The Sweetest Save

Draft

Tuure nervously ran his fingers through his curly brown hair as he climbed on the plane. He and Anja, who had been an official couple for almost six years, were in Helsinki, the capital of their original home country of Finland. They were boarding a flight to Ottawa, which is where the 2005 NHL Entry Draft would be taking place the next day.

It was predicted that Ilves Tampere goaltender Tuure Raskinen would be selected in the first round.

No one could be sure which exact pick he would be, and they didn't even have an estimate. Tuure was very nervous about the entire event. He knew he probably wasn't good enough to be selected by the Montréal Canadiens, his second favorite team, who would be picking fifth. Tuure hoped he wasn't good enough to be selected by the team he hated the most, the Chicago Blackhawks, who held the seventh pick.

His dream would be getting drafted 24th overall to his favorite NHL team of all time, the St. Louis Blues.

As he sat in his seat, Tuure looked at his beautiful girlfriend and imagined what their life would be like together once he was officially in the National Hockey League for good. They would move to the city whose team he'd be playing for. Eventually, after maybe a few years, he'd be a permanent member of the team. He and Anja would officially buy a house with their own money. There, they would live happily together for the rest of Tuure's career.

He and Anja would get married at some point. Tuure was actually planning on proposing on June 15, 2009, their tenth anniversary. Anja would have a few kids after that. Tuure hoped that at least one of them would be a girl, since he had always wanted the loving connection that only a father and a daughter could have. He could not explain why he wanted this, but he knew he did.

Their kids would hopefully grow up to be wonderful, successful adults, and Tuure and Anja would grow old together.

Anja looked back at Tuure and smiled. "You are giving me quite the look. What are you thinking about?"

"Just what life is going to be like after the draft," Tuure sighed. "It could go many different ways, but I want to go through it all with you by my side."

Anja blushed. "That's so sweet, Tuure. I wish for the same exact thing."

Luckily for them, their flight was nonstop, so they were able to arrive in the early hours of July 30, which was the day of the draft. After everyone took a quick nap to recover from plane fatigue, they all gathered together in order to decide their plans for the day.

In the end, Tuure's parents, Juuse, Tuure, and Anja decided that they would all have lunch first. Then, they would go out shopping for a few hours. After dinner, they would go to the draft.

As Tuure and Anja walked to the restaurant, Juuse Raskinen noticed that his older brother's girlfriend was fiddling with her necklace, which had a Montréal Canadiens charm on it.

"Anja, do you think Tuure will be a Hab?" Fifteen-year-old Juuse asked. The young woman turned to him, her long black hair swaying behind her.

"Maybe," she shrugged. "It would certainly be fun!"

"Probably not, though," Tuure added. "They're picking fifth overall. I'm good, I guess, but I don't think I'm good enough to go fifth overall. Not many goalies can do that. I probably have a better chance of going twenty-fourth to the St. Louis Blues."

"My second choice," Anja said.

"I hope my brother gets to be a Blue!" Juuse squeaked.

Tuure's chance of going to the Montréal Canadiens was eliminated when the Habs selected Carey Price.

"Damn it," Tuure sighed. "They picked a goalie, but not me."

"The next-best pick is 24," Juuse stated. "We might be here for a while."

An hour passed, and nineteen young men had been sent to different NHL teams. Tuure Raskinen was still waiting nervously in his seat.

With their twentieth overall pick, the Florida Panthers selected Kenndal McArdle. Tuure watched as Kenndal walked up to the stage with a grin on his face that nearly blinded everyone. He shook the hands of some of the people on stage before someone gave him his jersey and hat. Kenndal poses for a picture before walking offstage to join the rest of the picks.

"The Bruins and Maple Leafs pick next," Anja commented while the whole sequence with Kenndal was happening on the stage.

"What will you do if my brother plays for one of the two teams that you hate?" Juuse Raskinen asked his older brother's girlfriend.

"It will be tough to cheer for a team I hate, but I'll still love and support him," Anja answered, resting her small hand on Tuure's arm.

"And with the twenty-first overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft, the Boston Bruins select, from Ilves Tampere of the Finnish Liiga, Tuure Raskinen."

The announcement came in the middle of the conversation, and everyone in the Raskinen group was shocked.

"Oh naida*," Tuure swore in Finnish, and his mother glared at him.

When Tuure realized the cameras were on him, he knew he needed to act happy. He put a smile on his face and stood up to hug his family. He tightly embraced his parents, Juuse, and Anja.

"I'm sorry that I'm a Bruin," Tuure whispered in Anja's ear.

His girlfriend smiled sweetly and kissed his cheek. "It's okay."

Tuure felt pride swell in his chest as he made his way down the stairs and onto the floor of the lobby. He felt like he was floating as he made his way towards the stage, the eyes of hundreds of people focused on him. Normally, there would be thousands, but the 2005 NHL Entry Draft was different. It was taking place inside a hotel, not in an arena. Because of limited capacity, only the top twenty ranked prospects were allowed to go, five from each of the four specific groups of skaters and goalies. Tuure was ranked number one in European goalies, so he got to be there when he was drafted.

He felt extremely honored and proud to have reached this milestone. Tuure's anger over having to be a Boston Bruin faded away as soon as he stepped up onto the stage.

After shaking the hands of a few people who were in charge of the Bruins and the NHL, Tuure reached the person who was holding his first ever Bruins jersey. Once the young boy nodded at him, Tuure lifted the jersey over his head and looked down.

He never thought he would ever wear a Boston Bruins jersey with his very own name on the back, but here he was.

Someone else handed him a Bruins baseball cap, and Tuure threw it on his head.

"Face this way, Mr. Raskinen!" A photographer shouted from in front of him, and Tuure immediately turned his head towards the camera. He flashed a big, proud smile as the photographers took a picture of him.

Tuure Raskinen was officially the newest member of the Boston Bruins.

*"Fuck" in Finnish