i walked out of the bathroom at the stadium, feeling my nerves surging through my veins. i wasn't sure how this game was going to end, and that worried me more than anything. it was a complete toss up.
we had come a long way, but i just wasn't sure that it was enough.
i felt someone grab my wrist, and was ready to put my self defense skills to use, when the person turned me around, revealing that it was only guy.
i smiled, placing my hand on his chest, "shouldn't you be getting ready?"
he looked down at me, smirking,"well, i wanted to see you. and i figured we couldn't do this in the locker room."
i nodded solemnly, letting out a facetious sigh, "yeah, too many voyeurs."
guy laughed, before glancing around, to see if anyone was paying attention.
when the coast was clear, he leaned down and caught my lips with his.
"wow," i heard the fatal voice of adam banks, causing guy and i to jump apart,"it's when you least suspect it, huh?"
i gave him an awkward look, clasping my hands together,"sorry."
he shrugged, seemingly unaffected,"no, don't worry about. i'm gonna have to see it sooner or later, so..."
as the conversation lulled, a stale air filling the room, guy cleared throat, deciding to change the subject,"so, uh, what are you doing here, man? are you watching the game?"
adam smiled, shaking his head,"i...i woke up and the pain was gone."
he rotated his wrist around, and i smiled brightly. i felt the odds were much more in our favor with banksie on our side.
"well, we've gotta tell coach," i replied excitedly, practically starting to drag him to the locker room,"come on."
adam laughed as we ran to the locker room, bursting through the doors. guy and i quickly made our way to our stations, needing to get ready hastily.
he was grinning from ear to ear as he grabbed a hockey stick from his cubby,"look, i woke up and the pain was gone."
he fully rotated the stick, proving to us further that he was fine. none of us could contain our excitement, knowing that our star player was back.
but coach was left enthusiastic,"that's great, banks. but we've already got a full roster."
i frowned, pressing my lips together. i felt bad for adam, but coach was right. it was the eleventh hour, it wouldn't be fair to pull someone out of the game.
russ sighed, and looked down, starting to take off his jersey. charlie put a hand on his chest to stop him.
"he can have my spot," charlie announced, causing me to look at him quizzically, as he walked up to coach,"it's what i can do for the team. let me do it."
bombay stared at charlie for a second, trying to analyze the situation. finally, he smiled making his decision,"charlie, i need you on the bench right there coaching with me."
i smiled, glad with the solution, as i slipped on my pads.
•
we all skated onto the rink as the crowd erupted in cheers.
as we warmed up, i could feel myself becoming a little overwhelmed with all the noise. i shook out my arms and legs trying to get rid of my nerves.
"chen, start us up!" coach called out.
i nodded and got in position, fulton on my left, and dean on my right. they were gonna knock anyone out of my way, if we had planned this well enough.
as soon as the puck dropped, averman hit the ground. i got the puck and skated as fast as i could. there was no one for me to pass it to, so i had to keep going. i neared the goal only to be knocked into said goal, by an icelandic player.
i sighed and got up, the pain of it all wasn't too unbearable, in fact, it just further fueled my rage.
the game continued, and i watched as stahl shot the puck. goldberg was a little slow and the siren went off soon thereafter.
"are you okay?" charlie asked, skating up to me, realizing he hadn't checked on the injury from earlier.
i nodded,"fine, just annoyed."
i skated to the puck, only to get knocked to the ground, making coach send russ in my place. i took a seat next to julie, slipping my helmet off to watch the shit show.
i watched as kenny got flipped over someone's back, russ was shoved into the boards, guy was tackled to the ground, and dwayne was tripped.
the score was 0-2.
they knocked us down anyway they could. cheap shots, flipped, tripped, and they somehow managed to run us into each other. even dean was seeing stars.
eventually, i was sent back out there, because it seemed we were rotating starry eyed, dizzy, players.
i hit the ice, took the puck, and started to play a little game with the icelanders. every time they came near me, i would do a little spin around them.
i passed the puck in between this guys leg and to adam. it was immediately stolen and i groaned. i was doing so well.
it wasn't long until iceland went back to their own tricks, practically trying to take adam's arm off, as they slammed their stick onto his wrist.
i gasped, skating over to him,"adam, are you okay?"
he nodded, but i still helped him up, skating him over to the box.
the boy who did that to him, ended up with only two minutes, as the second period stared.
averman was our center, and i took my seat in the box, annoyed at the entire world. it wasn't fair that iceland could do so much to us, but only get two minutes.
the game started and it was no different than the first period. luis was trying to catch up to the icelandic player, but ended up falling, with him, the player, and goldberg all being tangled up in the net.
and along with those goons, the puck went with them, making the score 0-3.
and it wasn't much longer until it hit 0-4.
i thought all hope was lost, until i watched kenny wu put us on the board.
i jumped up and cheered, proud of our boy. and i only got prouder as he started to use that move he was taught when we were playing street puck, on the goalie that seemed to antagonize him.
kenny was given two minutes, but he didn't seem to care. he was happy with what he had done, and it appeared that the bash brothers were as well.
they cheered for our boy, before going around and slapping heads on the iceland box. i smiled in amusement, but i could tell coach wasn't quite as happy with what was going on.
they got sent to the box with kenny for their actions, but their spirits didn't dampen for a second.
it was then that we all started playing games. none of us were really taking this seriously, just having fun.
we figured, if we couldn't beat them, we might as well have fun while losing.
connie was knocked down and dwayne came out with a rope and hog tied one of the players. it had to be some kind of big violation, but i'm not sure there was a specific rule about it. he was given time in the box, like most of our other players, and the second period promptly ended.
coach pulled us into the locker room, looking pretty upset. it was halftime, and iceland was up by three.
