Andrew
He’s trying to keep the thought of this being in the Stanley Cup Finals out of his head as he tapes his stick.
Slowly, methodically. One round after another, foot tapping against the mats on the floor that protects the blades of his skates.
He finishes, sets the roll of tape down, and leans his stick against the bench as he stands up.
The locker room is silent.
It’s like last year, but at the same time, completely different. Last year, you could feel the excitement that was like a current under the pressure on everyone’s shoulders. This year it’s the weight of redemption that’s thick in the air.
They're in game five, and he doesn't want to give Florida the space to force a game six .
Andrew wants to win.
He wants to win the last game of his NHL career, score a goal if he’s lucky, and come full circle. He can almost taste the silver of the Stanley Cup as he kisses it and hoists it in the air for a victory lap.
He can’t get ahead of himself. He has to take one minute at a time. Slow and steady until the clock goes off at the end of the third period.
Five things you can see. Four you can touch. Three you can hear. Two you can smell. One you can taste.
He’s not even sure why he ran through the grounding strategy again, when his mind is so still. Old habits die hard, he supposes, and he’d been doing this one for so long it was like second nature.
Danielle and Harper are in the boxes, waiting to watch him play, his name and number on their backs, and that’s all the grounding he needs.
Andrew stands, hits Petrov’s shoulder as he walks through the locker room towards Coach’s office. They’re on home ice tonight, which feels like divine intervention if he’s ever experienced it .
“We got this, Fishy,” Oher says as he passes him, hitting the blade of his skate with his stick as a reassurance.
“We got this,” Andrew echoes, grinning and hoping he looks more confident than he feels. He heads down the hallway, stopping outside the door.
Coach is having a meeting with the team doctor, and playing with a pen. He looks behind Doc, grins when he sees Andrew, and motions for him to come in.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Andrew says, “I just needed to talk to you, Coach.”
“We were done, anyway,” Landry replies. “Sit.”
Doc and vacates the only other chair in the office with a nod, and leaves the room.
“This feels like de ja vu,” Andrew says, “only this time I’m the one who needs to talk to you instead of the other way around.”
“How the tables have turned,” Coach replies. “What’s on your mind?”
“I’m retiring,” Andrew says. Better to rip the band-aid off. “This is my last game.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Coach asks. “You’re retiring? At the top of your game? ”
Andrew nods. “It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but I know it’s the right one. Win or lose, I’m done after this game.”
“Do you mind telling me why ?” Landry asks. “When I sent you off to go soul-searching in the offseason last year I knew it would change your life but not make you decide this.”
“Different priorities,” Andrew says. “Coach, I’ve been playing hockey, professionally, since I was nineteen. It’s time.”
“You could have another three years, at least.”
“I know,” Andrew replies, nodding. “I’ve thought about this every day for the entire season. This wasn’t an easy decision to make, but it’s the right one for me. I wanted to let you know first.”
“Who else knows?”
“Only JT, and my girlfriend, obviously,” Andrew answers. He still loves the way ‘girlfriend’ feels as it rolls off his tongue. He’s also been practicing “fiancée” in secret, and he likes the sound of that even better.
Almost as much as ‘wife’, but he can’t get too far ahead of himself .
“I’ve been talking to JT about it a lot over the last year,” he says, “just to make sure I was really making the right choice.”
“You’re going to have to tell the team,” Coach says, “Before you go on the ice. They deserve to know.”
“I was planning on it,” Andrew says, standing. “I also know that I don’t get a say, but I think you should make Petrov captain next season.”
“I’ll take it into consideration,” Coach says. “You’re sure this is what you want?”
“I haven’t been sure of a lot of things in the last year,” Andrew replies as Coach stands, “except for this. This is the right call for me, coach. I promise.”
Coach steps around his desk and claps him on the shoulder. “Let’s go tell the boys.”
The reaction when he delivers the news is what he expects. Stunned silence at first, then the locker room erupting into protests and questions.
