[glow=red,2,300]Scotiabank Saddeldome[/glow]
Matthew was standing eagerly on the bench. He was on his toes, and leaning over, his head parallel with the ice. A very pleasing aroma wafted through his nostrils, and he soon realized that it was the beautiful smell of Zamboni gasoline. But wait. He couldn’t let himself get distracted. He snapped his attention back to the ice. Jarome Iginla was streaking down the right wing boards. He saw Oli Jokinen turn to the bench. Matthew’s mind was whirring. It was the perfect opportunity. A two-on-one. They were going to score. He could feel it in his bones. He hopped onto the ice and...... face planted. He tried to stand up again, but his legs shot out from under him. He fell once more and finally snapped out of the day dream. All the other kids were laughing at him. He heard numerous taunts.
“Have you ever even skated before?”
“It’s a wonder he can even stand on solid ground!”
But Matthew didn’t care. He was six years old. He thought it was all just fun and games. He smiled and laughed with the rest of them. He heard a deep voice from behind him. He looked around, right into the face of his dad.
“Come on now Matthew, up you get,” he said with a chuckle.
Matthew was a huge hockey fan. He wanted to be in the NHL, and play for the Calgary Flames, just like his idol, Jarome Iginla. He even shaved his head to look just like him. He just hoped that he could play like him. But so far, he couldn’t. The whole game, he was just falling all over the ice, rather than skating. It was a wonder he even scored! A shot from someone else managed to hit his helmet while he was lying on the ice.
That goal ended up being the only one he scored all season. But that didn’t bother him. He had something else to look forward to. He remembered his reaction. He was watching the Flames - Predators game when it happened. Matthew had heard the garage door opening. The game was too interesting, there was no way he was tearing his attention from the screen. Jarome Iginla was flying down the ice, and Matthew was watching intently. That was until the goalie made an easy glove save, and it cut to commercial. That’s when his dad spoke.
“Hey son? Erm- any chance you’d uh- want to go to a Flames - Oilers game? I’d be in Rexall, so there would be way more Oiler fans then Flames fans there.”
Matthew lept off his feet, wrapping his arms around his dad’s neck.
“Are you for cereal?”
This was some silly expression that Matthew had. It basically meant, are you serious?
“Yeah. It’s next Friday.”
“Oh my god daddy, you are awesome!”
On the day of the game, Matthew wore his Iginla jersey proud, everywhere he went. He couldn’t wait. It was his first ever NHL hockey game! The day went by so fast, Matthew thought. It seemed like only minutes from the time he woke up, to the time Jarome Iginla scored the first goal, late in the second period. Matthew stood up and cheered, along with the rest of the out numbered Flames fans in the arena.
With a minute left in the third, the Flames were up 5-3. Matthew was wearing a smile on his face, when his dad said,
“Come on now Matthew, time to go.”
“Aww, da-”
“No complaints Matthew. You have school tomorrow, and I don't want to be waking you up all cranky like.”
Matthew reluctantly followed his dad up the stairs, to the main lobby of Rexall arena. They walked out the south side entrance. As soon as they stepped outside, Matthew started to hold his breath. There were about 100 people smoking. All Oilers fans, Matthew noted with a hint of a smile.
There was a crisp breeze in the air. It was chilly for a mid April evening. Matthew would be glad to get back in the car. He knew it was just around the corner.
But they never made it there. As soon as they stepped around the corner, they heard a shout from behind them.
“Hey, you stupid, idiotic Flames fans.”
Matthew’s dad just kept walking. But then came another shout.
“Hey! I was talking to you!”
Again. Matthew’s dad just kept on walking. Matthew expected to hear another shout. But instead, he heard an ear splitting bang. Matthew looked, back, his ears ringing. The man, who was wearing a vintage, 99 Gretzky jersey, was holding something that was smoking in his right hand. Matthew looked back at his dad. He had fallen to the ground. There was a dark pool of liquid spreading around his father. Matthew suddenly put two and two together.
“DADDY,” he screamed. “YOU SHOT MY DADDY!” Matthew soon realised people were starting to look around. There was a quiet murmur going through the crowd.
“Shut up kid, or it’s going to be you next”
Matthew didn’t care. He heard the distant sound of sirens. He kept screaming for his dad. “DADDY! NOOOO DADDY!”
