Staal [A Jordan Staal Story] Sixty

Thank you all so much for reading, please continue to promote this and all of my other stories.
Also I think that you should all check out my good friend Haley's stories. She is an amazing writer with great ideas.

Tonight I Send Out Apologies [About Patrick Kane.]

I'll Meet You There [About Sidney Crosby]

There's Millions of Me's, and One of You. [About Jordan Staal]

Check out her stories and comments on mine are greatly appreciated as well.

Sixty


"Coach how old is your car?" Nik asked.

"It’s an '05 but Jordan bought it for me in '09."

"You're a professional hockey coach and you're driving an eleven year old car," Brooks now joined in. "Something's wrong there."

"You should get a new car," Eats said placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I don’t know, Jordan just got a new car last month and, I don’t know," she said with a sigh.

"Staalsy I know how much you love your 'Stang," Bugsy said. "And we're not saying you can't keep it. You can, it's a great car and you've taken amazing care of it."

"You still have Jordan's old Escalade and he just bought that sexy Porsche," Kris said standing up from his stall. "So keep the Stang and by yourself a new car, you deserve it."

"Alright boys, when I have time I'll look at cars." She glanced down at her cell phone. "But for now boys, hit the ice."

Practice went well and at the end roster changes were posted at the locker room, bringing the roster down to forty-two. The rookies who had been cut said good-bye to everyone and cleared their stuff from the locker room. Miriya stayed in her office trying to finalize lines for the next day's game.

After about forty-five minutes of trying to perfect her third and fourth line she couldn't take it any longer. The notes that she had taken and the videos from practices weren't helping either. "I need a break," she said to the air. She grabbed her skates from the door handle, her stick from behind the door and made her way to the locker room. After picking up a bottle of water and a bag of pucks she made her way to the ice.

As always, the ice and a few heavy slap shots cleared her head. After a few laps she went back to her office and started the video again.

Lines were finalized at around five; four hours are practice had ended. As she was gathering her things to leave her phone rang. "Hey baby, what's up?"

"Nothing, where are you?"

"Just leaving the arena, it took longer than I thought it would to finalize these lines."

"Aw you sound tired. You don't have to make dinner tonight, Colby's babysitting and Nik and I are taking you out."

"You guys are so sweet. I'll be home in ten, fifteen minutes."

"Anything for you babe, see you when you get home."

She arrived home and showered before they headed to Claddagh on the South Side. After a good Irish meal they made their way back home. Colby brought Scott home around nine and didn’t stay long since they had practice the next morning. Miriya fed Scott and placed him in his crib before heading to bed herself.

"Stressed about the game?" Jordan asked climbing into bed.

"Yeah, it’s the first show of how good of a coach I am."

"You'll be fine, don't worry about it." He kissed her cheek and began to massage her back.


The next morning Miriya got up early again and made her way to the arena with Scott. For some reason she picked up a newspaper, something she never did. This time though, she was glad that she did. One the front page of the sports section was a half page picture of Jordan with his arms around her and an article entitled, "Do You Believe?"

"Oh God, I was waiting for something like this. What could they say about me?"

'Penguins' training camp is underway and there's speculation on whether or not their new coach has what it take to lead a team. Miriya Staal 24, a Robert Morris graduate and Pens' star center Jordan Staal`s wife, only has three years of experience in the real sports world.

General Manager Ray Shero obviously thinks she has what it takes, but only time will tell.
Looking back in reccent team history there are two coaches who looked extremely promising however turned out not to be in the end. Ed Olczyk being one and Michel Therrien the other. Just over a year ago the Pens were coming off a Stanley Cup win and just one season later lose in the first round.

Some players were able to be reached after practice this week, all saying they "Believe in their coach."

Staal herself was also able to be reached for comments responding, "You'll have to wait and see just like everyone else."

Staal and her team take the ice for their first pre-season game at home tonight against the New Jersey Devils. Let's see if the youngest and only female coach has what it takes.'

She sighed; the article certainly did not help her already rattle nerves. Just before practice started she handed Scotty off to Erin and made her way to the ice, newspaper article in hand. "Good morning boys."

"Morning coach!"

"I know that none of you read the sports section and I normally don't either. However this morning I picked one up and found this." She held out the article. "Apparently some people, even in Pittsburgh think I don’t have what it takes to coach. So I'm thinking that we should prove them wrong tonight. I'm sure you saw the note in the locker room saying who will be playing tonight, I'm gonna have you practice first so you can be rested for the game. Boys who aren't playing tonight, you will have a scrimmage with the guys who are before your practice."

The guys who weren't playing sat mostly on the away bench watching as the others practiced. Most of the guys on the bench were veterans, but not all.

"Alright boys I developed a new play, I wanna try it out. If you can get it maybe we'll use it tonight." Everyone formed a semi-circle and watched as Miriya explained the play. "Pass and shoot boys. I want to try this now so I don’t have to yell at you later. You need to get more shots on net. I know I've said it before, but those of you who played for Therrien, he had you passing way too much. I have nothing against passing, it's a huge part of the game, but with too many passes you can be picked off. We're gonna try three passes and shooting. Yes in a game if necessary you can make more than three passes, but for now, try it."

