The Ducks were gathered around Coach Bombay and Mr. Tibbles, looking at the five new Ducks that stood before them. They team was excited to get to know who would be joining them, but a little nervous as well. There was always the possibility they wouldn't get along, which could affect how they play. "Tell me about my new playes," Coach Bombay tells Don.
"That's Luis Mendoza. He's from our Miami club. A real speedster. Incredible skater. I clocked him at 1.9 seconds, blue line to blue line." Coach Bombay and the Ducks watch as Luis skates around the rink. He definitely had talent.
"Good-lookin skater," Connie says, Ellie agreeing with her. The two girls were impressed by his speed and talent, thinking he would good asset to the team.
"Very good-lookin. What do you think Adam and Guy?" Averman says, teasing the two as their girlfriends look at the new player.
Guy and Adam knew that Luis was no competition, as both their relationships had no issues. The two boys rolled their eyes at their teammate and shoved him to the ground. "Shut up, Averman." The rest of the team turns their attention from Luis and focused on the thud that came when Averman hit the ground.
"He has one minor problem," Mr. Tibbles starts saying. Everyone grimaced as Luis hit the boards. Thankfully he was wearing pads, because that definitely would have hurt if he wasn't. "Has a little trouble stopping." The rest of the new players skated to Luis, asking if he was okay and helped him get up off the ice.
"Yeehaw! How is everyone? Y'all ready to play some puck?" A loud country accent echoed through the arena. Ellie and Adam looked at each other, knowing this guy was certainly going to be a character. He was probably a nice kid, but he seemed very extroverted, the opposite of Adam and Ellie.
"Hey, look. It's hopalong Gretzky," Jesse says, making the team laugh. No one was used hearing a country accent on a daily basis, so this was definitely going to take getting used to.
"That's Dwayne Robertson, from Austin. He's the best puck handler I've ever seen." The kids watch Dwayne show off his puck skills as Mr. Tibbles was telling Coach Bombay about him. Like Luis, he had a skill that could be a valuable asset to the team. Adam, Ellie, and Charlie all had their eyes on him, unable to look away. The way he moved the puck around was incredible.
"He does have a tendency to showboat." Ellie let out a soft groan as she overheard Mr. Tibbles. She didn't get along well with players who were showboats. Showboating wasn't her style and she found it to be unnecessary. You're either good at hockey or you're not. You don't need to rub it in people's faces, just let your talent speak for you.
Ellie and Connie had big smiles on their faces as Mr. Tibbles introduced the next player. They were getting another girl on their team. Tammy didn't want to come back and play hockey, rather focusing on figure skating. They weren't all that surprised, seeing as it seemed she never really enjoyed the game. She moreso played because of her younger brother. "There's Julie'the cat' Gaffney. She won the state championship for Maine three years in a row."
Connie repeatedly took shots at Julie, not making a single one. Julie was way better than Goldberg, so Ellie hoped she would get some playing time in. She deserved it.
"Isn't that the kid from the Olympics? The figure skater?" Gordon asks, as the next new kid skated up. A lot of the team had never heard of him, but Ellie and Connie had. He was a great skater and had the possibility of bringing in some figure skating moves to trick the other teams' defense.
"Yep, Ken Wu. What can I say? I convinced him that hockey had more of a future. We put a stick in his hands and nobody's been able to touch him."
Mr. Tibbles brought all kinds of talent to join Team USA and Ellie was excited to meet and get to know her new teammates. However, she did find one of them intimdating. He was about the same size as Fulton, clearly brought in to be an enforcer. Ellie stood with Charlie and Adam, talking about the new players on the team. The intimidating one skated right between the three of them, pushing Charlie to the ground. And Charlie wasn't the only one that got pushed the ground. It seemed Ellie wasn't the only one who found him a little frightening.
Fulton and Goldberg had enough of the new players, ready to throw down. The new Duck players were arguing with old Duck players about who even knows what. She stood next to Adam, who was arguing with Dwayne. He had grown up a lot since playing for the Hawks, so he wasn't a fan of showboaters either, much like his girlfriend.
The arguing stops when a whistle is blown and Coach Bombay is yelling at them. "Everybody freeze! Now, we didn't come here to fight! We came here to play hockey! We're team USA. You represent your country."
"That's right."
"Now, I want you-" Coach Bombay starts talking, until he gets interrupted by Mr. Tibbles again. Coach Bombay rolls his eyes, getting annoyed that Don keeps interrupting him while he's trying to lecture the team.
"To be all that you can be, right? You gotta raise yourself up, guys! Ya gotta..." He stops when coach gives him a dirty look, making the kids laugh at the man who stood next to Coach Bombay. This man sure was something.
"Alright, now let's start with a scrimmage."
"Great! Scrimmage!" Mr. Tibbles yet again interrupts Coach Bombay, blowing his whistle before he could. Everyone could tell coach was tired of having this man around. "You heard your coach! Now... Hey, you don't need me here. I've got an appointment anyway. I've got to see Miss MacKay. She's the team tutor."
