Part 3 - Pure Gold

Now, for those of you who actually know Canadian hockey, Brent Seabrook is not 17 years old. He’s 19. But he’s part of the story because he was my escort, for all intents and purposes, until he was back in the line up. Plus he was the first member of Team Canada that I met that I didn’t already know.

For me that was important, because while Dion was busy, Brent was kind of my in. He was my ticket to the life behind the scenes. In Red Deer it was different because everyone knew me and I knew everyone. I didn’t NEED Dion. And with ‘Dub stuff, if I go into Calgary or down to Medicine Hat or whatever, Dion was always there for me after the game. He took his major junior team seriously and all, but this was Team Canada. Already this team was being billed the BEST Team Canada ever. I couldn’t very well expect him to be able to get to me right away after the game.

Brent came up to the room, pronounced my outfit hot, despite my teasing that D always had something to change about what I was wearing around 4:30. I grabbed a cab around 6:30. I didn’t need to be at the rink for hours before the game.

The game was frickin’ awesome. We were playing Finland, a team that was supposed to be one of the potential top teams in the tournament. Canada ended up winning 6-0. We dominated physically as well as on the scoreboard. It was fucking awesome. I was so impressed.
Brent and I had sat together, though he’d had to field a few questions from a couple of reporters as well as sign a few autographs. It didn’t bother me though, I was content to sit back, have a beer or two and watch the game. Watching D play is like watching a freight train at times. He just runs people over.

After the game I turned to Brent. “What now?” I asked. “I know you guys have to play again in a couple of days, but what’s going on tonight?”

Brent grinned. “Dion did say you liked a good party.”

I shrugged. “I don’t care if it’s a party.” I said. “I just want to know what’s on tonight. I’m too wired to sleep.”

“Me too.” He said. “We’ll probably just hang out in people’s hotel rooms, but you’re welcome to join us.” He paused, and grinned. “D will probably insist on it anyway.”

I grinned. “Well I’ll just be glad for the chance to talk to D today… you know, after the game, when he actually has something to say, apart from grunting a few times or mumbling a yes or no.”

Brent laughed. “That’s Neufy for you.” He said. “Eye on the prize when it comes to game day.”

“So are you going back on the bus or can you come with me?” I asked, as we headed down to the locker room area (a trip that took a lot longer then it should have).

“She’s with me.” Brent said, an arm around my shoulders, as we headed past security.

I giggled. “Was that really necessary?” I asked.

He shrugged. “That’s usually the way it works.” He said.

I shook my head. “See where as I’m used to D. He just glares at people and they move out of his way.” I paused and grinned. “Especially AFTER games.”

Brent laughed. “I could see that. I’ve been involved in a couple of collisions and when the guy hits, he hits hard.” We got close to the locker room, only to see the place surrounded by media.

“Umm maybe you should go catch a cab back to the hotel.” Brent said looking at the throng.
“This could take awhile. I’ll give you call when we get back to the hotel.”

“Sure.” I said nodding.

I stopped and talked to Dion and Colin’s parents’ briefly. They were also headed back to the hotel, because they realized that they probably wouldn’t see their boys until they got back to the hotel. I headed to my room, and was considering changing out of my red and white finery when someone was pounding on the door. “Drew open up!”

Despite the fact that my shirt was off, I tore open the door. “D!” I cried, flinging my arms around him and hugging him tightly. “I missed you!”

He laughed and swung me around. “I missed you too Drew.”

I laughed. “And you failed to tell anyone that I was a girl.” I added.

He shrugged. “I figured they’d figure it out eventually.” He said.

“Well Brent was confused.” I said, as the door slammed shut.

He laughed and shrugged. “Whatever.” He said. “We’re all just kind of hanging out downstairs, and everyone wants to meet you.” He glanced down at me. “And while I am sure that they wouldn’t mind the sight of you in nothing but those pants and your bra, one of the boys is only 17.”

I laughed. “Well I wasn’t sure what to wear to hang out.” I said. “And I didn’t have your help. Brent came up and said I looked great.”

D looked me over critically. “You should have worn black pants.” He said.

I kissed his cheek. “What would I do without you?”

“Well you’d be less well dressed for one thing.” He laughed.

I changed quickly into a pair of black semi-dress pants and put my red Team Canada T-shirt back on and followed Dion down. “This isn’t going to be a big deal is it?” I asked.

“What?” He asked.

“Me hanging out with you guys?”

“For now it’ll be fine.” He said. “This is exhibition. You’ll be on your own more in Grand Forks.” He said. “But for now I can’t see it being a huge deal.”

