The Blue Devils immediately took off for a three-game road trip on the Monday following the All-Star Game, looking to extend their win streak from six games, to a franchise record-tying nine games. And they did just that, following a 4-2 win in Prince Albert, a 3-2 win in Steinbach and a clutch 1-0 shootout win in Brandon.
As far as Nicole was concerned, things were going more than great. Bunny hadn't been nearly as vocal as she had been earlier in the season, the team was winning, and she was producing at levels not even she could've imagined she was capable of. They'd locked up a playoff spot halfway through January, but were looking to win the division and the conference to secure home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Everything had been going so well, in fact, that when Nicole had received a call from Nedley while she and Waverly were enjoying breakfast on a rare day off following the team's return from the most recent road trip, she was a little more than confused. The coach had told her that she'd been needed for a meeting that afternoon, but hadn't said for what specifically.
Pulling up to the arena in Waverly's Jeep, Nicole mentally rolled through everything she had done within the last couple weeks that could warrant a meeting with the team's head coach, her mind drawing a blank. She figured that it couldn't be too serious, or else she would've remembered it.
Following Waverly into the ticket office, she took a quick glance at the clock, seeing she'd had about ten minutes before she had to meet with Nedley. Or so she thought when she saw that her phone was ringing and it was the Sheriff yet again.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Nicole? Are you here already?"
"Yeah, I thought I had ten minutes, but I can come meet you in your office right now if you're already ready." Waverly eyed her questioningly from across the room and mouthed a "what's that?" to Nicole, who just shrugged her shoulders.
"Actually, we're gonna have the meeting upstairs in the film room."
"Okay, I'll be right up coach." Nicole said, ending the call. She found it odd that Nedley would be cryptic about something so mundane as a film meeting, but chalked it up as nothing to worry about.
"Good luck in your meeting." Waverly approached her, getting up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on the side of Nicole's head. She smiled at the action, reciprocating the kiss and then made her way purposefully upstairs, readying her mind for film analysis.
The door to the film room was closed as she approached it, which again she found odd considering Nedley's usual open-door policy, and knocked gently before entering. She heard Nedley invite her in, her cue to make her way through the door.
She'd expected to see Nedley sitting at the film table with some game footage cued up, but that wasn't quite what she found. Nedley was there, at the table, but he wasn't alone. Across from him was Dolls, looking stuffier than ever, and Bunny Loblaw on Dolls' right, wearing her usual "disgusted with everything" look.
Nicole felt her stomach drop. Her last interaction with Dolls was when he'd reprimanded her and Waverly for playing tag, and she hadn't even so much as spoken to Bunny on the phone, never mind in person. She couldn't imagine a scenario in which a meeting that involved the head coach, General Manager and team owner was a good one.
"Sit down, Nicole." Bunny instructed, and Nicole swallowed thickly as she complied. "I assume you know why you're here."
No. Not really. She thought to herself. Should she?
She was about to open her mouth when Nedley spoke up instead.
"I'd like to know why I'm here; why we're all here."
Okay, so Nedley had no clue either.
Dolls shrugged his shoulders and eyed Bunny.
Apparently, the only person who knew why they were there was the unpleasant looking woman at the head of the table.
"Alright then, I was under the impression that you all knew, but no worries, I'll explain. Peter!" The owner barked at the poor intern boy that Nicole had failed to notice when she entered the room. She couldn't imagine any college credit that was worth working for such an insane bully of a woman.
Peter flipped on the projector on the table, connecting a laptop to it, and hurried over to pull down the screen to project some sort of video. Pressing play, Bunny glared at Nicole pointedly as a familiar video projected across the room.
"Bad boy or ideal son-in-law?" "Oh, well it's not an ideal son-in-law, but an ideal daughter-in-law."
Nicole registered her own voice, and the one belonging to Vance Kerr, and so she didn't need to look at the screen to see what Bunny was showing. She knew that the team owner was a bitch (to put it nicely) and a psychopath, but she couldn't think of why this video warranted a big meeting like this one.
