Xcapitalbarbie90: Yeah, I thought that was pretty funny. Glad you liked it and thanks for the review!

Jenny: Thank you! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too. Glad you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reviewing!

Meadow567: I figured I had to put something in there for comedy. I could totally see the guys arguing like that too. I also wanted to include the parents, because I would think with them going to watch the Olympics, the guys would have at least spent a little time with them. Thanks for the review!

Nelliebly413672: lol, yeah. OC can't be cocky and confident all of the time. And what person knows that better than Maddie. She is about the only person he can vent to though, because he has that tough guy, cocky reputation to protect, lol. Thanks for the review!

A/N: I hope everyone had a great Christmas and got everything they asked Santa for!! I got some really good presents, especially TV show DVDs, a subscription to the Prison Break magazine, and a Sabres jersey! The jersey was very exciting, because I wanted one soooo bad! Anyway, thanks for the reviews and enjoy this chapter! This is actually the last chapter, so the big game is in this one. I had such a hard time trying to write the emotion and everything of the game. I was watching that part of the movie while I was writing and the emotion and excitement in the movie are just so incredible, it was hard to write it in. Okay, now on with the chapter!

Chapter 32

February 22, 1980

"Morning," Maddie said to Jack when she woke up next to him that morning. He was laying on his back and staring at the ceiling.

"Today's the day," he said in response, turning to look at her.

"I know. You've been waiting seven months for this." Jack nodded. Maddie and Jack laid in silence for a few minutes, thinking, until Izzy woke up and wanted their attention. Maddie got up to get her and brought her back to the bed. She put Izzy between her and Jack and played with the baby until her and Jack had to get ready to leave for the rink. Doc was going to check his leg out before practice and he was hoping that Doc would give him the okay.

Maddie arrived at the rink just before the guys went on the ice, because she dropped Izzy off at her parents that morning. Her family was coming to the game, but they were going to hold the baby in the stands because Maddie couldn't bring her on the bench.

When Maddie walked in the locker room, she noticed Jack rummaging through his hockey bag. Just as she started walking over to him, he looked up with a smile plastered on his face. Maddie knew that was a good sign and hoped his happiness meant what she thought it did. She beamed back at him in anticipation of the good news.

"Are you?" she asked, immediately receiving a nod. "Oh my God! This is amazing!" she said running to him. Jack stood up and she jumped in his arms, hugging him. He held her in the air for a minute and kissed her.

"Doc checked my leg out and told Herb I was good to go."

"That's great, baby! I'm so happy for you."

"Well, it's not definite yet. I have to skate this morning and hopefully Herb will tell me I can play."

"I think he will. You guys need another defenseman to keep up with the Soviets." Rammer overheard this and jumped in the conversation.

"Are you saying that we're not good enough?" he asked, meaning him and the other guys on defense. Maddie knew he was only kidding, so she joked back.

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying. Without Jack, you don't have a chance." Rammer laughed.

"Ya know, I actually think Izzy's more important to the team's success than Jack." Rammer turned to Jack. "No offense, buddy," he said as Jack hit him, playing along and pretending to take offense to his comment. "Speaking of Izzy, where is that little cutie?"

"Don't worry about it," Maddie said. "She'll be here."

"Good."

By ten thirty that morning, the guys were all on the ice for a morning practice. Maddie thought Herb would take it easy on them so they weren't tired out for the game later, but Herb skated them as hard as normal. Luckily, practice ended a little early and after showering everyone had time for a nice lunch and rest before the game.

Once Maddie got back to the rink, she ran into Herb almost right away.

"Is Izzy here?" He asked.

"Yeah, she's in the stands with my parents." Maddie answered, sort of wondering why it mattered.

"Okay, just making sure," he responded. Maddie began laughing, now knowing why Herb was so concerned with where the baby was.

"Are you superstitious now too?" Maddie asked.

"No," Herb answered seriously. "I'd just rather leave everything the way it is. What we've done has worked so far."

"Okay," Maddie said, knowing Herb just didn't want to admit he was as superstitious as the guys.

