A lone figure tore off across the ice, as fast as he could. It was about 11pm, the rink wasn't properly lit or particularly well maintained, and the ice surface was, well, rubbish, really. The best that could be said is that even at this time of year in North Dakota, it was still warmer inside the building than outside. Or drier, anyway. The figure hit the boards at the other end of the ice, twisting just in time to put the impact against his back. He thought the same thing again. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
The figure moved quickly again. The goal at that end of the rink didn't have an actual net on it. The paint on the lines was so old that you couldn't actually tell what colour it originally was, unless you'd seen a regulation hockey rink before. There's no more seats on the left, and one of the building doors is actually left ajar or only closable with a cinder block. He hit the wall again. But minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
Alexis Metzler went all out again. To the ordinary observer and many fans of Buffalo, he'd had a great year. Nine goals and twenty two assists- that was good for arguably the best rookie defence man of the year, and probably one of the best the league had ever seen. There was Kelly Rivet on the same points, and Kelly had done a better job of shot blocking; but Kelly Rivet was minus twenty eight. The boards came again. Kelly Rivet doesn't matter, because minus eight is still not good enough. Skate!
Metzler was aware that he was in the talks for the rookie of the year award, but probably only as a dark horse candidate. Even if he was somehow argued to be the best rookie skater, he'd still have to somehow beat the guy that every single pundit was expecting to see handed the award- the new Los Angeles Panthers goalie, Timo Haas. Nobody even thought he'd be their starting goaltender, never mind turn out to be as good as he actually played. Los Angeles were probably pretty unlucky to run into Calgary in the first round. Boards. You're not a goalie, Alexis. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
When he moved again, he remembered almost all of the thirty nine goals that had happened against Buffalo while he was on the ice. Goals scored by extraordinary players, like McZehrl and Szlerchek and Russell and no shortage of other players that Alexis felt secretly intimidated by when they powered down the ice towards him. Players that could already skate faster than him moving forwards while he had to move backwards. Boards. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
All of those guys did something else pretty good that he didn't do either- they hit. Man, those guys hit like trucks. Alexis was pretty lucky; he hadn't been hit as much as some other guys. But that wasn't so much down to being able to actively get out of the way of hits as plain lucky positioning in the first place. He laid a few hits, but nothing like what some others on the team did. He'd have to ask Theodore (Graham) or Maximilian (Wachter) for advice on how to do those properly. Boards. Low priority right now. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
Alexis Metzler was out here at 11pm, because as good as he did playing these guys, he still wasn't good enough. Never mind that he'd only scored 1 point less than in either of his SMJHL seasons. If any veteran was going to be able to just blow past him whenever they want, he needed more weapons in his arsenal. The most reliable is to be just as quick as they are. He'd been doing this every night for weeks now, and he'd only gotten about half a second faster. Boards. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
Next season, barring another pickup like Muller in the free agency period, Metzler was almost certainly going to be playing top line minutes. In truth, he already sort of had been- averaging more than 22 minutes a game. But it looked like that number might go up another 4 or 5. He could probably do that kind of time, and do it pretty well; but Alexis was going to have to have one damn early preseason to make that happen. Boards. Being here is a good start, but minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
There's plenty of players Alexis Metzler was trying to model bits and pieces of his game off. Players with perfect positioning, players who could block shots, players who passed pucks with accuracy that made fans weep. Some defence men could drop absolute bombs on the net. In truth, Metzler kind of just wanted to do it all. The best role model he had, though, was the one rarely more than 30 feet away from him- Friedrich Muller. Friedrich was retiring, but he was still sending Metzler plenty of advice and was hopefully going to show up to Buffalo's preseason training. Boards. Need to be ready to impress him, Alexis! Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
He hadn't stayed a day longer in Buffalo than necessary after the end of the season; his family wanted to see him, and he wanted to see them. They'd been able to come out and watch him in Detroit every month or so, but SHL tickets are significantly more expensive than SHL tickets. As a result, he'd been largely alone in upstate New York for most of the season. His team mates were cool, but he definitely relied on his family. Boards. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
Next week, Alexis had agreed to head to a bigger arena in Bismarck and help his old high school coach with a training camp. Most of the kids he'd met before. He'd probably sign a few things and show off a few tricks, and probably see if he couldn't secretly give some secret help only to the skaters from his own high school. He'd just tell them to the coach, but he was too honest for that kind of thing, and probably knew that stuff already anyway. Boards. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
