The next day, I woke up like Coach instructed and went to the old rink with my Ducks coaching gear on and my hair in a high pony.
The Ducks were all getting dressed in the locker room when I arrived. In the way back, Charlie was sitting on the bench trying to untie his laces on his skates but was miserably failing. Coming up behind him, I took the skates from his hands.
I heard Charlie chuckle before he turned around, looking up at me untying his skates, "You'll never be able to untie them," I started, then held the skates in my hands by their laces. "Will ya?" Looking down at Charlie, he smiled.
"Nope." He took the skates from my hands and put them on.
I then proceeded to walk around the locker room to check on everyone. Banksie was chatting with Fulton while wrapping his stick with new tape, and Fulton was putting on his pads.
Fulton then turned to notice me looking, he then brought me close for a side hug, "Hey Vicki."
I smiled, "I'm surprised those jerseys still fit you guys." Looking up at Fulton, then at Banksie who was wrapping his stick still but looking at me.
"I am too." Fulton raised his brow before slipping on his Ducks jersey.
When Banksie finished wrapping his stick, he sat down to put his skates on. I was about to walk away when I turned around to face Banksie as he slipped on his skates, "Hey," I said softly, making him look up. "I missed you."
A small smirk swept his lips, "I missed ya too." He replied. When I turned around, I was smiling while biting my lip before going to check on everyone else.
When the Ducks got into the rink, Coach Bombay was in his new USA hockey sweats, talking to Mr. Tibbles. On the far side of the rink, I saw five kids skating around in different colored jerseys.
When I got over to Mr. Tibbles and Coach, Coach smiled at me, "Ah-ha! There she is! Mr. Tibbles, meet my Junior Assistant Coach, Victoria Reed." He introduced me to Mr. Tibbles who smiled as we shook hands.
"Pleasure to meet you Victoria." He then unzipped his leather jacket. "I'm sorry about not getting you proper coaching clothes like what Gordon is wearing but I'll get you some as soon as possible."
I smiled and waved my hands, "Oh no! There's no rush!" A fake smile spread on my face.
"Now, down to business," Coach clapped his hands together as the three of us turned our attention to the five skaters. "Tell me about our new kids."
Mr. Tibbles waved his hand, signaling for them to come over to join us. There was a very pretty girl in a goalie uniform in the front while the rest were boys. Two taller boys stood in the back, one with a cowboy hat and the other with the sleeves ripped off his jersey showing his tattoo. The other two boys behind the female goalie was Mediterranean looking with a South Florida jersey and the other was a short Asian.
"Well, that's Luis Mendoza, Miami, Florida," He pointed to the Mediterranean boy. "Best speedster, 1.9 seconds blue line to blue line." Luis then nodded, putting on his helmet and skating laps around us, sometimes turning.
"He's one good looking skater," Connie replied, I looked over to face her.
"Ya, good looking, what do you think Guy?" Averman asked, poking his face between the two.
"Shut up Averman." Guy scoffed, pushing his face away, making him tip over.
I chuckled quietly under my breath, "There's just one problem." Mr. Tibbles sighed. Then Luis caught his skate on the ice and crashed into the wall. The four other kids stayed over, frantically helping him up, asking if he was ok.
Luis sighed, taking off his helmet, "I almost had it that time."
Mr. Tibbles then pointed to the kid with the cowboy hat on, "That's Dwayne Robertson, from Austin." Dwayne then came up smiling, throwing his hat aside.
"Yee-haw! How is everyone? Y'all ready to play some puck?" He then put his helmet on.
"Hey look, it's Hop-A-Long Gretzky." Jesse teased, elbowing Guy.
"Jesse." Looking over again, I quietly scolded him before turning to look at Dwayne.
"Best puck handler I've ever seen." Mr. Tibbles nodded his head, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"You mean for his age? Cause I know a pretty good puck handler." I asked, referring to Banksie since he was really good.
"No, like ever." Mr. Tibbles looked at me before we turned back to Dwayne who was doing fancy tricks with the puck.
"Yee-haw! This is easier than roping hot dogs!" He smiled.
"He does have a tendency to show off-" Mr. Tibbles started but was cut off.
Banksie scoffed, "Ya think?"
