Hat Trick 3: Penalty Shot (7 page)

The youth team was crowded in behind the glass at the player’s ice entrance. They were chattering amongst themselves, occasionally with voices getting loud enough we could hear them. Today was the sixth practice and things were in decent shape with the first game coming up at the end of the week. Yes, the team could be better, but they could be a whole lot worse, too.

“I think they see their potential,” I said.

As the scoreboard buzzer sounded, we gathered in our usual spot in front of Coach Rapp.

“Good job, guys. We’re looking solid to open the season strong next week. The work we’ve done to modify our breakouts should work great against our opponents who think they know us. We’ll keep working on those the rest of the week, along with some modified offensive plays we’ll roll out tomorrow. Miller, Roberts, the ice is yours. Have a good practice.”

“Thanks, Coach,” Alex said.

Scottie and the team moved away from the glass so the doors could swing back and let the guys leaving the ice have a clear path. Danny skated up to us with Trent.

“What’s the plan today?” Danny asked as he slipped his helmet off.

Across the ice, the team streamed in, followed by Hillary.

“Everyone take the usual five minute warmup,” Alex called out from the scorekeeper’s station. He put five minutes on the clock.

“I asked Coach Mayer to stay today and work with Scottie.” I began to go over what Hillary, Alex, and I worked out last night. “We don’t really know how to coach a goalie, so he’s agreed to help out once or twice a week. Joey’s also here for the first twenty so we can do a full ice scrimmage, which we haven’t gotten to do yet. We’ll do twenty minutes and watch how they do. After that we’ll break into groups and work on what the scrimmage reveals. We’ll do some line drills, too, towards the end. It’ll probably be the most strenuous day yet.”

“Sounds good,” Danny said.

“How about we split ourselves up on the benches and coach during the scrimmage, too?” Trent added.

“Excellent idea,” Alex said.

Hillary, armed with her tablet, joined us in the ref’s circle. She’d started wearing skates for practice. She treaded gingerly on the ice, but it was great that she was finally on skates after years of talking about it.

“Hey, Hillary,” I said, offering her a fist bump as she arrived.

“Everyone’s here,” she said. “Twenty skaters and Scottie.”

The buzzer sounded and the team came over and gathered around to hear today’s plan.

“Okay, so we’ve made some tweaks to the lines we’ve been using,” I said. “We’re starting up with a scrimmage today. Joey,” he raised his stick as I talked, “will be in net so we’ll go full ice. Treat this like a game, okay? Based on what we see, we’ll know what to work on for the rest of the afternoon. At ten minutes, we’ll switch directions so everyone can shoot on both goalies. After a goal, or cover, defense gets possession behind the net to start. Any questions?”

“Cool,” Alex said. “Play hard. Play like this is Saturday. Hillary, go ahead and split ‘em up and let’s get this going.”

Over the course of the scrimmage we saw that everyone had good hockey sense. Sure, there were mistakes but no one was making consistently bad choices. Execution was a problem for at least a quarter of the team. They knew what they needed to do, but they couldn’t make it happen. We’d seen some of that before, but it really showed in the scrimmage. Luckily the new lines made it less of a problem because we paired weak and strong players, and the stronger players knew how to recover.

The surprise on the team was Bruce, who indicated he’d only played a year. He was fast and consistently made good choices that he followed through on. We also kept Walt and his friends as a forward line. Breaking them apart made no sense, and they were gelling nicely.

Defense was troublesome. They were uniformly mediocre, except for Johnny, who was often able to correct his partner’s errors. The entire defensive team had issues going against Walt’s line. Against the other lines they had mixed results.

Danny and Alex took the defensive squad when we broke into groups since Danny was a D and Alex, as a center, was defensively minded. Trent and I broke up the forwards and Hillary drifted between the groups, offering up notes that she took during the scrimmage. In the groups we talked strategy and did demos of what we wanted to see. While we worked in the groups, Coach Mayer and Joey worked with Scottie.

The full squad drills went well. We found quickly that the more senior players were already guiding some of the less skilled, which was perfect. Plus, with four Wolverines players on the ice, we were able to run effective demonstrations of the drills.

“So what did you guys think of today?” I asked when we called everyone in at the end of the two hours.