"Now, care to explain Miss Haught?" Bunny prompted, cold and disgusted.
"I-I-I'm not—I was just answering a question." She spluttered nervously, never being great in situations like these. (Not that she could say she'd ever been in a situation quite like this one).
"Mhm," Bunny appeared to mull the answer over.
"Do I not have the right to answer questions now?" Nicole stood her ground.
"You do," Bunny answered, "But you should know that certain answers bring along certain…consequences."
"Consequences? What kind of consequences?"
Whatever Bunny had in mind, it wasn't going to be good. That much Nicole could tell from the way Bunny had spoken to her and looked at her like she was gum on the bottom of her shoe.
There was an awkward, tense silence in the room, everyone awaiting Bunny's answer.
"Well, look I'm just gonna be blunt." Dolls did his best to suppress a groan, giving Nicole the suspicion that he'd heard the woman say that one too many times before she said something off color. "I want her traded immediately."
If this were a movie or TV show, this might've been the point where Nicole dramatically choked on the water she'd be drinking at that exact moment. But, unfortunately, this was real life, as proven in the horrified looks on both Dolls' and Nedley's faces. Neither of them seemed to be able to comprehend the bomb that Bunny had just dropped on them.
"I'm sorry, what?" Nicole was first to speak.
"You heard me."
"You can't be serious."
"Do I look like I kid?" Bunny stared straight into Nicole's eyes. "Peter, do I look like I kid?"
Poor Peter looked like he was going to wet himself the way that Bunny had snapped her head around for the boy to agree with her.
"N-no, no ma'am."
"Correct. So believe me, Miss Haught, when I say I am deadly serious." The owner never once took her eyes off of Nicole as she addressed her. "Xavier, I expect you to get that done before the deadline."
"Mrs. Loblaw, with all due respect, are you sure you've thought this through?" Dolls tried to reason with his boss, though there really wasn't any use reasoning with someone like Bunny, was there?
"Are you saying I'm stupid, Mr. Dolls?"
"No. Of course not, I'm just saying that I don't feel comfortable trading away one of our best players out of the blue, for no reason really."
Nicole applauded his restraint. While his mouth said, "No of course not", his face and body language said, "Yeah I do, you stupid clown".
She had to remember that this woman hadn't wanted her from the get-go. When she'd had that conversation with Nedley at the beginning of the season, he'd told her that he had to fight Bunny to even just pick her, that she'd wanted to trade the pick away.
"For no reason?" Bunny repeated, eyeing her GM with a maniacal chuckle. "No reason? I think I have fair enough reason."
"And what would that be exactly?" Dolls probed, fiddling with the pen in his hand like he was waiting for another unfiltered comment.
"Well, I think that this one should tell me why she thinks I want this." Bunny nodded over her shoulder toward Nicole.
"This one, has no idea why you want me out of here. I've done nothing wrong." Nicole said, raising her voice slightly more than she'd intended to. "I've done nothing but contribute to this team."
"Nothing wrong? Did we not all just watch the same video?"
At this point, Nicole was getting ready to stand up and do a little more than just tell the bigoted old woman off. She probably would've if not for Nedley putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a warning look.
"Now hold on just a minute." Nedley interjected. "Nicole may have her own pref—…well, that's her own business, but it doesn't interfere with her ability as a player so it shouldn't be relevant here."
Bunny looked taken aback at the outburst, almost appalled that anyone would have the audacity to come back at her.
"I cannot, and will not have someone who's just a little too different representing my team." She said snobbishly, turning up her nose and crossing her arms.
"I'll show you different," Nicole muttered under her breath, only loud enough for Nedley to hear her. (She felt a small sense of victory as she saw the Sheriff crack a small smile from underneath his mustache).