The rest of practice went well and the guys who would be playing that night seemed ready. Twenty-two guys would be dressed including two goalies.

After a shortened pre-game nap Miriya changed into her dress pants and blouse before heading to the arena. Looking over her game plans she felt better than before, but still extremely nervous. Jordan, who wasn’t playing that night, came into her office with Scott around six.

"Hey baby you okay?" She nodded getting up from her desk. Placing Scott's car seat on the floor Jordan put his arms around her. "Baby you'll be fine. You've been amazing this week and you've gotten the boys into playing shape. I'll be here for you, well up in the box with Mario, but still. Believe me, the guys in the room love you and are ready to prove that you are a great coach."

"Thanks baby, you and Scott go have fun. I'm gonna use my last half hour to calm down so I can actually talk to the boys before they go out."

"Okay, again you'll be fine. I love you." he pressed his lips to hers and felt her relax. When he slowly pulled away he picked Scott's car seat up and went to the locker room.

Miriya sat back down at her desk and with her head in her hands she let out a long sigh. With a few glasses of water and a trip to the bathroom she finally had her nerves reasonably calm and made her way to the locker room. The boys all sat in their stalls, in uniform and looked ready. "Did anyone step on the Penguin?"

"No coach!"

"Alright we're good then. Seriously though you guys are ready and it's only pre-season." She continued with her speech and got calmer and calmer as she went on. "So let's get out there and do it"

Though she had calmed down she was still too nervous to remember who she sent out for her starting line. New Jersey had their third line out and since the home team got the last change she probably sent her third line out too. She was tense for the first two minutes of the game, intently staring at the action on the ice.

However she really started to calm down for the first time all day when Ben Clarke scored three minutes into the first period with help from Kris Letang and Eric Michaels. "Alright boys there we go," Miriya said as the line skated along the bench for high fives.

Everyone on the bench smiled sensing that she was calm now and into the game.

"Good hit Ric," Miriya said to her assistant coach Mike Yeo, "I'm seriously thinking of keeping him.

Mike smiled knowing that she was back to her normal self. "He's doing good."

By the time intermission came the team was into it, feeling a win was on the way. Miriya congratulated them on a good period but reminded them not to get cocky either.

The second period brought two more goals to the Guins side of the scoreboard, the first of which sailed off Mark Eaton's stick from the point on the power play and one from Max on a break-away, short-handed.

Fleury stood strong in goal stopping all of the shoots the Devils fired; bringing the team to a three-nothing win. The team and coach were congratulated and interviewed in the locker room following the big win.

Jordan took his car back home and Miriya hers after all of her post-game duties were fulfilled. She announced that there would be an optional skate at practice that morning and reminded the guys in the room as they left.

When she arrived home she showered and fell into bed. "See baby I told you you'd be fine," Jordan said before kissing her cheek.

"You did," she smiled. "I'm really tired and have to get up to go to optional skate in the morning."

"Okay, I know that Nik and I will be there. Goodnight baby, I love you and great game."

"Thanks. I love you too, goodnight baby."


The team was in the locker room, everyone was talking about the game that they had just won. Miriya stood smiling at her team as the reporters left, players showered, and they too left.

Ray walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Miriya we're going to have to let you go."

"What?"

"You're fired."

"No, I understand that but why. What did I do wrong?" Ray didn't answer and began to walk away. "Ray?" Sadness and uncertainty were heard in her voice as it cracked.

"I'm sorry Miriya," he said without turing to face her. At this point she was alone in the locker room almost in tears.

Miriya woke up covered in sweat and sighed with relief, "Thank god it was only a dream."

"Baby what's wrong?" Jordan asked sitting up in bed.

"I had a dream that I got fired."

"Aw baby, they wouldn't fire you. You coached your team to a three-nothing win in your first game."

"I know, I'm gonna take a shower to clear my head." She made her way to the bathroom and took a quick, but hot shower. With the thoughts of the dream far from her mind now she crawled back into bed. Jordan's arms instinctively wrapped around her and held her close as she drifted back to sleep.

The next morning she woke refreshed and ready to go back to where she now spent more time than her won home; the arena. The optional skate was set for ten and she arrived at the arena at eight. She had time to kill since if any of the played showed up they would get there around nine and wait in the locker room until just before ten.

She decided to go to the weight room since she was falling behind on her work-outs, what with being coach now she didn't have much free time.

Nine forty-five came and Miriya went to the ice with her stick in hand expecting to see just a few smiling faces. To her surprise both benches were filled with smiling faces. She quickly counted, forty-two. "Everyone's here," she said more of a question than a statement. The guys on both benches nodded. "I thought everyone would be sick of me and take advantage of the chance to have a day off."

"Staalsy we love you and want to play well for you this season. And to do that we're going to practice whenever we get the chance," Scudsy said.

"And some of us want to prove that we're good enough to make it in the NHL," Ben said. This caused the guys to laugh and Miriya smiled widely.

"Alight boys then hit the ice."