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***boom*** · 03-23-2024, 09:01 PM

[3,983 words, x2 draft media, ready for grading]

OOC note: This chapter starts immediately after the end of The Meltdown. I'm also not entirely sure how realistic I could make this with my main character being underage and some of the logistics of it, but I gave it my best shot. Also remember that while my player is automatically taken using a late-round pick at the end of the SHL draft, in-universe Ana doesn't know that and thus the drop is all performance.

---

The sound of the aircraft preparing for landing woke Anastasia Söderström from her slumber. The flight hadn't been a long one, and she wasn't sure what to expect when she got to the other side, but it felt like the right thing to do to try and get out of the funk she was in after her disastrous playoff performance. It didn't take too long to get her bag and get out the other side, where she hailed a cab - no rental cars at this age - to her destination. At the last minute, she thought she should probably not make this a total surprise, so she pulled out her phone to make a call. "Hey," she said when the voice on the other end picked up. "This is going to sound crazy, but I'm in Buffalo right now and wanted to come see you. Thought I should let you know in advance so that it's not a total shock."

The familiar signs of the neighbourhood she'd been in not too long ago came into view, and soon she was at the place she wanted to go. Ana got her bag from the back of the car and walked up to the door, nervous with anticipation. She knocked on the door as if she was just going over to a friend's house, stepping back and hoping this trip hadn't been a complete waste of time. "Hi," the goalie said as the door opened. "Probably need to explain why I'm here. It's been a rough stretch after what happened in the playoffs, so I just had to get away for a bit, and I figured you of anyone would understand."

Her best friend said nothing but simply wrapped her into a hug, the comfort the rookie needed in that moment. "Want to come inside?" she said. "This is definitely a surprise, and I'm not sure where you were planning on staying, but my parents already love you so I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you stayed for a couple days." The pair walked inside, sitting on a couch. "So what brings you all the way out here?"

Ana tried to keep herself from looking at her feet. Talking about her emotions had never been easy for her with figuring out social cues, but she wanted to give it her best shot here. "After the regular season ended in Detroit, I was on top of the world," she started. "I was playing so well, in the zone, and I thought that would just keep going through the playoffs. Then Game 2 against Vancouver happened, I made some mistakes from not being focused enough, and everything just sort of snowballed from there up until I got yanked in the second round."

She fidgeted with her hands before continuing, wanting to make sure she said everything she wanted to say. "We took it back to seven games in Newfoundland with Fromm in net, but I keep feeling like we could have done more this year, like we could have gone farther, if I had been on my game. Plus the scouts haven't reached out at all since that series, and I know deep down that it's because of what happened. I was looking really good, and now none of the teams want to touch me. Who wants the player that turns into the worst at their position in the league in the playoffs, anyway? Anyway, with all that, I just had to kind of get away and clear my head, and I thought you'd understand what I'm dealing with better than anyone."

Grace just reached out and took the other goalie's hand. "Ana," she began. "You're fifteen. Being a pro athlete at that age is a lot. I know I can't relate because I'm just a goalie for my high school and will probably top out as a college player, but you're doing amazing. I know I'd have trouble with having that spotlight and pressure on me, and I wouldn't have to deal with the hurdles of getting used to living in North America, being far away from family and improving my English at the same time. You're dealing with so much more than any other girl your age would have to, and you're going to be just fine. If teams aren't picking you because of four weeks, then they're going to miss out on how good you are when you're on and what you can bring to a team."

Ana smiled at the affirmation, a tear coming to her eye. "You want to know when I knew you would be making it big?" her friend went on, getting a nod in return. "It was after that game in Quebec City. I know we were just kids then, and we still kind of are, but coming all the way over, probably dealing with some jet lag, and pulling that off was so impressive. I'm so glad that we've gotten so close after that tournament, even with the long distance, and now you're sitting on my couch opening up about the tough time you've been having, so I must be doing something right," she laughed. "Anyway, want to go play some road hockey to get your mind off it?"

The two went out to the driveway, where Grace had some goalie gear, and Ana got suited up. She hadn't played pickup like this since her days back on the ponds around Sundsvall, and it was nice to just spend some time with friends. Her friend took some shots with a tennis ball, Ana kicking them aside with ease or gloving them, and the pair were off from there. Even with her new life as a pro athlete, it was so relaxing to just have a friend to play hockey with like two regular kids their age. Even though these shots were just with a tennis ball and from a friend rather than a frozen hockey puck coming at her at 90 miles per hour, she loved that she could have this shared connection with her closest friend.