"Bunny, look. I can't justify making this trade just because you have a difference of opinion." Dolls explained, stone-faced and even toned. It appeared to have some effect on the woman, who uncrossed her arms and loosened ever so slightly in her chair. "Besides, you can't deny the value that Haught has to this team."
"I'd rather have that social miscreant Wynonna Earp on this team than this one. She'd be a hometown hero, and she's one tough bitch."
Nicole scoffed, knowing just how much of a kick Wynonna would be getting out of this interaction if she'd been here. Dolls simply pinched the bridge of his nose and pushed ahead in the conversation.
"Be that as it may, Wynonna Earp is not an asset I, nor any other team can provide you with." He began, his words having some magic taming power on the crotchety bitch seated across from Nicole. "I'm telling you, if you want this team to win a championship, you cannot make a demand like this. Trading away a top performer in the middle of a team's hot streak will be detrimental to morale. If you want wins, the best move is not to make any move."
Bunny rolled her eyes, re-crossed her arms and bit the inside of her cheek, making her look like a petulant child on the verge of throwing a tantrum.
"Fine." She huffed after a moment, now looking specifically at the head coach. "But I want her benched until further notice."
"Why on earth would I do that?" He snapped.
"Because I said so." She offered with no explanation.
"That's not a valid reason."
"If you want me to say it, I'll say it. I don't want her out there, representing my team after she besmirched the reputation of this team by going out and flaunting her alternative lifestyle."
"Again, I'll say it," Nicole butt in, unable to sit idly by and bite her tongue any longer, "I don't know if you know this but gay marriage has been legal for well over a decade now, gay people exist and it's not like were some mythical creatures—we're human beings who are just as capable as anyone else. Welcome to the 21st Century."
"And you should see Purgatory Pride, the fire department paints the trucks rainbow and it's like a big, fun party—"
"—Shut it, Peter." Bunny snapped, irritated at the intern who'd spoken up. Nicole bit the inside of her cheek to hold back a laugh.
She saw Dolls pull Nedley aside and whisper something in his ear. Nedley appeared to argue with him for a moment before finally nodding in agreement. When they'd returned their attention to the table, Dolls cleared his throat to catch Bunny's attention.
"Miss Haught, you will be benched next game," He declared. Nicole was about to open her mouth, but Dolls gave her a warning look to shut it. "But that is the furthest extent that this conversation will go."
Bunny huffed, but looked as content as she was going to get and abruptly dismissed herself from the table, glaring at Nicole and muttering a "Disgusting" in the redhead's direction as she exited the room, Peter the intern following her nervously, kind of like a lost puppy.
Once the team owner had been out of earshot, Nicole stood up, outraged.
"What the hell am I being benched for?"
"I'd appreciate you not taking that tone." The GM scolded. "I was able to talk Bunny down from trading you or indefinitely benching you, but I do need to keep her under control, so this is the compromise."
"This is such bullshit, and you know it," she spat, absolutely fuming. "Not to mention some sort of illegal. I'm pretty sure it's discrimination to bench me for being gay."
"Then don't think of it as being benched for that, consider it a consequence for saying something that violates team media conduct, something that could've endangered the success of the team."
"No, I don't think I will. How can you sit here and justify that? My personal life has nothing to do with the team."
"Then maybe you should watch what you say to reporters, especially on camera."
"Nicole, it'll go down as a healthy scratch on the roster card. No one needs to know why." Nedley added, trying to reason with her.
"But I know why. You both know why. And it's a pretty fucked up reason if you ask me."
"I understand, but it's just the way things work. This is a business, and appearances are everything. Admitting to something that some may consider taboo just simply isn't good for the image of the team." Dolls explained, and the comments had pushed her over the edge.
"I'm sorry, did I hit my head and wake up in Patriarchal Bullshit Land?" She spat, pushing out her seat to remove herself from the table.
