Overtime (17 page)

“It’s kinda cool, all the kids in the stands,” Charlie said to Pudge, but in a loud enough voice to get everyone’s attention. “Since the crash the entire school has gotten completely stoked.”

“It’s different, for sure,” Pudge said.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Trisha and Emily were watching them.

“Not sure I told you, but Dalton thinks we’re close to a hundred grand. With this tournament, we could basically be there.”

Pudge nodded.

Charlie went on. “The accident got everyone’s attention, and we all woke up and realized Terrence Falls was important to us.” He pretended to be surprised that everyone was listening to their conversation.

All the girls continued to look at him.

It was working. Charlie decided to go for it.

“Me and Pudge were talking last night and, the rest of the crew agreed, that … well … that we should apologize to you.”

Julia’s eyes grew wide. Trisha was looking at him intently. Emily looked serious.

“I … I mean we … did not come into this with the right attitude. Actually, we didn’t even want to play. We play with bodychecking, and I guess we thought it was a waste of time to play non-contact, and, I’m sorry, but maybe a part of it was we thought playing with girls would cramp our style.”

The room was dead quiet.

Pudge nodded.

“I don’t think I purposely thought that, but in the back of my mind, it was there. I acted dumb when Alexandra and Trisha beat me in a drill, and worse when Emily bumped into me.”

“That was my fault,” Emily jumped in, “and I’ve been feeling bad about it. It was a cheap shot, and I knew you weren’t ready for it. Sorry.”

That surprised him. “No worries. Girls and boys playing hockey together — it can be complicated.” Everybody laughed.

Trisha broke in. “I should apologize to some of you too.” Charlie wondered why. “I was a bit hyper coming into this. I can be so competitive, it’s pathetic sometimes; and then Em and I were new to the school, and we came on a bit strong. I dissed a few of you, and that’s not me. I was just nervous and I said some stupid things.” She bit her lower lip. Her cornrows were tied in a ponytail, so her hair was off her face. She was a good-looking girl. It was as if Charlie was seeing her for the first time. “And what I feel worst about is the ball hockey game, and how we acted, and even being on that team with those guys. I didn’t know what they were like, and they asked me and Em to play and we did. Sorry, Julia.”

“I’m sorry too,” Emily said.

Julia didn’t say anything. She seemed to be thinking hard about something. Without smiling she said, “It’s cool. Forget about it. I’m sorry for losing my temper like that.” Then she smiled, and with a twinkle in her eye added, “Now you should apologize for winning the ball hockey tournament.”

That broke the tension. “Those boys are jerks, but they sure can play,” Trisha said.

Charlie could attest to that. It was one of Jake’s most annoying traits.

The door opened and Hilton came in, followed by Dalton, Scott and Zachary. Scott held the door open as Matt pushed Nick through in his wheelchair. The dressing room instantly became a noisy place.

“Let me know when you need me to use my mind control powers,” Scott said. “I’m particularly effective at getting refs to call penalties on the other team.”

“Can you use those powers to say something intelligent?” Nick said.

Scott’s shoulders slumped. “I wish. It’s very depressing.”

“Don’t forget pathetic, too,” Nick said.

“I don’t have to. You always remind me.”

“That’s what friends do.”

“I thought friends were kind and supportive.”

Nick shook his head. “The better the friend, the worse they treat you. That’s how you know.”

Scott grinned and patted Nick gently on the shoulder. “You must be my best friend ’cause you treat me worse than anyone.”

“Okay, you two,” Hilton said. “I like the team to be loose, but there’s a limit.” He faced the team. Charlie
leaned back against the wall. It was one of his favourite moments in hockey, a few minutes before the game, butterflies in his stomach, and the best coach he’s ever had about to give a pep talk.

“We are going to win this tournament,” Hilton said. “We have too much to lose. But don’t get me wrong. It’s not about putting pressure on yourselves. Forget about winning. Forget about the roof, and all that. When you hit the ice, I want everything to be about effort. We will work the other teams to death. They won’t be taking this as seriously as we are. Remember that in this tournament you get one point for each period you win, and then one more point for winning the game, so we can’t take any time off, not even one shift.