Even though the trip was unplanned, as Grace had said her parents were happy to help out in Ana's time of need. The goalie wanted to think of a way that she could repay them for their kindness, but for now she could focus on just spending time with people who cared about her and distract herself from the looming fear of dropping to the bottom of the draft or out of it. Ana realized that in the flurry of being the starting goalie for the Detroit Falcons, she hadn't had the ability to just be a teenager since before she even left for North America. This would only go away even more once she started doing media for the team next season and she was under even more pressure, so she wanted to enjoy these last few months of peace while she could.

Relaxing was helpful, but there were still some serious thoughts in Ana's mind that she wanted to work up the nerve to deal with. She still didn't know what her orientation was and had never really had the chance to explore it with being in online high school, but she couldn't get her mind off the fact that she'd been able to just pick up and travel to see her best friend in a different city and that friend had welcomed her in without question. Was this platonic or something more? The goalie didn't know much except that Grace was the first person she wanted to talk to about her successes and commiserate with when things went wrong. It was difficult for Ana to open up to people because of her childhood even without the complication of being famous, but she'd never had that problem in this case. She did start to read some online spaces from queer and trans people, desperately looking for anyone whose experience had been like hers to relate to, but hadn't been able to yet. On the bright side, the Falcons had been very vocal about running their Pride Night, so if it did turn out that she was queer she felt good that she would be supported by her organization.

She did want to find someone to talk to who wasn't the subject of her questioning, so she did something that she never thought she'd do. She went on the Internet, saving links from interesting resources that she found, and eventually found her way to a forum. She quickly made an account and tapped out a post in one of these forums, double-checking to make sure none of it would give away who she was, and told her story. Even though it was anonymous, it felt good to get these thoughts off her chest and ask for help, something she'd always had trouble with. Ana's phone lit up with notifications from commenters, expressing empathy with what she was going through, offering advice, and just generally being there for support. Even though it would probably take much longer for her to sort out her own personal feelings, it was nice to know she wasn't totally alone in the world and that there were other people just as confused as she was.

---

The impromptu trip to Buffalo seemed to help clear Ana's head of some of her worst intrusive thoughts. With the clearing of this big distraction, Ana could get back to training and getting past the goalie yips, and with every shot she faced in her training she could feel her confidence coming back. She was coming out of the net more aggressively, tracking the puck even better than she had before, and fixing some of the issues she'd had with rebounds in her first season. In her time off, she focused on the SHL draft landscape. It didn't seem like most teams needed goalies, but she still liked to keep updated where possible. She'd seen that Sophie Bordeleau, the player she'd met all those years ago, had retired in her prime and become an assistant coach and scout for the Calgary Dragons, and those Dragons had made a trade with the Winnipeg Aurora for Rebecca Montagne, another player that Ana had followed intently, to be their new starting goaltender. Her agent, Marianne Maltais, had been frank with her about the effect her playoff collapse would have on her draft chances, especially at her age, but she still wanted to be optimistic and take every development as it happened.

Two promising events happened that spring month that made Ana's heart soar. The first was that Team Ice, a somewhat cobbled-together group of European players for the World Junior tournament, had named her as one of their goalies, which was incredibly promising. Not only would Ana have a chance to prove she still had the talent to be unbeatable at her strongest, but she'd get to connect with a lot of other younger players from her home country as well. Even better, the tournament was just over the border from her home country in Norway, so there was a good chance that her parents would be able to make it and she'd get to see them for the first time in almost a year. The second event came a little later. The goalie had just left the rink after another successful training session, waiting for her billet family to pick her up, when her phone rang. She was used to this by now, as she liked to check in with Grace after weekend practices to chat, but she still took a second to check out the caller ID before answering.

When she saw who was calling, she almost dropped the phone.

"Hello?" she said tentatively.

"Hello! Is this the number for Anastasia Söderström?" the voice replied.

Her heart rate quickening, Ana found a nearby bench to sit down. "This is, and who am I speaking to?" she answered.

