Monday, November 22, 2004
8.
8.
Charlie skated out to the center circle to await the drop of the puck. He tried to remember the breathing exercises again, but he couldn’t. All he could think about was the last twenty minutes and winning the game. He shook his head as the ref skated over.
“All right, guys. This is it. I want the last twenty to go the same way the first forty have gone.” He blew his whistle and Charlie took a deep breath. As he dropped the puck, Charlie leapt forward and took the puck. He slapped it over to Doug, who skated forward and slapped it around the boards. Charlie skated down into the corner, chased by a Jesuit player. He got to the puck and sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the defenseman as he slammed into the boards. Charlie skated around him and passed it back to the top of the offensive zone, where Bill was waiting.
Bill took the pass and hovered along the blue line, all the while keeping the puck onside. Doug worked himself open and Bill passed the puck back towards him. But a Jesuit player got in the middle and took the puck away. The teams skated back down the ice, Jake Chambers chasing down the player before he got onside and forced him into an offsides call. The ref whistled the play dead. As he did so, one of the Jesuit players tripped Doug up with his stick. As Doug got up, he lunged towards the player, who was skating away. Bill grabbed him before he could get there.
“Come on, man. Don’t be like me. Just make him pay on the next trip down the ice.”
“Let go of me, man. He tripped me, that sonofabitch.”
“Let it go, Doug. Let it go.” Bill skated back to his position as Doug went to line up for the face off. Charlie was right. The last thing the team needed was a stupid penalty, and the last guy other then Charlie who should be drawing that penalty was Doug. The ref dropped the puck again, and off they went. Charlie lead the team down the ice, and after getting a nice feed from Doug, slapped one right through the five-hole to tie the score. They celebrated as the Prep crowd booed lustily.
“Great shot, bro, great shot!” Doug slapped his helmet as they skated back towards the bench.
“Yeah, but there’s too much time left in the game.” Charlie was right. There was still almost fifteen minutes left on the clock, and anything could happen in that time.
Anything turned out to be not much as the game neared the end of regulation. Charlie’s line got back into the game with about three minutes to go and the score still tied. They needed to do something, and fast, and as it turned out, something would happen just that fast. Charlie took a pass from Tommy Mack, Bill’s junior defensive linemate, and skated up ice. He knew that someone was following him, but he didn’t know who. As he looked to dump the puck off, he saw that it was Wilson. He dished off the puck to Doug and headed around behind the net. Wilson followed him, and the two of them tangled behind the net. As the ref turned to watch the play at hand, Charlie whacked Wilson’s leg with his stick. He was trying to draw Wilson into doing something stupid, and it worked. As Charlie skated out from behind the net, Wilson came up behind him and delivered a massive crosscheck to Charlie’s back, sending him sprawling towards the wall. He bumped the wall with his helmet, not hard enough to actually cause any injury, but enough to draw the whistle he was hoping for.
“Oh, come on, ref! He took a Goddamned dive.”
“Wilson, even a brick wall like Mr. Ryan over there would take a dive after getting checked as hard as you hit Ferris. Two minutes, number nine, crosscheck.”
“You bastard!” Wilson lunged towards Charlie, who had regained his feet and was strapping his helmet back onto his head. He managed to get through the linesman who tried to restrain him and took a swing at Charlie. His arm was stopped mid-swing by Bill, who swung him around and pushed him back.
“That’s it, damnit, that’s it! I’m taking back my game right now. Wilson, get the hell off my ice.” The ref skated over to the scorers’ box. “Number nine, Game Misconduct, unsportsmanlike conduct.”
Wilson went berserk, as did the Jesuits coach. He came out onto the ice and began arguing with the ref as both linesman restrained Wilson and pulled him off the ice towards the locker room. The Prep side of the arena began showering the ice with cups and other litter. Charlie just stood back and watched it all. This wasn’t quite what he had in mind, but it worked okay for him as well.
Doug skated by him. “Nice touch. Nothing like a little outside assistance to get by.” Charlie just laughed at him.
After a ten-minute delay while the Civic Center crew cleaned off the ice and a security detail fanned out to the stands to form a protective barrier between the Tiger and Jesuit fans, the game restarted. Immediately, the impact of Wilson’s ouster and the delay of the game was felt as Charlie and Doug took the faceoff right down into Prep’s end and Charlie blasted a slapper past the dazed Jesuit goalie to take the lead. A minute and a half later, with the Jesuit net empty so that they could have an extra skater, Bill managed to clear the puck the entire length of the ice and into the net to put a capper on it all. Twenty seconds later, the Jesuits were skating dejectedly off the ice as the Tigers celebrated in front of their bench. Charlie found himself at the bottom of a pile of sweaty Tiger players, all screaming and whooping it up. As the pile slowly lifted, he smiled to himself. Looks like you were able to motivate them after all, he thought to himself.
