Hat Trick 3: Penalty Shot (22 page)

The third period was tense, at least for us in the stands, but the team looked focused. Each of the centers did their job covering forty-seven. It didn’t matter which center he was up against, they were on him. Even when he got passes, they were right there keeping him from doing much. And if he did get by the center, our D was all over him. Yes, he got shots off, but they were sloppy and Scottie stopped them easily.

Meanwhile, offense took no prisoners. They kept their game tight, minding their passing lanes as we taught them after that blowout loss a few weeks ago. Their use of cycling impressed me. We’d worked on cycling before Thanksgiving, and they obviously kept practicing it. It wasn’t perfect, but it was messing with the opposition’s ability to defend.

Forty-seven was clearly frustrated at his inability to move as freely as he wanted and, with five minutes left in the period, he slammed our center into the boards. He ended up in the penalty box for two minutes, giving us time without the Raiders’ best player on the ice. As the penalty was called, Hillary texted.

Time out?

Yes
, I sent back.

She called the time out before the refs were done with the scorekeeper. We had FaceTime going again as the team gathered.

“Great job so far, guys,” Hillary said. “So for the first shift on this power play, let’s put line two out. Line one take a few to rest and you’ll replace two. If one comes back we’ll go to three before the power play ends and then back to regular. Guys, anything from the bleachers?”

We looked at each other. “Play smart, guys,” Alex said. “They’re going to look for the shorthanded goal since there’s only five left. Keep puck control as much as you can, and pepper that goalie, too.”

The refs whistled the time out over and the team gave one more cheer. I liked how Hillary had the plan ready to go and that we were just extra support. I wasn’t even sure why she asked about the time out, unless she was worried about burning it now in case the team ended up in a deficit later.

As the puck dropped to the left of the Raiders’ goalie, we got immediate control as Fred sent it back to the D. Despite the fact the Raiders had successfully killed earlier penalties, they almost seemed timid on this one. They weren’t charging as much, keeping themselves in tight formation around their goalie, giving us fewer good shots. We took a few shots from the blue line that produced great rebounds that the forwards picked up, but at forty-five seconds down, the Raiders D got the puck cleared.

That worked for us to bring the first line back. Bryan skated up, working some solid give and go with Walt and Bruce to get up the ice in a way that the Raiders D were left guessing who to cover and where the puck was going to go. Those three played it perfect as Walt made a shot, which rebounded and bounced so the D couldn’t get it. It landed perfectly for Bryan, who powered it over the goalie’s leg pad. The trio jumped all over themselves celebrating the goal as they went back to the bench.

We cheered loud enough that I suspected we’d all be hoarse later. The scoreboard rolled over to show three-to-two with just under three minutes left in the period. It was the Raiders’ turn for a time out now. Their strategy was going to be to tie it up at all costs. I watched Hillary huddle up with our players, taking advantage of the extra time to strategize. She ended up sending line two out, instead of going with three. Putting our second line against their first was a good call.

Both sides had opportunities in the opposing offensive zone that neither capitalized on. As the clock clicked down to forty-three seconds, the puck ended up in our defensive zone for a face off to the right of Scottie. Hillary was tightly managing the lines and had a combo of one and two out there to meet what was likely to be an all out push from the Raiders. With their net empty and six attackers on the ice, we needed everything we had to keep this from going to OT.

We won the face off and TJ took a chance and sent the puck all the way down ice. He narrowly missed the empty net, causing an icing and bringing the face off back to the same spot. This time, the Raiders won it and the battle for positioning started. They sent shot after shot at Scottie and he expertly blocked them, while our D kept players from being able to plant themselves in front of him.

Our defense finally got the puck up to TJ, who deke’d out the guy shadowing him at the blue line to get out of our zone. He sprinted, getting just over the red line before he fired a shot that landed in the back of the unguarded net.

With only eighteen seconds left it was
very
likely we’d just won our first game. It was possible to get two quick goals, but that didn’t happen often. The team piled around TJ to celebrate the safety goal. As everyone went to the bench, Bryan and TJ skated just behind the group, side by side. Bryan put his gloved hand on TJ’s head and gave it a gentle shake.

I nudged Alex’s knee. “You see that?”

