Page 29 of Hot Puck
“All I ever wanted was to play in the NHL. Didn’t care what team, although one close to my family would have been preferable.” He lowers his fork and presses his hands, palms down, on the table. “I need to forget what the dream was before. I need to think about what the dream is now.”
“Is playing professionally still the dream? If you could make it happen.”
“I have three young girls to raise and enough money to do it.”
I wait for him to continue but he keeps his gaze locked on mine, not saying a word. We’re quiet for so long I’m feeling fidgety, and I’m never fidgety.
It doesn’t feel as though he’s looking for my approval or my encouragement. But I can’t decipher the emotions in his eyes and as I don’t know him well, I can only assume he’s thinking about the situation, the offer I’ve made, not analyzingme. Even if that’s the way his stare makes me feel.
“What do you see happening if I accept a contract with the Rogues?”
His question surprises me because I had a similar one for him.
“Not just on the ice,” he adds. “What does it look like if I sign the deal and move to Baton Rouge?”
“We’ve built our sportswear company around family values, we’re doing the same with the hockey team. We support our employees, their families, in any way they need.”
“So, someone would help me take care of my sisters?”
“Not someone. Me. I wouldn’t expect you to leave them with someone you don’t know or trust.”
“I don’t really know you.”
“You didn’t say you didn’t trust me.”
“I’ve spent my life honing my instincts, I know where a guy is going to shoot the puck before he does, and up until the last few months I’ve applied that instinct to my life.” He holds up a hand to stop me from talking. “But I had Mom and Dad behind me.”
“And now you don’t.”
“No. But what is more important than that is the girls don’t have them. I’m already an adult, you could argue I don’t need my parents to make decisions about my life.”
“The girls have you.”
“I don’t know if that will be enough if I’m away all the time. Who do I leave them with? How do I parent them if I’m not there?”
“You have a partner.”
“I don’t and I’m not looking for one. I have plenty of things to balance without having to deal with another person.”
“Before you say anything, let me finish what I’m about to ask. Don’t interrupt.”
“Okay.”
“If you had a partner to help you raise the girls, to be there for them when you aren’t, or make it so they can be with you when you travel, would you sign?”
“If that person was supportive of me playing and raising the girls, yes.”
“I can give you that.”
“Give me what? A partner? Do you have them ready to roll out?” He cocks an eyebrow as he speaks.
“No. It would be me.”
“You what?”
“I’d be the other parental figure in the girls’ lives; I’d be your partner, pick up the slack when you’re training or playing or away.”
“How does that work with your job as GM?”