Charlie skated out to the center circle to await the drop of the puck. He tried to remember the breathing exercises again, but he couldn’t. All he could think about was the last twenty minutes and winning the game. He shook his head as the ref skated over.
“All right, guys. This is it. I want the last twenty to go the same way the first forty have gone.” He blew his whistle and Charlie took a deep breath. As he dropped the puck, Charlie leapt forward and took the puck. He slapped it over to Doug, who skated forward and slapped it around the boards. Charlie skated down into the corner, chased by a Jesuit player. He got to the puck and sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the defenseman as he slammed into the boards. Charlie skated around him and passed it back to the top of the offensive zone, where Bill was waiting.
Bill took the pass and hovered along the blue line, all the while keeping the puck onside. Doug worked himself open and Bill passed the puck back towards him. But a Jesuit player got in the middle and took the puck away. The teams skated back down the ice, Jake Chambers chasing down the player before he got onside and forced him into an offsides call. The ref whistled the play dead. As he did so, one of the Jesuit players tripped Doug up with his stick. As Doug got up, he lunged towards the player, who was skating away. Bill grabbed him before he could get there.
“Come on, man. Don’t be like me. Just make him pay on the next trip down the ice.”
“Let go of me, man. He tripped me, that sonofabitch.”
“Let it go, Doug. Let it go.” Bill skated back to his position as Doug went to line up for the face off. Charlie was right. The last thing the team needed was a stupid penalty, and the last guy other then Charlie who should be drawing that penalty was Doug. The ref dropped the puck again, and off they went. Charlie lead the team down the ice, and after getting a nice feed from Doug, slapped one right through the five-hole to tie the score. They celebrated as the Prep crowd booed lustily.
“Great shot, bro, great shot!” Doug slapped his helmet as they skated back towards the bench.
“Yeah, but there’s too much time left in the game.” Charlie was right. There was still almost fifteen minutes left on the clock, and anything could happen in that time.
Anything turned out to be not much as the game neared the end of regulation. Charlie’s line got back into the game with about three minutes to go and the score still tied. They needed to do something, and fast, and as it turned out, something would happen just that fast. Charlie took a pass from Tommy Mack, Bill’s junior defensive linemate, and skated up ice. He knew that someone was following him, but he didn’t know who. As he looked to dump the puck off, he saw that it was Wilson. He dished off the puck to Doug and headed around behind the net. Wilson followed him, and the two of them tangled behind the net. As the ref turned to watch the play at hand, Charlie whacked Wilson’s leg with his stick. He was trying to draw Wilson into doing something stupid, and it worked. As Charlie skated out from behind the net, Wilson came up behind him and delivered a massive crosscheck to Charlie’s back, sending him sprawling towards the wall. He bumped the wall with his helmet, not hard enough to actually cause any injury, but enough to draw the whistle he was hoping for.
“Oh, come on, ref! He took a Goddamned dive.”
“Wilson, even a brick wall like Mr. Ryan over there would take a dive after getting checked as hard as you hit Ferris. Two minutes, number nine, crosscheck.”
“You bastard!” Wilson lunged towards Charlie, who had regained his feet and was strapping his helmet back onto his head. He managed to get through the linesman who tried to restrain him and took a swing at Charlie. His arm was stopped mid-swing by Bill, who swung him around and pushed him back.
“That’s it, damnit, that’s it! I’m taking back my game right now. Wilson, get the hell off my ice.” The ref skated over to the scorers’ box. “Number nine, Game Misconduct, unsportsmanlike conduct.”
Wilson went berserk, as did the Jesuits coach. He came out onto the ice and began arguing with the ref as both linesman restrained Wilson and pulled him off the ice towards the locker room. The Prep side of the arena began showering the ice with cups and other litter. Charlie just stood back and watched it all. This wasn’t quite what he had in mind, but it worked okay for him as well.
Doug skated by him. “Nice touch. Nothing like a little outside assistance to get by.” Charlie just laughed at him.
After a ten-minute delay while the Civic Center crew cleaned off the ice and a security detail fanned out to the stands to form a protective barrier between the Tiger and Jesuit fans, the game restarted. Immediately, the impact of Wilson’s ouster and the delay of the game was felt as Charlie and Doug took the faceoff right down into Prep’s end and Charlie blasted a slapper past the dazed Jesuit goalie to take the lead. A minute and a half later, with the Jesuit net empty so that they could have an extra skater, Bill managed to clear the puck the entire length of the ice and into the net to put a capper on it all. Twenty seconds later, the Jesuits were skating dejectedly off the ice as the Tigers celebrated in front of their bench. Charlie found himself at the bottom of a pile of sweaty Tiger players, all screaming and whooping it up. As the pile slowly lifted, he smiled to himself. Looks like you were able to motivate them after all, he thought to himself.
