Lou Lamoriello wakes with a start. Toronto Maple Leaf Manor is quiet the morning after Thanksgiving, but something has disturbed his sleep. It takes a moment for Lou to realize he has passed out in a hallway, a snake skin print towel covers his naked body, and a shoebox lies under his head as a pillow. Lou hears a loud metallic rattling from somewhere and he sits up. Blinking, Lou notices that the shoebox has the word COKE written on the lid. Lou opens the box and does a quick sniff test to confirm it is in fact full of cocaine.

Lou wraps the towel around his waist, tucks the shoebox under his arm, and heads in the direction of the noise. As he walks on down the hall he passes by a single open door and stops to peek inside. Mark Arcobello and Morgan Rielly are playing a video game; Peter Holland, Jake Gardiner and Frank Corrado all sit, bleary eyed, staring at the screen.

“You boys should get some sleep.” Lou says.

Peter is the only Leaf to look up. “Right after me,” he says, and looks back to the game. Lou shrugs, not in the mood to press the issue. Confirming again that the shoebox is full of cocaine, Lou continues down the hall.

As he reaches the stairs leading down to the foyer, Lou almost trips over James Reimer. James and Jonathan Bernier have fallen asleep in the hall, leaning against each other. Several empty pie trays are scattered around them. Carefully stepping over the snoring goalies, Lou walks out onto the landing and is blinded by the noonday sun pouring in through the windows above the doorway. The rattling noise is louder now, and as Lou’s eyes adjust to the sunlight, he is sure he hears a low humming as well.

Making his way down the stairs, Lou checks the cocaine again, then notices that Leo Komarov has somehow fallen asleep in the chandelier. As if on cue, the Leaf burps, and vomit splatters on the floor below him. Lou is careful not to step near the splash zone as he makes his way across the entrance toward the kitchens. The rattling is getting louder with every step Lou takes.

Passing through the dining room, Lou sees Scott Harrington still at the table, ripping scraps of meat off a turkey and inhaling them without pause. The bones of five other turkeys are piled before him.

Reaching the kitchen, Lou discovers the source of the noise at last. It is Mike Babcock. The coach is humming loudly as he putters around the kitchen. He is taking clean dishes from a dishwasher and putting them away. There is a pile of pots and pans soaking in the sink and plenty more plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery left to be cleaned. All the dirty dishes on the counter have been organized and sorted neatly by the coach. Lou takes a large sample from his shoebox and Mike halts at the sound, looking over at Lou.

“Good morning Lou, how are you feeling?”

“I’m beautiful, other than all the noise you’re making in here waking up the whole house. Did you want a guy to slit your throat a little, or could you maybe relax for a day?”

“I am relaxed Lou, I just have lot’s to do. I want to get the kitchen in good shape so I can get breakfast started before the boys start waking up. Stephane Robidas and Nathan Horton tried to flood the pantry last night. It’s a disaster in there.” The coach turns away and bellows “How you making out Dan?!”

Daniel Winnik pops his head out from a door way on the other side of the room. “Slowly chipping away,” he says.

Lou licks a finger, dips it into his shoebox, and rubs white powder on his teeth and gums.

“Did you get everything set up?” Mike asks Dan.

“The fans are on.” Daniel replies.

“Do you think they will dry out the room?

“I think so, yeah.” Daniel and Mike both turn away from each other and back to their chores. Mike speaks to Lou without looking at him. “Lou, if you want to help out, I am going to need you to put on some pants.”

“I can’t right now. I’m too busy. I am making sure this blow doesn’t get into the wrong hands. I heard cocaine use is pretty common amongst NHL players. There was a whole article about how young men with money love hookers and blow. So do old men with money, but who cares about us right” Lou snorts a nose load of evil.

“None of our guys use cocaine Lou. They would never be able to keep up if they did.” Mike wears his disapproval plainly on his face. “Speaking of the team, since we have no games this week, I want to organize a field trip to the Science Center.”

“Sorry Mike, I spent this week’s budget getting this coke off the streets. The prices these days are ridiculous. I wish Pablo was still around, he always gave me a discount on bulk orders.”

“If you’re trying to get rid of that stuff, why don’t you just flush it down the toilet?”

“And contaminate the water supply? I take my responsibilities more seriously than that Mike.” Lou scoops up a handful of cocaine and buries his face in it. The powder covers his nose and upper lip when he lifts his head up. “I am protecting the players. Temptations are always everywhere around them. How are they supposed to know drugs are bad when we ask them to focus so much on being supreme athletes. One day a player wants some medicine for a cold, the next thing you know he has to get hopped up on goofballs just to tie his skates. Someone has to look out for the boys. Someone has to care.” Lou takes another large snort. “The more I do now, the less there is out there for the team to get their hands on later. You gonna help me out? It’s what Brendan would want.” Lou holds out his coke filled hand to Mike.

Mike swats the hand away sending the cocaine flying into the air. Lou lets out a yelp as he rushes to stick his head into the cloud, inhaling furiously.

“Get that crap out of here.” Mike says.

“That’s what I’m trying to do” Lou begins licking his hand clean and his towel falls off. Mike shakes his head and gets back to putting dishes away. Instead of humming he speaks loudly, as though the words were a spell, and maybe words do hold the power to create.

“Dear God and Lord Stanley,” Lou is surprised to find himself speaking in unison with the coach. “Thank you for bringing us together here in Toronto and please help Steven Stamkos find his way home.”

Lou fixes his towel and takes his shoebox away from Mike’s bad vibes. Back in the dining room, Scott has finished picking the turkey clean and is digging into a platter of mashed potatoes with enthusiasm. The young Leaf does not even look up as his GM goes by.

Lou walks out the front door and lays down on the sun warmed stone entrance of the manor. Cuddling his box, Lou is snoring within a minute.