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goatisbetheres · 4 months

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Lots of big things happened Wednesday in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 7-0 romp over the New York Islanders. There were records and milestones, especially for core players Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin. But not Sidney Crosby.

Amazingly, Crosby had no points in the game. But don’t think he felt anything but thrilled, especially for his longtime teammates. The relationship between Crosby, Malkin and Letang is as strong as ever.

“I don’t know. It feels like it did before Christmas,” Crosby cracked Thursday after practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

Yeah, they can joke like that. The three are in their mid-30s and in their 18th season together, a North American sports record for a trio of teammates with the same team. They passed the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, who spent 17 consecutive seasons together.

There have been times when it looked as if the Penguins’ three core players might be broken up, but Letang and Malkin re-signed after the 2021-22 season. Crosby has this and one more season left on his contract.

“It feels like it’s pretty good after this long,” Crosby said of the relationship among the three. “If it can get stronger, great, but I feel like it’s been pretty good. We’ve spent a lot of time together over the years, been through a lot, and it’s pretty strong at this point for what we’ve gone though.”

They have won three Stanley Cups together — the highs — and have had first-round playoff flameouts and, last season, a seat outside the playoffs – the lows. They have been there for each other during injury and medical challenges. They have been there for each other for major individual accomplishments.

All three got misty the night the Penguins held a pregame ceremony for Crosby’s 1,000th game.

Wednesday, Letang became the first defenseman in NHL history to record five assists in one period and tied a record for defensemen with six assists overall. Malkin scored twice to pass his childhood idol, Sergei Fedorov, for second place all-time in the league among Russian-born players with 484 goals.

Crosby was happy simply to be a part of the game and witness those things.

“It’s just cool,” he said of Letang’s record. “Whether you’ve played with someone for a long time or just to witness that … There’s a lot of years that have gone into the NHL, over 100. For that never to have been done and be part of that is cool.”

And on Malkin: “He probably doesn’t get the credit that he deserves for what he’s done over his career. Just to be able to be in that company now, and to pass Fedorov, someone he idolized growing up and we all loved watching, but especially being a Russian-born player … He’s a competitive guy. He’s shown that year after year. Happy to see him move up the list.”

Valtteri Puustinen also scored his first NHL goal Thursday. Crosby has always had a soft spot for those moments among his many teammates over the years. Plus Malkin and Letang’s moments that night. Crosby loves those.

“A game like that. A game where (goaltender Tristan Jarry last month) scores. Things like that are pretty cool,” he said.

There are bound to be more moments for Crosby, Malkin and Letang to celebrate together. And moments where they simply share a laugh. All those moments add up.

“We like to keep it pretty light and probably give each other a harder time, and we do more of that than we do compliments,” Crosby said. “That seems to be the way it works out, but obviously we care a lot about each other and like to see each other have success.

“Whether it’s Tanger having a big night like that or Geno moving up the list, you’re always proud to see your teammates accomplish those things like that, and especially guys that you’ve seen do things like that over the years.”

i love my core 🥹

#sidney crosby #evgeni malkin #kris letang #pittsburgh penguins #he loves them so much…

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fannyyann · 20 days

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Tkachuk tells NHL.com how change in approach lifted game for Panthers

Forward no longer playing it safe, becomes ultimate clutch player in Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – There was a time in Matthew Tkachuk’s life when he played it safe. It’s hard to remember now, hard to get that image out of your head, the one where he is crushing opponents and taking over Stanley Cup Playoff games and literally walking off the ice after scoring a game-winning goal in the fourth overtime of Game 1 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Final.

It’s hard to remember there was a before.

But there was.

Once upon a time, like most mortals, Tkachuk didn’t want to make a mistake. He didn’t want to be blamed. He didn’t want to err, to let down his teammates, the fans, himself. It was a time when he wasn’t quite as confident, wasn’t quite as assured -- if that can be believed -- when he didn’t know that, for him, safe was the riskiest play of all.

“I think maybe earlier in my career, being a young player, not wanting to be the guy that made the mistake, [I] maybe played a little bit safe in the high-pressure situations,” Tkachuk said. “Just trying to play it smart and, honestly, safe’s a perfect word for it.

“And then a couple years ago, I was like, why not make the play when nobody else wants to try to attempt it because they’re too nervous [about] what bad’s gonna happen? And I’ve seemed to go the other way, in the extreme other way, and that’s seemed to work the last few years.”

