Rebel Power Play (5 page)

The referee dropped the puck. The Tornadoes centre easily won the draw to his right defenceman, who one-timed the puck across the ice to his defence partner. Zachary pressured, and the defenceman banked it off the boards.

“Be there, Mike,” Charlie said, half-aloud. Centre was supposed to cover that zone. Instead, Mike stayed in the middle. The Tornadoes left winger picked it up on the fly and headed towards the Hawks’ net.

At the blue line, the winger faked inside and swerved to the outside. Richard tried to stand him up; Charlie knew he prided himself on making big hits. The inside move caused him to lose his balance, however, and the player sidestepped the intended bone-crusher. Samuel turned to give chase, only to get tangled up with his own skates and fall. The winger was in alone. Pudge had covered his winger, and was too far away to cut him off. Simon came way out of his net — too far for Charlie’s liking. A quick move and he wouldn’t be able to get back. Which is exactly what happened.

The Tornadoes attacker faked inside, and then cut hard to his forehand. The move froze Simon. As a last
resort, he threw out a poke check — and missed by a mile. That left a wide open net for a pathetically easy goal. Charlie would have laughed if it hadn’t been against his own team. The game was only ten seconds old and the Hawks looked like novices.

“No worries, Mikey,” Dunn said, clapping a few times. “Bad goal. The jitters are out. Get it back for us.”

Mike promptly lost the draw again. This time he charged wildly after the puck. Zachary stayed back — smart thinking, as it turned out, because Mike went in too fast and missed the hit. The defenceman surged into the space vacated by Mike, gained the red line, and before Zachary could stop him fired the puck into the corner. Richard lumbered after it. The left winger beat him to it, and Richard tried another massive hit. This time only the boards felt it. He fell to the ice as the Tornadoes’ forechecker gathered the puck.

Zachary and Pudge covered the pointmen. Mike was way out of position, hovering up near the blue line calling for the puck. The slot was totally exposed. The right winger saw he was uncovered, and raced to the open slot. His linemate fed him a sweet pass from the corner. Samuel dropped to his knees to block a shot that never came. The winger slipped it smartly to his centre, who one-timed it past a startled Simon.

Two goals in twenty seconds. Charlie wanted to get back on the bus.

“I think Sean was right about the score,” Jonathon said in his ear, “except it’ll be 10–0 for them.”

“What’s going on?” Charlie heard Mike yell on the ice. “This is garbage. You guys aren’t doing anything,” he said to Richard and Samuel.

Dunn kept Mike’s line out. This time the Tornadoes centre pushed the puck through Mike’s feet, slipping by to gather it up. Zachary anticipated Mike losing the draw and cut him off, flipping the puck back to Richard. He cut to the boards, expecting a return pass. Whether he was unnerved by the goals, or didn’t understand what he was supposed to do, Richard ignored Zachary and tried to carry the puck himself. The Tornadoes centre stripped him of it in one motion, and would have been in all alone if Pudge hadn’t stopped and hustled back. He lifted the player’s stick, whirled around with the puck, and fired it the length of the ice. The whistle sounded for an icing. Head down, Zachary skated to the bench and called for a change. Charlie could see Zachary was angry. Sean’s line filed out.

“Take it to them,” Charlie encouraged. “Let’s get one back, Hawks.”

Mike was furious when he sat down.

“Worst shift I’ve ever seen. Is our D actually going to stop someone? Dad, I gotta get out there. This is sad. I’m going to have to kill someone before this game’s over.”

“Put it behind you,” Dunn said. “Take a quick breather and get ready to go back out there.” He looked over at Charlie. “Third line — move down the bench. You need to sit one off until we can get this game under control.”

But there was no getting this game under control. The Tornadoes continued to dominate, the puck rarely leaving the Hawks’ end. Charlie cringed over and over as he watched. Scott, Nick and the twins did their best on defence. Unless Zachary or Pudge was on the receiving end of their passes, however, the puck invariably
bounced off a Hawks stick. Richard and Samuel were having a terrible time. The Tornadoes scorched the beleaguered pair for another two goals, one when a floater got behind them for a breakaway, and another after Samuel’s foolish clearing pass from behind the Hawks’ net ended up on a Tornadoes’ stick and in the net. The score was 6–0 when the buzzer sounded to end the second period.

Charlie had never been benched in his life, and he suffered a thousand deaths watching as the Hawks were getting slaughtered. And apart from two short shifts in the second period, the third period began like the first two — with Charlie watching. The Hawks finally got some good news two minutes in. Zachary cut across the front of the Tornadoes’ net to forecheck. A defenceman hooked Zachary with his stick and caught a piece of his arm. Zachary spun around and fell, and the referee’s arm shot up for a penalty. Mike’s line had been out since the start of the period, and Dunn had to change. Sean’s line took over.

“Line one, thirty seconds and you’re back out,” Dunn bellowed. “Gotta get a goal already.”

Jonathon elbowed Charlie. “If we ever get out again, why don’t you take the faceoff?”

“I don’t think Dunn would like that too much.”

“I’ve always been a winger. Still don’t know why you’re not centering our line. I lost both draws I took today. Besides, what’s he gonna do? Bench us? We’ve only been out for two shifts the whole game.”