"Why don't you go in there with the guys for now?" Herb said, motioning to the locker room. "Make sure they are doing okay and don't need anything before the game." Maddie nodded and headed into the locker room, which she found to be unusually quiet. The guys were suiting up to play and putting their equipment on. They all really looked nervous and were talking very little compared to their normal, loud chatting. She saw Jack getting his pads on, and knew he was playing. She walked over to where he was sitting and put her arm around his shoulder, then quickly kissed the side of his face.

"Hey," he said, looking at her. "Herb's letting me play!"

"I can see that," Maddie said with a smile.

Maddie made her rounds, going over to talk to a lot of the guys. She first went over to Rizzo.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said, looking up at her. She could tell he was trying to hide his nerves.

"Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great."

"You'll do great today Rizzo."

"Thanks," he said with a smile. Maddie left him and went to see Mac and Bah next.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Maddie," they both said.

"Ready for the game?"

"Yeah," Mac answered.

"I'm more ready for it to be over," Bah said, half joking.

"Well, enjoy it, because the last seven months have been getting ready for this, and chances are, you'll never be here again," Maddie said, referring to being in the Olympics.

As game time came closer, the room became progressively quieter. The guys were all sitting doing their own thing, whether it was playing with tape, or checking and rechecking their skates and pads, or closing their eyes and praying. The silence was too much for Maddie, and she left for a few minutes to walk around. Maddie went back in the locker room just before Herb came in to give a speech.

He told the guys things about this game being 'their time' and how the Soviets couldn't take this opportunity away from them. After the speech, the guys seemed more pumped to play, and their nerves seemed to die down a little. However, this was only until they got on the ice.

They all skated out with confidence as the crowd chanted 'USA'. Seeing the guys standing face to face with the Soviets again was a little unnerving, and Maddie saw mixed looks of fear and confidence on the guys faces. After the guy's performance in the last meeting between the two teams, they knew that they had a lot of work to do. It wasn't that the guys played all that badly last time, but Maddie just hoped they were more prepared today.

The puck was dropped and the game began, starting out quite well. The team was staying with the Soviets and hitting them, playing good defense and Jimmy had nice blocks on shots. The Soviets then scored off a deflection right after they visibly slashed Buzz. The guys on the bench began yelling at the refs, but no penalty was called. Maddie knew it was going to be a rough game if that kept up.

Maddie heard Herb call Jack from the bench and he had an amazing hit. Pav picked up the loose puck and passed it to Buzz who took a shot and scored. The crowd erupted and cheered as they tied the score.

As the first period wound down, seconds remained and the guys were only a goal down. Maddie hoped they would score to tie it before the period ended, but it was nearly impossible.

"Get it out!" Maddie yelled, now only hoping they could clear the puck before the end of the period. Finally, it was cleared Christian shot from center ice. Maddie turned around, knowing the period was over and was ready to head into the locker room. Just as she turned back to take one last look, she noticed the puck passing Tetriak. The guys and crowd, including Maddie cheered, and she saw that Mark had made the shot. The team rushed out onto the ice, knowing the period was over.

Between periods, the guys were happy and excited to start the next period. Even Craig and Doc were excited. No one would have thought the score would be tie after the first period. Herb was the only one that seemed to not be very excited.

"Don't get cocky. Don't get confident. Nothing is guaranteed until that buzzer goes off that ends the third period," he said before the guys left the locker room. "I want everyone to play their game. Keep in position, skate with them. Don't be happy, because you haven't won it yet." With that being said, Herb walked out of a now quiet locker room. Though the guys were happy for tying it up, they knew Herb was right. The reality was that they still had forty minutes to play, and anything could happen.

Shortly after the second period began, Jimmy was hit and landed on the ice, letting the Soviets take the lead. Maddie looked over at Doc for a sign of something on his face. She hoped Jimmy would be okay. After getting up and insisting he was fine, the game continued.

After the second period, the Soviets still had a three to two lead. The guys weren't discouraged in the locker room, but they weren't nearly as excited to begin the last period. Herb seemed to notice their moods though, and attempted to change the atmosphere. He said to keep skating and make them work to keep up. Maddie thought Herb was saying these things because he wanted to keep the guys confident that they could win. Just before taking the ice, Herb reminded them that they made a comeback every other game in the tournament so far.