A bunch of hotel rooms had that metal thingy (technical term I know) that can lock the door so that no one can get in sticking part way out of the door so that everyone could come and go. Dion seemed to pick one at random, but I was sure it was either his room (or the room of one of his friends) and we wandered in. “Shut up.” Dion said when we got into the room.

Everyone (a group of six guys who were lounging on the beds, some of them playing video games) turned, shut up and starred. I grinned at Colin and Brent, who were among those in the room. “Everyone this is Drew.”

A chorus of “Hi’s” and “Nice to meet yous” followed, and I smiled as some of the guys still looked a little shocked that I was girl. I looked at Brent and Colin. “Neither of y’all bothered to share did you?”

Colin laughed. “And spoil this fun?” He asked. “Not on your life.”

D grinned. “Drew, this is Ryan Getzlaf, Andrew Ladd, Clarke MacArthur and Cam Barker. Ryan and Andrew play for….”

“The Hitmen I know.” I interrupted. “And those two are Tigers.” I said pointing.

Everyone laughed and D shrugged. “She’s a fan.”

It was my turn to shrug. “And this room has a very, umm, Alberta hockey feel to it.” I said.
“Heck fire, I could almost feel at home.”

The guys laughed and D shrugged. “You sound like the press people Drew.”

It was my turn to shrug. “I’m like Coach.” I said, referring as everyone in Red Deer did, to Brent Sutter as Coach. “I don’t care which league the guys on this team come from, so long as the result is a gold medal.”

“We know each other.” Brent said, turning back to his video game. “It’s not rocket science that we’re gonna wanna hang out.”

I shuddered and D laughed. Colin looked at Brent. “You know you might, umm, want to watch your enunciation and pronunciation around Drew Brook.”

“Why?”

“Because I am a teacher.” I said with a grin at Colin. “Poor grammar and sentence structure causes me actual physical pain.”

“I’m going to take Drew and introduce her to everyone.” Dion said, quickly realizing that watching guys play video games is not my idea of a good time.

“Thanks.” I said when we got into the hallway.

“You realize that most of the guys are going to be playing video games right?” He asked.

I shrugged. “I know.” I said. “But I still want to meet the hottie from the Raiders.”

D laughed and shook his head. “I don’t know where Reggie is Drew.” He said and I just raised my eyebrows. “But we’ll find him.”

I laughed. “Good boy.” I said, patting him on the cheek.

Dion shook his head. “You know, if anyone else talked to me like that….” He said.

“You’d flatten them.” I said. “So it’s a good thing that I’m not anyone else.”

He laughed as we headed into the next open door. “Hey.” Dion said in this commanding kind of voice he gets that makes people shut up. “I’ve got someone I want you to meet.” The five guys sitting in the room turned. “This is Drew.”

“It’s an acronym.” I said noting the confused look on the guys’ faces. “And D never bothers to tell people that his “buddy” Drew is female. It’s like a game for him.” I turned to Dion. “I am not going to have to do this every single time am I?”

D shrugged. “It’s funny.” He said simply.

I shook my head. “Well I’m Delreinne Whitney, but call me Drew. D seems to forget in his amusement that he is supposed to be introducing me to y’all.”

D shook his head. “Drew this is Braydon Coburn, Shea Weber, Nigel Dawes, Anthony Stewart and Shawn Belle.” He paused as I shook hands and exchanged greetings with everyone. “We’ll see you later. I have to introduce her to everyone, or she won’t shut up.”

The guys laughed as I elbowed D in the side. “Ass.” I said good-naturedly as we headed into the next room.

D grinned. “Drew, you know you love me.” He said, turning one my sayings on me.

“Damn straight I do.” I said. “Why else would we put up with each other.” I grinned. “You know Brent asked if I was your girlfriend.”

“Like I’d date a pain in the ass like you.” D said.

“Like I’d date a hockey player.” I replied, wrinkling my nose in disgust.

D shook his head, knowing full well that I have never actually DATED a hockey player. I’d slept with a couple, but I’d never dated one. “Guys.” He said simply as we walked into the third hotel room. “This is Drew.”

“Nice to meet you.” I said with a smile and wave.

“Drew, this is Danny Syvret, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter.” D introduced me to the four guys in the room.

When they looked a little surprised I stuck my tongue out at Dion. “You can explain this time… and later.” I said. “I’ve already had to explain twice today. Just because you are easily amused does not mean that I want to go into every single time.”

