It was around 7:15 the next morning when Sam's alarm went off. She groaned and rolled over, stopping it. Then, her tiredness vanished and she hopped up. Today was one of the most exciting days in the world for her. –If only daddy was here to see it-she thought. Sam smiled and glanced up at her ceiling. "He's watching, girly. He'll always be watching", a voice from her doorway said. The girl jumped and turned around, only to start laughing to see her Uncle Rob standing in the doorway. "I know. I just miss him", Sam said, tears coming to her eyes. Rob came into the room and hugged his niece. Sam's tears soaked his shirt but he didn't notice or, if he did, he didn't care. "He's watching, you know he is. Let's make him proud". Sam pushed herself off her uncle's chest and looked him in the eye. "Let's go then. All my stuff is packed: I'm just gonna go shower and get dress", she said. Rob agreed and left the room. Sam wiped the tears that were still in her eyes away and prepared to go to training camp.
It was about three hours later that Rob pulled up in front of an arena. Daniel was standing on the sidewalk, obviously waiting for someone. Rob got out of the car first followed by Sam, who went to the trunk to get her bag out. "It's good to see you, Danny", Rob said, shaking his old friend's hand. "Nice to see you too, Rob. And this must be Sam", Daniel said. Sam smiled and shook the scout's hand. "Please to meet you, Mr. Miller", she said, turning on her 'hockey voice'. Daniel looked Sam up and down for a minute. "You look like a forward, right?" Sam nodded. Daniel grinned and wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulders. "Well, we're gonna start training camp in a few minutes. Let's go inside so you can meet the guys", he said. Sam said goodbye to her uncle, who told her he'd pick her up afterwards. Sam followed Daniel inside. "How long have you been playing, Sam?" "I've wanted to be an NHL player for as long as I could remember. Whenever I watched NHL teams win the cup, I've always thought to myself 'I want to be a part of that'. I started playing when I was about four and I've been playing ever since", was Sam's reply. She took a deep breath outside the locker room door. "You nervous", Daniel asked. Sam shrugged. "A little. I'm probably more excited than anything". Daniel opened the door and inside both of them went.
Niklas Kronwall was sitting next to Henrik Zetterberg, his captain. He was excited to be at training camp again-this, he felt, was where he belonged. He heard the door opening again and he saw one of the scouts and a new player who looked nervous. The scout put his arm around the player and whispered to him. He nudged his teammate. "He looks extremely nervous", he whispered. "I know", Hank whispered back. Niklas stood up and went to introduce himself. "Hi, my name is Niklas Kronwall. What's yours", he asked, extending his hand. Sam took his hand and shook it. "Sam Brown", she replied. "You look nervous. Don't worry, none of these guys bite". Niklas watched as the new player smiled a bit. "Oh, good. I don't want any bite marks on me my first time here. It wouldn't be good", Sam said. She soon dropped back into her nervous state. Niklas noticed most of his teammates smiling at the new player, probably remembering the first time they came to a training camp. He noticed Jacab Kindle, one of their young defenseman, staring at Sam. "Nervousness has no place in this league, kid. If you're nervous, get out of here. We don't need any wimps on this team". Niklas's jaw dropped and he noticed Sam's face turning red. He realized the scout had left. Hank gave Jacab a hard stare as did most of the other guys in the locker room. "Shut your mouth, Kindle. He has every right to be nervous. Almost everyone is nervous the first time they come to a team", Hank said. Jacab rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Hank. We don't need wimps in this league. If he's a wimp, we're gonna lose for sure". Niklas noticed tears in Sam's eyes. His heart went out to him and he gave Kindle a glare. He turned to Sam, only to find that he was walking out the door. He turned angrily on his friend. "What the hell was that for, Kindle? You just made him leave and his heart is probably breaking right now. He probably worked hard to get here and now his dream is being shattered because you were a jerk to him. Nice, Kindle, that does a lot for our team", Niklas snapped.
Sam leaned against the wall, her head buried in her hands. She felt like crying but didn't. She wasn't sure what she would do it she didn't make it. It was minutes later that she felt a tap on her shoulder. Sam looked up and saw Coach Babcock standing over her. "You're Sam Brown, right", he asked. Sam nodded. "What are you doing out here in the hallway? I thought you'd be in the locker room". Sam shuttered. "Well, I want to be in there, sir, but one of your players doesn't like me. I was nervous and he said that there's no place for nervousness in this league. He said that if I was nervous I could leave because this team doesn't need wimps". She noticed the angry look that appeared on coach's face. "I'll talk to him. You can change in the weight room. I'll wait for you", he said, helping Sam up. Sam found the weight room and quickly changed into her gear. She came out and followed her coach back into the locker room.
Niklas was back at his locker, angrily chewing his lip. He felt sorry for Sam and mad at his friend. –I don't know what Sam did that made him yell like that. There's been other rookies that have come in and he's been nice to them-he thought. The door opened again and coach came in followed by Sam. He watched Jacab giving her a glare as she took a seat next to Niklas. Everyone was quiet and looked at coach. He started by giving Jacab a hard stare. "I say the same thing every year, don't I? I say the same thing about respecting your teammates", he said. Jacab looked uncomfortable. "This year is no different. The rookies are no different. They are a part of this team just as much as the veterans". Coach now looked at Jacab. "The way that Kindle treated our rookie, Sam Brown, is not an example of respect. That is disrespect and not only that, but it's mean and hurtful". Jacab now met his coach's eyes. "Kindle, if you don't start being respectful to Sam, you will get kicked off the team. I'm not going to tolerate players who are going to respect their fellow teammates". Jacab paled a bit. "Alright, now let's get out on the ice to start training camp".