The guys took the ice, doing everything they could to score quickly. Maddie could see the passion and desire in their eyes as they played. Almost right away, the guys went on the power play and with four seconds left, Mark scored. The guys cleared the bench again and congratulated him.

Everyone constantly yelled words of encouragement to the guys on the ice. Herb told Rizzo to go in and he got a pass from Pav. Rizzo made a shot to the top left corner and it went right passed the goalie. Maddie watched and cheered as the guys celebrated gaining the lead. She noticed that even Herb looked thrilled. They were finally ahead of the Soviets and only ten minutes remained.

"Come on guys. Keep it up!" Maddie yelled just after the faceoff. The whole arena, except for the Soviet bench, seemed almost completely in awe and disbelief of the newly gained lead. Herb kept shouting for the guys to play their game. Although the entire game hadn't been quiet since before the game began, it was even louder now.

Maddie could barely watch. She was way too nervous and the Soviets kept taking hard shots. Every couple seconds she would look away, or look up at the clock. Even the guys on the ice looked at clock every few seconds. It was almost like they were more concerned with the time remaining than the game itself.

"Play your game!" Herb shouted, reminding them that it wasn't over yet.

No one could sit still, and everyone was wishing the same thing. If only time could go faster. The crowd began the countdown and now Maddie, along with everyone on the bench, constantly watched the clock, taking quick glances at what was going on on the ice. Maddie started jumping up and down, along with the guys and joined in the count down with the crowd.

"Five, four, three, two." Maddie only made it to two, because she just started cheering instead. The buzzer sounded, and made the win official.

"We won! We won!" shouted Silky, who hugged her. Maddie didn't even know who else she was hugging, but soon the guys were running out onto the ice, surrounding Jimmy. Maddie followed the guys out, and received hugs from a few other guys. Jack skated over to her a few seconds later, just as Mac put her down. Jack picked her up and skated in a little circle, hugging her, and then kissed her before putting her down.

"We won!"

"I know!"

"Oh my God, we won!" Maddie nodded and smiled excitedly.

"Ahhh!" screamed Bah and he skated over to them. "We won!" He skated away just as quickly, going over and practically jumping on Buzz and Rizzo. Jack skated over to hug a few other guys and between hugging people, Maddie watched the guys celebrate. It was the most exciting thing she had ever witnessed. All she could hear was screaming and 'we won!' and 'yeahs!' coming from the guys. Everyone was ecstatic.

In the locker room, the guys still couldn't contain their excitement. It was almost too good to be true. They beat the Soviets, the best team in the world. Well, they were the best team in the world, thought Maddie. Not anymore.

"We won, we won, we won!" Buzz said in a sing song voice.

"Where are we going to celebrate?" Phil shouted.

"Somewhere where there are a lot of chicks," said Silky. "We just beat the Soviets. That makes us irresistible."

"What happened to that Meg girl?" Maddie asked.

"Oh her. Well, let's just say we went our separate ways," said Silky.

"Ooooh. So I take it she found out about your little white lie," Maddie said.

"No. But she was going to if someone didn't accompany us on our date the other night. And since daddy has already set a curfew for his little princess . . . a curfew of seven o'clock, might I add . . . I knew Meg would find out."

"So what did you do?" Pav asked.

"I just didn't meet her."

"You stood her up!" Rammer said.

"Yeah."

"Idiot! Thanks a lot. Now Shannon will think I'm a jerk too!" Rammer commented. Maddie just laughed. The guys took forever changing that night, because they were all too excited to do anything but scream and cheer.

Maddie waited outside for them, and Laura and Gail were down by the locker room with her in a matter of minutes. Both girls ran over to Maddie and hugged her.

"We won!" said Laura. "This is so exciting!"

"Are the guys still on cloud nine?" Gail asked.

"Pretty much. They can't stop screaming and I don't think it has completely sunk in yet either," Maddie said. Just then, in perfect timing to prove Maddie's point someone yelled 'we won' from the locker room, loud enough for the three girls to hear.

The guy's parents came down to congratulate them and after an hour of meeting their families and congratulatory hugs being given, the guys were going out to celebrate. Maddie's family came down stairs too, and her father even hugged Jack.

"Congratulations," he said. "I'm glad I got to see my future son-in-law play."

"Thanks," Jack said.