“So what are you doing Neufy?” The guy D had introduced as Mike asked, looking me over speculatively.

“Just introducing Drew to everyone.” He said shrugging. “She’s kind of coming with us because I, well booked everything for her, and then told her she was coming. So I have to take care of her a little bit.”

“Well stay away from Glass’ room.” One of the other guys said. “He’s being a goalie.”

Everyone else laughed and I looked up at D, but before he could, Mike explained. “Goalies are always weird. So if someone’s being a goalie, they’re usually doing something bizarre.”

“Oh.” I said. “I don’t think Fez or Peetey are that weird.” I said, naming the goalies for the Rebels. I paused. “Well maybe Fez… but Peetey isn’t that weird….”

“You don’t play or travel with them Drew.” Dion said. “If you did, well, you’d know.”

I shook my head. “I think all hockey players are weird if you ask me.”

“Well no one asked you Drew.” D said. “Now come on. I want to play Madden tonight still.”

I laughed. “You and your video games.” I said shaking my head.

We wandered down the hall D peering into several rooms with open doors, but no one in them. Finally, towards the end of the hall we found the rest of the team. “Guys this is Drew.” Dion said, drawing me into the room. “Drew this is Reggie Beauchemin, Jeremy Colliton, Stephen Dixon, Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron.”

I shook my head. “It’s a damn good thing you call me Drew. If you can’t pronounce ‘Beauchemin’ or ‘Patrice’ then you couldn’t pronounce my name to save your life.” I turned to Patrice. “D est anglophone, il ne peut parle francais pour sauve son vie.”

“Tu parles francais?” Patrice asked.

“Pas vraiment.” I replied. “Un petit peu. Ma mere, elle regardait trop de umm, soap opera francais quand elle etait enciente.”

Patrice laughed. “Et ta nom?” He asked.

“Delreinne Rochelle Esmèe Whitney, ou Drew.” I replied.

“Speak English.” Dion said.

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Anglophone.” I said.

He shook his head. “Drew, you’ve heard about Sidney right?”

I glanced at D. “No, I haven’t. I live under a rock which is buried under a pile of rocks.” I said sarcastically. I turned to Sidney. “I’m sorry, am I supposed to fawn all over you or scream or faint or something?” I asked. “I’ve never really been good at that meeting incredibly famous people thing.”

Sidney laughed. “Umm please don’t. Scream or faint that is.”

“Has anyone actually ever screamed or fainted when they met you?” I asked, interested.

He paused. “Screamed yes. Fainted no.”

I laughed. “Teenage girls are so much fun aren’t they?”

He glanced at me. “Umm, aren’t you insulting yourself there?” He asked.

“Nope.” I said. “I haven’t been a teenaged girl for years.”

Now everyone turned and starred. They probably assumed, as most people do when they meet me, since I do look really young, that I was about 18 or 19. Most people take me for 16 or 17 most of the time. Maybe 18 at the absolute most. I laughed. “I’m ah, 23.” I said. Now they really starred. I shook my head. “Umm, I was training to be a teacher when D first started playing in Red Deer, and every time I came home from Calgary, D and I partied together.” I explained. “We got to be good friends. I know Colin pretty well too.” I added.

“You’re barely 23 Drew.” Dion said, rolling his eyes. “Her birthday was in November.”

“23?” Sidney asked, looking at me oddly. “No way.”

“It gets worse man.” Dion said, enjoying this like the jackass he is. “She’s actually a teacher. Failed five of our guys last year.”

I glared at him. “You don’t pass the final and you don’t hand in your essay, you don’t pass the class. I don’t give a flying fuck if you’re a Rebel.”

“What do you teach?” Stephen asked.

“History, Social Studies.” I said shrugging, feeling like my hand was empty because I didn’t have a drink. I realized then that I usually drink when I’m around D or when I’m talking like this. I turned to Sidney. “You don’t hear that by the way.”

He looked at me oddly and D explained. “Drew tries to watch her mouth around people who are still in high school.”

That made everyone laugh. “Sid can probably cuss in more languages then you can.” Stephen said.

“I don’t know…. I’ve got English, French, Spanish, Swiss German and Finnish under my belt.” I said with a shrug.

Sidney grinned. “English, French, Czech and Slovak.” He said. “But mainly I keep it to English and French.”

“Drew likes Finnish.” Dion said. “That way she can cuss in the classroom and no one’s the wiser.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “I resent the implication that I am anything less then professional at all times.” I winked at Sidney, noticing that he was watching me closely. “Or maybe I should say I resemble that implication.”