"I can't believe it's today!" Matt told Gabby excitedly as he practically jumped out of bed.
"Matt, baby, I know you are excited about the hockey tournament today, but I'm going to need you to chill. The games don't start until 1, and it's only 9." Gabby told him, watching him throw on a pair of shorts and his Blackhawks shirt. "But you are cute when you're excited."
"Me? I'm always cute." He joked. "But I'm going to go to the arena early to get some practice in. You wanna come with me or drive separately?"
"I'll come with you."
Soon, Gabby was watching Matt skate around the ice and take practice shots. After a couple of hours of boredom, the Halstead brothers showed up.
"It's not even noon, I thought we'd be the first one here to warm up." Jay told Gabby as he and Will got their skates on.
"We've been here since 9:30. I've never seen him so excited." Gabby said, watching Matt smack the puck into the net.
"Well, are you playing today?" Will asked.
"No, I am reffing one of the games. I get to call you guys out when you're cheating."
"Ouch." Jay chuckled before he and Will went onto the ice with Matt.
Soon, the rest of the people arrived for the tournament. There were 4 teams: Matt, Kelly, Conner, Ethan, and Adam; Cruz, Capp, Kevin, Herrmann, and Tony; Will, Otis, Noah, Jay, and Antonio; and Al, Hank, Boden, Dr. Charles, and Mouch.
Matt and Cruz's teams would play each other, then Will and Al's teams, and the winners would play each other.
"Alright, everyone ready?" Gabby and Stella asked, the two acting as refs for the first game.
"All Good here!" Ethan called from where he was perched in the goal, ready to block all the shots.
"Good here, too!" Cruz called from the opposite goal.
"Alright, play nice, boys." Stella said before dropping the puck.
The puck was hit back and forth, nobody scoring until almost the end of the game, when Matt got one past Cruz and into the net. Matt's team ended up winning 1-0.
Next, Al and Will's teams prepared to play each other. Tony was a good goalie for Team Will, but Mouch was not the best goalie for Team Alvin. Needless to say, Team Will won, 11-2.
Then it was time for the final game, Team Matt against Team Will. Both teams desperately wanted to win for bragging rights and half-off drinks at Molly's afterwards.
The game began and all the guys were going hard, being aggressive and not caring who they body checked or who they tripped.
During the first of three periods, Adam body checked Noah, knocking him hard into the wall, causing the refs, April and Upton, to blow their whistles, stopping the play.
""You okay, Noah?" April asked her brother.
"Little dizzy, I won't lie." He said, carefully getting up and holding his head.
"Alright, Noah's out. Will, who do you want to take his place?" April asked.
Will looked around and smiled when he made his decision. "Kevin."
"Atwater, let's go!" Upton said.
Kevin joined the game and it went on. Scoreless through the third and final period, the pressure was on and the stakes were high.
Matt and Jay both went after the stray puck, neither seeing the other, and collided hard, both going down hard on the ice.
Will and Kelly were the first to reach their brothers, kneeling beside them.
"You good, Matt?" Kelly asked, taking his helmet off.
"Not really." He groaned, holding his head.
"Jay, you okay?" Will asked.
"I think I broke my arm." Jay said through gritted teeth.
"Alright, get these two off the ice and to the hospital. It's 4 on 4 now." April decided as Matt and Jay were helped off the ice. And the game went on.
During the last few minutes, Adam had the puck. Kevin came up behind him and pushed him down. "That's for cutting me off during the car chase the other day." He smirked.
"You hold a lot of grudges, Atwater. That can't be healthy." Adam said as he slowly got up.
Afterwards, Adam passed the puck to Kelly, who scored the game winning goal, Team Matt winning even though he wasn't present to see it.
A few hours later, everyone was at Molly's, even Noah, Matt, and Jay, who had been at Med earlier for their injuries.
"So, I'd say that was a success." Matt told Gabby as they drank beers at the bar with everyone.
"A success? Bro, you and Noah have concussions and Jay's arm is broken!" Antonio laughed.
"You're just mad you lost." Matt said.
"This time. Next time, you're going down. Hard." Antonio threatened.
"That means we're doing this again, right?"
"I might need that next tournament to wait 6-8 weeks." Jay said, holding up his arm with a bright blue cast, everyone laughing.
"Next time, I think we need new teams. Al's Team never stood a chance." Will chuckled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hank asked.
"It means you guys are all too old and can't beat us young guys." Cruz said, everyone laughing.
"Keep in mind, we sign your paychecks." Boden said smugly.
