Miracles do Happen
Colorado Springs 1979
Colorado Springs was buzzing as hockey players from all over filled the local ice rink for the '79 sports festival. Avery and her sisters watched form a distance, far enough for none of the young hockey players to notice their presence. Their father had went up to see Herb Brooks awhile ago, leaving the girls to their soft conversations about all the young college males. Sometimes they would comment on how attractive some of them were but mostly they spoke of the players hockey techniques. Their father Craig Patrick was a hockey player in his youth and he had unintentionally passed the thirst for the ice game onto his three daughters. The Patrick sisters knew the sport inside out, Craig liked to think they were part hockey player before they had even left their mother's womb. Craig was now assistant coach right under Herb Brooks, whom the girls were quiet familiar with due to their years spent at the University of Minnesota. They would often help Herb with his play making as well as the heaps of paper work Herb was stuck with. Sometimes they even helped Doc with the injuries Herb's players were pron to.
"Look at that move" Claire giggled
"Isn't that Mike Eruzione?" Allie said it was no secret Allie once had a school girl crush on the Massachusetts native, not even from Mike himself.
"Sure is, think he has what Herb is looking for?" Claire asked
"I think so" Avery said pulling her attention from the ice momentarily
"Still have the hots for him Allie cat?" She asked teasingly using Allie's other nickname
"Those are long gone" Allie rolled her eyes with a slight smile, Mike 'Rizzo' Eruzione was about 4 years Allie's senior; after her few visits to Boston University she had grown to like the hockey player in a not so platonic fashion. Much to her best friend Mike Ramsey's dismay. Rizzo knew of her attraction toward him but proceeded to tell anyone who asked ' I only see her as a little sister'. Rizzo was really the only Boston boy the girls were on a first name basis with, They knew of Dave Silk, Jack O'Callahan , and Jim Craig but had never met any of them personally.
"I can't believe it" Craig Patrick muttered to himself catching all three of his daughters attention
"What's wrong daddy?" Claire asked with her big blue eyes that held so much innocence it was impossible for others to believe she was a 21 year old woman. In fact it was to the many boys at the University because all three girls had a sexy quality that no one could quite place, the Patrick girls were often considered some of the best looking girls on their college campus. Claire had a natural glow to her skin, she only fell at about 5 foot 4, dark blonde wave cascaded to the middle of her back and to top it all off she had full pink lips and bright blue eyes. That many of the girls on campus envied, Avery was only a year older than Claire her looks held a different kind of beauty unlike Claire her skin was rather fair but not enough to burn in the sun. Instead of dark blonde waves Avery had brown ones that fell to the middle of her back, her lips were a bit thinner but her eyes were still a bright shade of blue. Allie was the youngest of the girls at 18, her hair was long and light blonde and fell in the same natural waves as her sisters'. Allie's skin was also naturally tanned most of the year and she fell at the same height as Claire her eyes however were a much darker shade of blue.
"Herb has already picked the team" Crag said handing them the list of 26 names Herb scrawled up
Avery smiled reading the list Rob MacClanahan was her best friend and she had grown to love Mike Ramsey as a younger brother. The girls had recognized all the names most of the boys were either from Massachusetts or Minnesota with the exception of a few like Mark Johnson a Wisconsin native.
"Well Herb knows his team dad" Avery shrugged
"Avery we were supposed to have a week of this not just a day. The committee is not going to be happy about this he doesn't even have the best players" Craig replied exasperated his daughters were starting to sound just like Herb
"He isn't looking for the best" Claire shrugged
"Herb has a reason for his madness dad trust me" Avery said reassuring her worrying father
"We're going to sit up there while you take care of this alright" Allie replied walking away.
It didn't take very long for all the players to change and fill in a section of the arena stands. The girls sat back at the very top unnoticed by any of the young men as their father read off the names on the roster.
"Suter, Baker, Ramsey, Verchota, Christian, Christoff, Silk, O'Callahan, Janaszak, McClanahan, Pavlich, Johnson, Schneider, Craig, Eruzione and that's the roster for now the rest of you thanks for coming out." Craig said as a mix of excitement and disappointment filled the rink. Herb silently crept from the entrance of the arena, the excitement calmed a bit as he entered
"Take a good look gentlemen because they're the ones getting off one easy. I'll be your coach I won't be your friend, if you want one of those take it up with Coach Patrick, Doc, or Coach Patrick's daughters if you can find them. Lord knows I hardly can" Herb said walking the stairs and smiling to himself at the last bit
"Ah come on Uncle Herb don't act like you didn't see us" Allie laughed, the girls only ever referred to him as Uncle when they were trying to be cute. Mac and Ramsey laughed silently to themselves
"Allie Bear" Ramsey called looking for his best friend behind him, he caught sight of her at the top of the arena Claire and Avery seemed to have deserted her as he caught sight of Avery's brown locks around the corner. He flashed her a familiar bright smile as she smiled a silent congratulations to her best friend.
"Mikey" she smiled back at him "How dare you leave me" she shouted taking off after her two older sisters. The rest of the boys had only gotten a good look at Allie
"Do all the girls in Minnesota look like that? I would've come here a long time ago" Silk asked watching Allie his eye wandering up and down her body.
"Nothing comes close to the Patrick sisters" Mac admitted the rest of the Minnesota boys nodded their approval
"If you're done checking out my youngest daughter, Herbs got a test for you" Craig said emphasizing the word youngest
"Isn't that the Allie chick that had the biggest crush on you? The one you said she was too young for you Rizzo?" OC asked Rizzo only nodded
"On a scale of 1 to 10 how much do you regret it?" Silk asked with a wide grin
"I never said she wasn't attractive just that I'm too old for her. You can totally go for her Silk if you really want to" Rizzo smiled slightly
"No one can have Allie" Ramsey said with a serious look on his boyish face, he clearly meant business especially when it came to Allie. This possessive/ protective behavior often scared off any of Allie's possible relationships before they got too serious, Timmy Harrer was the only boy Allie got very serious with their relationship lasted a good 9 and half months. But like every time before Allie's devotion to Mike got in the way; Boyfriends always meant fights in their friendship which was extremely unfair because Allie never said one word about the girls Mike brought around all though she really and truly wanted to give the trashy girls a piece of her mind.
"Cool it Rammer, trust me with you around he isn't going to get farther then first base" Mac laughed
"Yeah no need to be touchy about it I can see the ' Look but don't touch' policy is a strong part of your friendship" Silky laughed a few of the others did as well even Jim Craig cracked a smile. Craig rolled his eyes handing each player a thick packet, Jim Craig slipped past with out taking it and wandered off by himself a thing he'd been doing a lot of since the passing of his mother.