Today was the Iceland game. I had mixed feelings about this game. I was excited but scared at the same time. I had a big mouth the last time I saw them so I know they aren't gonna go easy on me.
I woke up and did my whole morning routine before walking to the rink. Adam was at the hospital for his wrist. I hope he can play.
At the rink, I waited for Julie and Connie. When we walked in the locker room, the team was already there. I changed into my gear and talked to Charlie and Russ. And then, Adam walked in. My smile grew.
"Coach, I woke up and the pain was gone." Adam said while rotating his wrist. We all cheered.
"I'm sorry Adam but we already have a full roster..." coach responded.
Russ was going to take his gear off before Charlie stopped him. "He can have my spot." We all looked at Charlie. "It's what I can do for the team. Let me do it." I walked to the boys, wrapping my arms around their shoulders.
Coach spoke up. "Charlie, I need you on the bench coaching right there with me." Once again, we all cheered.
I hugged and kissed Adam. I was so happy he could play. And I was proud of Charlie for what he did. We only had 5 minutes before the game started. Nerves were rushing trough my body.
We walked to the ice. Adam took my hand and squeezed it. I looked at him and gave him a small smile.
On the ice we skated a circle, still holding hands with Adam while the crowd cheered and yelled.
Coach gave us a little pep-talk before we took our places. Adam was center so he took the face off. I was on his left and Dean on his right. The ref dropped the puck and the game started. Adam got knocked down and Iceland skated towards our goal. Luckily Goldberg stopped it. I took the puck and skated to the other goal but also got knocked down.
Eventually, Iceland skated towards our goal so I chased them but got knocked into the boards. They got to Goldberg who was taken down by Gunnar Stahl. They scored. 1-0. Goldberg was mad so he wanted to skate to Gunnar but Kenny and Dwayne stopped him.
"Line change!!" Bombay yelled. I skated to the box and sat down.
Now it was Russ his shot. All the Icelanders went for him. He wanted to do his famous knuckle puck but Iceland stole the puck. They skated towards Goldberg again and scored. 2-0.
Averman started stressing. "We can't make it! Iceland is bigger, stronger, their faster and they have facial hair!"
"Stay calm Averman. We're only two points behind." I answered.
My attention went back to the game. Iceland was crushing us. Everyone got checked into the boards or knocked down.
Coach spoke up. "Banks! You're on!"
Adam stood up and hopped on the ice. "Hey Adam. Be careful out there." I added. He smiled and took the spot.
Adam got the puck and skated towards the Iceland goalie but Gunnar was hitting Adam's wrist with his stick. He got knocked down. That's it! I hopped on the ice, skating to Gunnar. "Wtf is your problem dude?!" I argued. The ref grabbed my arm and took me to the penalty box. I was furious at this point, until I saw my mom and dad in the stands. My smile grew.
I turned back to the game Adam sat in the box resting. After 2 minutes, I got back on the ice. Dwayne was fooling around with the puck and got knocked down.
Iceland skated to Goldberg again. Luis and me chased the guy but couldn't stop him. Instead of stopping him, we knocked him down and we glided into the goal. 3-0. I got up dizzy. Every part of my body was hurting. Iceland was hurting everyone. We can't win if they're keep playing like this.
"Show me the Flying V!" I heard coach yell.
Jesse took the lead, than me and Kenny and behind us Fulton and Russ. It went pretty good. We skated towards the Iceland goal but yet again, they knocked us to the ice and skated to our goal. 4-0...
Finally, a break. I sat down on the bench. Coach and Charlie gave us some tips to play better. Hopefully this is going to help.
Averman took the face off. "You guys wanna ease up a little bit? Just thought I'd ask."
The ref dropped the puck and Averman got knocked down. That's when the Bash brothers came in action. They gave Iceland what they deserve. Many Iceland players were knocked down or checked into the boards. The ducks are lucky with these 2 guys.
Iceland skated to our goal again but the puck got stopped by Goldberg. Kenny took the puck, did a spin and scored! 4-1! We all skated to him and hugged and celebrated his goal.
"What do you think of that? Pretty sweet huh!" Kenny grinned at the Iceland goalie. The goalie chased Kenny. Kenny turned around, threw his stick and gloves down and grabbed the shirt of the Iceland goalie before pulling it over his head. A ref came to get Kenny off the ice. Looks like we have 3 bash brothers now.
Fulton and Dean made the crowd go crazy. Everyone cheered and yelled and screamed. The boys skated to the Iceland box and slapped everyone on the head before the ref came and brought them also to the penalty box.
