Another chapter in the love story of Alain and Julie. The couple attend the last game played by the Quebec Nordiques in Canada. It is an emotionally trying time for Julie, but her mate shows his support.

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May 14, 1995

Julie was trying to focus on the road but she had many things on her mind. They had just crossed the Richelieu River on the Trans Canada Highway and were still nearly two hours away from her hometown of Quebec City. Their path followed the St. Lawrence River (though it was a good ways away) but more importantly, another St. Laurent, her husky boyfriend Alain was seated next to her, quietly making the journey with her.

They had tickets for a playoff game tonight, which should have been exciting (and indeed it was) though that excitement was more than a little tinged with dread. It was game 5 between her Nordiques and the New York Rangers and the situation was dire. The first-place Nordiques had won the opener but then lost three straight games to go down 3-1 in the series. Julie had been infuriated by several questionable calls by the referees in game 4, an overtime loss for Quebec; had that one gone only a little differently, the series would be tied with the Nordiques regaining home ice advantage. But such was hockey. The bitter part of this, however, was that the fact that it was not just a playoff series that was on the line, but an entire franchise. It seemed nearly certain that her team would be sold and moved after the season and only a Stanley Cup victory (and maybe not even that) could bring in enough money to prevent it. So if they lost tonight, it would probably be their last game as the Nordiques and even if they won it might still be their last game at the Colisée de Québec, since they would have to win again in New York two nights hence to force a decisive game 7 back home.

Above all, she was glad Alain (Habs fan though he was) was going to be with her for this. At least he could understand the agony that she was in. None in her family were really big hockey fans, so it would not have been the same to watch it with them. She would soon be introducing her boyfriend to them though. They had been done classes and exams for a couple of weeks now and had stayed in the Montreal area where Alain lived. He had been a bit concerned about introducing her to his parents, since they did not hold Nordiques fans in particularly high regard (and their opinions on wolves were neutral). Happily, his fears had been unfounded and they had been nothing but the kindest hosts. They even had had no problem with her sharing Alain's bedroom while she stayed there. She smiled at the thought of it.

As she drove (he had offered to drive but she knew the way better), Alain made conversation, "Looks like the Referendum will be later in the year now. We'll have more time to think about it. Separation? Oui or non?"
"Sovereignty, you mean! And oui!" said Julie, laughing, for they had had this conversation before and he knew her position.
Alain shook his head. He was a Chretien Liberal, like pretty much everyone else in Montreal. Not her ideal political position, but far from the worst either. As if reading her mind he said, "I don't think we need them so much as they need us. Maybe I'm paranoid – I mean, things are great in Canada right now, don't get me wrong. But that Reform Party in Alberta… they could be worse than the Tories ever were if they spread. But I trust the Quebecois to stay true." She couldn't argue with that.

When they reached Quebec City the evening was fast approaching so they went straight to the Colisée to pick up their tickets and get in line. There were many fans about, wearing Nordiques colours as Julie was. Alain just wore a neutral grey coat; he wouldn't have dared to wear Montreal colours in here on this night, out of both respect and a bit of fear. He had only ever been to one game in this building before (a regular season game with the Canadiens as the visitor some years ago) and even as a child he had definitely felt the hard stares that his Montreal attire had elicited from those around him.

By the time they got to their seats, the players were already warming up. They had a fairly good view of the entire rink from about a dozen rows back above the neutral zone. It looked like the Nordiques were starting Joceyln Thibault in goal, a youngster barely older than they were. He worried that he would be consoling a weeping she-wolf before this night was over, something he really wasn't sure how to do.

The game started quickly and the crowd seemed to be rife with the same anxious excitement that he had been feeling from Julie all day. The anxiousness was alleviated somewhat when Mike Ricci banged one in late in a powerplay for the Nordiques, but returned just as quickly when Mark Messier tied it barely two minutes later. But the Nordiques soon got two more goals from tough guys Wendel Clark and Chris Simon to go up 3-1. With each Quebec goal the crowd rose to its collective feet and the noise was deafening. By their third goal even Alain was standing and cheering with them, though it was purely for the sake of his girl. She clearly appreciated the gesture and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek in response. It would have been great for them if the first period had ended like that, but on another Ranger powerplay late in the period, Pat Verbeek took a centering pass from behind the net from Messier and reduced the deficit to 3-2. Julie eyed a quartet of Rangers fans in white sweaters just behind them and to the right standing and cheering and she yelled out, "MANGER…" But Alain put a firm paw on her muzzle and shook his head before she could finish the expletive.

The period ended with that score and Alain wondered how much more of this he could take. This game was wild, as playoff games went. The Nordiques had a potent offense, no doubt about that. But their penalty kill was atrocious and their goaltending situation shaky. This Thibault – he had potential, but he was very young and not going to backstop anyone to the Stanley Cup, not for a few years at least. It made Alain all the more grateful that the Canadiens had Patrick Roy.

Alain, of course, voiced none of these thoughts to Julie. As the second period started, he just made various generic encouraging comments and held her close to him when necessary, feeling her heart pounding nearly out of her chest. There was no scoring in that period, but it was no less intense, for a game never seems harder to win than when you have a one goal lead but too much time left to kill.

In the third period, Alain spent more time watching Julie than the game. He really admired the intensity of her passion and, in a strange way, was a bit jealous, since this was the first time in his life that he wasn't watching the Habs battle in the playoffs. He knew that he would get to see them next year though, so he put those thoughts aside quickly. Every second seemed like an hour, but surely as the St. Lawrence flowed to the East, they ticked away. Finally, in the last minute of the game Scott Young put in an empty-netter for Quebec, sealing the win.

The crowd cheered wildly as the game ended and none louder than Julie Lefevbre. "Allez Quebec!" she cried, and "Viva les Nords!" Alain just smiled and hugged her lovingly. He knew in his gut that the end of the Nordiques was still near. The Rangers may have been the eighth place team, but they were the defending Stanley Cup Champion, playoff hardened and they had the greatest captain in the game in Mark Messier and a superior goaltender in Mike Richter. He did not foresee them losing a second game in a row to this Nordiques team.

Still, the important thing was that he was here for his girl, now when her team had won and especially when they finally lost. Julie embraced her big strong husky with tears in her eyes. Whether those tears were ones of joy for the victory, or resignation at the inevitability of the situation, or both, Alain did not know, but he hugged her back all the more tightly.

Julie rested her head for a while on her husky's chest. She had seldom in her life felt closer to anyone than she felt to the big dog now. What a gentleman he was, and how lucky she was to have him. "I love you Alain," she said.

She looked up and into his green eyes. "I love you too Julie," he said, with little hesitation. With nothing more to be said at the moment, they put their muzzles together and kissed more passionately than they ever had before, not caring who was watching. As the arena emptied around them, they emptied their minds of anything but each other and let the bliss of the moment envelope them utterly.