Ice Dreams

Disclaimer: Characters in this story are my creation, as is the city of Bannen,(as far as I know, Canada doesn’t have a city named Bannen in it), and the hockey team is fictional as well. California doesn’t have a team named the Demon Dogs, that is my creation. The characters in this story are not based on any specific person, so any similarities are purely coincidental. I do not own any rights to the Stanley Cup, and I don’t make any money off my stories.

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I tried to keep the hockey facts as truthful as possible, so please excuse any slip-ups. While this is a story based on a sports team, it’s not my intention to focus completely on it, but instead on the romantic story. I also don’t bash hockey players in real life, as I’ve met a few and they are lovely people. It just works in my story for now. I was inspired from the recent playoff games, when this plot bunny jumped into my head. Please enjoy.

Warnings: angst, lemon, oral, death, fluff, language, m/f


** Asterisks indicate thoughts

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Chapter Seventeen



The Bannen Warriors assembled in a ‘stretch circle’, with Neil in the middle, leading the warm-up for the day. With plenty of good humour, he led the athletes in an intense stretch before practice. It was November already, and they had to keep on top of their game if they wanted to make the playoffs. Winning the Eastern Conference was one thing, beating out the teams for the title, but to go on to the finals and win the Stanley Cup was a whole different battle. One that they hadn’t won for a long, long time. Bruce Richards had been coaching the Bannen Warriors for almost 15 years, and they wanted to win the Cup for themselves, but for him as well. It was a long time coming now.

After the stretch, the strength and conditioning coach took them for an hour before Coach Richards stepped onto the ice to talk to his team. The athletes crowded around the white haired Coach to hear what he had to say.

“We’ve been doing well so far, but don’t let it get to your heads. It’s important to think like winners, but if you start getting cocky, it’s the beginning of the end. You understand?”

“Yes Coach.” The men mumbled, leaning on their hockey sticks, listening intently. Coach Richards looked solemn, though he felt far from it. Surrounding him were easily the best athletes he had ever worked with, and he was proud to have every last one on his team. There would be plenty of time to tell them that later, right now it was important to be serious. He couldn’t let them get out of control. If that was to happen, they could kiss their dreams of Stanley away.

“Our management, as well as the assistant coaches and such, have been reviewing game tapes day in and day out now. We all know about the California Demon Dogs,”

The rink was hushed, though by the looks of aggravation and seriousness on the players faces told Bruce they knew exactly what he was talking about.

“ and that we haven’t actually won a game against them in almost three years. Those aren’t good statistics there. We have to get the better of them, since it’s looking like they are going to be West Conference Champions. If we play well enough, we will be going against them in the Cup finals. If that’s the case, one of two things will happen – they win, or we do. Every time we manage to get to the finals, they wipe us out. We get angry, but we haven’t gotten even. This year we’re aiming to change that.”

Coach Richards explained to them what notes had been made watching the Demon Dogs play. Eli chipped in with his own observations, as did Jordan and Tom. The Demon Dogs were a big group of guys, into fighting, seemingly knocking the Warriors best players out with injuries.

Eli talked about being more aggressive, landing classy hits and checking so that they could avoid penalties. They had to stop doing silly things like high sticking and holding so that they wouldn’t be penalized for that. The last thing anyone wanted was to have one of their players in the penalty box, to give the Demon Dogs a 5 on 4 man advantage during a power play.

“If that does happen, and no matter what, it always seems to, we have to be able to kill those penalties. We’ve been analyzing you guys since the season has started, and we’re going to put together some small teams, 4 players each, of people we think are going to be good penalty killers.”

Coach Richards started naming off players to create a small power play team, and Graham was not surprised he was placed in one with Tom, Jordan, and Patrick Raymond. He knew the role of penalty killers very well. They were the team put out when the opposition had the advantage, and their role was to stop the opposition from scoring, or gaining the upperhand during the power play.

Coach Richards discussed hitting and checking, and Neil came up more than once. He had the grittiness factor that Richards was looking for, as did Tom, and Coach Richards insisted that everyone should start getting more physical, otherwise the Demon Dogs would take them out of the game faster than they could imagine. It had happened before, and it would happen again unless they made changes.