Another gunshot now. Matthew felt a ripping sensation, tear through one of his ribs. It felt like being hit by a train. Not that he’d ever been hit by a train. But he imagined this is what it would be like. He fell to the ground, his head resting on his dad’s stomach. No longer, was it moving up and down with his breath. No longer could Matthew hear his heart beating. Matthew could feel the thousands of tears rushing to this eyes. He didn’t care. He let them flow. He was screaming. Or at least he thought he was. Maybe he was just sobbing. He didn’t know when the medics arrived. He just knew that they were the last thing he saw before drifting into the world of unconsciousness.
When Matthew awoke, the first thing he saw was the breathing tube. It was connected to a bag of some sort, and the end of it ran up through his nose. The second thing he noticed, was the bandage around his middle. The left side, around his ribs was stained red. The third, and most likely the worst, was that his dad wasn’t the one holding his hand. It was his mother.
“Oh dear. Oh Matthew. Matthew. You’re all right!”
His mother’s eyes were wet with tears. He let his eyes meet hers. She let some more tears flow.
“Why are you crying Mommy? Where’s Daddy?”
All she could do was shake her head, and cry some more. This brought tears to his own eyes, knowing, but not accepting, that he’d never see, his dad again. Never hear him again. Never, feel his gentle touch. He wept into his mother’s ginger hug.
9 Years Later
It was nine years to the day that Matthew’s dad had died. There wasn’t a day gone by that he didn’t think about it. In fact, there were many things he thought about. Would his dad have wanted him to continue playing hockey? Would he have wanted him to avenge him? There were so many unanswered questions, and Matthew was never going to know the answer. But there was one thing he knew for sure. His dad was gone. And the man who had killed him was in jail for a long time. That was one good thing. And Matthew thought he knew another. He walked down the carpeted stairs, into the kitchen. He was throwing a tennis ball up in the air, and catching it. His mom was washing a big pot in the sink.
“Mom?”
“Mmmmmm.”
Matthew knew what this meant, she was more focused on the dish. He didn’t care. He knew what he said would get her attention.
“I want to start hockey again.”
She just about dropped the pot.
“You what?!”
“Mom - I think it’s what dad would have wanted. I think, that if I were in his shoes, then I would want me to continue.”
“Matthew, we just don’t have the money. She looked really sympathetic.
“That’s not true mom. I’ve been saving up for years. I didn’t know why, I just knew that I wanted to keep my money. There was no way I wanted to spend it.”
“Matthew, I understand that, but it’s probably not enough.”
“I have well over 10, 000 dollars mom.”
This time she really did drop the pot. She looked set to pass out.
“Where did you get this money?”
“Well, from my allowance, helping people shoveling driveways, raking leaves, and you know I have that job at Subway.”
“And you have over 10, 000 dollars?,” she shrieked.
“Well, yeah. I’ve been saving for nine years.”
“Matthew, you realize that’s more than a 1, 000 dollars a year?”
“Yes mom, I realized.”
“Well Matthew, are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes mom I’m positive.”
“Well then, I’ll go over and sign you up,” she beamed, “I’m proud of you Matthew. Your father would be proud too.” She gave a sad smile, and went to get the family’s car, a tiny little thing, the Mini Cooper.
Even though Matthew was a better skater than which he was 9 years ago, he didn’t have a full understanding of the game. He wasn’t exactly the fastest person out there, nor was he the smartest. Sometimes, he was really confused. That’s why exactly no one was surprised when he made the worst team. But this didn’t put him down. This didn’t want to make him give up in any way. In fact, it motivated him. It made him strive to be better. And better, he did. At the beginning of the year, he was one of the worst, if not the worst player on the team. But he came to every practice. He never missed one. He never missed a game. He paid attention to his coach. This made him better. He was becoming a stronger skater, a smarter player. He started scoring goals. More than the rest of the team. In fact, by the end of the year he had the most amount of goals on the team. 33. This was really good considering that he didn’t even score a goal, in the first 5 games. And even after the season was over, even after his team won the championship, he was everything hockey. Through the summer he trained. And trained. And trained. And trained some more. He was getting stronger. He knew, that if he wanted to go anywhere in hockey, he’d need to get stronger. There’s just no such thing as a weak hockey player. It would be an Oxymoron.
When hockey season came around again, Matthew was ready for it. In fact, he was itching for it. He couldn’t wait to be back on the ice. He was going to impress everyone from last year. He was expecting to make a way better team then last year. And so he did. He made team three. Which is a huge jump from team eight. He wasn’t expecting to make it this high. He was actually expecting to only make five. So he was really ecstatic.
