Chapter 31

With everything that was going on, all I could say was thank god I had my camera; I was taking pictures left and right of me and the guys, me and the girls, Jon and his parents, almost everything. The on ice celebrations eventually migrated to the locker room, where the champagne spraying continued, as well as the craziness, but it was well deserved.

Jon’s parents, along with the Kane’s decided to go for a late dinner and then turn in for the night, so I gave them my house key so they could get in and we promised to be as quiet as possible when we got home.

Championship shirts and hats were being passed around, Jon handed me his and one for me, I tossed them into the bench at his stall, so they wouldn’t get stained or gross with all the champagne. The drinking from the cup began shortly after, so the boys got pretty into that while the girls and I watched and laughed at all their reactions.

We finally left the arena around 1am, and since the boys changed and cleaned up, we decided to go to the Underground with the cup, the keepers of the cup followed us to the Underground and the boys had decided to let Taylor keep it the first night. Coach Q had been nice enough to call the club as we were leaving to let them know the champions would be heading that way.

After having a few crazy hours, we shut down the Underground; it was near 5:30 in the morning when we got home. I passed out almost right away, while Jon was tossing and turning, still being excited from the events of the night.

Jon was the first one up, I woke up soon after, and running on almost 5 hours of sleep, but it was definitely worth it. Andree and I made some breakfast for all of us and relaxed for a while, before the team was meeting up at the arena to clean their stalls out and to take another team photo at center ice. Coach Q also informed us that the Championship parade would be the next day, Thursday. Lauren and Diana had taken care of the busses needed, while I was in charge of getting the passes ready for the wives, girlfriends and family members to wear to get on the busses with the team, so the girls and I took a few hours to get that taken care of, and each player left with passes. After we left the arena, Jon’s parents went out shopping with the Kane’s while Jon and I went home to take a nap.

It was time for round 2 and the club was near to capacity when we got there, and with all of us that showed up, we filled it in no time. The guys took over the VIP room upstairs, as us girls followed in queue after them. Drinks were going around and all the guys were pretty tipsy within a few hours. Jon even had more drinks then he usually does, because he’s usually the one to keep the guys in line and make sure they don’t get out of hand; but not tonight. I was thrilled to see him relax and let loose.


Morning came before we all knew it, and it was time to get ready for the parade. We were all meeting at the arena where we would get on the double decker busses to take on the parade route. Those buses were a good idea from the previous parade, so it was a good idea to get them again, not to mention they were easy to get.

The parade was set to start at 10:30, we had to meet at the arena by 9:30 to get organized and see who’s on what bus and whatnot. The first bus would carry the Cup and the Conn Smyth trophy, so Jon and Taylor would be on that one, with Savannah and I, as well Jon’s family, and Taylor’s; Patrick and the Kane’s joined us also; because we know we cant separate the bromance between Pat and Jon. And if it was like it was 2 years ago when Kaner was beyond wasted half way through the parade, it was going to be an interesting time.

The parade started down at Wacker and Madison. The fans were near 8 deep on both sides of the street, it was near 90 degrees out here, thankfully the busses were stocked with bottled water…and beer; of course. The farther down Madison we went, the crazier it got. It was amazing to see all the fans out to see the guys and to see the cup. Every time Jon, Patrick or Taylor lifted the cup, everyone went crazy.

Patrick’s sisters were on the bus with us, so we all sat towards the side and let the boys have their fun, we all got along with each other surprisingly well, and they knew Savannah and I were both taken, so they didn’t hate us for trying to get with their brother. The girls and I got in a picture with the cup, and then Jon, Taylor and Patrick joined us for the next one. The parade went all the way down Madison and then onto Michigan Ave. where it ended for the championship rally.

The parade made for a long day, and besides being tired and slightly hungover, the hot sun was exhausting, but it was so worth it to be out there with the guys. We had gotten back to the arena and got back to our car to go home. Jon and I took a nap all afternoon, and then ordered in some food and a few movies and relaxed for the night. His parents had gone home, for David’s girlfriend’s graduation ceremony, and then were going to be ready to fly out to New Mexico next month for our big day.



The beginning of the summer was a lot of craziness; the boys started having golf tournaments and such for their foundations. Jack even had a car wash and donated all the money to a local homeless shelter. The cup schedule for the boys was about ready to be published, Jon had requested to have the cup the weekend of our wedding, so we could take it to New Mexico, and luckily, he was able to get it; so on top of the wedding craziness, we would also have the Stanley Cup with us, that made me kind of glad that it was in my hometown, sure there will be photographers, but Jon liked the idea of taking it to a state where it's never been. The cup keepers would be close by with us as well, since we will be having wedding stuff going on.

We finally had a day off, I was in my office with Lauren when Jon called me and told me to go to the locker room, and to bring Lauren with me, I asked what for, he just said don’t worry about it and hung up. So I grab Lauren and we walk to the locker room and open the doors,

“SURPRISE!” is all I hear, from all the players and their significant others
“Oh my gosh!” I say as Jon walks over and gives me a hug
“What’s this for?” I ask
“Well, with all the craziness of the playoffs, and you going back home for wedding stuff, we didn’t do anything for your birthday, or mine actually, but I wasn’t worried about that, so I wanted to throw you a surprise party,”
“Aw, you didn’t have to, I mean we went to dinner, and we exchanged gifts,” I say
“I know, but I wanted to have a group thing, so this is it!” He said
“Well thanks babe, and thanks guys!”
“So your what, 25, 26?” Jack asks
“Ha! No I am 24 thank you very much,” I say as he gives me a hug
“You and Tazer are the same age?” Taylor asks
“Yeah, I’m 9 days older then her,” Jon says

So the day is filled with everyone hanging out in the locker room with pizza and a bunch of junk food, it was fun to relax again before the guys go back home. The NHL Awards were already coming up, a week and a half away, the guys got invited, and some were going, especially now that we won the Stanley Cup. The offices were going to be quiet until free agency day, which I would be helping with for a while until Jon and I went home for the wedding; so me, Dayna, Savannah Elina, Kelly and Abby decided to go to Vegas, with our men that were going, as well as Coach Q.

The guys had gotten the airline tickets taken care of, while Dayna and I talked to every hotel on the strip to try and get some rooms. Sadly, we weren’t staying at the Palms, the location for the Award show, but we got 3 rooms in the Luxor hotel. Vegas, here we come!