Tkachuk pinpoints it exactly, to 2021-22, his final season with the Calgary Flames, before the trade, before he landed in South Florida and became a genre-crossing star, before he helped propel the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final last season.

“I was like, ‘Why not?’” Tkachuk said. “Why wouldn’t you want to be the guy that can make that right play at the last minute of the game or whatever? … I’m like, I’m capable, I feel like I’m a good enough player where I can be confident in myself no matter what the situation is. And that’s just kind of kept going.”

The Panthers and Tkachuk will need it to keep going, as they head to the playoffs having hit a tough skid of late. The Panthers, who are set to face the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), are 3-6-1 in their past 10 games, including a 6-0 win against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.

They are second in the Atlantic Division, four points behind the Bruins, having clinched a playoff spot on March 28, a far cry from last season when the Panthers clinched with a single game remaining on their schedule. They then fell behind 3-1 in the best-of-7 first-round series against the Bruins. That was when they -- and Tkachuk -- came roaring back to force a Game 7. To win that Game 7.

“I knew what he could bring on a stage like that, but I don’t think the whole rest of the world knew what he could do,” brother and Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said. “So for him to show what he was all about is pretty cool. And I think he’s got another level to his game.”

Paul Maurice thinks he knows why.

The Panthers coach has seen a handful of players in his career who are elite, who might even rise to the level of potential Hockey Hall of Fame players. And when he’s viewing them, he notes something, something that seems to be common to all of them.

“I watch them and they have a higher expectation of the result,” Maurice said. “And the analogy I used [was] when that guy goes in and buys a suit, he expects it to fit right and it’s going to look good. He has an expectation of the result.

“With Matthew, it seems to me, it’s tied, there’s four minutes [left], he’s excited about that situation because he has a really high expectation that something good’s going to happen because over the course of his life, that’s exactly what’s happened. It wasn’t a lottery. It’s just he’s gone out and made it happen, so he wants to and believes it can.

“I never sensed any arrogance on him. I truly have not. It’s not like, hey, give me the puck, I’m the shooter. He just thinks when he hits the ice, it could happen, and his life has told him that it could happen. So why wouldn’t you enjoy the hell out of that?”

Oh, and he is.

Not only has South Florida been a revelation for Tkachuk, so too has the team, which has entered into the top echelon of the NHL. He has figured out himself and his game, not only that he can -- and will -- come up big in the biggest of moments, but that he can also adjust to fit what the team requires, mold his game to the situation.

Asked if he is a chameleon, he readily agrees.

Especially in the playoffs.

“I look at those types of playoff games differently,” Tkachuk said. “Like some people if they’re not producing, they’re not doing too much to help their team, whereas one of the good things that I’m able to do is recognize what my team needs out of me on that particular night or that particular shift.

“There are some nights when offense comes second and all I’m trying to do is run around, be physical, try to forecheck and try to gain my team momentum like that. Even if teams are keying in on me or really focusing on me, there’s ways to make an impact.”

No one can argue with that. The Bruins still bear the scars -- some literal, some figurative -- of what Tkachuk did to them in the playoffs last spring.

In the final four games of the first-round series, Tkachuk had eight points (four goals, four assists) to help them win the best-of-7 series.

Boston forward Trent Frederic, who traces his understanding of Tkachuk back to basement games as kids in St. Louis, said that he thinks that, likely, had Tkachuk not been on the Panthers, the Bruins would have advanced.

But he was. They didn’t. And now it’s not hard to believe that many teams are uninterested in seeing the Panthers on the opposing bench in the playoffs, in seeing Tkachuk on the opposing bench.

Before a cracked sternum forced him to miss the fifth and final game of the last season’s Cup Final, Tkachuk had 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists), including four game-winning goals, in 20 playoff games.

“So the playoffs, I think the one quote, he’s a [expletive] gamer, that’s how I feel about him in the playoffs last year. And I know it’s profane, but it’s also very specific words, it’s exactly the way I feel about him,” Maurice said. “Sometimes the words just fit. Sometimes they’re casual and you swear too much. Sometimes I do. But that is how I -- a [expletive] gamer. He comes up with the biggest plays time and time again. And his energy level to be able to play at that level, that was specific to the hockey.

“This year, I’ve gotten to watch what an incredible leader he is.”

