𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙜𝙤 / 𝙩𝙬𝙤

"breathe"

The rest of my team must of felt like that too. On the puck drop Averman actually knocked down the Iceland player on the other side of him. 

He passed the puck to Kenny who was able to split the defense and slide it to me. I cradled the puck for a moment, waiting for a good time to move it.

Connie skated near the net and hit her stick against the ice, signaling she was open. I passed it and she hit it into the net. The crowd went wild and I went over and tackled Connie with a hug. 

I was pulled out after that play and watched Iceland make another goal. It was frustrating but it made me even more eager to get back out and play again. 

"Okay guys, come close!" Charlie waved the team around his clipboard. On it was one of the most complicated set ups I had seen a hockey coach make.

"Charlie what are we trying to do here? This isn't the NBA." Averman piped up after examining the drawing in front of him.

"But it's the perfect teamwork play."

I stayed on the bench but that meant I got to watch Charlie's plan in action. 

Dwayne started with the puck and when Charlie shouted "Now cowboy!", he flung it into the air. We all watched it fly as he followed it to the net. Right before he could follow through, his feet were knocked from under him.

Luckily, he slid the puck right into the net, without even trying. We all cheered. I didn't have much time to celebrate as Coach smacked my back and I jumped onto the ice. 

My job was to get the puck to Luis. Once that was accomplished, I watched as he sped down to the Iceland goal. He was getting really close and I held my breath to see if he would go crashing into the goalie, as he had many times before. But he didn't. He stopped right next to the net and hit in the puck with ease.

4-5. One more point was all we needed to tie it up.

Coach put Russ in but it wasn't long before the Iceland players were all over him. Coach called a timeout. When he told us his plan I couldn't believe it. But, it was so crazy that it might just work.

I skated behind the net and waited for the signal. Coach yelled to Guy who passed it to me. I did as I was told and brought it in front of our net. Our goalie skated up behind me and I let him take the puck.

This is when he removed his helmet and revealed that he was actually Russ. I wish I could've seen the look on Stansson's face when he did that. 

Russ wound up for his infamous knucklepuck. He made it in just as the period ended. 

I was ecstatic. But I also knew this meant a shootout. That was even more intense than the actual game in my opinion. 

After celebrating, Coach called us back to the bench to pick shooters. It didn't take long for us to decide, since we knew who had the best shots. Guy, Dwayne, Fulton, Adam and me.

Guy started us off with a goal. Iceland fired back with one of their own.

Before I knew it, it was my turn. The score sat at 3-3. 

I was the last on my team to go for a shot. As I skated to the center of the rink, my heart was pounding so loud that it silenced everything else. The ref dropped the puck in front of me and I closed my eyes, trying to find my focus.

I took a moment to look over at my team. Coach, Charlie and Ms McKay nodded at me in encouragement. 

My eyes then fell on Adam. I watched him mouth the word "breathe".

I looked back to the goal and took a deep breath. I skated forward and pushed the puck ahead of me. I followed it near the goal and before I had time to think anymore, I shot it. 

The puck flew into the net and a huge wave of relief fell over me. I skated back to the bench with a big smile on my face. I had done my job.

But the game wasn't over quite yet. One Iceland player had yet to go. 

I looked over at Coach who was now kneeling next to Julie. After a few seconds he patted her back and she stood up and skated out to Goldberg. My eyes widened. 

Julie had only played once the entire time we had been here. But I knew that wouldn't matter. She was an incredible goalie. I just hoped she would be able to show that right now.

Gunnar skated to center ice and took the puck. I counted as he moved it side to side. 

1.2.3.

He shot the puck glove side and Julie's hand reached out to catch it. 

I held my breath, along with everyone else in the stadium, as Julie looked at her glove.

She flipped it and dropped the puck to the ground. 

We all erupted in cheers. I threw my arms around Connie and then turned to hug Charlie. Coach opened the door to the rink and we all rushed out onto the ice. I tossed my helmet off my head and skated to Julie to tackle her with a hug.

We all lined up to shake hands with Iceland before gathering into a group. Jan produced a USA flag and handed it to Charlie. He waved it in the air and the crowd cheered. We all followed him in a loop around the rink. 

Reporters flooded the ice as we chanted "Ducks!" over and over.

It felt amazing.

_

and that's the end of the book! i hope you all enjoyed it and let me know if you'd like me to continue with a third book. i have some ideas for it so we'll see!