20-year-old Megan Johnson took a deep breath as she put her gear on in the locker room. She had just been signed by her hometown team, the Detroit Red Wings, and she was going to practice today- her first practice with them! She was so excited even if it was the start of the preseason, not the actual season.
Valtteri Filppula was messing around with teammates Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, better known as the Euro Twins. He loved playing with these two, the way that they always seemed to know where the other was. "You guys aren't giving me a chance to shoot. Two on one isn't fair", he complained. He watched as they exchanged a look, grinning at each other. "You're the one who wanted to try and stop us. It's your fault, not ours", Pavel teased. Val stuck his tongue out at him. "You're mean", he whined although he was smiling. He saw someone standing next to his coach and his eyes widened. IT WAS A GIRL! "Did you know that we had a girl on the team", Val asked in a low voice. Pav and Hank both looked at where their teammate was pointing and frowned. "Must be new", Hank said. Pavel agreed, but Val wasn't paying attention. He was looking at the girl. She was watching practice with a smile on her face. Val noticed that she was paying closer attention to the Euro Twins. –She's beautiful. I'd love to have her on the same line as me. She looks a little on the small side, but if she intently watching Pav and Hank, that must mean she plays their style. Either that or she gets a kick out of watching them play- . He was broken from his thoughts by the coach's whistle. The team gathered around him. "I'm glad to see familiar faces. But, we do have a new face this year. Boys, this is Megan Johnson, forward from Michigan State. This is her first practice with us so treat her nice". Megan smiled and waved shyly. Coach turned to her. "Megan, I want you to play with Pav and Hank for practice. They'll show you the ropes, alright?" The young forward nodded and put her helmet on. "You two, go easy on her", coach said. Val noticed Megan shaking her head. "No, coach. I want them to challenge me. Give me everything they've got", she said. –Dang, not only is she pretty, she's competitive, too- Val thought.
The entire team was staring and Val knew it. It was only her first practice, but both of them had great chemistry. "Two dynamic duos on the same team? That's awesome", Nicklas Kronwall exclaimed. Megan grinned and smacked Val with her stick. "Great! I get to play on the same line as Val. We're so going to kick butt", she said. A grin came over Hank's face and he slapped her helmet. "We kick butt every year", he replied. Megan rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say", she teased.