Keep it to yourself, Cole. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to chirp at your own teammates!" he laughs and speeds off toward the fastest fourteen year old on Earth.
With little resistance from our team, Eli scores the winning goal and does his extravagant celebration that comes with every goal he's ever made. A combination of what looks like fist pumps, air guitar, and some kneeling? No one knows, but he loves doing it.
I wish I could say I was disappointed, but I know this is just the icing on the cake that completes Eli's perfect birthday. From starting off the day at Five Guys Burgers to ending it playing with a handful of NTDP players, I can confidently say this was Eli's best day ever.
I know that today is meant for my younger brother, but I'm kind of sad it's over, too. Messing around with Liam's friends felt so easy, it was like we'd met before. After one night of hanging out with them, I think I might miss them a little. In a few days the feeling will have passed and I'll be able to remember it as 'The Time I Played Against National Team Development Program Players (and almost won). While it's sad that it's over, I'm sure I'll see them again at their games or possibly if Liam ever decides to invite them over.
The nine of us return to the benches to take off our skates since our parents will probably be expecting us to come home soon. "So, Jo, what's with the Blues sweater?" Trevor asks, pointing to my Tarasenko jersey.
"We used to live in Missouri before we moved up here, I'm a big Tarasenko girl," I admit, flexing my favorite clothing item for a moment.
But of course, Erin has to knock me down, "She one of those girls that likes to think liking the Blues is a personality trait, don't ask her about it too much or she might get the wrong idea," she jokes and we laugh because we both know it's true. No matter where we live, no matter where I go, I'm always going to be a Blues fan. It's the one thing I felt like I was able to bring with me when we moved to Michigan, it was the one thing that was mine. Of course I know the Blues aren't mine, per se, but as an eight year old moving states, moving schools, moving houses, I felt like I didn't have anything from home. So until Michigan felt like home, the Blues were my piece of it.
