The whistle blew and the game began. Canada versus USA. The last game until iceland.
Irene fought for the puck and skated up the ice stopping at the blue line before passing it to Ken
Wu.
Canada was one of the easier teams to beat. They lacked the strong defense that Iceland had. The forwards however played exceptionally well, shooting on the goal every chance they got but luckily for team USA and unlucky for them, team USA's goalie was even better.
Julie Gaffney was excited yet surprised her coach asked her to play instead of Goldberg. Of course she immediately agreed and skated to the goal where she would then block every shot.
"O'Callahan down the ice, passes to Wu. He shoots, he scores!"
The buzzer sounded and the referee blew his whistle as the clock stopped. They ended 1-0 with USA in the lead at the end of the first period.
As the game went on Irene noticed Dean going after one specific player, slamming him into the boards every chance he got; not stopping even after he landed some time in the box. Irene didn't know who the player was yet his last name looked oddly familiar. Cornell written on his jersey in big black letters followed by a number 37. During their break before the third period started Irene approached him in the locker. His dark hair drenched in sweat and jersey stained and frustrated with the last minutes of the period spent in the penalty box for hooking.
"What's up with you and 37?" She asked, standing in front of him.
He looked at her before answering, his eyebrows furrowed as he contemplated telling her that her boyfriend played hockey. "Nothing, just he keeps talking shit." Dean assumed she didn't know as Irene looked genuinely confused to who number 37 was. He walked away leaving her alone before the game started up again.
As the game progressed it was clear that they were going to tie. The game went into over time and Irene skated with the puck.
"With 5 seconds left on the clock Irene skates up center field and passed to Charlie Conway, the captain, oh he scored!" The announcer said as the crowd cheered.
Irene skated up to Charlie and gave him a hug. Soon all her teammates joined on the ice and celebrated the win.
At the bench as everyone was leaving a girl who looked about their age approached the bench. She had long strawberry blond hair and pretty blue eyes. The girl called Julie's name and she instantly looked up.
"Sherry!" Julie smiled and walked over, she gave her a hug before calling Irene and Connie over.
"This is my friend Sherry, Sherry this is Irene and Connie." The blond quickly introduced.
Irene politely smiled and Connie said hi.
"I'd introduce you to the rest of my team but they are a bunch of idiots." Julie added on as guy walked out the bench door.
"I heard that." Guy told them. "I'm guy, best player on the team."
Connie swatted her boyfriend's head. "You wish. Nice meeting you Sherry, I have to go." She said following guy.
Irene said goodbye as well and walked to the locker. She saw Fulton and Averman talking and quickly caught up to them.
As the days passed and the Iceland game got nearer Coach Gordon Bombay worked his team like he never worked them before, but not like coach blood. He made new drills, made them study old game tapes, finding new ways to improve.
He even made them go to the gym.
Irene and her teak sweated it out on treadmills trying to get better endurance. Shooting drills to get better aim and for Goldberg and Julie to become better goalies with every shot they blocked. Ladder footwork for quick speed. It was hell but nothing close to coach blood.
The team was all leaving the locker room for the day from a long day of practice.
"My feet...I can't feel them." Julie moaned, leaning against the locker.
"Hey banks, you coming?" Dean asked as he saw Adam standing around his locker.
Adam told them to go on without him and stayed behind. He pulled out medical tape and looked around when his coach walked out from his office.
"Just imagine how good you'll play with two good wrists."
"Coach." Adam said, looking up.
Irene realized halfway through the walk back to the dorms she forgot her water bottle.
"I'll be right back, can you take this to the dorms?" She asked Connie who nodded and grabbed her hockey bag.
Irene walked back to the lockers down the flights of stairs not wanting to take the elevator even after a long day of practice.
She made it to the lockers only to accidentally over hear Adam' conversation. Not knowing what to do she hid behind the lockers hoping to slip away unnoticed.
"It's just a little sore." She heard Adam say.
Gordon Bombay then said something Irene couldn't quite make out and saw Adam stand up.
"It's fine I can still play." He told the coach.
"Let's see." He handed Adam a hockey stick and he grabbed it. "Other one"
Adam switched hands and tried to move his wrist pain flared and he dropped the stick with a clatter. The Coach said something then patted him on the shoulder before leaving.
Irene didn't mean to draw attention to herself but she really needed to sneeze. So she did.
"Hello?" Adam looked over and saw Irene poke her head out. She looked guilty.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to listen, I just forgot my water bottle and I needed to grab it and i-" she rambled on before Adam interrupted.
"It's fine Irene."
"I don't mean to pry but are you okay?" Irene asked.
"He says I can't play. I need to play, think about the scouts!" He raised his voice in frustration.
"For how long?"
"I guess until it heals but who knows when that is. We only have a couple games left and I don't want to leave without playing."
Irene didn't know how to comfort him. He was obviously frustrated and in pain but she never was good with emotions.
Awkwardly she placed her hands around him and gave Adam a hug. She really wished he didn't get hurt partly for selfish reasons. He had the best shot on the team. How were they going to win now?
"Thanks Irene." He mumbled.
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Word count: 1084
I apologize for the late updates I've been sick and got covid tested luckily it's a negative but I still feel like crap a week later so late posts for now.
Just know I'm not discontinuing this story. I know someone added it their discontinued library and wanted to let them know I still got chapters planned out all the way up till thirty so 10 more to go.
Have a duckie day
Stay safe seriously wear a mask even if your vaccinated.
Ps. I just wanted to add that there is a really cool search engine called ecosia that plants trees every time you use it.
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Sunshine - Dean Portman - The mighty ducks 2
Fanfiction"This doesn't mean anything okay? Tomorrow we go back to hating each other." "I never hated you. I just liked to annoy you." "Well I did." Irene O'Callahan tried desperately to escape her past. Anything that reminded her of it, her hometown, her...