It continued on like this for seven years, until he was 21. And that’s when he noticed them. He was playing for the University of Alberta. His team, was the Golden Bears. He got a scholarship for hockey. His mom was in tears when he told her. Not having to pay for University, that was a huge deal. But so was what Matthew saw at his current hockey game. Scouts. He leaned over to his centre men, and whispered into his ear.
“Dude, check it out. Scouts. Can you tell where they’re from?”
“Look bro, his clipboard has the NHL shield on it.”
“Oh snap! We better impress then.”
Matthew made sure he was top of his game that night. It was his dream to make it into the NHL. He had to do it. It’s what his dad would’ve wanted. And so, he made sure he was immaculate. Not a single crap pass, all his shots were on net. There was only one mistake he made. He had made a bad pass, and it went right back to one of the Calgary Dino’s players, and they somehow managed to get the puck into the back of the net. It seemed like this was the only thing that the scouts noticed. They were frowning at their clipboards.
Finally the big day had come. NHL Entry Draft, 2018. Calgary Alberta. Matthew had got the big phone call they day before. It had gone something like this.
“Y’ello”
“Hello. May I please speak to Matthew Power?’
“Speaking”
“Oh hello, Mr. Power. As I am sure you are aware, the NHL Entry Draft takes place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada”
“Yeah, I’ve heard.”
“Well, this is a formal invitation from us to you, to please be present at the draft. We can’t promise anything, but there is a chance you may be drafted tomorrow.”
“Are you serious?”
“Very serious, Mr. Power”
“Well, that’s excellent,” The man on the other end could clearly hear the jubilation in Matthew’s voice. “I’ll be there for sure!”
“Excellent, Mr. Power. Best of luck to you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
As soon as Matthew hung up the phone, he immediately phoned his mom. He took, one deep breath, and then started talking really fast.
“Mom, some guy from the NHL just phoned, and I’ve been invited to the draft tomorrow in Calgary, and I told him that I would be happy to go, and so there’s a chance I might be drafted, and I want you to be there so you can see me go into the NHL and then see what happens, like if I got drafted or not.” Matthew finally took a deep breath. And then his mom spoke
“What? Matthew, that’s amazing! I’m so proud of you!”
“So will you be able to come mom?”
“Yes Matthew, I’ll be happy to!”
Matthew and his mom took their seats in the lower bowl of the Scotiabank Saddeldome. They waited patiently for the draft to start. The Florida Panthers had the first pick. The Flames, had the 25th pick. Luckily this year, they actually had all five of their picks and hadn’t traded any of them away.
The lights suddenly focused on the stage, and the General Manager of the Florida Panthers walked out on to the stage.
“With the first pick, the Florida Panthers would like to select Matthew”
Wait. It couldn’t be. Not this early in the draft.
“Matthew Mangrove!”
Matthew shrunk down in his seat. His mother looked at him, and said,
“It’s all right Matthew. You couldn’t have expected to be first overall anyways.”
“I didn’t mom”
Up until the third round, no mention of a Matthew happened. But then when the Panther’s GM was back on stage, something unexpected happened.
“The Florida Panthers have a trade to announce. Received, from the Calgary Flames, Mark Giordano. Traded away to Calgary, our third round pick.”
A murmur went through the crowd. Mark Giordano? For some rookie, that probably no one has ever heard of? Wow. Giordano, was one of the better veteran defense men on the team. Even Matthew was surprised. But then, he got lost in his rambling thoughts. The Calgary GM, Darryl Sutter was on the stage now. Matthew was going to pay extra attention to this pick. His favorite team, was after all the Flames. He wondered who was so important, that they’d have to trade Mark Giordano for.
“The Calgary Flames, with the first pick in the third round would like to select, from Edmonton, Alberta, Matthew Power!”
Matthew was shocked into silence. For a few tense moments, he didn’t move. He just sat in his seat, with his mouth gaping open. But he regained his composure, when his mother patted him on the back.
“Go on up son. Your dad would be proud.”
Matthew, stood up from his seat still shocked He didn’t feel like he was controlling his body, it was juts moving. He saw Darryl Sutter, holding his jersey. It was crested, with his last name, Power, across the back, just above his number, 27. In Matthew’s opinion, that was now the best number in the whole world. Better than any number 12. Matthew, soon realized that he was climbing up the stairs, onto the stage. He was shaking Darryl’s hand, and pulling the jersey over his dress shirt. He slipped the hat onto his head, getting ready for the picture. He realized, almost too late that he should smile. He got it onto his face, milliseconds before the flash. But there was only one thought going through his head.