What she heard next stunned her. "This is Sophie Bordeleau. I'm a forwards coach for the Calgary Dragons, and I also help out with scouting. How are you doing today?"

"Good, I actually just left a training session," Ana said. "Guessing Marianne gave you my number, what brings you here?"

"I'll get right to it," Sophie said. "We're looking to potentially pick up a goalie for the future in this upcoming draft, and our goalie scouts really like your playstyle and record."

"But the playoffs-" Ana impulsively said before catching herself, instantly regretting that.

"Happens more than you think," Sophie went on. "The Anastasia Söderström that got 29 wins and five shutouts in the regular season? That's how we know you can play, which is impressive especially for someone your age and new to North America."

The goalie was reminded of that previous comforting conversation. "Funny, that's actually what a friend said to me a little while back," she laughed. "It was definitely a rough couple weeks there, but I've been training hard and feeling better than ever going into this process."

"Anyway, I'm just calling to introduce myself and let you know that there could potentially be a good fit here, and we'd be happy to have you in our system. Sorry again about the playoffs, but you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders and you'll be pretty well able to work past that. Do you have any questions or comments for me?" Sophie finished.

Ana was emboldened. "You know, there's a funny thing. This isn't actually the first time we've met," she chimed in.

"Oh?" Sophie said, her attention captured.

"This is probably a really long shot, but do you remember playing in the World Championship over in Germany a while back? Germany, I think it was?"

"Yes?"

"Did you ever remember meeting a little girl in a Team Sweden jersey after one of the games? Said she played goalie? Well, that little kid was me. Funny how things work out like that," Ana smiled.

"No way!" Sophie beamed. "Being a professional hockey player, you meet a lot of kids who want to see their heroes, especially for being a woman in this line, but I never thought one of those kids would end up growing up into a professional player themselves and that I'd end up scouting them. Guess we have more encouraging power than I thought."

The two thanked each other and hung up, and Ana was left with another ray of hope breaking through the clouds that had been over her life the last couple months. It was nice to know that she hadn't been completely forgotten by SHL teams after her playoff disaster, and Calgary would be an amazing team to go to. Even though they'd had a rough go of the last few seasons, they had a great prospect pool and seemed to be on the rise. The goalie could definitely see herself flourishing for the Dragons, but she could also take this hope into wherever she happened to land in the draft.

---

The weeks leading up to the draft had gone by quicker than ever. Ana had heard from a couple teams like Chicago and New Orleans who took cursory glances, but Calgary seemed like the team that had been the most interested. Even with her improved training and being named to the World Junior team, she still didn't really have any idea of what her draft stock would be at this point, so she'd talked it over with Marianne and decided it would probably be best not to attend the SHL draft in person. Better not to go all the way out there just to be disappointed if the meltdown ended up tanking her value, and at least this way she could watch the draft surrounded by the people she loved and trusted.

There weren't many goalies in this draft, but Ana could at least pay attention to the Dragons as they seemed like the most likely destination. They'd been busy in the lead-up to the draft acquiring two more first-round picks to go with their third overall pick that they owned along with picking up a new goalie, so they'd likely be a major player in the draft. With the third overall pick, Calgary used their first selection on another Anna, in this case Skovgaard, picking up another top centre prospect. Three picks later, they took Jennifer Huh, a winger from the Kelowna Knights, and at ninth overall they took James Howlett, another centre. If Ana ended up going to Calgary, this would be a pretty good group of players to join; these players were feared opponents of Ana's, but also players she respected for their drive and skill. This wasn't even getting into how good it would be to play for a team with so many other talented women, with Skovgaard and Huh joining the existing women in their system in Lea Cranberry, Crystal McLeod, Rebecca Montagne, and the Solberg twins as prospects. The rest of the first round, and then the second, passed without any other goalies being selected, including her. She was happy to see her rookie teammate Brayden Point get picked up by the Tampa Bay Barracuda with the 19th overall pick, a place she knew he'd wanted to go to. As the draft passed pick number 40, she wondered which team would be the one to pick her up.