"did you all enjoy that?" he asked rhetorically, but we still chose to answer.
we all said our variations of yes, enjoying the moments before that humiliated the iceland team.
coach sighed,"they did too, because they're three ahead! we're one period away from defeat."
jesse shrugged, coach's worlds going straight over his head,"well, at least we have our pride."
"that's not pride, jesse," coach told us, trying to get us to understand,"sure, when dwayne roped that oaf, part of me cheered. i know how you feel, i wanted to crush that guy who hurt my leg. my knee will heal. if i become something i'm not, if i sink to their level, well then i've lost more than my knee. we're not goons, we're not bullies, no matter what people say or do we have to be ourselves," coach lectured then turned to dean,"who are you?"
dean smiled,"dean portman."
"from where?"
"chicago, illinois." he said proudly.
coach pointed to guy.
"guy germaine from st. paul, minnesota."
"jesse hall from minneapolis, minnesota."
"julie gaffney from bangor, maine."
"luis mendoza, miami, florida."
"greg goldberg, philadelphia, pennsylvania."
"lester 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 roberts, austin, texas."
"slater pendland, edina, minnesota."
"michele mackay, duluth, minnesota."
"gordon bombay, minneapolis, minnesota," coach finished us off, getting inspirational, "we're team usa, gathered from all around america. and we're gonna stick together, you know why?"
"because ducks fly together." jan interjected.
i whipped my head around to see him, not sure when he had arrived.
"just when you think they're about to break apart," jan started and we all finished,"ducks fly together!"
"when the wind blows hard and the sky is black?"
"ducks fly together!"
"When the roosters are crowing and the cows are turning circles in the pasture?" dwayne exclaimed.
it all took us a second, none of us knew if this was the right scenario, but nonetheless continued our chant.
"ducks fly together!"
"now, new ducks and old ducks must unite under a new banner, and i thought perhaps something like this."
we were thrown new jerseys, with an all new duck logo on them. i wasn't sure how i felt, becoming a duck, my deep seeded resentment towards the brand went back for years. but i knew i was happy being on this team, with these people.
it didn't matter to me what we were called.
once we had our new jerseys on, we skated back onto the ice and the crowd was ecstatic.
we all got into a circle and started quaking. the crowd even started to join in.
our attitudes had completely changed, and i knew we were gonna make a comeback.
the puck was dropped and adam stole it. i checked icelanders out of the way, trying to give him a clear pathway.
"slater!" he called out and passed the puck to me.
i swiftly shot it in and the siren blared. adam and i shared a quick high five, and i was glad i was able to make one for our team.
2-4.
suddenly, averman lost the puck.
2-5.
charlie called us over, handing over an insane play.
i had to constructively criticize it,"charlie, what are you trying to do here? this isn't the nba."
"but it's the perfect teamwork play." he argued.
i couldn't disagree with the coach's assistant, so i really had no choice.
we skated back to the ice. i got the puck and passed it to dwayne.
"alley oop!" he shouted and soared the puck through the air.
3-5.
i got the puck and passed it to luis, right before i was flipped over someone's back.
luis sped down the rink practically flying and stopped right at the net.
he was absolutely beaming,"i did it, i stopped!"
i looked at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to make the shot,"luis! shoot it!"
"oh, yeah!" he remembered the simple movement and made the goal.
everywhere russ went, iceland went after him. so, charlie and coach made a plan to switch goldberg's and russ' gear. russ would go on as goalie until it was time.
i had no idea if this was actually allowed, but coach didn't seem to have a problem with it.
i stole the puck and passed it to luis, who handed the puck off to "goldberg" who was really russ.
"it's knuckle puck time!" he exclaimed, then hit the puck and scored.
5-5.
the game ended with a tie and now, we have our six best puck handlers make shots. i was going second to last, right before adam. it seemed only fair that he would get to be the one to make the winning shot. he deserved it, after all he's been through.
first was jesse, and of course, he made it.
then iceland scored.
guy makes it.
iceland doesn't.
dwayne shot the puck, but it was saved. i was disappointed, but we were still ahead.
iceland scored.
i swallowed hard, realizing that it was my turn. i took in a deep breath, after hearing a few encouraging words from adam.
i turned to my team,"alright, if i miss this shot, feel free to dump my body where ever you choose, just no ditches, that's too obvious, the cops would find me right away."
they laughed, glad that i was able to ease tensions. even if it was just for a moment.
i skated onto the ice, staring intensely at the icelandic goalie. i got the puck and switched it from left to right, attempting to confuse the goalie. it seemed to work. i faked left making him shift his body the wrong way, and i shot it in before he had time to think. the siren blared and i broke out in a smile.
adam was up next. i watched nervously as he skated up to the puck.
he went into a triple deke. one, two, three, and he clears it. the siren went off and i nearly wet myself.
iceland made the goal and i swallowed hard.
i skated back into the box, getting the congratulations from everybody.
finally, it was stahl's turn, so julie went to the net. she was the best goalie we had, and if anyone could block gunnar's shot, it would be her.
gunnar went and shot the puck. julie dived to the ground and it was silent. we waited in anticipation, hoping to god she had gotten the puck.
she stood up and opened her palm, the puck smacking the ground.
we all erupted in cheers and went to the ice to revel in our glory.
i couldn't tell if it was my adrenaline pumping, or how amped up the crowd was, but i knew exactly how i wanted to celebrate.
guy skated up to me, wasting no time, by taking both our helmets off, and slamming his lips on mine.
it was the perfect end to a perfect game.