He smiled at me. “Yup.” He gave my head a similar shake. I got very mushy as I flashed back to some of the earliest times in our relationship when he’d do that.

My God, I loved this man.

Our team not only held the four-to-two score, but spent those last eighteen seconds in the Raiders’ zone, where it seemed like we might get another goal as the opposition seemed to have lost their enthusiasm.

The horn sounded and we stood up, along with some other Rainbow High fans in the stands, to cheer the first victory. The team went ballistic on the ice, falling over each other in their excitement. It was a spectacle. You’d think they’d won the Stanley Cup instead of a regular season youth league game. To their credit, they got their celebration under control quickly and went to center ice to shake hands with the opposing team.

We headed down from the bleachers towards the locker room.

“Tell Scottie that was awesome,” Mr. Polan said as he came down the bleachers to join us. He pulled his wallet and got some money out. “I’m guessing a team celebration’s gonna happen. Buy some food on me.” He handed over two twenties.

“Thanks, Mr. Polan,” I said. “That’s very kind.”

“Alex, it’s good to see you up and around. We’ve been following the news closely. If there’s anything we can do…”

“Thank you. So far, so good. But I do appreciate the offer.”

“I’ll see you guys later. Tell Scottie I’ll see him at home.”

“Take care,” Danny called as Mr. Polan left. “That was nice.”

“Very,” I said. “The guys will be thrilled. This will buy a ton of pizza.”

We entered the locker room to find pandemonium. There was nothing like a locker room when a team won a game like this. Scottie was at the center of it.

“…so I need to thank you all,” he was saying as we arrived, talking loud over his teammates. “I knew we’d win a game at some point, but to win it like that, against that team, is outstanding. You guys have made me one proud captain. It’s not just the game we’re getting better at, but it’s the teamwork which only happens because we’ve come together so well. Here’s to the first of many more wins in our future.” He raised his water bottle to the team and several others joined him.

The three of us stayed behind the group. Only Scottie and Hillary could see us.

“I echo Scottie,” Hillary said. “This is all because of perseverance and teamwork. If we keep at it there’ll definitely be more wins.”

She gave a nod, which I took as our cue.

“Guys, that was incredible,” I said, and the group pivoted towards us. “I know we’ve been out of the loop recently, but the progress you’ve made in that time surpasses all expectations. This was one big experiment to see what we could put on the ice and it’s pretty spectacular. First wins are always a turning point, so I’m excited to see where we go from here.”

“It was a thrilling game to watch,” Alex said. “Since I can’t play yet, it was awesome watching you guys kick ass.”

“And here’s to our coaches,” Scottie said. “We wouldn’t be here at all if Simon and Alex hadn’t said yes and then brought in these other awesome people to help us. And, especially to Hillary for being with us for everything.”

The team applauded and let go a round of cheers. It was good to hear, although what made me proudest was that they were so happy.

“So get yourselves dressed,” I said, over the top of the cheers, “and let’s go celebrate. Hopefully you can all join for at least a little while. Scottie’s dad made a contribution to a pizza party, so there’s no reason not to join in.”

I don’t think I’ve seen a team move so quickly. Gear started getting stripped off and it became a race to get done. Hillary came over to us and before we stepped out I noticed that TJ and Bryan now shared a corner, which made me happy. Alex and I never did that at Central. Here people moved around to make that happen because it used to be Walt next to Bryan and now Walt was next to Fred. It was a subtle locker room shift, but it was cool.

“Hillary, you’re doing a great job,” Alex said. “I know we’re around even less than we thought…”

“Stop,” she said. “You’re around less for very good reasons. Danny and Trent came to a lot of practices, and some other guys showed up sometimes, too. Plus, I’m having a blast. The team is awesome.”

I hugged her as we walked. I hadn’t heard that more people from the team had stepped in while we were out. That was cool. We needed to find out who and thank them.

“Alex is right. You’re doing great and this would’ve imploded without you, for sure.” She beamed, taking in the well-deserved praise.

“We should call around to see who can take our group at the pizza places around here since we didn’t plan ahead,” I said.

“Yelp here we come,” Danny said as we each took out our phones and headed for the lobby to figure out where to take twenty-five very happy people.