He sees it on the bench, in the exhortation of his teammates, in his calming of them, in his barking at them. He sees it when he brought a friend and his two kids into the dressing room after a game in Detroit, when Tkachuk paused in his postgame showering routine to sign a jersey, to take a picture, to get Carter Verhaeghe out of the shower to sign the other jersey.

“I don’t even blame players who don’t sign,” Maurice said. “But he doesn’t have to do that, and he does that consistently. … It’s not fake. It’s not showy. I think he understands the responsibility that he has and he takes care of it.”

There are so many responsibilities heaped on Tkachuk now.

He is a leader on the ice and off it. He is the second-leading scorer, with 83 points (24 goals, 59 assists), the top chirper and certainly the most talked about player on the Panthers. And he is ready, once again, to receive that pressure. He is ready for the playoffs. He is ready for the eyes and the lights and all that comes with it.

“I enjoy it,” Tkachuk said. “I think that the high intense games and the rivalry games and the, just like the intense part of the games that some guys might not feel too confident or comfortable, I seem to thrive in them and I love those moments.”

There will be no shortage of those moments in the waning days of the season, in the start of the playoffs, as the Panthers attempt to replicate their Cinderella run to the Final last season -- without the Cinderella part.

Because much like the Panthers, who have been at or near the top of the NHL all season, there will be no surprises when it comes to Tkachuk. He is known, now. Known for stealing games, for coming up big in the biggest moments, for never, ever playing it safe.

And when the pressure comes, as it will, he will be right there.

“Knowing him, that’s going to make him go to another level,” Brady Tkachuk said. “And I think for him, he’s going to love, not the spotlight, but the opportunity that comes from that and what he’s going to be able to do with that. He gets better when the pressure is higher.”

#the quote from paul!!!!!!! the story about pulling carter out of the showers to sign a kid's jersey!!!! it's all too much #bye!#matthew tkachuk #2324

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claireelle18 · 10 months

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Long Live - Ross Colton

A/N: I wrote this up after hearing the news about Colton going to the Avs and also blasting Taylor Swift. I felt like it just made sense in this situation.

“And the Tampa Bay Lightning are your 2021 Stanley Cup Champions! Back to back!” The announcement shook through the arena. Air thick with electricity as realization kicked in. The team had done it. A back to back Stanley Cup run. Kings of NHL - a powerhouse of a team. Photographs snapped in every direction, smiles bright, whole body shaking with the adrenaline, as everyone tried to capture the moment. As fans started to exit into the downtown area, the team welcomed their families onto the ice to soak in the moment of what just became reality.

After coming off of last years run, the team had been determined to make another run for this years cup, holding the reins. Once a dream, Lord Stanley hoisted by team captain Steven Stamkos. “Remember this moment, here and now. Soak it all in babe,” she remarked to her boyfriend. He stood like a deer when caught in the headlights of a car, wide eye. By morning, if not earlier due to social media, the pictures would be on every major local tabloid.

“We are going down in franchise history as the team who brought back to back cups,” one of the guys chirped. “We will be remembered.”

Flash forward to the post season of the 2022-2023 season. Passing pictures around of that time as it came time to say goodbye to the town that created the player he was today tugged on his heart strings a bit more. All those years of work for him, his family cheering him on. She stood by his side, on the sidelines - whether that was physically or following along over social media, for every little victory, including a third Stanley Cup Final and then being kicked out in round one of the next year’s playoffs.

He never dreamt that he’d trade in his minor jerseys years ago to earning his NHL branded one.

Memories that were embedded into those walls, into the city, photographed and tucked away into an album to look back on years later. Waiting for those who asked the stories behind each photo. Looking at the boxes stacked containing those years in their city, ready to be unpacked in the coming week. Into a new place. In a new city, across the country.

She sat in a corner with the album. Small salty drops dripped onto the protective plastic. “Loves what is it?” he asked, concerned.

“I’ve had the time of my life, watching as you built your career, cheering you on. It’s just wild to think of the start of it all to now.” Not long after he came to Tampa is when the two met. She was the one to ask him for his number, but he asked for the date.

“Are you worried about the move?”

“More worried about the change for us.” News came a few days prior to Draft Day. Tampa couldn’t keep him, and the Colorado Avs offered a trade deal to acquire him. Moving away from the city that brought them together, onto the next adventure. “I know it’s not ideal, but I’m scared that if fate steps in, forcing a goodbye between us,” a hushed voice followed by a small sob explained. That fear of the change to come would tear the couple apart. She’d help him move, then tie up her part in Tampa, before coming out to Colorado, joining him.