After that camp, he'd be heading to Detroit again. Alexis had been moonlighting last year as an assistant scout for the Falcons. It gave him an excuse to meet up with his old SMJHL team mates, many of whom were doing the same thing, and it also gave him valuable experience to enable him to stay in hockey after his skating days are over. Detroit made it to the 4 Star Cup final this year, but just fell short. A testament to some good work done there by all- Metzler never made it that far. But that's another league. Boards. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
He might be taking an international flight to somewhere completely different, though- it sounds like this might be the year he breaks into team USA for the IIHF. Most other American players didn't stick around to try and make team USA; they defected to teams like Germany and Finland because they felt like they had a better shot at getting in. More than a few had approached him. Alexis Metzler wasn't particularly patriotic or anything, but he'd known even when he was in the SMJHL that the USA's IIHF selectors had high hopes for him already. But that's yet another league again. Boards. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
If he did play for team USA, however, there'd be very high expectations. He'd already heard the chants around Detroit's arena about the idea of him playing for the red white and blue, but this time, they'd need to defend a gold medal. Metzler would almost exclusively be playing both with and against guys who are better than him, too. It'd be worth the experience, but it was going to be a bit of a bloodbath. Hey, just don't finish up with another minus eight. Boards. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
There's also the SHL draft to consider. Metzler liked following these. He knew it was a deep class, and he was excited to see how it'd play out. Buffalo has plenty of picks, including the second and third overall. He'd seen the team general managers handle a draft already; he trusted them to pick quality team mates. Probably wouldn't be much time to dwell on it, but he'd get to meet everyone eventually. Boards. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
It's also the last year of this contract. Another 3 million, and then there's an option for free agency. Metzler had signed the contract for Portland, quite enthusiastic at the time and looking forward to playing in yellow. Just 6 days later, they traded him to the other side of the country for a pick, his former line mate who'd been traded again for peanuts, and someone he once speared in the balls who was still in the SMJHL. Boards. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
Alexis was going to approach the next contract talks looking out for his own interests a lot better. Metzler's grandfather had made him swear to not touch a thing regarding the new contract until the end of the season. That way he'd get another year with the team to see where they were going, and he wouldn't be screwed if something with the team went badly wrong. Might be able to ask for a no trade clause too, but he'd need to perform strongly next season to get that. Boards. Minus eight is not good enough for a no trade clause. Skate!
It's not like Alexis didn't like Buffalo, though. He'd headed to the city not really knowing anything about it, but mostly still a little disappointed that it wasn't Portland, which he had learned of from others in college in only the most positive terms. But the city had welcomed him; they had done little but support him as a rookie, and it absolutely helped the fans that this last season, despite still missing the playoffs, was the best year the Stampede had ever had yet. Boards. Minus eight wasn't good enough for playoffs. Skate!
Buffalo was also proving a decent enough place to get on with, well, being an adult. Metzler had found and bought a house he liked, a property in Grandyle Village on the banks of the Niagara River. That was perfect, because he could set up a modest yacht and anchor it to private docks just across the road. On off days, he could spend a couple hours doing the loop around Grand Island, or sail up as close as he dared to the bottom of the Niagara Falls. He was also starting to think a little more seriously about finding a partner, but nobody he'd dated seemed right yet. Boards. No point in that kind of leisure because minus eight isn't good enough. Skate!
There was another end to the contract talk stuff, though- Buffalo's end. Team management brought in Muller last season, but he's retiring now. They might bring in someone else to replace him. There wasn't a huge free agent market this offseason and Alexis admitted to himself that he hadn't really looked to see who the Stampede might have a chance with; but it didn't stop him wondering who he might have on his team if he could choose one player. Ideally, Metzler would want someone about the same age and about as good as him- another player who'd complement his own play style perfectly. But he couldn't think of anyone off the top of his head for that.
Alexis had paid some attention to the SHL Challenge Cup final. After Buffalo missed the finals, he'd told himself that he wasn't going to do it, but he couldn't resist- where else do you get to see that level of quality of hockey? Metzler favoured Calgary to win it over Manhattan; way more depth on that team. McZehrl played 30 minutes a night, but the Dragons would probably have the run of the ice on the other thirty. Boards. You're not playing for Calgary. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
Missing the finals, however, was a bit of a blow. The Stampede didn't necessarily have any business getting near the playoffs, but they had such a strong start. For a while, they even led the Eastern Conference, and people were starting to talk in hushed whispers about whether or not this was the year. Then they collapsed, hard. Even then, Buffalo was still in contention until the very last day, and it was a huge disappointment to miss out. Surely they'd get past teams like Minnesota next year. Boards. Minus eight isn't good enough for the playoffs. Skate!
