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 Eighteen



A good week had passed since Bruce had talked to his team on the rink about the playoffs, and their main rival, the Demon Dogs. Since then, the boys had gone through their regular workouts, on the ice treadmill, the exercise bikes, as well as several sessions with the strength and conditioning coach.

It was important that they keep on top of things, both mentally and physically. Now was not the time to start slacking in their workouts. Graham rode the stationary bike, Neil and Colin on either side of them. This was the exercise they did as a ‘break’, something that wasn’t too taxing and would cool them down a bit from the weight-lifting they had done earlier.

Neil had a protein shake in front of him, while Graham and Colin both opted for bottled water. Other members from the Warriors were in the weight room, Jordan on the exercise ball, working on his stability, while Eli and Tom were at the bench press. Patrick, a new addition to the team, was lifting weights, working on his upper body strength.

“So, what’s new with you guys?” Colin asked, watching his friends. Both Graham and Neil shrugged. Neil answered first.

“Well, nothing much. You know the deal. Amanda and I are going to a Sting concert, since that’s her favourite artist. Other than that, just trying to relax and keep myself in shape.”

“Yeah, same. Denise and I will be heading up to my parents place for Christmas, and she’s working on the hospital social and the Christmas banquet. I’ve been helping out a bit with it. Aside from that stuff, there really isn’t anything going on right now, we’re kind of coming into the calm before the storm.” Graham said. Colin had to agree – they’ve been through all this many times before, and this was the quiet period before all the action started to happen.

“I don’t have many plans for Christmas myself. I know it’s more than a month away right now, but I’ll probably end up going to my parents place and spending the holiday with my family.”

They talked about their festive plans, and the upcoming hockey game against the Rangers, but other than that, conversation had dimmed to practically nothing. Coach Richards wanted to see them all together in a conference in a couple of days, and that weighed heavily on all the players minds.

While conferences were quite common, Bruce Richards had been looking fairly stressed lately, and they all knew it had something to do with the Demon Dogs, as well as the other rivals they would be going against during the playoffs. If the Coach looked worried about it, that wasn’t a good sign.

When Graham had put in an hour on the exercise bike, he left for the showers. He knew Denise would want him back as soon as possible, because Hilary had invited herself over and his girlfriend was probably having a hard time getting rid of her.


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“No, that’s not what we had planned. Hilary, HONESTLY, those kids are there to see the hockey players, it’s like a meet and greet sort of thing. They really don’t give a damn about the rest of the Bannen Warriors administration. They usually don’t come anyway, because they know the kids want to see the players. We’d just be wasting money and the management’s time if they were invited along.” Hilary seemed to disagree though. Denise was sure that Hilary had an ulterior motive for wanting the management to come along (like trying to get tickets out of them), but it was not something that happened. Denise had already gone over this with Graham and Bob, and they had both said that the management didn’t attend this event. Hilary was being very pushy.

“I think that the kids would like to see who really runs the show, you know, the backstage sort of people. The coaches, managers, and whatnot. If you give them a proper introduction, they could grasp the children’s interest right away.” Hilary was insistent. She would keep on going until she got her way, and Denise was getting very sick of it. They hadn’t gotten hardly any work done, because of Hilary’s incessant arguing. Denise knew what needed to happen, how to go about it, and who she needed to call. Hilary was now getting in her way and trying to change her plans. It was time Denise lay down the iron fist.

“No. I mean it. That’s final. No more arguing. This is tradition. The players go, the PLAYERS introduce one another, they are the ones who interact with the children, and people like you and me just stand on the sidelines and WAIT until it is over. It is not our job to interfere – this event is for the children as well as the team. The management doesn’t come. There are other events that they do, but this isn’t one of them.”

Hilary tried to rebut, but Denise calmly recited the same thing. She would continue doing so until Hilary got the hint and stopped talking about it. Eventually she did, though she was extremely frustrated that Denise was the one in charge.