His heart ached for her. “It’s not gonna happen. No goodbyes, a few see ya laters just like always. Just like this is an away game trip hunny. When our children point to the pictures - you’re going to explain the love story we created, and then explain it to our grandchildren.”

She questioned, “Children?” He nodded his head, scooting to rest on one knee.

“Ideally, this would have been more planned, but I think we need some magic and we need to create a happy memory in our new home.” The new home that she helped pick out, because even with this upside-down shock, he wanted…needed her there. In their home. A black velvet box appears from his pants pocket. “Marry me.” Not a question, a statement because he was so sure of his future with her, no matter where the two went or the universe threw in their direction.

Nodding, more tears cascading down her face, pulling him in for a kiss. She noticed the uniqueness of the glittering ring that adorned her ring finger. “What’s the story behind it?”

“I know you prefer an older style for jewelry, so I had a stone that was in my family cut into that pear shape, the outside adorned with sapphires to represent where we met and fell in love. Long live us, our relationship - no matter what is thrown our way.”

#nhl imagine #tblightning #tampa bay lightning #nhl hockey #imagine #hockey imagine #ross colton #oneshot

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1634archive · 7 months

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May 20, 2021; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner (16) and forward Auston Matthews (34) during the warm up before the game against the Montreal Canadiens before game one of the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

#2021 #05.20.21 #john e sokolowski #bench #warmups #playoffs #canadiens

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zackcollins · 2 years

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I will never understand the need for pressers for the losing team RIGHT after the trauma of an elimination playoff game. Can't it wait a day or two so the players feel more like functioning members of society and can more coherently answer the questions???

#like?????#leave them be and let them grieve #they deserve the fucking peace and quiet #so give it to them heathens #anyways #stanley cup playoffs 2021 2022 #stanley cup playoff 2022 #stanley cup playoffs #hockey #nhl #playoffs #not baseball #not mash #robin talks

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masonshaws · 3 days

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20, 30, and also 13 👀

20. Have you ever seen or touched the Stanley Cup?

no unfortunately! i hope to one day witness its victory parade though

30. Have you ever jumped a bandwagon? If so what team and when?

i, like everyone and their dog, was bandwagoning the panthers last year. back in 2021 i was bandwagoning montreal’s run of destiny also. i think what i’m getting at is i like most americans love a good underdog run

13. A hockey game you’re excited for?

home opener next season, obv, it’s tradition now for my mom and i to go every year, and for a more theoretical, i’m looking forward to a deep playoff run from the wild <3

#thank you britt!!#asks

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mensuited · 2 years

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#victor hedman #athlete #sports #nhl #hockey #🏒#tampa bay lightning #three piece suit #suit #tie #vest #style #sharp #handsome #suave #sexy #fashion #champion #nhl playoffs #stanley cup 2021

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senditcolton · 2 years

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Avalanche’s championship an act of love between veterans Landeskog, Johnson

Written by Mark Kiszla, Denver Post, June 27th 2022.

The only thing better than winning the NHL championship? Sharing a big hockey hug with your best friend.

Before they went dancing with the Stanley Cup, Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog and Erik Johnson carved out a little piece of ice amid the celebration of a 2-1 victory against Tampa Bay and embraced like brothers from different mothers.

“We were crying, telling each other how much we loved each other. How proud we were of each other. We’ve been teammates for 11 years. We finally climbed the mountain,” Johnson tole me late Sunday, after Colorado beat the Lightning in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to claim the franchise’s first championship since 2001.

It was worth the wait, because these is no more beautiful dance in sports that the one Landeskog took with a 139-year-old beauty. Landeskog lifted the 34.5-pound silver chalice overs his head, welcoming the Cup back home to Colorado with a kiss.

And then? Landeskog handed the Cup to Johnson. Hockey besties. Sharing the greatest prize in the game. Atop the mountain. Together.

“To win it with E.J. is just so special. He has been my best friend since Day 1… he was the first guy to reach out to me after I got drafted,” Landeskog told me. “I’ve been following my big brother for all these last 11 years. To be able to hand off that Stanley Cup and watch him skate away with it…”

I’m not crying. You’re crying.

Landy and E.J. have given heart and soul to this team, not the mention teeth and assorted other body parts, from years when the Avs weren’t easy to love through this crowning glory. Between them, Johnson and Landeskog have played 1,509 games, scored 344 goals and contributed 551 assists to the Burgundy and Blue.

