Love For A Game

Chapter 33

Overtime is always something that hockey players feel lots of pressure about. It is twenty minutes of non-stop action, that is rigorous and intense for all the players.

I always love overtime, mostly because of the intense action. The first one to score a goal is a hero for the day. Considering that this is game seven of the league finals, this next goal is the most important one of them all.

I hop onto the ice out of the dressing room with a feeling of adrenaline and determination. I know that now that we have climbed the biggest mountain (the 3-0 series deficit and the 5-1 deficit in this game), there isn't anything stopping us from winning this game once and for all.

As I line up for the faceoff, I see Darren line up across from me. Except instead of a sneer of arrogance, he has more of a scared look on his face. He has been challenged, maybe for the first time in his life, and he knows it.

The puck drops, and the action begins. I swipe the puck back to Nicole, and she passes to Charlie. Charlie throws it on net, but Jenkins makes a swift pad save.

Luke takes the puck behind the net. He waits for a good pass. He tries to feed me a saucer pass, but it is intercepted by the Colbert defender.

The puck is passed to Darren, who starts up the ice with it. He passes the blue line, entering our zone. He winds up for a slap shot, but instead of firing it, he tucks it around Nathan, leaving a shot wide open for him. He lets it go, and it dings off of the post, ricocheting back out.

The action is fast and furious, continuously going end to end, stoppages few and far between. Each team is awarded a power play, but neither convert on the opportunity. 

With three minutes to go, I jump onto the ice for what I know will be a long and hard shift. I see Darren jump on just feet away. We lock eyes and then chase towards the puck.

The puck is loose in my team's end. I manage to reach it first. I grab it and let a long pass go to Charlie. Charlie takes the pass and goes into Colbert's end. He puts on the brakes, and then passes back to Nicole. She skates into the middle and then shoots. Jenkins gets his blocker on it, but isn't able to handle it. It goes back out into the slot, open for all.

I know that it will be a massive bloodbath for all that choose to make a move for the puck, but I skate for it anyway. My goal is just to slap the puck back on net, hopefully scoring as a result.

I look to my right and see that Darren is going for the puck too. I pick up speed, gaining on the puck. As I'm just about to touch it, I feel the arm of Darren pushing me down. I realize that I am just able to reach the puck with my stick, and I hack at it. I fall from the force of Darren's check, landing on my stomach. I hear the referee yell, "Goal!". 

My eyes go wide, and a grin plays across my face. Before I know it, a pile of players, my teammates, are on top of me, congratulating me. All I can hear is screaming, other than the voice in my head saying, you did it, Jordan. You finally did it.

I finally manage to stand and skate around. I rip my gloves and helmet off, and just skate around the ice. Finally, I see the trophy, the one that has eluded me for so long, being carried out onto the ice. I skate towards the owner of the league, Mr. Frank Wright, along with the mayor of Ryerson, Eddie Falco. Frank hands the trophy, saying to me how much I deserve this, and how hard I worked to get here. But I don't care. All I care about is that finally, we have proven to everyone that beyond a shadow of a doubt, we are who we claim to be: the best.

We each take turns carrying the trophy as we skate around the ice, picturing ourselves as our favourite NHL players, hoisting the Stanley Cup. I imagine myself as Guy Lafleur. I know Luke thinks of himself as Darryl Sittler or Lanny McDonald. Charlie envisions himself as the Golden Jet, Bobby Hull. Noel thinks he is Vladislav Tretiak, the Soviet goaltender who inspired him to take up the sport of hockey. All of us had our inspirations to play hockey, because of past players, who followed the same cycle as us. Before Gretzky, you had Orr and Esposito. Before them, you had Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, and Maurice Richard. It is a never-ending cycle that will keep going for all of hockey's existence.

We go back to the dressing room, the league champions trophy in tow. We all sit in our stalls, but we do not take our equipment off. We all talk and laugh, discussing random topics. Small pockets of conversation can be heard throughout the dressing room.

Nicole sits next to me, putting her arm around my shoulders. "You know what, Jordan? You did really good."

"Why do you say that?" I reply.

"For starters, you have led this team to victory, even with the odds stacked against you. You have moved heaven and earth to ensure that you got what you wanted, which was a championship for this team. How hard you worked to get here is amazing, Jordan. I wanna say thank you, Jordan."

"You know what, Nic? I couldn't have done it without any of you guys. If it wasn't for your support, I'd have crumbled under the pressure long ago. It's because of you, Nicole, that I have been able to lead you guys through this. For that, I love you so much."

"I love you too," she says, giving me a long hard kiss on the mouth.

***

Less than two weeks later, we are once again triumphant, when we beat the Mississauga Steelheads 5-3 to win the Ontario provincial championship.

_______

The song on the side is "Radio Gaga", by Queen.