“I did this for you dad. I hope your proud.”
Matthew was standing eagerly on the bench. He was on his toes, and leaning over, his head parallel with the ice. A very pleasing aroma wafted through his nostrils, and he soon realized that it was the beautiful smell of Zamboni gasoline. But wait. He couldn’t let himself get distracted. He snapped his attention back to the ice. Jarome Iginla was streaking down the right wing boards. He saw Oli Jokinen turn to the bench. Matthew’s mind was whirring. It was the perfect opportunity. A two-on-one. They were going to score. He could feel it in his bones. He hopped onto the ice and...... face planted. He tried to stand up again, but his legs shot out from under him. He fell once more and finally snapped out of the day dream. All the other kids were laughing at him. He heard numerous taunts.
“Have you ever even skated before?”
“It’s a wonder he can even stand on solid ground!”
But Matthew didn’t care. He was six years old. He thought it was all just fun and games. He smiled and laughed with the rest of them. He heard a deep voice from behind him. He looked around, right into the face of his dad.
“Come on now Matthew, up you get,” he said with a chuckle.
Matthew was a huge hockey fan. He wanted to be in the NHL, and play for the Calgary Flames, just like his idol, Jarome Iginla. He even shaved his head to look just like him. He just hoped that he could play like him. But so far, he couldn’t. The whole game, he was just falling all over the ice, rather than skating. It was a wonder he even scored! A shot from someone else managed to hit his helmet while he was lying on the ice.
That goal ended up being the only one he scored all season. But that didn’t bother him. He had something else to look forward to. He remembered his reaction. He was watching the Flames - Predators game when it happened. Matthew had heard the garage door opening. The game was too interesting, there was no way he was tearing his attention from the screen. Jarome Iginla was flying down the ice, and Matthew was watching intently. That was until the goalie made an easy glove save, and it cut to commercial. That’s when his dad spoke.
“Hey son? Erm- any chance you’d uh- want to go to a Flames - Oilers game? I’d be in Rexall, so there would be way more Oiler fans then Flames fans there.”
Matthew lept off his feet, wrapping his arms around his dad’s neck.
“Are you for cereal?”
This was some silly expression that Matthew had. It basically meant, are you serious?
“Yeah. It’s next Friday.”
“Oh my god daddy, you are awesome!”
On the day of the game, Matthew wore his Iginla jersey proud, everywhere he went. He couldn’t wait. It was his first ever NHL hockey game! The day went by so fast, Matthew thought. It seemed like only minutes from the time he woke up, to the time Jarome Iginla scored the first goal, late in the second period. Matthew stood up and cheered, along with the rest of the out numbered Flames fans in the arena.
With a minute left in the third, the Flames were up 5-3. Matthew was wearing a smile on his face, when his dad said,
“Come on now Matthew, time to go.”
“Aww, da-”
“No complaints Matthew. You have school tomorrow, and I don't want to be waking you up all cranky like.”
Matthew reluctantly followed his dad up the stairs, to the main lobby of Rexall arena. They walked out the south side entrance. As soon as they stepped outside, Matthew started to hold his breath. There were about 100 people smoking. All Oilers fans, Matthew noted with a hint of a smile.
There was a crisp breeze in the air. It was chilly for a mid April evening. Matthew would be glad to get back in the car. He knew it was just around the corner.
But they never made it there. As soon as they stepped around the corner, they heard a shout from behind them.
“Hey, you stupid, idiotic Flames fans.”
Matthew’s dad just kept walking. But then came another shout.
“Hey! I was talking to you!”
Again. Matthew’s dad just kept on walking. Matthew expected to hear another shout. But instead, he heard an ear splitting bang. Matthew looked, back, his ears ringing. The man, who was wearing a vintage, 99 Gretzky jersey, was holding something that was smoking in his right hand. Matthew looked back at his dad. He had fallen to the ground. There was a dark pool of liquid spreading around his father. Matthew suddenly put two and two together.
“DADDY,” he screamed. “YOU SHOT MY DADDY!” Matthew soon realised people were starting to look around. There was a quiet murmur going through the crowd.
“Shut up kid, or it’s going to be you next”
Matthew didn’t care. He heard the distant sound of sirens. He kept screaming for his dad. “DADDY! NOOOO DADDY!”