Once Dwayne was done, the female goalie skated to the goal with her stick, glove, and helmet, "That's Julie "The Cat" Gaffney. She won the State Championship for Maine three years in a row." Mr. Tibbles nodded.
"Well, we have a goalie," Coach started. "Goldberg." The three of us turned to Goldberg at the net, hyping himself up and splitting himself into the splits.
"You might wanna watch this." Mr. Tibbles tapped the two of us, we faced forward. A few of our players skated up to Julie and tried to score, but she kept catching the puck.
"Well, we could use a backup." I smiled at Julie's catlike reflexes.
Coach placed his hands on his hips, "Ya, we could." He nodded.
Then the Asian kid came over to us, skating in circles, "Isn't that kid from the Olympics?" My eyes went wide as I looked over at Mr. Tibbles.
"Yup, Ken Wu. What can I say? Convinced him that hockey had more of a future. We put a stick in his hands," Mr. Tibbles shook his head, then looked at the two of us. "No one's been able to touch him." The three of us turned to Ken to find him spinning in a circle.
In the background, the kid with the ripped sleeves and tattoo was listening to music through his headphones while rocking out and singing. He skated on to the ice, using his stick as a guitar.
He went right in the middle of Banks and Charlie, pushing Charlie out of the way, making him fall over, "That guy's a teenager?" Coach asked, looking at Mr. Tibbles in a concerned way.
"Uh, yeah, hormones." Mr. Tibbles nodded.
"He's a goon!" I spat, crossing my arms.
He came up to Dwayne and wrapped an arm around him, "Come on Tex! Sing it with me!"
"Uh, no thanks." He said in a shy voice, making him shrug and skate away.
He then skated in front of Julie, "Here ya go, sweetie!" He threw his hockey stick at her, making her catch it.
Coach raised his brow at the "teenager", "My kids don't play that type of hockey."
Mr. Tibbles then looked between the two of us, "I believe they're called enforcers. When you play Iceland your gonna need him." He nodded.
"My little man!" The "teenager" skated up to Ken and picked him up like he was nothing, putting him on top of the goalie net.
From behind me, I heard Fulton scoff, "Who does this guy think he is?"
"Apparently a hot-shot." Turning around to Fulton who had a disgusted look on his face.
"That's Dean Portman." Mr. Tibbles added to my comment.
"Alright," Goldberg started from the net. "That's it!" He spat and threw off his hockey gloves and helmet. The team then started picking a fight with the new kids.
Goldberg and Julie yelling at each other. Fulton and Dean getting physical. Banksie, Jesse, and Dwayne getting into an argument at who's the best puck handler. I just facepalmed myself, shaking my head.
"I'll take care of this," Coach Bombay started walking over to the group, then he blew his whistle. "EVERYONE! FREEZE!" He shouted, making everyone pause and turn to look at him.
I then walked up to Coach and stood next to him, "Guys look, we all came here to play hockey," Then a disgusted look washed over my face. "Not to fight." I scowled at the team.
"We're Team USA, we're all here to represent your country," Coach added, placing his hands on his hips.
"That's right!" Mr. Tibbles added, making Coach annoyed.
"Now I want you to-" Coach started.
"To be all you can be! You gotta raise yourselves up!" Mr. Tibbles interrupted once again, making me roll my eyes.
"Now let's go scrimmage!" Coach blew his whistle.
"Perfect! Scrimmage!" Mr. Tibbles also blew his whistle, pushing Coach over the edge of the annoying cliff. "You heard your coach!" Coach and I both stared daggers at Mr. Tibbles. "You guys don't need me, I have to meet with the teams' tutor, Miss McKay." Mr. Tibbles then started walking away.
"Don," Coach let out a deep exhale, holding out his hand. Mr. Tibbles then walked over in shame, giving Coach the whistle before tossing it behind him to me. "You'll get it back at the end of the school term." Myself and the team all laughed while I put my fake whistle in my pocket and my real one around my neck.
Then I wiped the whistle with my hoodie, "K, team! Let's scrimmage!" Smiling, I blew the whistle.
Jesse and Dwayne were up first at the center. When they started, Dwayne snagged the puck, making Jesse fall over as he skated towards Goldberg. Dwayne then passed the puck to Luis who was headed for Goldberg.
