Page 123 of The Trade Deadline
There’s honestly not a whole lot to talk about here. Yes, games have been played, teams have been eliminated, and it’s been a wild ride. It’s simply too early to turn our gaze West with the Crabs barely out of the first round. If and when the Crabs get further along in their hunt for the Stanley Cup, we’ll take a look at potential match-ups, but as my coach always said, the only game that matters is the next one: our focus needs to stay East for now.
That being said, I know every Crabs fan watched that Prowlers/Mounties series. The teams have faced each other many times in the playoffs, usually with the Prowlers coming out on top. Given the bad blood between them and the Crabs this season due to Lars Nilsson’s arrival in Baltimore, there was a certain degree of satisfaction seeing the Mounties beat them in five games. When asked about it, Nilsson declined to comment.
The Eastern Conference
The Crabs earned the first Wildcard playoff spot in the East, putting them up against the Pythons, who were first in the Metro. The Crabs were hopeful given how well they’d matched up against them in the regular season. Analysts’ expectations were low going into the playoffs, but the Crabs said from the get-go that being satisfied with just making the playoffs is a loser’s mentality. They are 100% invested in this run, critics and odds be damned.
It was absolutely fantastic seeing the boys go up two games in the series, then pull out the home win in Game Six. The series overall showed how deep the Crabs could dig: two wins by only a single goal, a shut-out for Voronin in Game Two (his first ever in the playoffs), and a great defensive effort all around. The double-overtime goal in Game Four by Campbell, Nilsson’s hat trick to seal the series in Game Six, and all four lines netting at least two goals are a lot of positives giving the Crabs momentum into Round Two.
Again, we should focus where we need to. We need to talk about the Otters.
The Otters were expected to win the Metro, but Anders Nilsson’s injury at the end of the season had them losing that honor to the Pythons by a single point. While not necessarily Cup favorites, most analysts have them make it to the Conference Finals. They have offense. They have defense. They have a goalie duo that led the league in shutouts during the regular season. They crushed the Nor’easters in four games, never giving up a lead in nearly 255 minutes of play time. They’re a juggernaut in the East…and the Crabs will be facing them in two days.
The main storylines here are oddly personal. Lars and Anders Nilsson, despite the longstanding rivalry between the Swedish brothers, have never faced each other in the postseason. I mentioned Anders’s injury at the end of the regular season; I left out the reminder that Lars was the one who caused it, breaking his older brother’s nose when the Otters came to Baltimore at the end of March. Will Anders and the Otters be looking for revenge?
The other storyline is more bittersweet. RJ Russell, fan-favorite former center for the Blue Crabs, has been having a breakout season. He had a career-high 35 goals and was snatched up by the Otters in the waning hours of the trade deadline. He’d been trading first line duties with Lars Nilsson in Baltimore, then took over the first line on the Otters with twenty games left in the season. Russell has certainly risen to the occasion: he had two game-winning goals in their series versus New England. He also had the game winner the first and only time he’s faced the Crabs since the trade. Will this trade be the Crabs’ undoing?
And what about Lars? How will he do facing his brother and his former teammate? Sure, players face former teammates all the time, but Lars and Russell were close friends. The league’s interest in Russell at the trade deadline could arguably be attributed to Lars, who championed the other center in the fan vote that ultimately got him into the All Star Game.
“[Russell] is obviously a very talented player,” Lars said. “I appreciate that he doesn’t let up against us, and he knows we won’t take it easy on him. That level of competition, that respect, it means a lot.”
When asked if that was why he played so aggressively against his brother: “Sure.”
A final comment from Lars at the end of our interview: “Where will I be staying in Ohio? No, I won’t be with the team at the hotel. I’ll be at my brother’s house. I always stay there when I’m in Cincinnati for more than two days. It’s where my family is. Why would I be anywhere else?”
Chapter37
Lars
Lars didn’t likethe state of things between him and Ryan.
They were on speaking terms, at least. Er, texting terms. They’d messaged back and forth a little since the start of April, but they hadn’t said anything of substance since Lars broke Anders’s nose. Mostly memes and pictures of food. There was also the picture his mormor had sent of her and Ryan, her looking quite smug and him with his stupid, wonderful smile. All his favorite pieces of his life, intersecting.
Without him.
The plane was taxiing, and Lars couldn’t sit still. He didn’t fidget or pace much by nature, but his right leg hadn’t stopped shaking since they’d landed. This wasn’t hockey nerves—he didn’t really get those anymore, hadn’t even the last time he’d played in the Cup Finals. This was much worse.
He was seeing Ryan today.
Instead of going to the hotel, he’d pick up his suitcase and take a taxi to the address Ryan had sent him. Neither of them had practice today or any team meetings. The hectic playoff life would start again tomorrow: no room to breathe and no extra space in his head to worry about cute boys or family problems.
The taxi driver recognized him, which made it awkward. He’d been very chatty about how impressed everyone was with the Crabs and must’ve been worried about his tip because he didn’t mention Anders or the Otters once. It looked like hewantedto, but Lars appreciated that he didn’t. For the next eighteen hours, he got to pretend he wasn’t here for hockey.
When Ryan opened the door, looking devastatingly handsome with his playoff beard, Lars was struck speechless. Not that he’d had a plan on what he was going to say, but normally he was at least able to form words like “Hi” or “I missed you” or “I’ve been dreaming of you fucking me for weeks.”
Instead it was Ryan who grinned at him and said, “You wanna come in or what?”
He swallowed and stepped inside.
He’d seen a few pictures of the place but honestly they hadn’t done it justice. They were on the 25th floor with huge windows overlooking the city. The apartment was sparsely furnished, all the furniture devoid of personality. Probably came with the place, since Ryan wouldn’t have had time to arrange for his stuff to be shipped over. It was fancy, honestly, and suited Ryan more than his place in Baltimore. Well, except…
“Why would they waste a nice kitchen on you?” he teased, finally finding his tongue. “So you can make ramen?”
“I haven’t even made that,” Ryan said with a laugh. “I have a meal service through the team. If I don’t eat at the rink, I just heat up a pre-made dinner.”
That was a relief, actually. He knew Ryan was particular about calories, carbs, and protein but didn’t do a good job of paying attention to things like taste. It was good he was being taken care of, even if by a faceless meal service.
“You didn’t invite me over for microwave dinners, did you?” he asked, as if he wouldn’t gladly eat or do anything Ryan wanted right now.