"Maddie, we're going out with Jack's family, Jimmy's dad, and a few other parents. We'll take Izzy with us if you want."

"That's okay. I can take her now."

"Well, we want you to be able to have some fun celebrating."

Just then, Bah walked over to Maddie's mom, who was holding the baby, and took Izzy from her. He gave her a kiss. "Our little good luck charm worked again!"

"This baby never fails," said Pav, rubbing her head softly.

"If you could drink, I'd buy you a beer or something," said Silky. Silky then put his arm around Maddie. "You are letting her come out with us tonight, right?"

"Wow," said Maddie. First I get a hug from you, and now your arm is around me. Are you sick or something?" she asked, teasing him.

"No. But I'm genuinely happy. We just beat the Soviets. This is a night that anything can happen," Silky said with a smile. "So just don't get too used to it," he added seriously. "So is Izzy coming?"

"Yeah. I'll bring her," Maddie said, knowing the guys all wanted her to come along.

"Maybe your sister can come too," Silky told Maddie.

"You and Rachel will never, ever happen," Maddie told him sternly.

"Rachel's not for me. She's for Jimmy. I'll take Erin," Silky said, talking about Jack's sister. Somehow Maddie didn't think that would happen either. Rizzo had overheard part of Maddie and Silky's conversation, and then asked Erin and Rachel if they wanted to join the team.

"Hey Erin, Rachel. Do you two want to come with us? It'll probably be a lot more fun than hanging out with the parents." Both girls looked at their parents.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Maddie's mom said. Surprisingly, Maddie's dad thought differently.

"They'll be fine. We should let them go."

"But I'm just worried about how they'll get back to the hotel. If everyone's drinking . . . " Maddie's mom started.

"Maddie won't be," her father said. "Besides, I don't think the guys will want to get too drunk tonight. They'll never want to forget this." Maddie's mom gave in.

"Okay. As long as Erin goes too."

"Thanks mom," Rachel said.

The entire team, including the five girls and Izzy, walked along the streets, looking for a place they could go for celebrating the big win. By ten o'clock, they finally decided on a restaurant and bar, which looked pretty big from the outside. All twenty-six people went inside and began rearranging tables. A waitress came over and attempted to stop them.

"Um . . . how many of you are there. We're supposed to set up tables for big parties," she said, looking at the big group.

"We'll take care of it," said Mac.

"And we promise we'll tip well," said Phil. "After all, we just beat the Soviets."

"We're on the Olympic hockey team," Mac explained.

"Oh, really? In that case, just use as many tables as you need," the girl said, excitedly. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," said Phil.

The waitress left them for a minute to get situated and made an announcement of their presence at the bar. They all knew that they wouldn't be left alone for the rest of the night now. Most people thought of their win and the game itself as something way more than just a win in a hockey game.

The waitress came back a minute later to take their orders, and the drinks, as she explained, were on the house. They ordered several pitchers of pop and a few pitchers of beer, along with pizza and wings.

"I think Izzy deserves something special," said Silky, who was one of the only guys who had a little too much to drink. He wasn't completely wasted, but he told the guys to not let him drink anymore. Silky didn't want a bad hangover because they had practice the next day. According to him, he also wanted to remember if he got lucky, or if a girl tattooed his name on herself.

"Whatever Silky," Rammer said.

"Hey, girls love us now. As a matter of fact, we're like, national heroes. If I really wanted, I could probably get a guy to tattoo my name on himself."

"And that would be so wrong," said Maddie with a laugh.

Everyone continued celebrating and by one in the morning, almost everyone was dead tired. Some of the guys stayed a little longer, but since Izzy was sleeping, Maddie was going to leave.

"Im going back," she told Jack.

"I'll come too," he said.

"No, you stay. Have some fun."

"No that's okay. Almost everyone's leaving anyway. And I'm beat. With my remaining energy, I plan on celebrating with my fiancee," he said suggestively, and wrapped his arms around Maddie as he leaned down for a kiss.

"Please wait until you get in your room first," Erin said with a disgusted expression.

"Yeah, we really don't need to see that," added Rachel.

