TEAM USA-ADAM BANKS

THE END

ALEX'S POV:

Coach pulled us into the locker room, looking a little annoyed.

"Did you all enjoy that?" He asked. We all said our variations of yes.

"So did they, because they're still three points up and we're one period away from defeat," Coach explains.

"If we can't beat them, we might as well keep our pride," Jesse shrugged.

"Jesse, that's not pride. Sure, when Dwayne roped that big oaf, part of me cheered. But, guys, I've been there. I know how you feel. I wanted to cream that jerk that busted my knee when I played in the minors. And I really, really wanted to go after Stansson for that cheap shot. But you know what? My knee will heal. And if I become something I'm not, if I sink to their level.....well then, I lost more than my knee. You understand?" Coach says.

"Yeah," we say.

"We're not goons. We're not bullies. No matter what people say or do... we have to be ourselves," Coach lectured then turned to Dean,"You. Who are you?"

"Dean Portman," Dean smiled. "From where?" "Chicago, Illinois."

"You," Coach pointed to Guy. "Guy Germaine. From St. Paul, Minnesota."

"You," He points at Jeese, "Jesse Hall from Minneapolis, Minnesota."

"Julie Gaffney from Bangor, Maine."

"Luis Mendoza, Miami, Florida."

"Greg Goldberg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."

"Lester Averman, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota."

"Fulton Reed, Stillwater, Minnesota."

"Russ Tyler, South Central, Los Angeles."

"Charlie Conway, Minneapolis, Minnesota."

"Ken Wu, San Francisco, California."

"Connie Moreau, Minneapolis, Minnesota."

"Adam Banks, Edina, Minnesota."

"Dwayne Roberts, Austin Texas."

"Alexandra Solano, Brooklyn New York."

"Michele Mackay, Duluth, Minnesota."

"And I'm Gordon Bombay, Minneapolis, Minnesota. We're Team USA, gathered from all across America. And we're gonna stick together, you know why?"

"Because ducks fly together," Jan said.

"Just when you think they're about to break apart," Jan started and we all finished,"ducks fly together!"

"When the wind blows hard and the sky is black?"

"Ducks fly together!"

"When the roosters are crowing and the cows are turning circles in the pasture?" Dwayne exclaimed. It all took us a second, none of us knew if this was the right scenario, but nonetheless continued our chant.

"Ducks fly together!"

"Now new ducks and old ducks must unite under a new banner. I thought perhaps something like this," Jan said. We were thrown new jersey's with an all new duck logo on them. The ducks are more than a family and I get to be apart of it.

Once we had our new jerseys on, we skated back onto the ice and the crowd was ecstatic. We all got into a circle and started quaking. The crowd started to join in.

"Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack! Goooooooo Ducks!" We yelled. We were all beaming. The puck was dropped and Adam stole it. I checked Icelanders out of the way trying to give him a clear pathway.