I got in the box and Connie took my spot. Iceland was hard on her. She got knocked into the boards. Gunnar tried to score but Goldberg stopped it and Connie took the puck. Sanderson skated towards her, about to knock her down again. Dwayne hopped onto the ice with a rope and caught Sanderson before he smashed into Connie.
"Where I'm from we treat lady's with respect." Dwayne stated.
"Thank you Dwayne but I'm no lady, I'm a duck." Connie shoved down Sanderson. Now Dwayne also got taken to the penalty box.
"This isn't a hockey game, it's a circus." Coach moaned.
•
We walked into the locker room and talked about the game so far. We have only one period left to win this.
"Did y'all enjoy that?" Coach asked.
We all cheered. "Yeahhhh!"
"Okay well so did they. Because they're still three point up and we're one period away from defeat." Coach exclaimed.
We all sighed and sat down.
"We'll if we can't beat them we might as well keep our pride." Jesse said proudly.
"Jesse that's not pride. Sure when Dwayne rope that big oaf part of me cheered, but guys I've been there. I know how you feel. I wanted to cream that jerk that busted my knee when I played in the minors. And I really, really wanted to go after Stansson for that cheap shot. But you know what, my knee will heal and if I become someone I'm not, if I sink to their level, well then I've lost more than my knee. You understand?"
We all looked at each other.
"We're not goons, we're not bullies. No matter what people say or do, we have to be ourselves. You, who are you?" Coach asked Dean.
"Dean Portman." Dean answered.
"From where?" Coach asked again.
"Chicago, Illinois."
"You?" Coach pointed at Guy.
"Guy Germaine." He answered.
"From where?!"
"Saint Paul, Minnesota."
"Jesse Hall, Minneapolis Minnesota."
"Julie Gaffney from Bangor Maine."
"Kiara Kane, Edina Minnesota."
"Luis Mendoza, Miami Florida."
"Greg Goldberg, Philadelphia Pennsylvania."
"Les Averman, Brooklyn park Minnesota."
"Fulton Reed, Stillwater Minnesota."
"Russ Tyler, South central Los Angeles."
"Charlie Conway, Minneapolis Minnesota."
"Ken Wu, San Francisco California."
"Connie Moreau, Minneapolis Minnesota."
"Adam Banks, Edina Minnesota."
"Dwayne Robertson, Austin Texas."
"Michelle McKay, Duluth Minnesota."
"And I'm Gordon Bombay, Minneapolis Minnesota."
We started cheering and clapping.
"We're team USA, gathered from all across America and we're gonna stick together. You know why?" Coach continued.
"Cause we are ducks and ducks fly together." Jan joined.
"That's right Jan!" Coach said proudly. "And just when you think they're about to break apart."
"Ducks fly together!" We all cheered.
"And when the wind blows hard and the sky is black."
"Ducks fly together!"
"And when the roosters are going and the cows are spinning circles in the pasture." Dwayne said happy.
We all hesitated. "Ducks fly together?"
"And when everyone says it can't be done, ducks fly together."
"Now new ducks and old ducks must unite under a new banner." Jan took a big box with new jersey's. It was a white with green and red jersey with a duck on it.
We all changed into the new jersey's and walked back to the ice. We started quaking. The crowd went wild and joined. They all started singing 'we will rock you' from Queen. Goldberg and I danced a little before taking our places.
Connie took the face off and pushed down an Iceland player. She gave Guy the puck who passed it to Kenny. He passed it to me and before I got knocked down, I passed it to Connie who scored. 4-2!
Iceland tried to score but Goldberg stopped it. Averman took the puck but Gunnar stole it and scored. 5-2...
Adam got the puck and skated to the goal but passed it back to Dwayne who scooped the puck in the air. We all watched as the flew towards the goal.
"Adam go!" I yelled.
He skated to it and fell but scored. 5-3!
Luis got the puck and skated really fast to the goal, one on one with the goalie. Before shooting the puck in the goal, he stopped. "I stopped!" Luis said proud.
"Put it in Luis!" Me and coach yelled.
5-4!! Only one point behind.
Russ got on the ice. All the Iceland players were on him because they know Russ is one of the best on the team. Coach called a time out.
We made up a plan. Goldberg and Russ were gonna trade gear so that Iceland didn't see that the goalie was actually Russ.
The game went on. Guy passed the puck to Luis who skated behind our goal. Luis passed it to Goldberg who was actually Russ.
"Come on Russ!" We all cheered.
He didn't hesitate and did his knuckle puck. Yes! He scored. 5-5!!!
Now it comes down to a shoot out.