Another gunshot now. Matthew felt a ripping sensation, tear through one of his ribs. It felt like being hit by a train. Not that he’d ever been hit by a train. But he imagined this is what it would be like. He fell to the ground, his head resting on his dad’s stomach. No longer, was it moving up and down with his breath. No longer could Matthew hear his heart beating. Matthew could feel the thousands of tears rushing to this eyes. He didn’t care. He let them flow. He was screaming. Or at least he thought he was. Maybe he was just sobbing. He didn’t know when the medics arrived. He just knew that they were the last thing he saw before drifting into the world of unconsciousness.
When Matthew awoke, the first thing he saw was the breathing tube. It was connected to a bag of some sort, and the end of it ran up through his nose. The second thing he noticed, was the bandage around his middle. The left side, around his ribs was stained red. The third, and most likely the worst, was that his dad wasn’t the one holding his hand. It was his mother.
“Oh dear. Oh Matthew. Matthew. You’re all right!”
His mother’s eyes were wet with tears. He let his eyes meet hers. She let some more tears flow.
“Why are you crying Mommy? Where’s Daddy?”
All she could do was shake her head, and cry some more. This brought tears to his own eyes, knowing, but not accepting, that he’d never see, his dad again. Never hear him again. Never, feel his gentle touch. He wept into his mother’s ginger hug.
9 Years Later
It was nine years to the day that Matthew’s dad had died. There wasn’t a day gone by that he didn’t think about it. In fact, there were many things he thought about. Would his dad have wanted him to continue playing hockey? Would he have wanted him to avenge him? There were so many unanswered questions, and Matthew was never going to know the answer. But there was one thing he knew for sure. His dad was gone. And the man who had killed him was in jail for a long time. That was one good thing. And Matthew thought he knew another. He walked down the carpeted stairs, into the kitchen. He was throwing a tennis ball up in the air, and catching it. His mom was washing a big pot in the sink.
“Mom?”
“Mmmmmm.”
Matthew knew what this meant, she was more focused on the dish. He didn’t care. He knew what he said would get her attention.
“I want to start hockey again.”
She just about dropped the pot.
“You what?!”
“Mom - I think it’s what dad would have wanted. I think, that if I were in his shoes, then I would want me to continue.”
“Matthew, we just don’t have the money. She looked really sympathetic.
“That’s not true mom. I’ve been saving up for years. I didn’t know why, I just knew that I wanted to keep my money. There was no way I wanted to spend it.”
“Matthew, I understand that, but it’s probably not enough.”
“I have well over 10, 000 dollars mom.”
This time she really did drop the pot. She looked set to pass out.
“Where did you get this money?”
“Well, from my allowance, helping people shoveling driveways, raking leaves, and you know I have that job at Subway.”
“And you have over 10, 000 dollars?,” she shrieked.
“Well, yeah. I’ve been saving for nine years.”
“Matthew, you realize that’s more than a 1, 000 dollars a year?”
“Yes mom, I realized.”
“Well Matthew, are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes mom I’m positive.”
“Well then, I’ll go over and sign you up,” she beamed, “I’m proud of you Matthew. Your father would be proud too.” She gave a sad smile, and went to get the family’s car, a tiny little thing, the Mini Cooper.
Even though Matthew was a better skater than which he was 9 years ago, he didn’t have a full understanding of the game. He wasn’t exactly the fastest person out there, nor was he the smartest. Sometimes, he was really confused. That’s why exactly no one was surprised when he made the worst team. But this didn’t put him down. This didn’t want to make him give up in any way. In fact, it motivated him. It made him strive to be better. And better, he did. At the beginning of the year, he was one of the worst, if not the worst player on the team. But he came to every practice. He never missed one. He never missed a game. He paid attention to his coach. This made him better. He was becoming a stronger skater, a smarter player. He started scoring goals. More than the rest of the team. In fact, by the end of the year he had the most amount of goals on the team. 33. This was really good considering that he didn’t even score a goal, in the first 5 games. And even after the season was over, even after his team won the championship, he was everything hockey. Through the summer he trained. And trained. And trained. And trained some more. He was getting stronger. He knew, that if he wanted to go anywhere in hockey, he’d need to get stronger. There’s just no such thing as a weak hockey player. It would be an Oxymoron.
When hockey season came around again, Matthew was ready for it. In fact, he was itching for it. He couldn’t wait to be back on the ice. He was going to impress everyone from last year. He was expecting to make a way better team then last year. And so he did. He made team three. Which is a huge jump from team eight. He wasn’t expecting to make it this high. He was actually expecting to only make five. So he was really ecstatic.
