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***cake307*** · 03-22-2024, 06:41 PM

Alexa yawned, looking at the clock. 8pm in Osaka, Japan. Almost time for bed. The draft would be at nine in the morning local time, which was a strange change from the J draft. Why the league had decided to hold the draft in Japan, of all places, she had no idea… but she had somehow managed to get a visa, a plane ticket, a hotel, an interpreter. She was in Japan.

Her life had become somewhat insane, reflecting on it. Ever since she’d been drafted by Saint Louis, she’d been on planes as many days as not, she’d been to more cities than she has ever even wanted to visit, she’d moved out of home in sunny San Diego, halfway across the United States or more to a small apartment in Saint Louis. She’d written articles for the Players Tribune, she’d led her team… to a not great record, but sometimes that happened, she’d accepted it. She had even thought about going home during the break, but between training camps, the SHL draft, the WJC tournament, and then the SMJHL draft, she was going to have no time for anything but more hockey.

But all of that except the SHL draft could wait. Her future could well be decided here today, and so it was important she went over everything she knew. She didn’t want to be caught totally off guard like she was in the J draft, after all.

She stood, grabbing her trusty tablet that had started to come with her everywhere she went nowadays, opening up a protected file on it. She’d collected notes on every team that had scouted her, every city she’d had a chance to visit before she had to come out to Japan.

It wasn’t as long a list as she may have liked; Calgary, of course, had the Solberg twins and that had given them an easy early way to contact her. New Orleans already had rights to her line partner, Scar Bealey, another easy contact and another early scout. Then she’d heard from Manhattan, who had seemed enthusiastic about drafting her, and Texas the same. Though, looking over her notes she had written ‘NOT GOING HERE; TOO LATE’ in rather large letters after Texas had traded away their pick in the first round.

Maybe that was a bit cocky, after what many would argue was a lackluster year, but Alexa knew confidence was the difference between collapsing under the weight and rising to greatness. Or, at least, her dad had told her as such and she found no reason to doubt him yet.

She looked over the rest, later contacts. New England, who didn’t have a pick in the first round either, had also been in contact. Philadelphia, an interesting prospect. If she could win over the fans there, she’d be well on her way to being the best, but it seemed unlikely unless her play really improved. Chicago had been an interesting conversation, a scout and the GM both, something only Calgary could match on the initial list.

Then the final flurry, a week before the draft. Seattle, a conversation that had ended up taking far longer than she’d expected from what she’d assumed was a precursory scout that had turned into a full blown one. Hamilton, several quick questions and nothing else. And Edmonton, which had once again turned into a long conversation, and finally, just today, a call from Tampa Bay. Good thing it had come when she had already landed.

Looking at the current draft order, she began to cross out more teams. Some were easy; she’d heard nothing from San Fran, or Los Angeles. Teams without picks in the first round, gone. Given the conversations and interviews she’d had, she felt comfortable crossing out everything below tenth. If Calgary didn’t take her by ninth, then everything she thought she knew was a lie.

Calgary… that seemed like a good place for her to end up. They did have the Solberg Twins, and Sophie Bordelau had recently taken a position as a coach there. Plus, Montreal had never contacted her, and Seattle… well, they were possible, too, but the talking heads on ESPN had seemed sure they had enough forward prospects.

Manhattan seemed exciting, too, though. New York was always going to be New York, and Alexa was well aware how lively Betzee Nickelback was, so it was safe to assume that the locker room would be full of energy.

Edmonton… she knew less about, admittedly. Operating on the assumption she’d go before five, she hadn’t researched it too much. Which, of course, was probably why she got a giant alert across her screen at that very moment.

BREAKING NEWS: SEATTLE TRADE 2ND OVERALL TO EDMONTON

“... fuck,” Alexa blinked. Everything she’d made notes of for Seattle might be useless now, and suddenly, Edmonton was before Calgary. The Calgary who she had put together a packet for already, to know what to see and what to do in the city. The Calgary she had subtly begun looking for places to stay in.

There was no sense in getting rid of all that, of course, just in case, but Alexa hurriedly began looking up Edmonton. ‘What to do in Edmonton’... a mall with a water park, that was weird, why not outdoors? A theme park, that would be good. An aviation museum… well, if her dad ever came to visit she knew where to go now…

A pit settled in Alexa’s stomach. She had actually begun to look forward to playing in Calgary, she realized. They might be her rivals, but she considered the Solbergs twins. But she was hardly going to turn down a chance to go to a team that consistently built amazing rosters, that gave her the best chance to show her talent, in Edmonton. Not to mention she’d found the general manager an amiable guy. But her Calgary digging had made it clear; Edmonton and Calgary had beef. Whichever one she was drafted by, she would have to pull a traitor move to go to the other.

Suddenly, Alexa felt every bit the young woman she actually was. Her entire future was about to unfold, and really, what control did she have over it? Whoever drafted her drafted her, teams made big trades and maybe they didn’t even want her in the end. Was she lying to herself? Going second or third overall would be amazing, but she was probably getting ahead of herself because of how Saint Louis had traded up for her.

Slipping in the draft was possible, certainly. Her stats hadn’t been that amazing, compared to a lot of her classmates. She did have leadership credentials, though. But… Alexa sighed, mindlessly tapping at the tablet. Last time, she’d had her dad to keep her calm, and games to play in the run up to the draft to distract her, and it wasn’t even that far from home. Now, here she was, in Japan for the first time in her life. She didn’t speak the language, she didn’t have anyone to lean on, she didn’t have her sport to take her mind off of it. Instead, she got to stew in worry and wondering.

Alexa set aside the tablet, moving to her bed. She laid down, turning off the light, staring at the dark ceiling. She wasn’t so sure she was going to sleep at all, but as the seconds slipped into minutes, she at least tried. Soon enough, she would know her future. And it wouldn’t be her own choice, this time, but she’d just have to make the best of it. She yawned, her eyes slowly closing. One way, or another… just a few short hours, spent mostly dead to the world, and a whole lot more people in the world would know who Alexa Johansen was…

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***boom*** · 03-22-2024, 06:53 PM

Would have been nice :(

Best of luck up there!

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