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History - boom - 10-01-2022
[1020 words, ready for grading]
Sophie Bordeleau's season was off to an unexpected roll. Being on the top line, she was gelling with her linemates in Tam Kove and Portgas D. Ace. The team, bolstered with many rookies like Alexander Minaj, Walter Sobchak, Viktor Hargreeves and others, was looking to get back to the Four Star Cup this season. Sophie herself was experiencing something that she hadn't been used to in a while: being on a hot streak. It seemed like every shot she took was going in the net. The team hadn't exploded out of the gate and took a little while to get going, but Sophie's line's offensive performance and stingy goaltending by Caleb Hayden kept the Citadelles right in the thick of the divisional race. Sophie found herself particularly lucky when it came to scoring goals in the clutch, as she quickly notched six game-winners early in the season to help the team to important wins. Away from the ice, things were as good as ever. Jamie seemed to be a lot more comfortable with her health as time went on and the pair would spend free times excitedly planning their life together. With Sophie's impending callup to the SHL seemed to be a sense of transition, as the couple would talk about opportunities and plans. Jamie's art had been drawing more attention and she was excited about discovering new inspirations on the West Coast, while Sophie was pumped to face a new challenge. Barring the short stretch with the Nevada Battleborn, she'd never played for a team outside of her home province and moving to San Francisco and going up to the SHL meant she'd be facing off against bigger, faster, stronger players and dealing with a new media market. Regardless, she always tried to take these challenges in stride and not get too high.
One thing that was always in the back of Sophie's mind, whether she liked it or not, were numbers. She'd seen the headlines as her hot streak continued. Pushing towards the Quebec career record of points with 228 held by Rylie Versi, pushing to take an early lead in the scoring race, these numbers and talks swirled around her brain. Sophie did her best to stay focused and attentive on helping the Citadelles win first and foremost, but a brief slide where the team dropped four of five games did shock them into realizing that they would need to buckle down and find another gear to win. Despite the added focus, Sophie did laugh along with her teammates when seeing the fans checking her pursuit of the record. Fans would make signs cheering her and the team on, and she'd try to check them out in warmup when she could. It was a nice way to get to connect more with the fans and bond with teammates, who would give Sophie some encouraging ribbing when she set up plays or scored.
The big night ended up happening in the coldest place in the league, during a road game in Anchorage, Alaska. Sophie went into the game trailing the record by two points at 226, but she tried to just block out the media attention. The Maine Timber were right on their heels in the standings and Sophie's personal offensive goals would always come secondary to winning the game. Her pursuit got off to a good start in the first period. Sophie's line was set up in the offensive zone, and a Quebec shot was blocked into the corner. An Anchorage defender chased the puck and tried to chip it out, but it was kept in by Alexander Minaj, who walked along the blueline to wait for a chance. In the meantime, Sophie managed to find a gap and get loose near the faceoff dot. One quick pass and shot later, Sophie was now just one point back. Anchorage would strike back early in the second period when a busted coverage by Sophie's line let Sebastien Regazzoni get open with the puck and fire it past Caleb Hayden, and it would remain this way until late in the period. A Citadelles defender, Fdam Aoote, made a nice play at the blueline to step around his man and dropped the puck back to Portgas D. Ace, who was already in the high slot with a one-time blast. The Armada goalie made the save, but the rebound went straight to Sophie for her second goal of the game. The Citadelles had retaken the lead and she was now tied with Rylie Versi.
Heading back to the faceoff dot to restart play, there was a sense of anticipation on the ice and bench. The play went into Quebec's zone and was bandied about for a while, but soon Caleb Hayden kicked out a rebound that was recovered by Fdam Aoote. The outlet pass hit Sophie in stride and she was able to chip it around the defender with speed, creating a two-on-one with Ace on the other wing. Crossing over the blueline, Sophie kept her head up, wanting to keep all options open. With the defender seeming to commit towards a slide, she waited until the last possible second to act, then slid the puck over to the stick of Ace. His shot was true, and with that the mark was set. Sophie Bordeleau had picked up her 229th point in a Citadelles uniform. It took a second for the gravity of the moment to hit the Citadelles players, but the mob of happiness that was waiting for her at the bench was unmistakeable. There were no more goals for the rest of the game, and Sophie took a second when she got back to the locker room to take it all in. A quick-thinking Quebec player had grabbed the puck and she tried to enjoy this amazing moment for all it was worth. Perhaps the best moment was when she got to talk to her family and Jamie on a video call after the game. She couldn't even try to hold back her excitement from all of the hard work and amazing teammates that had led to this moment.
RE: History - lore - 10-01-2022
O (alternate) Captain my (alternate) Captain!
RE: History - boom - 10-01-2022
10-01-2022, 01:53 AMlore Wrote: O (alternate) Captain my (alternate) Captain!
RE: History - Frenchie - 10-05-2022
Really good read! Sophie is poised to light up the SHL after this season! At that point, my team and I can stop having nightmares
