s k a t e || Winter Olympics Contest

". . . so I was just telling him to look at the scoreboard."

Scott and Patrick, along with the two defensemen, followed Paul onto the ice to continue the third period.

The minutes dwindled down while the score remained the same.

Canada and Sweden tied at the final minute of the Olympic goal medal match.

"I hate intense games. I did not want this to be an intense game," James grumbled as he skated over to the bench after his shift.

"Hey, you're doing great out there, man," Scott patted him on the back before skating off to the faceoff.

As soon as Scott skated up next to Paul, the puck dropped and the play had begun.

Scott quickly straightened up and skated down the ice to find an open spot.

"Jenser!!" Paul called out.

Scott turned his head to spot his teammate among all the other players on the ice, before the puck hit against the blade of his stick.

Scott rapidly looked down before lifting his head and pushing his foot off the ice.

With large strides, he charged down the ice. Keeping light on his feet, he swiftly dodged the opponents rushing toward him, leaping and spinning in the air. Scott kept steady control of the puck at the blade of his stick as he advanced toward the goal net.

The cheers of the crowd grew louder as Scott approached closer to the net.

Using all of his force, Scott brought his stick behind him before swinging it all the way in front of him and launching the puck into the air.

Scott held his breath as the puck seemed to move slower and slower through the air while time seemed to run down faster and faster.

Suddenly, the crowd erupted into a loud roar and Scott was pulled into a tight embrace.

"You did it!!!" Patrick exclaimed over the loud goal horn.

"It went in?!" Scott asked with excitement as he pulled away.

"Sickest breakaway goal of all time, man!" Paul told him with a grin as he skated up to him and held out his fist.

Scott eagerly responded with a fist bump before craning his neck to look up at the screen. A smile spread on his face as he watched the replay of his goal. The puck being shot into the air, flying past the goalie's glove and into the net.

"Yeah!!" Scott held his stick in the air as he skated over to the team bench.

"Thirty more seconds, boys! Just hold on for thirty more seconds!!" Patrick told his team as he climbed over the boards and sat on the bench.

Scott and Patrick followed him, sitting next to him to watch the final thirty seconds of the match.

"Nice goal, Jenser." A firm hand grabbed Scott's shoulder.

Scott turned around to see Coach nodding at him. "Thanks, Coach," he told him with a wide grin.

"You're real light on your feet out there. Keep it up."

The smile on Scott's face grew. "Yes, sir."

"Ten! Nine! Eight!" the crowd cheered loudly, causing Scott to turn around.

"Just five more seconds left! Come on!!" Paul exclaimed as he and Patrick and the rest of the team stood up from their seats.

Scott looked at the digital scoreboard to see the final seconds winding down before standing up and sitting on the edge of the boards.

"Three! Two! One!!" all of team canada and the fans cheered. As the final horn buzzed, the Canadian players hopped onto the ice.

"Yeahhhh!!!" Scott exclaimed as he jumped over the boards and onto the ice to celebrate with his teammates.

Countless black gloves, helmets, and sticks littered the ice as the players tossed them in the air in celebration.

Team Canada huddled around the goalie, jumping on top of him in excitement until he was brought to the ground and even more players piled on top of him.

"We wonnn!!"

"The gold is our's, baby!! We got the gold!!"

"We're getting the gold!!"

The teammates cheered excitedly from their huddle.

After congratulating the goalie for their win, the players dispersed to collect their gloves, helmets, and sticks and line up to shake hands with Team Sweden.

Scott scrunched his nose as he fiddled with the strap of his helmet and skated behind James in line.

Murmurs of "good game" and "congratulations" could be heard among the players as the two teams shook hands.

"Jensy!!" an excited accented voice cried out.

"Hey, Viktor! Good game out there, man!" Scott shook his friend's hand before pulling him into a quick hug.

"You deserve gold, Jensy."

"Thanks, Viktor. Sweden put up a good fight."

Viktor let out a laugh before continuing down the line.

Scott shook each of the remaining players of Team Sweden's hands firmly with a smile before skating off to the bench. He removed his helmet, placing it on the bench before he heard a deep chuckle.

Scott looked up to see the tall Swedish player standing not to far away from him.

"Figure skater," he taunted with a sly smile.

"Hey." Scott looked at him, before nodding over to the scoreboard above them. "Look at the score."

The smile on the Swedish player's face fell as he glanced up and read the digital numbers in the scoreboard that indicated Sweden had scored one goal and Canada scored two.

"Final score, buddy," Scott told him with a smile, before jumping into the air, spinning three complete turns and landing perfectly one foot.

The Swedish player simply remained silent as he eyed Scott sternly.

Scott let out a laugh. "Good game, pal," he said to him before skating off to join his team.

"What was that about?" James asked as Scott skated up next to him.

"Nothin'." Scott shook his head with a shrug. "He thought he could keep bugging me about my figure skating so I was just telling him to look at the scoreboard. "

James let out a laugh as he shook his head. "That's awesome."

"This is awesome," Scott corrected as he watched the Canadian flag be raised up high to the rafters of the arena.

"Gentlemen," a deep voice spoke.

Scott looked up to see an older man in a suit, holding a gold medal up.

A smile spread across Scott's face as he bowed his head and the medal was placed around his neck.

"You got two gold medals, Jenser," Paul said as he skated up to him, a gold medal of his own already around his neck.

"And it was fun!" Scott exclaimed as he admired the gold medal around his neck.

"Really?" Ryan skated over to him, holding onto his gold medal.
"Even with all that teasing?"

"All of that isn't relevant if I'm having fun. And no one else really gets to decide if I'm having fun or not. Figure skating is fun and that's why I do it."

"Spoken like a true champ," Patrick said proudly as he skated up to Scott and patted his back.

A familiar tune soon began to play over the speakers as the crowd began to cheer.

"Sing it!!!" Paul exclaimed loudly.

Scott smiled widely at his teammates as he clutched onto his gold medal before lifting his eyes to the red and white flag of his native land.

"O, Canada!"

The End.