It continued on like this for seven years, until he was 21. And that’s when he noticed them. He was playing for the University of Alberta. His team, was the Golden Bears. He got a scholarship for hockey. His mom was in tears when he told her. Not having to pay for University, that was a huge deal. But so was what Matthew saw at his current hockey game. Scouts. He leaned over to his centre men, and whispered into his ear.
“Dude, check it out. Scouts. Can you tell where they’re from?”
“Look bro, his clipboard has the NHL shield on it.”
“Oh snap! We better impress then.”
Matthew made sure he was top of his game that night. It was his dream to make it into the NHL. He had to do it. It’s what his dad would’ve wanted. And so, he made sure he was immaculate. Not a single crap pass, all his shots were on net. There was only one mistake he made. He had made a bad pass, and it went right back to one of the Calgary Dino’s players, and they somehow managed to get the puck into the back of the net. It seemed like this was the only thing that the scouts noticed. They were frowning at their clipboards.
Finally the big day had come. NHL Entry Draft, 2018. Calgary Alberta. Matthew had got the big phone call they day before. It had gone something like this.
“Y’ello”
“Hello. May I please speak to Matthew Power?’
“Speaking”
“Oh hello, Mr. Power. As I am sure you are aware, the NHL Entry Draft takes place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada”
“Yeah, I’ve heard.”
“Well, this is a formal invitation from us to you, to please be present at the draft. We can’t promise anything, but there is a chance you may be drafted tomorrow.”
“Are you serious?”
“Very serious, Mr. Power”
“Well, that’s excellent,” The man on the other end could clearly hear the jubilation in Matthew’s voice. “I’ll be there for sure!”
“Excellent, Mr. Power. Best of luck to you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
As soon as Matthew hung up the phone, he immediately phoned his mom. He took, one deep breath, and then started talking really fast.
“Mom, some guy from the NHL just phoned, and I’ve been invited to the draft tomorrow in Calgary, and I told him that I would be happy to go, and so there’s a chance I might be drafted, and I want you to be there so you can see me go into the NHL and then see what happens, like if I got drafted or not.” Matthew finally took a deep breath. And then his mom spoke
“What? Matthew, that’s amazing! I’m so proud of you!”
“So will you be able to come mom?”
“Yes Matthew, I’ll be happy to!”
Matthew and his mom took their seats in the lower bowl of the Scotiabank Saddeldome. They waited patiently for the draft to start. The Florida Panthers had the first pick. The Flames, had the 25th pick. Luckily this year, they actually had all five of their picks and hadn’t traded any of them away.
The lights suddenly focused on the stage, and the General Manager of the Florida Panthers walked out on to the stage.
“With the first pick, the Florida Panthers would like to select Matthew”
Wait. It couldn’t be. Not this early in the draft.
“Matthew Mangrove!”
Matthew shrunk down in his seat. His mother looked at him, and said,
“It’s all right Matthew. You couldn’t have expected to be first overall anyways.”
“I didn’t mom”
Up until the third round, no mention of a Matthew happened. But then when the Panther’s GM was back on stage, something unexpected happened.
“The Florida Panthers have a trade to announce. Received, from the Calgary Flames, Mark Giordano. Traded away to Calgary, our third round pick.”
A murmur went through the crowd. Mark Giordano? For some rookie, that probably no one has ever heard of? Wow. Giordano, was one of the better veteran defense men on the team. Even Matthew was surprised. But then, he got lost in his rambling thoughts. The Calgary GM, Darryl Sutter was on the stage now. Matthew was going to pay extra attention to this pick. His favorite team, was after all the Flames. He wondered who was so important, that they’d have to trade Mark Giordano for.
“The Calgary Flames, with the first pick in the third round would like to select, from Edmonton, Alberta, Matthew Power!”
Matthew was shocked into silence. For a few tense moments, he didn’t move. He just sat in his seat, with his mouth gaping open. But he regained his composure, when his mother patted him on the back.
“Go on up son. Your dad would be proud.”
Matthew, stood up from his seat still shocked He didn’t feel like he was controlling his body, it was juts moving. He saw Darryl Sutter, holding his jersey. It was crested, with his last name, Power, across the back, just above his number, 27. In Matthew’s opinion, that was now the best number in the whole world. Better than any number 12. Matthew, soon realized that he was climbing up the stairs, onto the stage. He was shaking Darryl’s hand, and pulling the jersey over his dress shirt. He slipped the hat onto his head, getting ready for the picture. He realized, almost too late that he should smile. He got it onto his face, milliseconds before the flash. But there was only one thought going through his head.
“I did this for you dad. I hope your proud.”