“In this game I want you to overwhelm the other team from the start. I want the game over by the end of the first period. Unfortunately, we only have nine players and one goalie, and we have three games to play today. We will have to conserve our energy at times, so a quick start is crucial.”

He nodded and the players nodded back. “I know you are experienced players, so there’s no need to complicate things. Defencemen, up the boards and out with quick first passes. Wingers, work hard to set up for the outlet. Centres, for the first period go for the goals. I’m willing to take that chance. Then we’ll switch it up and you can focus on your defensive assignments. Got it?”

“Got it,” the players responded.

“Dalton has managed to do some statistical work,” Hilton said. “Dalton, what do you have for us?”

Dalton unfolded a paper. “We’re playing a team
called Winona High. They are not well known for athletics, having won only one significant trophy in the last ten years — in girls’ cross-country.”

“If they come out in shorts and T-shirts we’re cooked,” Scott joked.

Dalton continued. “They have three boys that play A-level hockey, and one that plays Double-A. They also have two girls that play A-level hockey. That should give us a talent advantage, at least on paper.” He pointed at a cooler he had placed by the door. “By the way, I have purchased a wide array of foods and drinks to replenish depleted vitamins and minerals. We have very little time between this game and the next one against Northern, so I have prepared some appropriate snacks.”

“I’m often depleted by cheering,” Scott said.

“Sorry,” Dalton replied, placing one foot on the cooler.

Scott pouted. “Fine. I’ll starve to death with the two sandwiches and the bag of chips and the apple I brought.”

“I believe the biggest challenge, Mr. Hilton, will be our final game against Chelsea,” Dalton added.

“What?” Charlie exclaimed. “Chelsea is in the tournament?”

“They are a last-minute entry,” Dalton said. “There are now five teams in the tournament. Each team plays three games, although one team has to play an extra game; fortunately, not us. Chelsea has some very good players, apparently. Especially …” he looked at his paper, “Savard and Burnett. They are Triple-A players, I believe.”

Hilton checked his watch. “Okay, Terrence Falls. We
won’t worry about Chelsea just yet. Put this game away, fast, and break their spirit. We don’t want Winona to even consider the possibility of winning a period, let alone the game. Are we ready?”

The players roared back, “Yes!”

“That reminds me. I wrote a team cheer,” Scott announced, as the players got up. “If you lose energy, just give me the sign and I’ll unleash it.”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Nick said.

“I’ll do something better. I’ll debut it right now.” He clenched a fist. “Terrence Falls? Yes! Terrence Falls? Yes! Terrence Falls? Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“That’s the best cheer I’ve ever heard,” Nick said. “I think you should stand up in front of the entire school and scream that at the top of your lungs.”

“Nick, you’re a genius. Why keep this to myself? So let’s hear it, people.”

“Terrence Falls?” Scott yelled.

“Yes!” they chanted back between fits of laughter.

Scott kept the chant going as he led them to the ice. Charlie hung back with Pudge.

“We needed Chelsea like a hole in the head,” Charlie said. “They’re going to be tough to beat with only ten players — not to mention Savard and Burnett.” They were both great players, and Charlie had gone up against those two enough times to know that Hilton’s strategy of overwhelming them in the first period would not work against Chelsea.

“Isn’t there a saying, ‘One game at a time’?” Pudge said. “We’ll worry about Chelsea after we’ve won the first two.”

Charlie tilted his head to one side and cuffed Pudge
on the helmet. “Wise words, Sergeant. Let’s kick some Winona butt.”

“Right behind you, Major,” Pudge said.

Charlie walked out and down the corridor to the ice. Despite Pudge’s good advice, Charlie couldn’t get Chelsea out of his mind. It was yet another giant roadblock placed in front of them.

He hopped onto the ice and immediately raced across the blue line. The ice was hard and his skates made a loud scraping sound as he curved towards the back boards. He continued behind the net and then stopped at the bench for a quick sip of water.

Scott and Nick had stationed themselves by the boards next to the Terrence Falls bench.

“Terrence Falls?” Scott screamed.

“Yes!” a bunch of students screamed back.

