"Okay, I have ten more, but I also realize I've been talking for way too long." Another laugh, easier this time. "Can I send you the rest? Text, email, carrier pigeon. Whatever works."
"Text is fine." I pause. "Send me the rest."
I didn't plan to say that. Both parts. Thetext is finewas unnecessary since he'd already suggested it, and thesend me the restwas closer to an invitation than a response.
"Cool. Awesome. Thanks, Ikonen. Really. This helped."
"Avi," I say, surprising myself. "People call me Avi."
"Avi. Got it. Talk soon."
He hangs up. The apartment is the same. The box on the floor, the cold coffee. Everything is exactly where I left it.
I get up. Pull a second book off the shelf. Place it in the box next to the Finnish poetry.
It isn't much. But it's one more than there was an hour ago.
Chapter 4: Avi
The remaining questions arrive over the next two days, in no particular order and with no regard for time zones or normal texting hours.
6:42 a.m.:
Question 7. What's the ice like in Atlanta? Like quality-wise. I know it's hot there and that does things to rink conditions. Sub-question: is it actually as hot as people say or is that just a thing people say? Do you know?
It is, in fact, that hot. I have no idea how the ice will hold up.
Hot. Not sure about the ice. Should be fine.
8:15 a.m.:
Fine like actually fine or fine like hockey-player-fine where fine means terrible but you're being stoic about it
I stare at this for longer than the question deserves.
Adequate.
lmaooo adequate. I'm quoting that in every interview. "Ikonen describes Atlanta's ice as adequate." They'll put it on a banner.
I don't respond to that. But I also don't put the phone down.
The pattern establishes itself. He sends a question, usually three to four sentences longer than necessary, with context and tangents and follow-ups embedded in the original message. I respond in one or two sentences. He reacts to my responses that suggest he's reading more into them than I intended, and the strange thing is he's usually right. People rarely pick up on that.
Question 8 is about the defensive pairings. He wants to know if I've heard anything about who they're targeting, what the blueline might look like. I tell him what Laura's told me, which is general. He asks a follow-up about my playing style that's more specific than I expect from a forward.
You're a left shot, right? Do you have a preference on your partner or are you good either way
I've played with both. I adjust.
That's the most defenseman answer I've ever heard.
Question 9 is about the city itself. Restaurants, neighborhoods, whether I have opinions. I don't have opinions. I've been to Atlanta once and ate at the hotel.
You ate at the HOTEL? Ikonen. Avi. This is a crisis. Atlanta has incredible food. I've been researching. I have a list.
You have a napkin list of restaurants too?
I have SEVERAL napkin lists. I'm a napkin list guy. It's a system.
