s k a t e || Winter Olympics Contest

"Heigh ho! Heigh ho!"

After the brief intermission, both teams headed back to the ice for the second period and the continuation of their match for the gold medal.

"Heigh ho! Heigh ho! It's off to work we go!" Paul sang as Team Canada marched through the tunnel and to the ice. "Cause we're gonna win the gold today! Heigh ho! Heigh ho! Heigh ho! Heigh ho!!!"

The hockey players exchanged odd looks as they seated themselves on the bench.

"Alright, here we go. Let's do this!!" Ryan yelled to his team from the bench as the puck was dropped.

Scott watched intensely from the bench until it was his turn to play.

"Hey," Paul turned to Scott as they climbed over the boards and onto the ice at the turn of the shift. "Stay open so I can just pass it to you. Got it?"

Scott nodded at him as he skated to the faceoff circle where the rest of the players were waiting. He leaned over and placed his stick on the ice. "Got it."

At the sound of the whistle, the puck was dropped.

Moving his feet quickly, Scott glided across the ice to an open spot for Paul to pass to him.

"Figure skater," a deep voice jeered in a heavy accent.

Scott kept his eyes on the puck at the end of Paul's stick as Paul skated closer to him.

Scott propelled himself forward and tapped his stick on the ice. "Come on, come on!!"

He shifted his body to skate backwards before feeling a rough push against his back, sending him to crash against the boards.

"You're in wrong place," the deep voice sneered at him.

Scott quickly pushed himself off the boards and searched the ice for the puck.

Team Sweden had now gained possession of the puck and was heading toward the Canadian goalie.

With full force, Scott skated to the other side of the rink. It wasn't long until he could hear the sound of blades skating closely behind him.

A stick was suddenly held out in front of skates from behind.

Scott's eyes widened.

At the speed he was skating at, there was no stopping to avoid tripping over the stick.

Scott took in a deep breath before leaping off the ground. He spun in the air, one, two, three complete times before landing with perfect control on one foot and successfully avoiding tripping. His breathing was ragged as he continued skating toward the net, determined to stop Sweden from scoring.

"Hey, wrong place for that," a deep voice mocked before Scott was roughly pushed from behind.

Scott wobbled on his skates before quickly regaining his balance and turning around to face the tall Swedish hockey player. "Hey, rest easy, man!" he told him sternly.

"Hey, you go back to skating like girl!" the Swede shot back before placing his hands on Scott's shoulders and pushing him back.

Scott stumbled backwards, but kept his eyes on his opponent. "It's a hockey game, buddy. Just play the game!" He lowered his eyebrows at him.

The Swedish athlete took another step toward Scott before his path was suddenly blocked.

Scott shifted his eyes to see Paul standing in between him and the Swede.

"Hey, beat it, big guy," Paul told him dismissively before shoving him in the shoulders.

"What? Dancer can't fight? Too scared?" the Swede mocked as he kept his eyes on Scott.