Leaving the rest of the discussion for a conference later on in the week, Coach Richards split the players into two teams and simulated a penalty, testing out the groups that he had chosen. Things were looking good at the moment, and Coach Richards allowed himself to relax a little. He would get through this, and he hoped that his team would make the difference this year. He hoped so. After waiting so long, the Bannen Warriors deserved to win. They had been crushed every single year, but they still had heart, and that was an important factor to being the best of the best.


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Denise made a list of the items that would go into the gift packages for the children at the hospital. Autographed photos, plush toys of Marscat, Bannen Warriors hats, and a few autographed jerseys, for the winners of the raffles to be held. She knew, without a doubt, that it would be a fun afternoon. Graham was starting to get excited about it already, so she knew that it was something that the players looked forward to every year.

Although this would be her first year involved in such events, Denise hoped that it wouldn’t be the last. It was hard work, planning for the two Christmas events. In the New Year, she would have to organize autograph signings, marathons, visits to elementary schools, and many, many other things. While it was a big job, she had Bob to help her out, and always benefited from Graham’s suggestions. Yes, her job had been made much easier from the two.

Smiling, she looked over her list. She had already made arrangements for the Christmas Banquet, from tablecloths to caterers, and she was excited about that. Denise knew that it was one of the biggest parties for the Warriors, next to the year end banquet, after the season had concluded. She had already begun thinking about that one too.

The phone started to ring, Denise leaning over the sofa to reach for it. She suspected it was Graham, since it was right around the time practice ended. When she picked it up, she realized right away that it wasn’t.

“Hi Denise.”

*Hilary…*

“What do you want Hilary?” Denise heard her scoff over the line.

“Well, that’s not very nice. Just checking up on your arrangements.”

*What the hell is she talking about?*

“I don’t understand.” Denise replied.

“You know, for the children’s social and the Christmas Banquet. Bob told me to give you a call, see if you had everything organized.”

*I don’t understand this at all*

“Why would it matter, Hilary? This has nothing to do with you.”

“It matters because I called and asked for a job, and Bob said for me to help you. So I’m helping you.” Hilary’s voice was cold and clipped. Denise frowned.

*That sneaky little bitch! I can’t believe that she would do that, just because she is unhappy with me*

“Everything is under control, and I definitely don’t need your help. Bye.” Denise slammed the phone down on the receiver, infuriated. Was this how Hilary wanted to get even? By forcing herself into Denise’s work? Or was this
a way that Hilary hoped to get close to Graham, and try to weed herself into Denise’s place? It wasn’t going to work like that, either way.

Denise dialed up Bob’s phone number, dismayed that he wasn’t picking up. She wanted Hilary out of the job pronto, and that meant having to talk to Bob. She couldn’t very well tell him that she had a grudge against her, but she could tell him that Hilary wasn’t a hard worker and did things for her own pleasure. She could inform Bob that with Hilary on the team, the work would drag at an impossible rate. Since Bob wasn’t picking up, Denise left a message before hanging up the phone. She could hardly believe that Hilary was pulling such a stunt. The girl was impossible.

Sitting back on the couch, Denise thought about what this could mean for her. She was enjoying the position of events coordinator, and took pride in the work that she had done so far. She didn’t want Hilary ruining everything, after the effort she had put in to make sure things would be wonderful.

*Would I be her superior though?* Denise thought. If that was the case, then she could make sure Hilary didn’t upset any of her work. If she dared to, Denise could have her fired in a second. Thinking from that new perspective, she felt a little more reassured. Hilary sure had some nerve though, thinking that she could go off and do things like that.

Denise stomped to the kitchen angrily, throwing open the refrigerator and grabbing a soda. If Hilary thought this would give her all-out access to Graham (or Neil for that matter), she was very, very wrong.


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Amanda and Neil walked through the park close to his home, hand in hand. The air was chilly with a November wind, Neil slipping his arm around her waist when she shivered. She knew, now more than ever, that she was absolutely in love with him. Everything that he did was perfect. Sure, sometimes they fought, but they were always small arguments that they could talk about calmly, sorting things out. He doted on her constantly, even though he hated to admit it. She knew that he didn’t want all his friends to see that he was whipped, though it was hard to conceal.

