Car horns honking, traffic lights flashing, road construction every other block, and the sun beating down with very little cloud cover. To most people on Colfax it’s just another Saturday in the Summer in Denver Colorado. Most people however are not about to be drafted into the SHL. The draft is 8 hours away and I am walking 6 blocks down America’s longest street (Colfax) to get to Sean Gatez’s favorite sports bar, DNVR. What used to be Denver’s international bastion of Soccer (Football) called the Three Lions has been transformed into a Denver specific sports bar. Some people are still very upset by this transition, but some people like our boy Gatez really embraced the idea. With Denver being such a transplant city, there was no place to go watch JUST colorado sports. Every other bar belongs to some other fandom. Sean likes the fact that this is a bastion of Colorado in a sea of enemy teams. Dont tell him, but I still really miss the Three Lions.

As I am walking up to the corner of York and Colfax I see streamers, balloons, and signs all around. GOOD LUCK SEAN!,  TOP 10 BAYBEEEEE!!, DENVER LOVES YOU, signs are all over the patio. In front of the patio a sandwich board reads “Closed For Private Party”, yet looking in the dark windows the bar is buzzing with people. With 8 hours to go, I assumed I would be one of the first in the door, I was wrong.

Opening the door to a raucous room that rivals the noise on the street, I am greeted by the smell of wings, fries, and beer, and the sight of a bouncer with a list of names. “James Kawnwalder, I was invited by Sean himself” The very large man waves me on through with a polite smile. Entering the room I look up and see a live podcast being recorded on the balcony. Behind the bar and along every wall, the TVs in the place are tuned in on pre-draft commentary. Every once in a while you can make out a pundit making a prediction. “I feel like Granström is going first over...” the crowd gets loud and drowns out the rest. Looking around I see the Gatez family, the coaches from DU, and what looks like every friend of the Gatez family. I push past what feels like 50 people standing in the middle of the bar to get to the rear of the bar with the pool tables. “James!!!” Sean shouts, “its been a while good to see you, have you met Ruggs?” The person playing pool with Sean looks up from his pool cue, smiles and says hi, then promptly sinks the 4 ball in the corner.
How do you know Ruggs? “Well he plays for the Raptors, so we know each other from the ice, and I figured it would be nice to invite some of the other guys who are also in the draft to the party. It is after all an SHL Draft party.” Ruggs smiles and says in a very thick Irish accent “Yanno is here too, but he has too much anxiety to have fun right now, he is drinkin at the bar.”

Over the speakers, “Sean Gatez is potentially going #3 to LA and we really like this pick” and the bar erupts into cheers and whistles and quickly drowns out anything else the pundits had to say. Sean smiles, grabs 3 beers from a nearby tray and hands one to me and one to Ruggs. “Cheers boys.”
How long have you guys been here? The draft is still 8 hours away. “Well when my dad told me he rented out the entire bar for the day, we decided to take advantage of that. We got here as soon as they opened. Been watching commentary and F1 races all morning.”

Any big news drop this morning on the draft or is it all just conjecture? Sean and Ruggs just smile and laugh. “As far as the draft is concerned its all still conjecture. Im supposed to be going #3 to LA or #5 to WPG, and Ruggsy is supposed to go #4 to NOLA. But who knows really. We’ve been chatting with some of the other guys in the draft on our laptops over there. Granstrom keeps saying he wont go #1 but hes the only one that has that opinion, hes too humble.” Ruggs takes another shot on the table while exclaiming “Thats not the news though!”

Oh yeah? Whats the news Ruggs? I joke as I sip my beer. “Tyrone Smith, John Scoresy, and Steve Tkachuk have all been banned from the SHL and they got kicked out of the SMJHL!” I practically spit out my beer. “WHAT!?”

“Yeah the news broke this morning, huge doping scandal! They have been found to be on such a large doping regime that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger blush.”
Ruggs chimes in, “The league is doing a full investigation and looking into anyone that those three trained with, they think there might be a few more. Also, apparently BoxmanII who took a break from the league back before playoffs ended up having a full mental breakdown and quit the team. No one has seen him in weeks. Some say he ran off to the woods to be a hermit.”

My god, today is just full of news. How did I miss all of this? Im the reporter in the room and Im just now hearing about all of this from you two.
Once again the pundits on the tv can be heard “Jon St Arkz definitely goes #12 to New Orleans, didn’t think he would fall out of the top 10.” Ruggs looks over at the bar and frowns “Yanno isn’t gonna take that news well, who knows how far he falls if Jon fell out of the top 10.”

Any of the other players talking about where they think they are going? What does the internet say?

Ruggs looks back over at me and says, “Leclerc definitely thinks he is going to Minnisota, they have been courting him for weeks. Sniff also has been courted by LA, so he thinks he is going there after LA takes Sean.” Sean chimes in “Yeah but LA hasn’t even told me anything, so I might not be going to California, I might be going to Winnipeg. Honestly im just trying to take my mind off this by playing pool and havin some dranks with friends, Cheers!”

The TV volume cuts through the crowd again for me to make out “San Francisco has eyes on Pablo Salvatici in the 7th slot and…” Sean cuts off the pundit and says, “nah he is going to Atlanta, he has some inside source he isn’t telling us.”

My god, you players are just one big sewing circle aren’t you? They both just smile, click glasses and skull their beers as if they have been rehearsing it. “Jari thinks he is going #7 to San Fran, the pundits are def wrong on that one.”

As I am watching Sean and Ruggs play pool, Nancy comes over and snags Sean away to do an interview with Channel 9 news. The bouncer isn’t letting the press inside except for yours truly, so Sean goes outside and does the interview on the patio.

Sean comes back inside and saddles back up at the pool table with Ruggs and me with a plate of wings and 3 fresh beers. Sean passes out the beers and holds his glass up.  “Well boys, lets just enjoy ourselves today. Ruggs, Yanno, and I are about to start a new chapter in our careers and we have no control over what happens in the next few hours. Lets just eat, drink, and have a good time. Cheers!”

We then spent the next 7 hours playing pool, darts, and shuffle board while listening to music and trying to not think about the upcoming draft. Everyone in the bar seemed to care more about what the pundits were saying than Sean and Ruggs. Even Yanno was able to break out of his funk and enjoy himself with our little enclave. In that group, the draft didn’t matter.

That morning as I was walking up to DNVR I was hoping to get a story about the draft while also hanging out with a friend. What I got instead was a great hangout with an old friend, two new friends and a large enthusiastic group while we ignored the draft hype. Of course until the actual time of the draft. Then we were all glued to the TV. Sean getting drafted into the SHL was the happiest I had seen him in a long time. The only time ive seen him happier was after his first goal with the Timber.

Once again, I am reminded that Sean is more than just a hockey player. He is my friend and I am happy to call him that.


Word Count (1502x2)