who do you play for?

Tommy is four years old when he's given his first L'manburg Patriots jersey; navy blue, much too big, and bearing his father's name and number on the back in shining gold thread. Soot, #70. The greatest in a generation, depending on who you asked. If you asked Tommy, he thought his dad was the greatest EVER.Fourteen years later, after L'manburg takes Rani goddamn Boochenkavic first overall, he quietly makes a last second adjustment in his paperwork with the organizers. It could no longer wait until after the draft. He returns to his seat. He waits. The top ten ticks down. His father, head coach of the Patriots, sits at a table halfway across the arena as the team's owner announces-"With the tenth overall pick in the 2021 NHL draft, L'manburg selects..." Silence in the audience. The owner confers with Phil, looking at the papers in his hands with knitted brows. A look back, toward the prospects' seats. A nod. "L'manburg selects Thomas...Innit."or: ice hockey au where Phil is essentially Gretzky and his sons are struggling with the weight of that legacy