It is the day of the big championship game in Russia. You are the first to arrive as per normal. At least you have time to mentally prepare yourself for the battle against team Russia. You quickly get your stuff organised. You start to hum as you pull your chest guard over your head.

"I thought you didn't like waiting for us," Your goaltender remarks.

"Joel. I don't like waiting for you to arrive before we travel," You clarify. You soon get the rest of the protective gear on. As soon as you finish the others arrive. You slip your team Canada jersey over your head.

"Ok everyone I need your attention," Your coach remarks. Everyone paused what they're doing. You get the feeling that his pregame speech will be a little more dramatic than normal.

"We have to win this. I want you guys to avoid any dirty play. Everyone make sure you are able to block the negativity that the Russians have. One more thing lets make this year an undefeated run for team Canada. Brook can you do the honour of reading the first line," He finishes by passing you a piece of paper. You quickly rattle off the names. You can feel the excitement for the game build. You all take the ice for the warm ups. You are doing stick handling.

"Brook are you ready to beat the Russians," Your left wing asks.

"It will be hard but yes I am, James" You reply as you make your way around the others. Thirty minutes later you are ready to back up your centre who has just won the face off.

"Brook cover," Your centre calls out. You fall in behind him and he flicks the puck to you between his skates. You start the process of bringing the puck towards the goal. You can feel the force of one of team Russia's defence slamming into you. You can tell that the others are impressed at your ability to keep your balance.

"Marcus," You make your intentions clear. You pass the puck to him. You now understand what your coach meant by dirty play. Marcus is now struggling with the defence.

"Jake can you get the puck to Brook?" Marcus asks.

"I'll see what I can do," He says as he wrestles the puck back from the defence. You get yourself ready for the pass but Jake slams the puck into the crossbar. Thankfully you are able catch it. You use the opportunity to score. It feels good to score the opening goal of the game. After fifteen minutes of play the Russians have finally tied the game. At least you have two periods before the game comes to an end. You join the others at the bench.

"Man it's tough out there," one of your defencemen remark.

"At least you didn't get hit," Joel responds.

"Brook I'm giving you a break," The coach responds. Thank goodness. You take a seat in one of the spare spots. You get the feeling that the conversation will be about the game or the NHL draft. Hopefully they talk about the game because you don't want to think about the draft. Five minutes later the second period has started. Your mind is still occupied with the NHL draft.

"Hey Brook. What are you thinking about?" Your alternate goaltender asks.

"I'm just thinking of the NHL draft," You respond. Twenty minutes later you are ready to take the ice again. Hopefully you can score because you are dreading the thought of going into over time. Again you are getting ready to back up your centre. The Russians are being extremely aggressive. You try your best to get yourself free.

"Antonio I'm open," You call out. He somehow manages to get the puck to you. The defence soon begin their attack. You try your best to weave the puck in and out of the defence. After eighteen minutes of stagnant game play you are fighting both the clock and the Russians.

"Come on," You hear Antonio utter. He slips the puck to you. You see a gap in the defence so you decide to use it. You go for the slap shot. The puck sails over the Russian goaltender's legs. The goal horn sounds. The game comes to an end thirty seconds later. Antonio pulls you into a hug and the others soon pile on. A few days later you have arrived back in your hometown, Edmonton. Antonio is trying to convince you that you need to go to the local bar for a celebratory drink.

"I am telling you Antonio we did enough celebrating in Russia," You retort.

"Yes but it would be different," He is insistent for some reason.

"The only thing that would be different is the fact that I am eighteen," You reply.

"And besides I've just changed my mind. I'll go on the condition that you buy," The look on Antonio's face changes dramatically. After ten minutes of preparation you are finally ready to go. Another seven painful minutes later you have made it to the bar. You are greeted by your teammate Jenna who couldn't make the championship due to injury.

"Look Brook I'm so sorry I couldn't help you beat those Russians," Jenna remarks.

"Don't worry about it. Your wrist wouldn't have been able to handle the roughness of the Russians," You reply. You feel a little bad for mentioning it but it's a good excuse. After fifteen minutes of socialising and drinking you've had enough of Antonio for a bit. You head to the bar to see if you can get some relative alone time. It doesn't last long. A man that looks a lot like Connor McDavid sits next to you. You start to wonder if it is in fact Connor McDavid.

"Can I get you anything?" The man asks.

"No I'm good thanks," You respond. You feel a little bad but Antonio is the one that's meant to be spoiling you.

"Ok I just thought you were celebrating something," he responds You decide to engage in a conversation with the man. After nine minutes of conversation you are ready to go back to your friendship group. You are glad that the conversation between you and the man was refreshing. It is the day after your encounter with the man and you are getting ready for what could be the biggest afternoon of your life. You are stressed about how you look and if you will be picked for the first draft.

"I think you might want to relax," Antonio tries his best to help calm you down but it doesn't work. Twenty minutes later you have made it to the event and you are greeted by your teammates.

"You look stunning," Joel remarks.

"Thank you. Now we should take our seats," You retort. You all take your seats. The presenter soon starts listing off the names. They soon get to the first pick.

"And now the announcement that you have been waiting for. The first pick for the Edmonton Oilers is Brook Shepard," It takes you a few seconds to realise that he is talking about you. You make your way to the stage. It is the day after and you are busy getting ready for training. You are greeted by Connor McDavid. He looks you over as if he has seen you somewhere before.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," You snap him out of his thoughts. That means the man that you met in the bar was in fact Connor McDavid. Oh boy this is going to be fun to explain.

"I didn't realise you were the girl that I met at the bar until now," He is a little flustered.

"Don't worry Connor. It could have been worse," You respond. You could have actually been drunk. The thought makes you giggle. You start to wonder why you didn't ask for his name when you were talking to him last night.