"Goldberg look out!!" I screamed but was too late because Luis ran right into Goldberg.
"Yeesh! This guys gotta learn how to stop." Coach winced.
"Thanks for breaking my fall." Luis patted his arm before getting up.
"Ya, sure no problem!" Goldberg said sarcastically, waving his hands in the air.
When the puck dropped again, Banksie started in the middle, he then raced for Julie who stood ready. Out of nowhere, Dean came up beside him, bucking him off his feet and racing away with the puck, "It's ok Banks! You got this!" I clapped and encouraged him to get up, which he did.
The puck ended up stuck in the wall with a big pile-up of people, "Come on guys!" I clapped. "Fish it outta there! Fish it outta there!" The puck finally got taken by Charlie, leaving Averman exhausted as he clung to the wall.
"Haven't you guys been training in the offseason?" Coach asked Averman who lifted his helmet.
"Ya know," He started, out of breath. "I knew we forgot somethin'." He reached for his water bottle and started downing some water.
Shaking my head, rolling my eyes, I turned back to the ice. Banksie had the puck with Dwayne in front of him. Dwayne tried to steal the puck, but Banksie dogged him, faked Julie out of her pads, she tipped over and Banksie put the puck in the goal.
Coach yelled and clapped his hands, cheering on Banksie, "Nice one Adam! Way to show 'em!"
"Great job Banksie!" I gave him two thumbs up, he looked over at me and gave a bow, making me laugh.
Fulton and Dean started in the middle. Dean shoved Fulton out of the way so he could get to the goal. Averman and Fulton then came up beside Dean, stealing the puck. Fulton went around Goldberg with Dean on his tail as he pushed him down. Dean laughed at Fulton lying on the ground, when he got back up again, Averman and Fulton teamed up on Dean but failed because they both got pushed down.
"DING! Round one!" Goldberg said to Fulton and Averman behind the net.
Fulton then got up and chased Dean around with the puck, when he finally got it, he cut the edge of the ice while all the rest of the team was defending Julie.
"GUYS LOOK OUT! ITS FULTON!" Coach screamed. The Ducks then jumped out of the way, only leaving the new kids.
"What a bunch of wusses!" Dean scoffed.
Fulton then slammed the puck towards Julie, thankfully not hitting her, it hit the goal post and went flying every which way. Coach and I snapped our heads every which way, following the puck when we saw Mr. Tibbles talking to a nice looking lady who yelled "DUCK!" Mr. Tibbles got nailed between the ice with the puck, knocking him to the ground.
"Holy shit!" I spat, jumping over the wall as we all swarmed over to Mr. Tibbles check to see if he was ok. Julie was the first to get there and lift his head on to her lap.
"I'll go get an ice pack!" Connie yelled, discarding all of her equipment.
"And a towel!" I added.
We all looked over Mr. Tibbles, calling his name to try and bring him back to his conscience. Connie came rushing back with a towel and an ice pack to put on his head.
The nice-looking lady put the ice pack on his head lightly with a towel under it, "Mr. Tibbles? Mr. Tibbles, can you hear me?" She asked in a calm soothing voice.
Coach then got out a piece of spearmint gum, still in the wrapper and held it to his nose. Mr. Tibbles sniffed the air and his eyes opened, he snatched the gum, "Mr. Tibbles!" The lady smiled. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, I'll have the cheeseburger, with fries, and a chocolate shake, please." He nodded, making us all laugh in amusement.
"I think he'll be just fine. I'll look after him," The lady nodded with a smile painting her face. Then she looked at Coach and I, "I'm sorry, he never got to introduce us. I'm Michele McKay, their tutor." The three of us stood in unison and shook hands.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Coach Bombay, their coach," He chuckled. "And this is my Junior Assistant Coach, Victoria Reed."
"It's nice to meet you." I greeted her with a warm smile.
"Nice to meet you too." She nodded her head.
"Who said we need a tutor?" Banksie scoffed, which made me turn around and slap his chest.
"Yeah, I don't need no school," Dean added, folding his arms.
"Now, Miss McKay," Goldberg started, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "We're America's team, shouldn't we be just focusing on hockey. May I suggest optional attendance?" He asked, making the team all agree.