A child lead the Avs to their first championship since 2001. OK, check that. At 23 years old, baby-faced defensemen Cale Makar only looks like the kid who takes you hamburger order at the drive-through window. On a star-studded roster, Makar was the man, richly deserving of the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoff MVP.

But did you see Landeskog crawling off the ice to the Avs bench in the final desperate minutes of the Cup-clinching contest, in obvious pain after blocking a wicked hard shot by Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov?

Landeskog “might be the most important person in this whole organization,” Johnson said before this championship series began. “The demeanor he had, the type of player he is. Just a critical piece. He’s the cog that makes this machine go. The heartbeat of this team.”

And know what’s wild to think?

It not for kind twists of fate, both Landeskog and Johnson might not have shared a sweet hug they’ll cherish until their final breaths on this earth.

His NHL career could’ve ended with Johnson’s face hit the ice with a sick thud on Jan. 30, 2021, the result of a clean hit by Minnesota winger Jordan Greenway. Nearly five months after suffering a concussion, Johnson moved in a fog, from one uncertain day to the next.

“I was frankly sick of being injured. It was very disheartening,” Johnson told me. “With a concussion, it can be a week for some guys and a month for others. Or it can be career-ending. And I didn’t really know where I fell in that spectrum… I wasn’t totally sure I was going to come back and play this year, to be honest.”

A phone call cemented the resolve of and often-injured player to give a quest for the Cup on more shot, at age 34.

Joe Sakic, the front-office exec that put this championship puzzle together, reached out to Johnson and said: “We’re going to need you if you’re feeling well enough to play.”

Landeskog was born in Sweden, but he proudly calls Denver his hockey home, because this is where he grew up as a hockey player after joining the Avalanche as a teenager in 2011. But after a decade run with the team, he was forced by the cruel business side of hockey to contemplate leaving in the wake of a disheartening playoff loss to Vegas.

Last summer, less than 60 minutes before he was scheduled to become a free agent, Landeskog agreed to a new 8-year, $56 million deal to remain with the Avalanche.

“It did go down to the wire, that’s for sure,” Sakic said. “Maybe near the end I was a little worried, but I was hopeful we’d get it done. Both sides were really happy with the deal. He can finish his career as an Avalanche. That’s how it should be.”

Fighting back tears while standing on the ice of Amalie Arena, amid a celebration with family and friends, Landeskog said: “Management didn’t blow things up after losing in the second round for the third tear in a row. They kept believing in us.”

Every championship dream is born of faith, earned through sweat and strength to be these for your best friend in the locker room, to apply glue to a broken heart in defeat and share the tears of joy in victory.

“Gabe. Me. We won a championship. Finally. After 11 years,” Johnson said. “It’s amazing. But we did. And we did it together.”

And now? The names of Landeskog and Johnson will be engraved on the Stanley Cup. Together. Best hockey friends. Forever.

#colorado avalanche #stanley cup finals #stanley cup champions #stanley cup 2022 #gabriel landeskog #erik johnson #my favorite article in the denver newspaper the day after #very happy for EJ and Gabe #because they've been there the longest #and through ALL of the shitty years #they've deserved it

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hockeyshmockey · 2 years

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Erik Johnson- Story

summary: the ej x landeskog!sister moment I feel like I needed. ej x fem oc

warnings: fluff galore

wc: 1.1k

Somehow, the first time Celeste met Erik had been when her niece had made her way into the world. Celeste had worked a remote job even before the pandemic, and had always loved to travel. So when Gabe had mentioned off handedly being worried about Mel being home alone so much with a newborn, Celeste had offered to come stay in Colorado for a few months to help out.

What started out as a few months, after meeting Erik, turned into three years, a shared house, and two dogs.

In 2021, with Erik’s injury and the Avs disappointing playoff run, Celeste and Erik had faced the toughest time in their relationship. Take an injury and the play offs separately, and it would make any player grumpy, but the two combined had made things very tense for a bit after the season.

Celeste thought herself to be a very understanding person. But after one too many times of her letting Erik snap at her, when he was really feeling sorry for himself, she had been fed up. Then came the huge blow up fight, with Erik sleeping at Gabe and Mels. The next morning he had come home to find his girlfriend with a small bag packed.