Smiling, she leaned her head against his shoulder. Life had been rocky two months, even three months ago, struggling with a new job, trying to make a career out of it, no love, no close friends. In one month, she had fallen deeply in love with a man she was sure to marry, and met Denise, a wonderful woman she could feel a strong bond with.

Things were going well now, and she felt reassured in Neil’s arms. Pausing, she wrapped her arms around his neck, raising up to plant a soft kiss on his lips. He leaned into her, pulling her close, returning her kiss energetically.

Yes, things had really turned around for her, in the best way she could have imagined. She felt like the most desired woman on the planet.


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Eli sat across from his love, Whitney, at a posh restaurant, the place largely lit with dim bulbs and candlelight. A thin candle sat in the middle of their table in small clear water bowl, rose petals floating in the liquid. Eli took her hand in his, across the table. She smiled shyly at him.

Dating for a good number of years, she had grown accustomed to his romantic side. He spoiled her as much as she would let him, taking her out for dinner at least twice a week. He truly was a different person than her first impression of him. She had first met him in high school, and she thought that he was just another big, brawny, hockey thug. A brainless jock.

He had proved her wrong almost immediately, being a smart, compassionate person on and off the ice. Kind in person, dedicated to his game, he had turned out to be the opposite of all her misconceptions. Friends in school, they separated while she attended university and he carved out a career in the NHL. Running into each other a few years later, he pursued her relentlessly for a date, not backing down until she said yes.

That had been nearly five years ago, and here they were today, still deeply in love and the best of friends. Whitney was shy by nature, and Eli was able to make her burst out into a blush with only a few words, or nibbling on her ear in public. Anything. She loved him unlike anything else though, and he was tender in the bedroom, sweet and caring of her.

He smiled at her, green eyes twinkling, and brought her hand up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles.

“I love you.” He said, and she smiled back.

“I love you too.”

He grinned at her almost mischievously and took something out of his pocket. She couldn’t see, since the table obstructed her view, but she knew what it was as soon as he got down on one knee beside her seat. Raising her hand to her mouth, she watched with wide, dark brown eyes as he opened the ring box and flashed a flawless diamond at her.

“Whitney, will you marry me?”

She cried and laughed at the same time, leaning down to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him repeatedly.

“Yes, yes, yes!”

They had drawn attention to themselves, people at other tables smiling and sharing in their joy. Eli slipped the ring onto her finger, kissing her hand before leaning up and taking her lips. In no time, a waiter was at their table, pouring champagne.


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Graham walked with Denise down the dark streets of her neighbourhood, night sky twinkling above them. He stopped every few feet to interrupt their conversation by kissing her. Taking her hand, they started up her street and towards their home. He had grown quiet, making Denise curious. Turning to look up at him, he seemed deep in though.

“What’s on your mind?” She asked quietly. He blinked, looking down at her with those impossibly gorgeous blue eyes.

“Well…” He started, grinning like he had a secret. Denise poked him lightly in the side.

“Hey!” He cried dramatically, making a bigger deal than it actually was. Denise rolled her eyes.

“C’mon Gretzky, let’s hear it.” She said, smiling. It was his turn to roll his eyes.

“I was thinking, since Christmas is a little more than a month away, that I would like you to come up and meet my family for the holiday. Only if you want though, I won’t force you to come if you don’t.” Graham spoke hurriedly, squeezing Denise’s hand slightly. She got up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek. He grinned.

“Of course. I would love to.”

That seemed to make him happy, because he went back to being his bubbly, animated self, full of humour. They walked up her driveway and into her home, Graham filling her in on the days events and what they had to look forward to in the upcoming playoffs. The regular season would end in early December, and then it was all geared towards the intense run of the playoffs, something Denise could see that Graham was a little anxious about. With thoughts of Hilary gone from her mind for the moment, she kissed and cuddled Graham, who seemed to like the attention far too much.




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A/N: Thanks for reading, please review! I live for them! :D More to come soon! Also, thanks to those who have sent me some incredible fanart on my stories so far. I hope to have a website up before the end of the summer, so keep 'em coming!

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