"Well, that's not a bad idea-" Miss McKay smiled.
"Call me Goldberg."
"Goldberg! Yes! School will be optional!" Miss McKay smiled, I knew what she was doing cause we all still had to finish our school year. The team cheered and clapped. "However! However!" She stared, making the team go quiet. "If you do not attend then you'll be ineligible to play." The team all whined while Coach and I laughed at her joke.
The team then grabbed their belongings and started to head to the locker room, the new kids were about to walk into the separate locker room when I caught them, "Julie, Ken, Luis, Dwayne!" Dean was off somewhere else. The four all turned to face me, "Hi, my name is Victoria Reed, I'm the Junior Assistant Coach for the Ducks," I held out my hand for all of them to shake. "On behalf of the Ducks, I'd like to say welcome to the flock!" They all smiled as I shook their hands.
One by one they all introduced themselves, "You can call me Jules if you'd like." Julie smiled as she shook my hand.
"Alright, and you guys can call me Vic or Vicki, or Coach!" I chuckled which made them all laugh. The three boys then walked off into the locker room.
Jules let out a sigh of relief, "I am so relieved that I'm no the only girl on the team!"
"Oh yeah, there's me and one of my girl best friends, Connie," We exchanged smiles. "I'm impressed by your skills, Jules, your literally the only female goalie I've seen." We then started walking away from the locker room.
"Well people have their doubts about females being a hockey player but you're the youngest Assistant Coach I've seen too." Jules nodded her head.
"Oh, I know right! I even surprise myself, to be honest!" The two of us then chuckled.
"How long have you been coaching with the Ducks?"
"Almost a year, I started last year a little after the beginning of the season but how long have you been a goalie?"
"Well," Jules sighed, counting on her fingers. "I've been doing hockey since I was very little, but I've been a goalie for the past three years-"
We were cut off when we heard a huge crash. Turning around we saw a Zamboni on the ice, crashed through the glass. Coach Bombay and Miss McKay we're on the ice near the Zamboni when it happened. Jesse, Fulton, and Guy all popped up from the Zamboni all high-fiving each other before noticing the four of us staring.
Fulton rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Sorry."
"We're ok though," Jesse added.
Coach let out a deep sigh before waving his hand in the air, "Ok guys, get your pads back on."
Jules let out a long whine, "Ugh, really Coach?" She then dragged herself into the locker room to get her equipment.
I ran to the Ducks locker room and opened the door, "Guys, Coach changed his mind, get your pads back on!" Loud groans and shines came from inside the locker room when I closed the door.
Walking out on to the ice, I stood next to Coach who was shaking his head at the crash, "Well I can definitely say that was something I will never see again." I added.
The team all came back on to the ice, skating towards up, "Vicki, to get some rope," Coach said to me before turning around. "Alright team, get some of these jerseys on." Coach threw basic red and blue jerseys on the ice, making everyone put one on. When I came back with the rope, Coach tied everyone up with the rope, making them all squashed together.
"Someone better watch where their hands go," Julie said lowly.
The team then started sniffing the air, "Goldberg!" They all yelled at the goalie who wasn't offended.
"It wasn't me." He shook his head.
"No," Dean started with a smile. "It was me!" He raised his hands in the air. Everyone then started yelling at Dean.
"Ok guys, we are a team. To win this we have to be as one," I started. "Now skate as one."
Everyone all looked at each other, they all started skating their own way, falling over on their sides, "Everyone goes their own way, everyone falls down. Now try it again." Coach said bitterly.
Everyone then got back up, "Everyone move to your right, now!" Dean commanded.
"Who put you in charge, everyone to the left!" Fulton snapped, everyone started going their own ways again, falling over.
"All you guys can argue all you want but I'm not untying you unless you all move as one," Coach crosses his arms, then looked at me. "Vicki, you get in there and show 'em how it's done." Coach waved his hand.
"But do I have to?" I whined.
"Yes." He said bitterly.
Doing as I was told, Goldberg and Julie gave me some room to wiggle in the front, "Everyone move to your right!" Dean snapped again.
"No, I think we should listen to Coach-" I suggested.
"Who put you in charge!?" Dean snapped at me.