Celeste had gone to stay with Beatrice in a week for the couple to have space.. By the time she got back, Erik had been reamed by his mother and Gabe, and had begged for the woman’s forgiveness. The woman had given it freely, but the two of them had definitely had a rough go of it last season.

So for Celeste to be standing in the stands with her mother and father and Beatrice, as well as Erik’s parents, watching the boys play in the Stanley Cup Final, felt like a fever dream. “Is this going to happen?” your mother said excitedly in Swedish from her spot between her two daughters.

“I think it is,” Celeste laughed breathlessly as the time passed the last minute of the Stanley Cup Final.

“I think I’m going to cry,” Beatrice smiled widely, tears already on her cheeks when she hugged Celeste, their parents embracing.

“Theres no stopping it,” Celeste laughed, pulling back and turning to a beaming Bruce and Peggy. “Can you believe it!” The Swedish woman said with another wet laugh as she pulled Peggy into a hug, Bruce wrapping the two of them in his arms.

“Thank you,” Peggy pulled back with tears of her own, cupping Celeste’s face as she saw the blondes confusion. “I know last year was hard. And other women would’ve left, but you stayed. And you helped him get back to where he is today. We love you so much hun.”

“Oh my god,” Celeste gasped out a laugh through her tears, letting Peggy pull her into another hug. The two were broken up by Bruce calling out that people were heading to the lower bowl.

This would always be one of the proudest moments of her life, Celeste thought. Watching her brother lift the Stanley Cup for the first time, after years of hard times. And him passing it off to the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, the two sharing a tender moment before EJ went on his lap.

Celeste felt like she didn’t stop crying during the photos with the cup, even when she was laughing at the boys denting the cup. When the families were finally allowed on the ice, Celeste made a beeline for Gabe with her sister and parents.

“Gabriel!” She yelled, her fellow blonde turning to his sisters with a huge grin. The two women slipped on the ice as they shuffled over, colliding with his body and wrapping him and hug. “We are so proud of you,” Celeste pulled back with a soft smile, cupping his bearded cheek. “You deserve this bror.”

“Thank you,” Gabe smiled brightly, leaning down to press a kiss to Celeste and then Beatrice’s forehead, before turning to their parents.

“I’m going to get EJ,” Celeste said to her sister, the woman nodding before the older sister made her way across the ice. She was stopped by Cale and Nate, giving both of the younger boys a huge hug, before finally spotting her boyfriend in an interview.

She didn’t rush to get over there, even stopping to take a photo of EJ as she got closer. When she was in his peripheral, his eyes cut to her quickly before returning to the reporter, returning in a double take as a smile took over his face.

“Let me get back to you,” he cut off the woman with a half smile, before skating Celestes way. The blonde had stopped on the ice, hands covering her cheeks as she stared at him.

“I can’t believe it,” Celeste said softly as EJ approached and scooped her up with a squeal, her legs wrapping around his waist.

“We did it baby,” EJ said into her neck breathlessly, squezezing her waist tightly.

“You did it E,” Celeste tugged at his hair so he would pull back and she could look into his eyes. “I am so proud of you darling,” she leaned down to press a hard kiss to his lips. “I always knew you would be here,” Celeste’s eyes shined with love and pride.

“Marry me,” EJ breathed out, his eyes searching her face as her features froze.

“What?” She giggled in surprise. “EJ-”

“I’m serious,” he lifted one hand to cup her cheek. “I’ve got the ring at home and everything. Was going to ask you in some crazy way during the off season. But this is us. So marry me. I know I can be a grumpy asshole, but no one understands me like you. And I can’t imagine spending my life without you. Be my wife.”

“Oh EJ,” Celeste sobbed, her hands cupping his head. “Of course I will.” She leaned down to kiss him again, his free arm lifting in a fist pump.

For years to come, two photos would be sitting on the Landeskog-Johnson mantle. They would be joined eventually by photos of their wedding, and their children, but these two held a special place for them. One, a picture of a champagne drenched Celeste in a too big Avalanche Championship shirt, with Gabe and EJ on either side of her, the three holding Lord Stanley himself.

The next, was a photo captured by a sneaky Peggy Johnson, of Celeste and Erik kissing, one hand lifted in the air as he celebrated one of the biggest moments of his career, and the start of the next chapter of he and Celeste’s story.

#erik johnson #ej #Colorado Avalanche #coloradoavalanche #nhl #nhl imagine #colorado avalanche imagine #erik johnson imagine #erik johnson x oc #hockey imagine #hockey fluff

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