Mac, Laura, Buzz, Gail, Jimmy, Rizzo, and Mark all walked back then too. Mac and Laura wanted to be alone for a while, as did Gail and Buzz. Jimmy wanted every last second he could have with Rachel, and Rizzo and Mark were tired.

After they got back to their hotel room, Maddie put Izzy in the crib and watched her sleep for a few minutes, before she and Jack were going to do some celebrating of their own.

"Can you believe it?" Jack asked, walking up to Maddie, and putting his arms around her waist. He stood behind her and rested his head on her shoulder, Maddie still wrapped in his embrace.

"I think it has finally sunken in," Maddie said, turning her head a little to look at Jack.

"We actually beat the Soviets."

Maddie went back to watching Izzy sleep and after a minute of silence, Maddie spoke again.

"Can you believe how fast the last seven months has gone? It seems like just yesterday, you got on that plane for Colorado."

"I know. And look how far we've gotten in that time," Jack said while looking at their precious daughter sleeping. Both Jack and Maddie watched the baby sleep for a few more minutes.

"The past seven months sure have been incredible," Maddie said.

"Well, I wouldn't say the entire seven months. There was that somewhat lengthy amount of time that I was being a complete jerk," Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, but let's not bring that up. Everything worked out in the end. And you just beat the best team in the world. Let's focus on that," Maddie said, turning in his arms and then kissing him.

Between breaths, Jack managed to say, "I definitely agree. Let's focus on that," as he began pulling Maddie's shirt over her head.

February 24, 1980

The time finally came for the guys to play their last game at Lake Placid. Before the game, the locker room was quiet again, but not because the guys were nervous. They were almost too confident, which could have been bad. Most thought that if they beat the Soviets, no other team stood a chance against them, but Herb reminded them that it's not over until it's over, and that anything can happen. Miracles, like what some believed occurred two nights before, can let anything happen.

Therefore, the guys weren't quiet because they were nervous, although Herb tried to make them nervous, but because they knew after today, it was over. Closing ceremonies were sometime after the game ended, and they would end up parting ways. Maddie was trying to get a way to contact each of them, so she could invite them to the wedding. Most guys gave her their parents phone numbers, as many of the guys didn't exactly know where they would end up. A lot of them had offers from various NHL teams, and some had the possibility of playing out of the country.

The game ended, and the guys won, making them the official gold medalists. Everyone was happy and excited, and once they were standing on the podium, singing the national anthem, Maddie began to get a little teary eyed. She was so happy they won, but she knew she would miss each and every one of them. The Conehead's cluelessness, Phil's awful talent at getting a girl, all of their jokes and comments that made her laugh, and even fighting with Silky and hearing his often nasty comments about her.

The team went out to celebrate again, trying not to think about the Olympics being over. They still had another day together, as President Carter invited them to the White House the next day.

Maddie said her good-byes to Gail and Laura that night.

"I'm gonna miss you girls so much!" she said, hugging both of them. Maddie knew she would see Laura soon enough, but Gail was going to Switzerland, where Buzz was playing.

"I'll miss you too," Gail said. "But I'm definitely coming back for the wedding."

"Good," said Maddie. All three girls were crying and their boyfriends tried to get them to stop. None of the guys cried, but they all were feeling the same as the girls were.

"Thank you so much for being great friends," said Laura, giving both girls a hug.

"I'll miss you, Laur," said Maddie.

"Hey, girls, you'll see each other again soon," said Mac, and the girls wiped their tear stained faces.

"I know," Laura said.

The next morning, the two girls were gone and the team, including Maddie, Herb, Doc, Craig, and Izzy, got a plane for Washington. After their White House visit, everything was officially over. Leaving the White House to get on their respective planes, and go their separate ways was very hard for Maddie, as it was for the rest of the guys.

"I'll miss you," she told Bah and Pav, giving them both hugs.

"We'll miss you Maddie," said Bah. Maddie walked over to Rammer, Buzz, and Mark next.

"I'll miss you guys," she said, hugging them.

"We'll miss you too," said Rammer.

"Buzz bent down to the baby in the stroller and said, "Promise me that I'll get to see this one again before she grows up on me."

"As long as you come back from Switzerland soon," Maddie said.

"I will. Even if it's just for a couple weeks to visit."