Denise was more frustrated though. They had hardly gotten any work done. Hilary had shown up after Graham had left, and she had sent Graham a text message on his cell phone to come and save her as soon as he was done his workout. Hilary had stayed the entire time, and Denise was expecting Graham any moment. She had talked to Bob that morning with the intent of getting Hilary off of the job, but Bob was far to kind to fire her without a good reason. Denise would have to live with the situation for now, and when Hilary proved she wasn’t doing anything worthwhile, then Denise could get her fired.

Just when she was thinking about cracking her flower vase over Hilary’s head, she heard the front door open and heavy footsteps enter. Filled with relief, she waited for Graham to come into the living room. With him there now, she knew that Hilary would fawn over him like a young teenage girl, but at the same time, she knew Graham and he wouldn’t go for her at all. It would become obvious in no time.

As if on cue, Graham entered the living room just as Hilary was about to launch into another bitch-fit. Seeing him there shut her up right away. Acting as if she was Denise’s best friend, she pat the younger woman on the arm and smiled.

“Good plans so far, though they need a little changing. We’ll talk about it later. I have a few suggestions to make.” Hilary flashed a winning smile, and Denise had to watch herself from scowling. It was too easy for Hilary to turn on the bitch. Turning to Graham, she smiled at him too.

“Here I thought Denise was joking when she said she was dating Graham Kelly from the Bannen Warriors. Graham Kelly dating a simple woman from New York, who probably had no life until you two met. Was that how it went, Denise? How sweet. Really it is. I wonder how you two found each other?” While Hilary was trying to appear nice, she didn’t want to edit out her insults against Denise. Graham caught them too, as they weren’t greatly concealed, sharing a glance with Denise. It went unnoticed by Hilary. Instead of chewing her out for insulting his girlfriend right in front of him, and probably humiliating Denise, Graham flashed her his trademark sexy grin.

That did the trick well enough, as he saw Hilary visibly melt. Deciding how far he wanted to take this, he made his way over to the couch, towards Denise. Hilary thought he was coming towards her at first, and her breath hitched as he moved closer to where she and Denise were seated. Dismayed, her smile slightly faltered as he paused by Denise, crouched down beside her so that their heads were level, and grinned at Hilary again.

“I don’t know about some of your comments. From what I know so far, Denise is far from simple. I’d have to say it was my life that was in question until I met her. Since we started dating, she’s filled in this empty void I’ve had within myself. I can’t even describe how much I love her.” He delivered his lines sincerely, Hilary detecting no sarcasm whatsoever. To accentuate his point, still grinning, he turned to Denise and used his thumb to turn her face towards him. She was startled as he quickly swept down and captured her lips, careful not to make it too hot, incase the pair of them got carried away and Hilary slipped from their minds.

Pulling away, he smiled again. Hilary had been made very uncomfortable, and he could detect hate and jealousy in her. If she and Denise hadn’t been getting along before, matters were much worse now. As much as he knew that it was a bad thing, he wanted to rub it in her face. Hilary stood, excusing herself.

“I’ll talk to you later about planning, Denise. I have to be somewhere right now.” Denise didn’t even get up to see Hilary through her door. She waited until the front door slammed before turning to Graham, who had a very mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“That was very bad.” She said, tone light and humorous. Graham shrugged.

“I was very tempted to do more damage.” He said, smirking. Denise raised an eyebrow.

“Oh really? You were? You’re evil.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

That was all the invitation she needed. Pouncing on Graham, she went about divesting him of his clothes, and he was more than happy to assist.


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Eli and Whitney had spent their free time together planning out some of their wedding details. As much as they wanted to have a lengthy engagement, they felt the best time to get married would be in June, after the playoff season had ended. That way, they could take a long honeymoon and not have to worry about exercising, or thinking about hockey. The sport would be done for the summer, and the guys wouldn’t start seriously getting back into shape until around August.

Also, with a wedding in June, all the players from the Bannen Warriors would be able to attend, since most of them didn’t start going on vacation until July. Eli hoped, that along with their June wedding, they could also have the Stanley Cup in their hands. What a great year it would be, to win the Cup in June, only to get married a week later? That would be the best thing he could ever want, and Whitney would be so proud of him as well.