My blood boiled, I wanted to reach around and punch the shit outta him so badly, "Coach did, now shut up and listen to Vicki before I smash your head on the ice." Banks snapped from behind me.
When I finally calmed down, I took a deep exhale, closing my eyes, "Everyone listen to Coach." I said kindly.
"Ok, now that your all listening, come forward," Coach signaled us to come forward, we wobbled but eventually started doing it. "Great job team! Charge! Charge!" Coach raised his fist in the air. "Ok go right!"
A smile painted my face as we all started right, "Yes! Yes! That's it, everyone!" I chuckled and encouraged the others to keep going.
"Nice work Charlie!" I heard Coach from behind us, then the rope dropped. We all high-fives each other and celebrated our little victory.
"K, take a knee guys!" Coach yelled as we all took a knee, especially me. "I'm proud of you Ducks, you all did well today," He collected the rope and walked over to Dwayne. "But practice should be fun, Rancher Dwayne!"
Dwayne snapped his head back, smiling, "Yes sir?"
"Round me up some stray cattle there." Coach said with a southern accent, handing Dwayne the rope.
"My pleasure!" He smiled, everyone then got up and scampered away. I ran towards the benches with Coach.
Dwayne went around the ice, swinging his made up lasso in front of Averman. Averman pleaded for mercy but got the rope stuck around him. Smiling, Coach blew his whistle and called Averman to the benches. Then Dwayne saw Charlie and chased him down, putting the rope around him. I then blew my whistle, signaling Charlie to come to the benches.
Julie was skating around with Goldberg near Dwayne when she almost fell, Dwayne then laughed and put the lasso around Julie as she laughed.
Guy skated dangerously close to Dwayne, Dwayne threw his lasso and Guy dodged it, skating away. After most of the team was caught, Fulton, Banksie, and Connie were the last three on the ice. Dwayne skated after Banksie smiling and "yee-hawing". Banksie was too slow to turn and escape cause Dwayne caught him, making me blow my whistle and bite my lip, "Come on Banksie! Your out!" I smiled as he came over to me. Banksie was smiling, his hair was an absolute mess from flying around on the ice.
"God, your hair is a mess!" I chuckled before pushing the two parted strands of hair off to his one side as he leaned against the wall.
"Well, what did ya expect?" He chuckled and fixed it himself before hopping over the wall. Dwayne was chasing Connie down while I and Banksie leaned against the wall watching everything play out. Connie caught her skate on the ice, making Dwayne catch her with his lasso.
Coach blew his whistle, "You're out Connie!" Fulton then threw his arms in the air in victory screaming.
"I am the champion!" He bragged.
"You may be the champion of this game but your not the champion at dancin'," Dwayne tossed me the lasso from on the ice. "I'm gonna teach y'all how to dance where I come from!" He smiled and signaled everyone to come on to the ice, even Coach joined in while I stayed behind. Dwayne then turned around to notice me standing there.
"Come on Coach!" He waved his hand.
Chuckling, I waved back, "Oh, no, I don't dance."
"Aww, everyone dances," Dwayne made puppy eyes at me while skating over. "I'll teach ya!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me out on to the ice where everyone was in a line.
"Alright, fine." I chuckled.
"Ok so cross your one foot in the front, step, cross your other foot in the back, put your right foot out in front, then left foot in back, clap, and start all over!" Dwayne showed me exactly what I was doing, then I started doing it slowly.
"So like this?" I slowly did the dance for Dwayne who smiled at me.
"Perfect! Let's all try it!" Dwayne smiled.
Everyone then started doing the dance while smiling and adding in some moves, "Look at you go! Just like a real cowgirl!" Dwayne smiled and took my arm as we danced in a circle.
Charlie and Coach were doing a little techno funk dancing while Averman did some disco moves. Then someone linked arms with me and Dwayne passed me to the next person which was Banksie.
"I hope ya don't mind me cuttin' in?" He said in a southern accent as we spun in a circle.
"Not at all, kind sir," I replied smiling in a southern cowgirl accent. Banksie and I then did the dance again while next to each other.
"See what I told ya, girl! Everyone dances!" Dwayne smiled as he watched Banksie enjoy ourselves dancing together.