Ana's wait turned out to not be too long. The draft was in the third round when Calgary's general manager stepped up to the podium with the draft card. "With the 44th overall pick in the S76 SHL draft, the Calgary Dragons are happy to select, from the Detroit Falcons, Anastasia Söderström." Even though she wasn't there in person to go up on the podium, she could still enjoy the moment with the people that mattered. Her phone illuminated with texts from her teammates, from other rookies around the league, from her future Calgary teammates. The emotional roller coaster of the past year of coming to North America, figuring out high school, having the slow start in Detroit, becoming one of the best goaltenders in the league, and then the meltdown was now all finally worth it to hear her name be read on that podium. The teams of the league had passed on picking her, some multiple times, but she had a newfound drive to prove them all wrong and prove to herself that she could really do this.

Congratulations! Knew you could do it, and you're going to prove every one of them wrong, a text from Grace read. Can't wait to celebrate the next time you're in town. The Falcons goalie smiled at seeing her best friend being so proud.

Ana dialed in the number of the people she most wanted to talk to in the world. Even though it was the middle of the night where they were, she wanted to break the news to them as soon as possible. "Hello?" she started in Swedish when they picked up. "It's me, Ana. I'm calling because I've got some amazing news. I got drafted into the SHL. Calgary," the goalie gushed. "I'm going to be in the big leagues!"

Even though she'd probably woken them up from a deep slumber, the excitement from her parents' voices was evident. "Congratulations! We always knew this was how things would go, and you're going to do so well there," her mother said.

"I'm so happy, sometimes it seemed like it wasn't going to happen after Newfoundland but it sounds like it's all going to work out okay," Ana replied quickly.

"We're so proud of you," her father carried on. "Of course we were worried for you as parents when you went overseas, but you've done amazingly well for yourself. We're excited to get to celebrate with you when you come home for the tournament soon."

The call ended, and Ana spent the rest of the evening chatting with the other players who had been drafted to Calgary in Skovgaard, Huh and Howlett. All of them were incredibly excited to meet each other, with Skovgaard and Howlett in particular also being on Team Ice, and after the nerves of the scouting process it was enjoyable to finally get to relax for a night. They still had several seasons to go before they would actually pull on the Dragons jersey in a real game, but for an evening they could say they'd made it past the most difficult step.

---

At last the World Junior tournament was here, and for Ana it was more than just a tournament, it was something of a homecoming and redemption all at once. This would be the first time she would be facing actual game action since the disastrous first three games of the Newfoundland series, so it was a chance to show off how much she'd been training, and it would also be her first time back in Europe since leaving Sweden on this wonderful adventure last summer. Even if she was just the backup, and even if she wasn't actually wearing the Tre Kronor, she could still barely contain her excitement as the team stepped onto the plane that would take them on the first leg of their trip to Norway.

Getting to go back to Sundsvall before the tournament was a wonderful experience. As her parents had promised, she finally got to celebrate being drafted into the SHL with her family and friends back home, and all of the affirmations and hopeful words could be said in person. Ana also turned 16 during training for the World Junior tournament, so she could also celebrate a major birthday with the most important people in her life. After her yearlong adventure in North America, it was nice to get home and recharge before an important tournament and be a kid again, and she would enjoy those fleeting moments any time she could.

The second game of the World Juniors at last gave Ana her shot. They were playing a Canadian team that they were considered a favourite against, and Ana was getting her first real game action since the debacle against Newfoundland, so she was nervous yet excited to finally have the opportunity to show her stuff again. The game was a lopsided one in favour of Team Ice and Ana was never under too much pressure to make big saves to keep her team in the game, but when the buzzer sounded on a 6-2 victory, it was her first victory since Game 7 against Vancouver and it was something she could take as a big success.

Ana was back in net for the third game of the group stage of the tournament, against an opponent considered to be more difficult in Czechia. After the 6-2 win against the Canadian team, her confidence was back to where she knew it could be, but this time with even better grasp over the fundamentals. The game was a penalty-filled one, with the Ice team getting 10 power plays and Czechia getting 6, but the Falcons goalie was in the zone for this game. Czechia directed 21 shots towards the Ice net, and Ana was prepared for each and every one. When the final seconds ticked off the clock, the scoreboard showed 4 goals for Team Ice and none for Team Czechia, her first shutout since the SMJHL regular season. Oh, she was definitely back.

ibuprofenaddict · 03-25-2024, 08:43 AM

I'm going to miss suiting up and playing with Ana this season, going to be a brick wall for the Falcons

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