They’re all frustrated that he waited until the literal Stanley Cup Finals to clue them in, but they all are also feeling extra weight of winning on their shoulders. The same weight he feels, only he feels it tenfold. This is his last shot. For all of it .
He has the best team in the world, and he knows that they can win the Cup. Just like he had known it the year before.
Danielle, Harper, Jamie, and Ainsley are all in one of the suites on the second level, and it doesn’t take long for Andrew to spot them. They throw Jamie on the jumbotron and the fans cheer loud enough to blow the roof off the place.
JT hadn’t played in Raleigh for long, but he’d left a legacy no one can really forget during those two years he’d been on the team.
He spots Danielle from his spot on the ice quickly, thanks to that, and he points up to her. She has Harper on her hip and they both wave down at him.
All four of them are dressed in red and black, and he can see the blazing red ‘34’s on Danielle and Harper, and the ‘23’s on JT and Ainsley.
“That your girl?” Petrov asks, skating up next to him. “You’ve been keeping her a secret for the entire season, always rushing her out before anyone can even get a look.”
“That’s her,” Andrew confirms with a grin. “I had to do some pretty heavy convincing to get her here. ”
“What’s with the kid?” Oher asks, using his stick to reach for a puck on Andrew’s other side.
“Her daughter,” Andrew says, “ Our daughter, if she’ll marry me.”
“You weren’t even dating someone last year and now you’re talking marriage and dad life?” Petrov asks with a laugh. “I guess a lot can change in a year.”
“Yeah, it can.”
He’s been here before.
Forty seconds left on the clock, jumping the boards but this time the game is tied and they need a goal to win. Florida is changing lines, and he hits the ice a split-second faster than their new players do.
In hockey, a game that moves so fast you can barely keep up, every second counts.
He’s conscious of every slice of his skates into the ice as he flies into his position, marking a forward at the top of the attack zone. He’s conscious of the seconds ticking down on the clock, and how the fans are screaming at the top of their lungs .
Petrov clears the puck from their defending zone, just hitting it into open space, and Andrew is there, the puck hits the blade of his stick and he takes off down the ice.
It’s him and the goalie.
The score is tied.
He hears the crowd start to chant the final countdown, feels each number like the beat in his chest.
He shoots.
The puck goes under the goalie’s legs, and hits the back of the net.
The clock goes off and the stadium erupts.
They call PNC the Loud House but he’s never, in fifteen years, heard it this loud before. He could go deaf from it, he thinks, and he wouldn’t even care.
He’s just done the one thing he’d dreamed of.
Before he can even process what’s happening, people are running to the front of the arena and slamming on the boards. The team jumps over the wall and crashes into him, hard enough for him to fall on the ice with a laugh as they pile on top of him.
“Holy SHIT bro!” Petrov yells into his ear as they stand. “We won the Stanley Cup! ”
“Damn right we did!” Andrew yells, pulling the younger player into a hug.
Red and black floods his vision, but he’s only looking for one girl.
“Andy!” he hears from behind him. He turns and Jamie is there, running across the ice and grabbing his shoulder as he slides to a stop. “The hell, bro, you won! You just scored the game winning goal!”
“Hell yes, I did,” he says with a grin, “where’s Danielle?”
Jamie points to the team bench. “She’s there. She was going to come onto the ice but was worried about Harper falling if they did.”
Andrew leaves Jamie, skating over to the bench where his family is. Danielle’s eyes are shining with tears, and the smile that splits her face is one he hasn’t seen in months.
She turns around so he can see that she’s got his last name and number on her back, and so does Harper. Damn, if he isn’t sure he’s the luckiest man alive, seeing that up close certainly makes him think he is.
Danielle turns back to face him as he hits the boards, and Harper climbs up onto the ledge. Andrew starts to laugh, and holds his arms out for her .
“There’s my girls!” he reaches for Harper and she launches herself into his arms and wraps her arms around his neck as he catches her. He presses a kiss to her head and she hugs him as tight as she can.