Maddie went about hugging every one of the guys, and saw the guys doing the same. She even heard Jack saying that he'd miss Mac.

"Mac, good luck in Buffalo," Jack said, hugging him and hitting his back.

"Thanks. Good luck with the Blackhawks."

"I actually think I might miss you."

"Really?" Mac asked.

"Just a little."

"Well, I'll miss you too."

"Really?"

"No. But it sounded good," Mac said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I'll only miss fighting with you," Jack said, and Mac nodded. Jack saw Rizzo next. "Rizzo, I'll miss you. It's going to be weird not seeing you almost every day like I have for the past four years."

"I know. But you're coming to Boston soon, right?"

"Yeah. We'll be getting ready for the wedding and everything. And I know I'll need my best man's help," Jack said.

"Your best man?" Rizzo asked with a smile.

"Yeah, of course you're my best man."

"Thanks, OC." They hugged each other and then Rizzo turned to Maddie and Isabelle. The other guys were all standing nearby. Rizzo handed Maddie a small gift bag. "This is just a little something for Izzy. It's for being our mascot," Rizzo said. "It's from all of us. Even Herb went in on it."

Maddie handed Jack the baby and looked in the bag. She pulled out a mini team USA jersey. It was just Izzy's size.

"Thank you!" she said, holding up the jersey to Izzy.

"Let's put it on her," Jack suggested. He took the jersey and pulled it over Izzy's head. It fit perfectly and looked adorable on her. "Thanks guys," he said. Maddie started getting teary eyed again.

"Thank you so much," she said through the tears.

"Oh Maddie, don't cry," Bah said.

"I'm just gonna miss you all so much." Bah put his arm around her shoulder.

"Your wedding is soon enough. And we'll all be there." Maddie smiled and wiped her face.

"Good thing I didn't put eye makeup on this morning. I'd look like a racoon," Maddie said with a laugh, trying to lighten things up. "And thanks again for the jersey. I'm sure Izzy loves it."

After taking one last group picture with Izzy in her jersey, it was time for Maddie and Jack to leave for Chicago. They were heading there right away because Jack had to begin playing almost immediately. In two weeks they would be back in Boston for a few days, due to away games Jack conveniently had in Boston.

On the plane, Maddie looked out the window and watched everything get smaller as they took off. She turned to Jack who had been looking over at her. Izzy was on his lap, sitting up and making little baby noises, happily kicking her legs and moving her arms around.

"Well, we're off to Chicago," Maddie said.

"Yeah," said Jack. "I'm gonna miss being with the guys and everything, but I've still got you and we're gonna have a great life together. In Chicago, or wherever we end up."

"Yeah. We definitely will," Maddie said smiling.

"It was a pretty sweet ride, wasn't it?" Jack said referring to the last seven months.

"Yeah it was. That's for sure," Maddie agreed with a smile, knowing the journey to the Olympics and the Olympics themselves was something she would never forget.

A/N: Okay, so this is sad. My story is officially over. I'm really going to miss writing it. I had so much fun writing the story, and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reviewed and kept me writing. I can't believe that I finally finished posting the story because when I first got the idea to write it, I didn't think it was possible. Thank you again to anyone who read the story and especially to anyone who reviewed. Nelliebly413672, meadow567, Emador, flowersc781, Jenny, miracle fan 9245, lien-wan, krazisoapluvnreject, xcapitalbarbie90, surfer-kel, and justlikewedo - I loved posting new chapters, because I couldn't wait to see what you guys had to say!

Also, I want to especially thank meadow 567, Emador, and nelliebly413672 for reviewing if not every chapter, than almost every chapter from the beginning. Also, nelliebly413672 thank you not only for the reviews, but for all the help you gave me with the story with ideas and stuff. You're also the main reason I posted this in the first place, because of your story and talking to you, so thank you!

Okay, I'm done now, that was a really long A/N, but thanks again and I'm sorry if I forgot anyone, you can yell at me when I post the next story, lol.

Speaking of which, my new story should be up in a few weeks or so. I don't have a title yet, so I can't tell you guys what to look out for, but it's Mac and Laura, like I said. The story's taking a lot of planning because it has to coincide with a lot of things that happened in this story, but I'm hoping to have it up by the end of January or beginning of February.