The crowd saw a captain grinding through a difficult night.
I saw my best friend trying to carry too much weight.
Fortunately, hockey is a team sport.
When T-Mills couldn't find his game, the rest of us stepped up.
Wayne spent the night creating chaos in front of Vancouver's net. He took cross-checks, absorbed punishment, and somehow kept smiling through all of it. The veteran looked like he was having the time of his life.
I found mine.
Midway through the second period, Tannen fought through traffic along the boards and slipped a pass into open ice. Theplay wasn't flashy. Most fans probably remembered the shot more than the setup.
I’d remembered both.
The puck hit my stick.
I released it without thinking.
A split second later, the goal horn exploded.
Thunder crashed through the arena speakers.
The familiar Halestorm graphic flashed across the jumbotron while turquoise lights pulsed around the building. The crowd erupted to its feet.
The cheers carried more meaning because I knew some of those people weren't only celebrating a goal. They were telling me they were still here.
By the third period, the game had become exactly what rivalry games always become.
Ugly.
Scrappy.
Exhausting.
Vancouver refused to go away. We refused to give them anything easy. Every shift mattered. Every blocked shot drew a roar from the crowd.
When the final horn sounded, Seattle had the win. It wasn't pretty. Nobody would be framing it as an artistic masterpiece. But two points counted the same whether they came from brilliance or stubbornness.
As we gathered near center ice for the customary handshakes and stick taps, I glanced toward Tannen. He looked exhausted… and relieved.
Some nights, your best hockey isn't enough. Other nights, your team carries you. That's what teammates do. And tonight, despite everything that had changed over the last twenty-four hours, we were still a team. Unfortunately, hockey wasn't the only thing waiting for me after the final horn.
The moment we stepped off the ice, the requests started.
Television interviews.
Radio interviews.
League media.
Local media.
National media.
Requests that would have been routine under normal circumstances suddenly multiplied into something else entirely.
By the time I finished showering and dressing, a member of the communications staff was already waiting outside the locker room. "They've added two more interviews."