Kissing his fiancée, he looked into her deep, dark eyes. She truly was beautiful, and he couldn’t believe he waited so long to tell her that. In high school, he was too nervous to tell her what he felt at the time, and he couldn’t muster up the strength until after she had completed her degree.

That was a long time ago now, and since then, they had been through many ups and downs, though the majority of what they had been through were happy times. He couldn’t wait to be her husband.


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Colin and Francis were on the ice with the goaltending coaches, listening to their instructions. The goaltenders, along with the players, received special coaching and clinics. He knew that Tom, Graham, and Neil had participated in a front-line coaching session where they were worked on puck handling, offensive skills, and scoring. Since then, they had improved drastically, so much that Coach Richards had all of them going through the same kind of thing weekly.

Colin worked with one goaltending coach, who was making him more aware of his movements as a goaltender. He had him skating to the edge of his crease, coming out of the net a bit more, trying to become more confident in his area. It seemed to be working, because he was starting to feel very good about what he was doing, and felt the tips he was receiving would benefit his playing.

The goaltending coach pretended to be a player of the opposing team, covering him, forcing Colin to move around to stop him from standing in front of him the entire time. It seemed to be working, and the coach looked pleased at his progress. At the end of the practice, Colin skated over to Francis’ net, a puck on the end of his stick. For fun, he tried to score on the other goaltender, not surprised when he couldn’t get one in. There was a reason Francis Osler was the number one.

“Let’s try you, Burkins.” Francis said, face partially concealed by his mask. Colin switched places with the older goalie. This time, he was defending the net. Although nervous, Colin kept his eye on the puck. Francis hit a couple, Colin concentrating hard, catching them in his glove, throwing his body over to stop the pucks from getting in the net.

When Francis was done with him, he pleased the younger goalie by praising him on his abilities. Colin felt good about that, and noticing the satisfied looks from the goaltending coaches in the corner, Colin felt like he was soaring. Maybe this year he would get some more playing time, and if he was good enough, he might be up for a salary increase next year. What a bonus that would be.


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Amanda watched, trying to hold back laughter as Neil went about preparing dinner. It was something she always loved to watch. When Neil was making dinner, he would seldom let her participate, as he considered that he was doing it for her, and that she should relax and let him do the work.

For a tough guy, he was impossibly cute at the moment, dressed in an apron, short dirty blonde hair sticking in every direction. He was chopping the vegetables for a stir-fry, sparing her a glance when she had grown quiet.

“Laughing at me?” He asked gruffly, though the twitch of his lips at the corners failed to conceal a grin that wanted to appear. She smiled.

“Uh huh. You’re too cute for your own good.” She said, leaning over the counter. He met her halfway, kissing her softly. He grinned against her lips, kissing her again before pulling away.

“You’re the first person who would ever say something like that.”

“Well, I wouldn’t imagine your teammates saying such a thing.” He laughed.

“No, they wouldn’t if they know what’s good for them.”

Amanda sat back, letting Neil continue working on their meal. For a big guy, who probably didn’t learn to cook before leaving home to play hockey professionally, he was a good cook. She was curious.

“Did your parents teach you how to cook?” She asked. He shook his head.

“No. I was put in a farm team when I was 17, so I’ve basically been gone from home since then.”

“How did you learn then?” He smiled at her.

“We have to take healthy cooking classes as part of our all-round training. That’s where I learned how to do everything. Very helpful, if you ask me. Without that training, I really wouldn’t know what I was doing.” Neil could see that Amanda found this very humorous.

“Every player?”

“Yeah, the younger ones at least. You can bet a lot of the guys on the team had to go through it at one time. Especially the ones that were drafted in their teens. They definitely wouldn’t know their way around the kitchen.”

“So all you guys just lined up together and learned how to cook?” Neil looked into her twinkling eyes. She really found it funny.

“Yep. Forced into aprons, giving us the mixing bowls, the whole bit. With us all together, it wasn’t as awkward. If one of the guys was screwing up, we’d help him before the instructor noticed and put him on the spot.” This time Amanda did laugh, the thought of a bunch of hockey players working together in the kitchen far too amusing.




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A/N: More to come soon! Please review! Thanks!

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