“You did it, dad!” she says, unable to contain her six-year-old excitement. “You won! You scored a goal!”
“Only because you and momma were in the stands,” Andrew says, grinning. “I don’t know if I could have done it without you guys!”
Danielle climbs over the boards to get to him. Andrew hooks an arm around her waist and pulls her to him.
Her hands slide into his hair as he kisses her and the crowd erupts in cheers again.
“I love you,” he says, pulling back and pressing their foreheads together. “We should get married.”
“Okay,” she says with a grin, “but you owe me a ring and we have to wait until after you get your victory lap.”
“Bold of you to assume there isn’t a ring in the center console of my truck for you,” he says, and he kisses her again. “I’m serious, Dani. Marry me.”
“I said I would two seconds ago,” she laughs, “did you think I would change my mind that quickly? ”
“Just wanted to make sure,” he says, pulling away to press another kiss to Harper’s head.
Danielle fits herself into his side, holding tight so she doesn’t slip on the ice. Andrew sets Harper down, and she hooks a hand onto his pants.
A reporter with ESPN on his microphone approaches them from the team bench, anxious to get a word from the captain as the rest of the team celebrates with whoever has made it onto the ice.
Harper hides her face behind his leg, and he’s glad. Andrew doesn’t want his daughter on national television just yet.
“Andrew,” the reporter says with a grin. He hears his voice echoing around the rink and knows he’s on the jumbotron being interviewed. “What a phenomenal end to a spectacular season! Can you give us some thoughts on tonight’s game?”
“We just played our game,” Andrew says with a grin, “the boys and I… we’ve worked hard to get back to this game, and I think it showed in the way we played tonight.”
“And it must have felt nice to have a little bit of redemption from last year,” the reporter says .
Andrew is nodding before he even finishes his statement. “It’s the best feeling in the world to come back from a really, really low place and end up on top like this. I’m really thankful to my team, and the coaches for keeping me and giving me another chance.”
“Any plans for this year’s off season?”
“Well,” Andrew says looking down at Danielle. She’s staring up at him with pride in her eyes and he can’t help but grin at her before looking directly back into the camera. “I’m getting married, and I’m retiring.”
“Can you say that last part again?”
“I’m retiring,” Andrew says, “today was my last game. I’m glad that we were able to pull out a win.”
“Fishy!” Petrov yells. “Get over here, they’re clearing the ice!”
He looks at Danielle, and she takes Harper’s hand.
“We’ll be outside the arena when you’re off the ice,” she says with a smile. “Go have your moment, Captain. We aren’t going anywhere.”
“Damn right you’re not,” he says, kissing her one more time. He makes sure they get back over the boards safely before he skates away to join his team.
He leaves the reporter stunned behind him .
He never said he was too proud to cry.
Andrew gets a picture with Coach and the cup, and then he lifts it over his head and skates around the rink with it. The fans erupt in to cheers, and someone starts chanting “Thank you Fisher!” at the top of their voice.
The rest of the crowd joins in as he skates, eyes blurring as he lowers the cup to his face so he can kiss it, hoisting it above his head again.
When he reaches his team again, he kisses the Cup one more time and passes it off to his Alternate Captain, Jacobs, who skates away.
Andrew falls to his knees on the ice, the emotions overwhelming him as he cries. Different feelings had sloshed around his stomach like a weighty cocktail before finally bursting forth into tears.
“You good, Fish?” Petrov asks.
Andrew nods. “Just needed a second, that’s all.”
He looks up into the stands, only to see Ainsley, Danielle, JT and Harper watching him. Danielle and Ainsley have tears in their eyes, JT is holding Harper in his arms .
He presses his fingers to his mouth, blows them all a kiss, and waves. He knows he couldn’t have done this without them.
Later, Andrew exits the arena, bag over his shoulder, jersey buried inside, and he walks right into the arms of the girl who’ll have his heart for the rest of his life.
Harper hugs around his waist, and he knows that he would take his little family over hockey any day of the week.