“It was a blast,” Scottie said, grinning from ear to ear.

“This doesn’t really have to do with practice, but I really love skating with you guys,” said a defenseman named Ryan. “I wasn’t out to my other team and it’s awesome just being myself here.”

Several people nodded in agreement.

“Excellent,” I said. “We’ll keep that vibe going.”

“Do you guys have a name yet?” Hillary asked. “There’s got to be a name.”

“Yup. I came up with it this morning. Rainbow High,” Scottie said. “It’s the name of a great book I read a couple years ago. It sums us up nicely given our queer diversity plus straight allies. I’m working on the logo, block letters with a rainbow running through them. I need to make it look good on a tan jersey since that’s the color the league gave us. I’ll get everything ordered this weekend. I’ve got a company lined up who’s willing to rush them at no charge. I was wondering if you guys would be okay if we stitched a You Can Play patch on the shoulder.”

No one objected.

“Is that going to get our asses kicked on the ice?” Ryan asked. “Being that out?”

“If there’s an issue, we’ll take it up with the league,” Alex said. “Trash talk is very likely. And we shouldn’t respond to it. We’ll show that we’re better than the talk.”

That also got a positive response.

“Okay, you guys get cleaned up and go home,” I said. “We’re back Thursday at four. Thanks everyone.”

Everyone said thanks, fist bumped most of us and headed to the locker room.

“That was good,” I said once the players were gone. “Some bumpy places, but overall I think we’re better off than where we started. What’d you guys think?”

Alex nodded. “Defense is what needs the most work.”

“But they made progress today,” Danny said.

“Yup, it’s still the weak link,” I said. “They caught on to what we worked on. If they remember it next practice, I’ll feel better. And Scottie’s good, he’ll stop more than a few of what gets past the D.” I pulled my helmet off and ran a hand through my sweaty hair. “Let’s get everything picked up and go.”

The first Rainbow High game arrived way too fast. The team seemed ready, at least in spirit. There wasn’t nearly enough practice, but everyone said they were excited following yesterday’s session. Scottie looked great, and I looked forward to seeing him in a real game. We had some good shooters, especially Walt and Bryan. Based on the competition Walt told us to expect, we still needed work. The best practice in the world though was playing a real game.

Considering everything, Alex and I couldn’t have been happier with how the team had gelled in the past two weeks. They had a good time on ice and seemed to be bonding off ice, too, as much as their individual schedules would allow.

The parking lot of the rink was jammed as Alex, Hillary, Danny, Trent and I arrived, nearly an hour early. We wanted to recon some of the other teams in our division, and be here as our guys arrived. At least for this first game, all the coaches were present.

Two of our division’s games were already in progress, so Trent and Danny went to check those out as Hillary, Alex, and I took over a table to watch for our team to start trickling in.

“Excuse me,” said a guy in a Chargers jersey, as he came up to our group. I recognized the team name as one in our division. “I was wondering if I could get you guys’ autograph. It’s not every day you see the Wolverines’ captains just hanging out here.”

“Sure,” I said. Behind the autograph seeker I saw Scottie come in, rolling his huge gear bag behind him. “We’d be happy to.” The guy gave me a piece of paper, which looked torn from a spiral notebook, and a pen. “What’s your name?”

“Griffin,” he said. “What’s got you guys out here?”

“Hey, Simon, Alex, Hillary,” Scottie said, bumping fists with everyone. He sorta bounced between the three of us. “Great to see you.”

“Scottie, you’re here early,” Alex said.

“Yeah, I wanted to be here when the rest of the team showed. Be a good captain and all.”

“You guys know this sissy boy?” Griffin asked, his mouth hanging open.

I stood, and had a couple inches on the guy, even though he was in skates. Alex and Hillary circled around.

“We coach Scottie’s team,” I said. “That kind of talk isn’t very sportsmanlike. Not only have you insulted him, you’re not exactly making friends with us either.” I took Alex’s hand for extra emphasis. “Since you asked for our autograph, I assume you know that we’re a couple, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Griffin stumbled over his words, “but you guys don’t prance around. How’s he supposed to stop a puck? He’ll probably hide in the net when he sees what’s coming towards him.”

Scottie spoke up while remaining all smiles. “Do we get to play you today?”

