Chapter 4: Welcome to St. Louis

With the words of his father’s letter resonating from his mind, Rowdy stepped off the plane with an intense focus. He’d been emotionally drained the past few weeks after the passing of his father and the thrill of the draft. He felt like he was finally ready to move forward and decided to expel all negative thoughts in his mind as he stepped into the terminal of Lambert International Airport. Upon leaving the final gates, he found a nicely dressed driver in a black and white suit holding a sign with his name on it with the official St. Louis Scarecrows logo in the bottom right hand corner. Rowdy waved at the gentleman in front of him who recognized him instantly.

“Mr. Smithers! My name is Bill and I’ll be your driver today! I just wanted to say that I’m a huge fan of the Scarecrows and I’m excited to be your driver!!!”

Rowdy was taken aback by the older gentleman’s excitement and all he could utter out was a surprised “Thank you very much. I appreciate the support.”

“I’ve been following you guys since season 15! I can’t wait to see what you do on the ice for us this season!”

The driver, Bill, snatched Rowdy’s granite toned Samonsite before he could blink and started to lead Rowdy to the parking garage. As he got situated in the back seat, Bill started to talk to Rowdy about all the great games he’d been to and the championship season from seasons 16, 20, and 29. He went on about the Scarecrow Hall of Famers like Jakub Aittokallio, Marian Potoczny, and Winston Windsor. Rowdy was impressed at Bill’s encyclopedia-like knowledge of the team and enthusiasm that seemed to rival that of a child’s. They pulled up behind the arena of the Scotttrade Center and thanked Bill for the educational car ride to the arena.

“Uhh…I don’t have any cash on me, Bill. Can I get your information so I can tip you later?”

Bill tipped his hat and winked from the driver’s seat.

“The fact that the Scarecrows drafted you is thanks enough, Mr. Smithers! Just go out and kick some ass for us!”

Rowdy chuckled and waved off the driver as he took off down the empty road. Rowdy walked up the player’s entrance behind the arena and was met at the door by none other than the Co-General Manager himself, Joe Kurczewski. After a hard handshake and grinning smile, Joe ushered Rowdy into the arena and showed him around the facility.

“…and here’s the main locker room. Feel free to hang up any personal items.”

Joe uncovered a thin film of plastic over Rowdy’s placard above his cubby and Rowdy couldn’t help but be caught up in the moment of everything. It was the first time he’d seen his name on anything official physically in the SMJHL.

“Wow, this is great Joe! I appreciate the big welcome you guys have given me.”

“Not a problem at all Rowdy. We had a great feeling about you the moment we saw you enter the draft. We know you were a last minute entrant, but something about your profile and story drew us to you. We’re all about drafting the person and not the player and felt that you could bring something unique to the team. We’re hoping to avenge last season and bring the cup back to St. Louis.”

“I’m ready to bring it and I’m super pumped to be a part of the team!!! There’s something weird about St. Louis that drew me to you guys too ever since I started following the league. I feel like this is the place I was supposed to be. I also enjoyed the conversations we had leading up to the draft. We clicked right away! It’s like we knew each other from a past life or something…”

“Definitely! That’s why it was such an easy decision for us.”

As the pair wrapped up the tour, Rowdy met with the coaching staff and they immediately got to work in the meeting room to discuss his weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. Rowdy had never had that much in-depth analysis of his game and rather than feeling discouraged by it, he remembered what his father told him and knew that getting out of his comfort zone would be the only way for him to improve. He knew he was already good at passing and scoring, but to be an elite defenseman at the next level he needed to improve a lot of areas. With a plan in place, Rowdy was told to show up bright and early the next day to start practices. He left the arena after calling a Lyft and went to Nicholas Falk’s place near downtown St. Louis. The two had spoken briefly after the draft through Instagram and Falk agreed to let Rowdy stay with him for a bit until he got his own apartment.

“Välkommen Rowdy! Välkommen!”

The Swede bellowed from down the hall. The two exchanged a quick handshake and walked up a few flights of stairs to Nicholas’ apartment. Nicholas had barely moved in himself after being selected 6th overall in the first round. His apartment was barely furnished with a forest green couch seated in front of a large flat screen and a small kitchen table with barely enough room 3 people, let alone 2 large men like themselves. After ordering some pizza and turning on last season’s SHL games to watch, the two bonded over the shared experiences of being drafted and their expectations going into the season.

Rowdy was glad to have another person who could relate to the rookie experience and knew that Nicholas would be a good person to practice against given his already proven talent on the offensive end. He would provide a good learning opportunity for Rowdy to work against in practice to shore up his defensive weaknesses. Rowdy nudged a snoring Nicholas after the 3rd game they watched and they both agreed to head to bed. Laying on the couch, Rowdy couldn’t get comfortable at all. He tossed and turned as his mind drifted between thoughts of tomorrow’s practice and the expectations he’d placed on himself that season. Finally, after much deliberation, he settled on a peaceful moment to focus on while going to sleep. He thought of the last game his father had seen him play and that brought him solace as he slipped into a slumber.

Quote:1083 words, double draft media bonus