"Pierre, how does it feel to be in New York?"
"Great. I'm excited to be here. Excited to play with my brother for the first time in our careers."
"What about the scandal? The wedding?"
His jaw tightens slightly. "That's in the past. I'm focused on hockey. On this team. On winning."
"Do you think the media attention will be a distraction?"
"I hope not. I'm here to play. That's it," he tells them.
"Can you comment on the rumors about why you left the Devils?"
Pierre pauses and looks directly at the camera. "I left the Devils because staying wasn't an option. The details are betweenme, my former team, and my lawyers. What I will say is that I have no regrets about my decision. I'm grateful to the Mavericks for giving me this opportunity, and I'm ready to move forward."
The room falls silent.
Well damn, someone fucked up in that organization so badly they lost their star. Their loss is our gain. Felix jumps in, cracks a joke, and the room laughs, breaking the tension. The brothers play off each other well. Banter. Smile. Show the media they're a unit. By the end, the press seems satisfied. For now. I turn off the stream and lean back. They handled that better than I expected. Maybe this won't be a complete disaster.
My group chat starts going off. Puck Heads is the name. Don't ask me, one of the guys created it.
Sully: Did everyone just watch that press conference?
That's Connor Sullivan. My best and oldest friend from Wisconsin. Defenseman. Solid. Reliable. Veteran.
Bouch: Holy shit we got PSP.
Marc Bouchard. French Canadian. Center. Happy-go-lucky kind of guy. He'll be training with Pierre.
Fish: The runaway groom himself.
Justin Crawford from Maine. Got his nickname because Crawfish and Maine is known for fish. Yeah, nicknames don't always make sense. Forward winger. Our prankster. Cheeky young gun.
Nelly: Two St. Pierre brothers on one team. This is either genius or a disaster waiting to happen.
Lars Neilsen from Sweden. Goalie. Say no more.
Evan: Genius. Did you see Pierre's stats last season? He's a machine.
Artem Evanoff. Winger. Russian. Standoffish at first. Hard nut to crack. But when you do, he's a good guy under all the Soviet hardness. Dependable.
Bouch: Pretty sure every team in the league is shitting themselves right now.
Fish: We just became the most dangerous team in the Eastern Conference.
Nelly: IF they can play together without drama.
Evan: Big if.
Sully: You think they'll fight on ice? I used to want to kill my brother when we played together.
Fish: My money's on Felix. Kid's got fire.
Bouch: Pierre would destroy him. Size advantage.
Emmett: Enough, guys.
Sully: Oh, Cap has entered the chat.