"It's called a long game, Nicole." Nedley placed his hand on her shoulder again. "Do this, take your lumps and sit out the next game to appease that old bag, and then we'll all move on from this unsavory scenario."
"Yeah whatever," She huffed as she rolled her eyes, making her way to the door and slamming it behind her.
CEWHL (CEWHL)
Purgatory aims to extend win streak to franchise record 10 games as Bathurst rolls into town. Puck drop 7:30 PM MST. (TV: CBC, GRTV, RDS, CEWHLN)
7 Feb—3:30 PM MST
Vance Kerr (VKerr_CEWHLN)
SOMETHING TO READ INTO?: Mumblings around the Blue Devils camp saying that Nicole Haught will be a healthy scratch for tonight's game against Bathurst. Is this just a day off for the star rookie, or is there trouble in the waters for Purgatory?
7 Feb—3:45 PM MST
Vance Kerr (VKerr_CEWHLN)
Just getting an initial look at warmups today, looks like rookie Jamie Paulsen is in; no sign of Nicole Haught
7 Feb—6:35 PM MST
TSN (TSN_Sports)
No word from Blue Devils staff on speculations surrounding Nicole Haught's status for tonight's game; GM Xavier Dolls and Training staff refuse to comment on if it is injury related or something else
7 Feb—6:40 PM MST
PURGATORY SPORTS REPORT (JeremyC_PG)
CONFIRMED: Nicole Haught ruled a healthy scratch and will not play in tonight's bluedevilsCEWHL game hosting powerCEWHL
7 Feb—6:45 PM MST
Nicole found herself a seat in the private player box to watch the game and to serve her benching. She was still beyond furious at the interaction that had gone down yesterday, even after Waverly had talked her down about it.
Her girlfriend did agree that it was a little more than ridiculous that Nicole had to face this, but was good at convincing her to keep a level head and to not overreact. As long as it was an isolated incident, there was no need to go ruffle any feathers while things were going well. Nicole was surprised that a proclaimed feminist such as her girlfriend was essentially telling her to let this slide, but in the long run, she guessed that it would be for the best.
Following her conversation with Waverly, she'd sent Dolls and Nedley an email apologizing for the way she left the meeting, but omitting an apology for what she had said or how she felt. She needed everyone to know that while she was playing nice for now, she was not going to take something this serious lightly.
Presently, Nicole was waiting for puck drop after the anthem, scanning the roster sheet and line schematics that all the players not dressed for the game got. Nedley hadn't shuffled the lines around all that much, from what she saw. Jenna and Shae had been reunited with Saunders as their center, Smith had been bumped up to center the second line, MacKinnon slid up to center the third, and Jamie had been dressed in Nicole's place, playing alongside Vic and Shan on the fourth.
She sighed as she watched the puck drop to start the game, trying her best to clear her mind of the circumstances so that she could cheer on the team. The team had been playing well, but with each game that it had accumulated, the win streak proved to be harder to maintain. They'd only managed to win the last game 1-0 in a shootout, and Bathurst was just as challenging an opponent. She wished she could be out there to help, but figured sulking wouldn't do anything but make things worse.
During the first intermission, her phone buzzed in the pocket of her jacket, and she pulled it out to check it, wondering if it would be one of the seemingly million emails she'd been receiving as the season went on. This time, it hadn't been an email, but a Snapchat from Wynonna.
Opening it, she saw a photo of her best friend, holding a poster with Nicole's Blue Devils headshot that had been shopped to look like a mugshot with the words "FREE HAUGHT" in bold black letters. (The snap had been captioned "Free my girl Haught, she ain't do nothing wrong").
She rolled her eyes, but snapped Wynonna back to humor her. How on earth Wynonna had managed to make that with her limited knowledge of photoshop or in the limited time between yesterday afternoon and tonight, Nicole had no clue, but she had to admit that it was amusing.