The students were on their feet chanting Scott’s ridiculous cheer. Charlie’s heart pounded. Everything had seemed so dark when Principal Holmes had announced the school closing. It had gotten darker when the fundraising was going nowhere, and seemed completely doomed when the bus was hit by the mudslide. And now the whole school was behind the team.

Julia stopped beside him and reached for her water bottle.

“Is Charlie Joyce ready to play?”

“After the bus accident, this’ll be a piece of cake,” he said.

But he knew it wasn’t going to be easy at all.

Charlie wheeled with the puck in his own end looking for an opening. Hilton had put him with Julia and Trisha. The second line was Emily at centre flanked by Sandra and Sophie. Pudge, Li and Michelle were on defence. The game had barely started and Charlie’s legs were still tight. It felt good to skate hard.

Julia cut across the slot, taking Charlie’s place as centre. It was a quick, short pass and she would get out of their end no problem. He was on the verge of passing when he noticed Trisha barrelling across the red line, angled slightly towards Winona’s end. He didn’t hesitate. Hilton had told them to go for it, so he rifled a pass about ten centimetres off the ice up the middle.

The defencemen were caught watching. The puck went right between them and onto Trisha’s stick. She had to spin quickly to stay onside, but once over the blue line she took a direct line at the goalie, feinting right, then left, before shifting right to the glove side and shoving the puck past the outstretched goalie pad.

The game was barely thirty seconds old, and they had scored. Talk about listening to your coach! Charlie leapt up and punched the air. He skated over to Julia and
slapped her back. “Terrence Falls? Yes!” he shouted.

Julia smiled back. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” she chanted.

He tapped her on the shin pads and headed to congratulate Trisha, who was slapping gloves at their bench. She skidded to a stop in front of him and tapped his shin pads with her stick. “I knew you’d see me. I told you we’d be unstoppable together.” Her eyes were blazing with energy. “It’s your turn next, and then Julia, and this game is ours.”

She sure came to play, he thought. He tapped her shin pads and set up for the faceoff.

Trisha lined up on the right wing. He nodded to her and flicked his head towards the boards. She nodded back almost imperceptibly. The ref dropped the puck and Charlie whacked it with a forehand. Trisha anticipated him winning the faceoff and had left the circle early. She gathered the puck against the wall and scooted up the wing, the Winona defenceman backing up nervously. Charlie followed up the middle, flanked by Julia on the left.

At the blue line, he swerved behind her. Trisha faked an inside move, which made the defenceman take one step that way, and then she bounced it outside. Charlie thought she might get around the corner, but at the hash marks she slowed and banked the puck off the wall back to the blue line.

It was a perfect pass. Charlie took it on his backhand, and cut hard on the outside edge of his left skate. Julia meanwhile had not slowed at all and had beaten the right defenceman to the net. He took two steps forward and wristed a hard pass towards the far post. Fortunately, the goalie had stayed back in her crease. Julia threw herself at
the puck fearlessly, storming across the front of the net and then backhanding it over the goalie’s shoulder and in.

Charlie punched the air for the second time. The game plan was most definitely working. Julia curled in Winona’s end, stick over her head, and she headed to Charlie. He put his arm around her shoulder.

“Terrence Falls?” he said.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” she shouted again.

Trisha came over and threw her arms around them both. “Like taking candy from a baby,” she said. “We should have time for another one this shift.”

Hilton had another idea, however. Emily’s line was waiting at centre.

“Hold that thought,” Charlie said. The three linemates headed to the bench. Emily held her glove up and they all gave her a high five.

Charlie took a seat on the bench and reached for some water.

“Joyce. Do something. You’re letting the girls do all the hard work.”

Charlie recognized Scott’s voice. Then his cheer began again.

The place was an absolute madhouse. Charlie had never played in a game with such a wild atmosphere. It sounded like a pro game. The crowd kept it up practically the entire time — and so did the TFH players. It was 5–0 after the end of the first, and 9–0 after the second. There were eight minutes left in the third period, and Emily had just scored to make it 12–0.

Hilton stopped Charlie’s line before they went out for the faceoff.

“I think you’ll agree that we’ve scored enough, and we’ll win all three periods. Let’s not score again unless you absolutely have to,” he said.