“No. Unfortunately we don’t get the honor of wiping the rink with your…” Griffin stopped, considering his words further. Danny and Trent joined us as well. “…team. We see you in two weeks.”

“I can assure you I won’t be hiding in the net. I’ll be out front, waiting to knock down anything you send my way.”

“And I suggest your team take a good look at league rules,” I said, “which covers in detail that there’s no unsportsmanlike conduct tolerated.”

The guy looked dumbfounded. He searched the rink, maybe looking for some of his teammates to back him up, or for a way to get himself out of this situation.

“You can’t tell me,” he said, finding a defiant streak, “that if you two acted like fairies that the Wolverines would’ve given you a look.”

“Given how good they play, I wouldn’t hesitate to recruit them.”

Whoa. Coach Rapp, decked out in his Wolverines jacket that clearly said who he was, managed to come in from nowhere. Griffin turned, seemingly ready to say something, but stopped when he saw who it was.

“And I’ve seen Scottie between the pipes,” Coach continued. “He’s good. Someone I’ll be keeping tabs on. Now, young man, who’s your coach?”

The guy turned white as a ghost. I thought he might pass out.

“I haven’t seen him this morning,” Griffin said, the bluster of a few moments ago long gone.

“I didn’t ask where he was. I asked who he was.” Coach Rapp’s voice was chilling, and I was glad I wasn’t the one he was talking to.

“Greg, it’s good to see you. What brings you in today?” It was Coach Larson, the league director. He joined our circle and shook hands with Coach Rapp.

“Ray, it’s been too long. I came out to support these guys. Rainbow High’s had some practices at Yost and since some of my guys are coaching, I wanted to be in the stands for their opening.”

“That’s excellent. Mr. Polan, it’s good to see you. Your team ready?”

He was certainly more pleasant than when we filed the paperwork. No doubt because of Coach Rapp.

“I think so,” Scottie said. “We’ve had some good practices.”

“Good to hear,” Coach Larson said.

“Listen, Ray, this young man,” Coach Rapp said, putting his hand on Griffin’s shoulder, “isn’t exactly welcoming to the new team. I heard some disturbing remarks as I walked up. Maybe you can connect me with his coach.”

Coach Larson glared at Griffin, which caused him to wither even more. “His coach is Mike Donaldson. I can get you in touch…”

“No need,” Coach Rapp interrupted. “Mike’s a friend. We played together back in the day. I’ve got his number.”

Coach Larson nodded. “Can I buy you a cup of coffee, Greg? I’d like to talk to you about an idea I had for league-wide trainings.”

“Sure. Let me talk to these guys a second and I’ll catch up with you before their game.”

“Of course. I’ll be around, or the front desk can page me.” Coach Larson walked away and in no time was intercepted by a parent.

“Can I go now, sir?” Coach still had a grip on Griffin, so he was trapped.

“Sure. Remember what we talked about.” Coach let him go.

“Yes, sir.” Griffin grabbed his bag and headed into one of the rinks as fast as he could. I still had his paper, which I crumpled up, and his pen, which I pocketed.

“I hope you don’t have to put up with that all season,” Coach said.

“He’ll probably send a message that it won’t be a good idea to mess with us,” I said. “You’re not really going to call his coach are you?”

“No,” Coach Rapp smiled. “Implying that I was should be enough. Especially since Ray heard me. I know you guys are more than capable to fight your own battles. But I wasn’t going to let my recruitment methods be questioned either.”

“Thanks for what you said,” Scottie said. “That meant a lot coming from you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m looking forward to seeing you out there. Now, if you guys will excuse me, I’m going to see Ray and check out the games in progress. The recruiting never stops.”

“You okay?” I asked Scottie as he watched Coach Rapp walk away.

“Yeah, sorry. Sometimes this still surprises me. It was a long shot that I’d get you guys to coach. Now we’ve got two of your teammates and one of your best friends. Even Coach Rapp is on our side. It just proves that it never hurts to ask for help.”

“Very true,” Hillary said. “If these guys hadn’t asked me, I wouldn’t be in on this adventure.”

Someone else came up with a piece of paper, and all four Wolverines signed that one. This conversation focused only on the Wolverines’ outlook for the season and the win we’d already posted last night in a pre-season exhibition.