Turning focus back to the start of the second period, she watched a heated battle taking place on the ice. Both teams had yet to score, and it was more of a battle in the neutral zone than the fast-paced, skilled game the Devils had been playing as of late.
Jamie won a scrum along the boards, poking the puck out of the skates of one of the Bathurst forwards. Finning picked up the loose puck and found Powers streaking down the opposite wing, essentially wide open. Vic was in alone on goal, staring down the goaltender and Nicole could see her trying to figure out a move to put on. The thought went on a second too long, and she found herself too close to goal, with no option other than to just shoot the puck. The shot wasn't great, right into the goalie's glove hand, but it did handcuff the opposite netminder and she coughed up a rebound, the puck lying unattended in the blue paint. Angelique, the trailing defenseman, crashed the net hard and just barely won the footrace to push it across the goal line.
The horn blared and the crowd jumped to its feet. When Nicole did so, she made eye contact with Bunny, who was sitting in the private box adjacent to the players. The woman fixed her with a smug glare, as if to tell her that the team didn't need her to win games. She turned her head away, and as she sat down, Nicole was struck with the horrible thought that if the Devils did win this game, that Bunny would again try to get Dolls to trade her.
"BLUE DEVILSSS GOAL! Her fifth of the season, scored by number three, Angelique Meunier! Assisted by number eleven, Victoria Powers and number seventy-two, Shannon Finning!"
The crowd stayed in the game, a newfound energy coming as a result of the lead, a lead they carried into the third period. However, whatever energy the team had left seemed to have disappeared in the intermission. While the Devils came out flat, the Power came out flying. They'd not only erased the Purgatory lead within the first five minutes, but had taken the lead before the midway point of the period.
Now was a time that Nicole wished she could've been out there more than any other point in the night. Crunch time had slowly become her favorite time as she grew more comfortable and confident in her game. Even though she couldn't play, Nicole was on the edge of her seat, watching tensely as her teammates fought to get back into the game. With about a minute left, Miller skated off to the bench, allowing for an extra attacker to come on.
Skating six against five, the Devils did all they could to net the tying goal, but any hopes of evening the score were dashed when the puck broke out of the attacking zone and the Bathurst forward neatly deposited it into the open goal.
As final horn sounded, ending a 3-1 loss for the Blue Devils and subsequently their win streak, Nicole exited the box and headed down to the tunnel to catch up with the team for post-game briefing.
Walking down from the seating area, she passed the media set up and stopped when she heard her name, seeing three or four different reporters flocking toward her.
"Nicole Haught!" The guy from TSN called, pushing his way to the front of the pack of reporters. "Why didn't you play tonight?"
She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, deciding to see what it was rather than answering the question.
X. Dolls: Under NO circumstances are you to talk to the press tonight. Understood?
Oh thank God, she thought to herself, not wanting to deal with the questions.
"Sorry guys, no comment." She said, walking purposefully down to the locker room toward her dejected teammates following the loss.
TSN Sports: Questions Swirling as Blue Devils Streak is Snapped
Well, there you have it folks, the Purgatory Blue Devils have finally been taken down. Goals by Sofie Maruska, Nina Bonet, and Jade Caldwell lifted the Bathurst Power to victory in Purgatory on Tuesday night. After the head-scratching decision to list rising star Nicole Haught as a healthy scratch, the Blue Devils appeared to struggle to play the complete style of game that had brought them such success.
Haught refused to comment on why the decision was made, leading many to suspect that there's more to this situation than an injury or a day of rest. Adding to the suspicion, team owner Bunny Loblaw was very vocal following the loss, saying that Haught "knows what she did, and had to face the consequences." Loblaw refused further elaboration of that comment. General Manager Xavier Dolls and Head Coach Randy Nedley were just as vague in their conference, saying that Haught has served her time, but is expected to rejoin the lineup for the next game.
There may be a lot of questions circling the minds of all the fans, but it's safe to say that it can be summed up in one: What exactly is going on in the Blue Devils Organization?