I was sprinting to the dorm. I’d stayed after psych to talk with the prof because the lecture raised a lot of questions for me. Dr. Patterson was always awesome, and was a reason I was seriously thinking about doing my grad work here. I’d talked too long though, and I was on the verge of being late to the community center. My appointment schedule was full, splitting time between the young people I saw regularly and sitting in on groups. I never liked being late, especially for a one-on-one, so I was hustling.

I was thankful for all the conditioning training because I ran across campus, and up the dorm steps without getting winded. As I opened the door, I heard sobs, sobs that were on the verge of wails. I found Alex on the floor, sitting against the side of the bed with his legs drawn up to his chest. I quickly closed and locked the door before dropping down next to him.

He shook as I wrapped him in a hug. He leaned into me. I’d never seen him like this, not in complete hysterics. He’d been upset in the hospital and I’d seen him cry a few other times, too, but this was full out distress. I had to get him calmed down. He wouldn’t be able to talk until he was significantly calmer.

“It’s okay. Whatever it is, we can take care of it.”

I kept one arm across his shoulders while I maneuvered my phone out of my jeans pocket. Very clumsily, I managed to get it unlocked and ready to send a text message using only my thumb.

After a few attempts at getting the message to say what it needed to I finally sent it to Trevor:
Alex having meltdown. Going to be late to see Greg. Can you please talk to him and tell him I’ll be there as soon as possible. Will update you soon.

I set the phone on the floor and knelt next to Alex, embracing him as best I could.

“Do we need to get you to a doctor?”

He shook his head.

“Are you hurt?”

Again, a shake of the head.

“Was therapy okay?”

“No,” he barked out.

“Did Dr. Wilcox find something wrong?”

“No.” Slightly calmer this time.

“Was it a painful session?” He’d told me that they sometimes were.

For that he shrugged.

Instead of calmer, a renewed bout of tears shook his body.

My phone vibrated on the floor and I could see on the screen Trevor’s response:
Understood. Do what you need to do.

Thank God I worked for Trevor. He was very good to me. Alex had it good, too. EdgeTech had been understanding, and his boss offered to do anything needed.

Alex tried to take deeper breaths. He was actively trying to calm himself now, which was good. I hugged him tighter. I couldn’t think of anything else to ask to help shake out some info. He’d let me know when he could.

As the shudders lessened, he spoke. “Sorry.” Another deep breath and some sniffles, and then silence before more words. “I tried to stop before you got here. I knew you were coming to get stuff before work.”

“Hey, you don’t have to stop crying for me. Cry all you need to. I’ve certainly done my share of crying on you.”

He snorted a laugh and finally looked up at me. Tears continued to stream from his eyes, but there was a hint of a smile. He adjusted himself and I let go for a moment so he could stretch his legs out. I changed my position, too, sitting next to him, and letting my legs stretch out next to his. I put my arm around his shoulders and drew him to me so he could drop his head on my shoulder.

“While I was at therapy…” He stopped as a shudder overtook him.

Whatever went down there was bad today. He’d been going four times a week since he’d gotten out of the hospital and he’d never been like this. Things were going well.

“There was this guy. I’d never seen him before. He’s supposed to be a senior at Arizona State, but he’s here,” sobs interrupted his story, and he fought to control them, “living with his parents because he messed up his legs. He was out running, had a flare up of some sort. He’s in a wheelchair now.”

He went quiet and I let the silence just be. There was nothing to say. This was his worst fear.

We’d heard a lot of possibilities as we went through the doctor visits. As Dr. Bentley said during the diagnosis, Alex could stay just like this, with occasional leg issues that flare up from time to time, forever. That could be what MS is for him. But, we’ve heard more dire scenarios, too, like ending up in a wheelchair with some paralysis, and an array of other neurological issues including blindness, memory issues, severe pain, and emotional swings. We’d been given a booklet that listed dozens of things to watch for. It was daunting because some of them, like headaches or being tired, seemed so run of the mill, but for Alex they could now be symptoms of something else going on. It was scary stuff, but I knew we’d be able to deal with it, too. He had good doctors who seemed to be building a solid treatment plan. More importantly, we had each other.