Whiskey Lullaby by hapakitsune (Teen, Gen)

[creyr.livejournal.com]

Fandom: HOCKEY RPF
Pairing: None really, implied Jeff Carter/Mike Richards
Length: 3000
Author on LJ hapakitsune
Author Website: on AO3
Why this must be read:

While I'm a big fan of the 'reunited and it feels so good' storyline of Jeff Carter and Mike Richards because of its sheer awesome implausibility, I have to admit that Carter's epic sulk wasn't very pretty. Not many authors delve into the other side of that whole trade debacle to get the perspective of the team that Carts so thoroughly spurned, but hapakitsune does in this tale.

Told from the POV of Rick Nash, the man who was forced to deal with Carter, the story has a melancholy tone with Nash knowing he can't save Columbus and neither can Carter. Nash is the captain, so he tries to make things right, but events get away from him. This is a story about acceptance - of fate, of ineptitude, of loss - and struggling to succeed anyway.

Whiskey Lullaby