"Don?" Coach Bombay stops him before he could walk off the ice. He holds his hand out, wanting the whistle that was around Mr. Tibbles neck. "Come on. You'll get it back at the end of the school term." The new Ducks team laughs at coach's joke, but also happy that Mr. Tibbles wasn't going to be allowed a whistle anymore. "Alright Ducks. Show 'em what you got! Let's scrimmage!"
With one point already on the board, thanks to Adam, Fulton lines up for his slapshot. The old Ducks move out of the way, knowing what was about to come, leaving the new Ducks to fend for themselves. The puck hits the cross bar and ends up hitting Mr. Tibbles in the head.
Once Mr. Tibbles was awake and responsive, Miss MacKay introduces herself to Coach Bombay and the team. "I'm Michelle MacKay, their tutor."
"Hi, I'm Coach Bombay, their coach."
"Who said we need a tutor?" Adam was the first to speak up. Ellie nudged him in the ribs, making him shut up. However, everyone else on the team was quick to agree with him. She let out a sigh, knowing this was going to be a long summer.
"I don't need no school." Ellie laughed silently to herself as Dean spoke. He clearly needed a tutor if that's how bad his grammar was. She seemed to be the only one on the team that didn't mind that they were going to have a tutor.
"Now, Miss MacKay, we're America's team here. Shouldn't we just be concentrating on hockey?" Ellie knew the next thing that was going to come out of Goldberg's mouth was going to be something completely idiotic. "May I suggest optional attendance?" And she was right. Goldberg doing what he does best, saying something stupid.
"Yes, school will be optional," Miss MacKay says and the entire time erupts in cheers. Yet again, Ellie rolls her eyes at her teammates. They were idiots. There was no way they were going to get away with optional attendance. "However, should you not attend, you will not be eligible to play." Ellie would love to say I told you so to her teammates, but she kept her mouth shut. That wasn't going to stop her from making fun of Adam later, though.
Coach had them change into blue and red jerseys for their first practice togehter as a new team. They were all roped together, everyone uncomfortable with the tight squeeze. "This is more crowded than a truckload of goats," Dwayne complains, everyone else groaning in agreement. They couldn't believe Coach Bombay did this to them.
"Somebody better watch their hands," Julie chimes in, annoyed with whoever was touching her. Ellie was about to open her mouth to agree, until she turned her head and realized the hands that were touching her were Adam's. He looked down at his girlfriend, a smirk on his face. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Suddenly there was a disgusting smell coming from the inside of their circle. "Goldberg!" Everyone yells out. Anytime there was a gross smell in the air, it usually came from Greg Goldberg. Ellie still doesn't understand how one kid could be that smelly.
"It wasn't me!"
"It was me!" Dean happily admits, lifting up his arms and letting the stink surround the group even more. Ellie tried to cover nose, not wanting to get another whif, but she couldn't move her arms. She couldn't fathom how anyone could be proud of that horrendous smell.
"I don't know how to make this any clearer. You are a team. And to win this thing, you have to work as one. Now as one, skate." Of course, this wasn't accomplished because everyone wanted to go their own way and the entire team fell down. "Everyone goes their own way, everyone falls down. Now get up and try it again."
Fulton and Dean had started arguing again, dictating which direction the team should go. Yet again, everyone falls. Ellie was getting real tired of the team not working together. More importantly, she was tired of falling.
"You guys can argue all you want, but I am not going to untie you until you move as one."
Ellie really hated confrontation, but she hated being tied together even more. So, she had decided it was time to speak up. "Alright! I'm getting really tired of being tied together, so everyone is going to skate forward and we're going to get this over with!" Everyone was shocked at her outburts, thinking she was just this shy girl. Adam looked at his girlfriend, the most surprised of anyone. He knew she had strong opinions, as she would always complain to him about it instead of bringing it up to the group. He was proud of her for finally speaking up.
"You guys are startin' to look like hockey players. I'm proud of ya, team. You worked hard today. But hockey should also be fun. Rancher Dwayne! Round me up some stray cattle there." The team was confused at first but once they saw the rope being handed to Dwayne, they knew what was about to happen.
Everyone got up as quick as they could, wanting to skate as far away from Dwayne as they possibly could. Ellie and Adam stood on the opposite side of the ice from Dwayne, catching their breath from skating so fast. "Wanna make this interesting?" Adam asks, challenging Ellie. "Last to get caught wins. Loser buys ice cream."
"You're on cake-eater," Ellie agrees, skating off and leaving her boyfriend in the dust. The two loved a good friendly competion every now and then. Suddenly, it was just Adam and Ellie left. As Dwayne approached the two of them, they had quickly gone their separate ways. Ellie had ducked under Dwayne while Adam skated backwards. Ellie laughed at her boyfriend as the rope went over his head, getting caught. She loved the taste of victory.