Metzler was always thinking about what it'd be like to win a Challenge Cup, though. He wanted the winning moment. He loved watching that bit of the Challenge Cup finals on television. The very second the team knows they've done it, you can hear the yells on television. Then the team bench spills over onto the ice, and the team as one falls over on top of each other. And when it all finally dies down, that Bojo guy comes out with a giant ass cup that you have to raise over your head like you're lifting weights, because you are, because the thing is effing huge. Boards. Can't raise the cup with minus eight. Skate!
Someone had actually asked Alexis recently if he'd rather win a pair of Challenge Cups, or get into the Hall of Fame. The question had kind of messed with him- because if you got a pair of Challenge Cups and then just play well enough for the rest of your career, aren't you more or less a lock for the Hall of Fame anyway? Maybe there were some exceptions out there, but Metzler certainly couldn't think of any players who'd made the Hall of Fame but hadn't won a Cup. Let's just get the Cups first. Boards. No Hall of Fame with minus eight. Skate!
Thinking about retirement is kind of weird. What do you do when you stop playing hockey professionally? How does that even work? Do you just show up one day and decide that this is it? Do you specify a day years in advance? Do you decide when you sign a contract that this will be your last one? It must just work differently for everyone. After you do that, what do you even do? Do you just play it less professionally, or do you never lace up the skates again except for special events? Alexis didn't like thinking about it. Boards. Minus eight isn't good enough. Skate!
He couldn't stop thinking, however, about what people would say about him when he's gone. In truth, it was kind of hard to predict that- because despite the generally flying start Alexis had made last season, he hadn't really made an impact yet. He knew he was going to be a consistent contributor, and he knew that if he kept working hard, he could probably get paid good money in whatever club he wanted to play for. But winning any trophies? Even winning any cups? Metzler could certainly tell himself that he was going to win those things, and doing that would help him become the kind of player he'd need to be to do that, but that didn't necessarily mean he'd get any. He'll need some luck to retire and be known as more than just a generally good player. Boards. Retirement is ages away. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
Metzler was actually getting kind of hungry. He'd missed dessert to be here. Grandma and Grandpa had driven down from Minnewaukan to be here, because he wasn't actually going to have the chance to go out to rural North Dakota this off season. Too much other stuff going on. Even playing hockey was starting to become a 12 month affair, what with the IIHF and other stuff going on. Missing dessert meant he'd missed out on Grandma's waffles. Balls. For the first time after all this thinking, Alexis actually slowed down a little and savoured the thought of crunchy goodness. Grandma's waffles were amazing. He'd tried a few waffle houses in upstate New York over the season but none of them came close. Grandma apparently had the recipe in her will and wasn't going to breathe a word of the details before that time- apparently, she thought the rest of the family wouldn't have any more excuses to come visit unless they had to come to her to get the good stuff. If hockey doesn't work out, he'd wait til Grandma died and open a waffle house himself. Boards. Very slowly. Speed up fatty. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
Next season, Alexis didn't want anything less than a positive plus minus. Maybe eighty blocked shots. He only just missed the SHL top 10 there. Crack 10 goals as a defence man. Go past 35, maybe even 40 points. He hadn't taken a single penalty all season and he wouldn't mind carrying that streak to two seasons, either. Set aside a million or so and invest it in some rapidly growing tech business in California. Enjoy himself a little more. Sail the length of Lake Erie, or Lake Ontario. Make more friends. Sign a bigger contract. Visit his family here in North Dakota more. Spend more time with Detroit's organization to better understand head office work. Spend more time getting to know everyone here in Buffalo. A million competing priorities. Boards. Here and now, minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
When Metzler hit the boards at the other end of the ice next time, the lights flickered for the last time, then died.
It's not that dark in here, he thought- the ice is still just visible. Get them fixed tomorrow. Minus eight is not good enough. Skate!
Feel free to ask questions like an ordinary presser; I'm just writing something that isn't an ordinary presser because that's boring. I'll incorporate answers into the narrative.
Avakael![[Image: avakaelsig.gif]](http://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/avakaelsig.gif)
GCool![[Image: OaSEcaw]](https://imgur.com/OaSEcaw)
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![[Image: 2gotrRl.png]](https://i.imgur.com/2gotrRl.png)
Would you rather be a back to back Challenge Cup champion or in the HoF, why?
or 
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will be able to defend gold this season given the fact that they lost some more experienced veteran players to retirement?![[Image: KSelich.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/KSelich.gif)
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![[Image: Raptors.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/323061921261551616/626488103170998304/Raptors.png)
![[Image: gs89eGV.png]](http://i.imgur.com/gs89eGV.png)
![[Image: eE2UQZC.png]](https://i.imgur.com/eE2UQZC.png)