He had to laugh. Jonathon was right. Dunn couldn’t exactly threaten them with less ice time.

A Tornadoes defenceman stripped Sean of the puck
and fired it down the ice. Dunn smashed his clipboard on top of the boards. It broke, and he threw it to the floor.

“Shaw, get me another clipboard,” he ordered.

“Sorry, Mr. Dunn. We only have the one.”

“Just great. What do you do here, anyway?” He waved his hand dismissively. “Mikey, take Sean’s line off. They couldn’t score a goal in twenty periods.”

“Hold on a minute, Coach,” Zachary said. He had his helmet off. “Something’s wrong. I need to sit off another minute.”

“Great!” Dunn yelled. “We need a goal and you’re fiddling with your helmet. Fine, third line’s up. Don’t take more than thirty seconds.” He cupped his hands to his mouth. “Sean, get off.”

All three players on Sean’s line skated over and Charlie and his linemates jumped over the boards. “Go for it, Charlie,” he heard Pudge say.

Charlie’s legs were tight as he skated to his end — not surprising, since he’d watched practically the entire game. Nick had the puck behind the net. He circled behind and took it, and Nick followed. A forechecker shifted across. Charlie put it into high gear and blew by him along the right boards.

“Take it in, Charlie,” Nick yelled. “I’m with ya!”

Jonathon and David were on the wings up near centre. Charlie swerved to his left and continued up the middle. A second Tornadoes forward came at him. He slipped the disk to Jonathon, and jumped past. Jonathon gave it right back. Out of the corner of his eye Charlie could see Nick hustling up the left side. David had dropped back to cover.

The few Hawks supporters began to cheer — practically the first time in the game they had a reason. Charlie stormed into the Tornadoes’ zone, the defencemen back-pedalling fiercely to prevent him from gaining the corner. Charlie stopped at the hash marks and the defender slid past. He then cut to the inside, parallel to the blue line. Nick continued on to the net, while Scott camped out in the slot, his stick raised for a slapshot. The defenceman panicked and charged at Charlie. He waited until the defenceman committed himself, then slid the puck between his feet to Scott. The defenceman covering Nick scrambled to intercept. Scott blocked him off with his body and passed to Nick. The goalie stacked his pads, thinking Nick would shoot. He was wrong. Charlie had slipped past the confused defenceman. Nick flipped a pass across the crease. Charlie had an open net for an easy goal.

Scott and Nick threw their hands in the air and pummelled Charlie on the helmet and back. “That felt good, dude,” Scott said. “Taking candy from a baby or what?”

“Nice passing,” Charlie said.

“Nice to have someone to pass to.”

Jonathon and David joined the huddle.

“Awesome display, guys. That was beautiful to watch,” Jonathon said.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The noise caught Charlie’s attention. He looked towards the bench. Mike was standing up, smashing his stick on the boards. He wasn’t celebrating the goal, however.

“Joyce, change it up.”

Charlie wanted to throw his stick across the ice. He scores a goal, and Dunn hauls him off the ice?

“I’m starting to understand our coach,” Scott said. “The worse you play, the more you play.”

“Hey, what’s Zachary up to?” Nick said.

He was next to Dunn, his helmet still off.

Charlie skated over to the bench.

“Can I go on already, Dad?” he heard Mike plead.

Dunn was not paying attention. He’d gone down to the floor practically on all fours.

“What’s up?” Charlie asked.

“A screw dropped out of my helmet,” Zachary said. “We’re looking for it. You guys stay out.” He winked. It occurred to Charlie that perhaps the screw had not fallen out on its own.

Mike was in a rage. “Joyce, get off the ice!” he screamed.

“We gotta keep the lines together,” Zachary said. “Take a pill, dude, and relax. Do you mind if I fix my helmet?”

The two boys faced each other. For a moment Charlie thought they were going to fight. Zachary stared right into Mike’s eyes, even taking a step forward, their faces practically touching. That lasted a few seconds, and then Mike sat down, banging the shaft of his stick against the top of the boards.

“Totally bogus team,” he muttered.

The ref’s whistle blasted. “Line up, Hawks,” he yelled.

Charlie raced to the circle. He barely had time to set up before the ref dropped the puck. Both centres missed it. Their sticks crashed together and the puck bounced to
the side. Charlie reached out with his skate blade and kicked it back to Nick. He flipped it to David near the boards. The right winger took two steps over centre and fired it into the Tornadoes’ zone. Jonathon was first in on the forecheck.

“Your puck, Jonathon,” Charlie said, cruising in behind.

Jonathon impressed Charlie by first digging hard and winning the battle for the puck, and then skating away with it along the back wall. The Tornadoes centre left the slot to cut him off. The front of the net was wide open.

He raised his stick. “Quick pass,” Charlie said.

Jonathon’s head was down, though. He continued around the net for the wraparound. The goalie saw it coming and easily batted the puck into the corner. Charlie gave chase. A Tornadoes defenceman was there first and fired it around the boards and out of the zone. The puck slid deep into the Hawks’ zone. Scott hustled back. Charlie saw Mike standing up at the bench.

“Joyce, change it up. Come on. Move it.”

He ignored him. It was 8–1, and he’d hardly played all game. He wanted one more rush. He circled near his own blue line and Scott hit him with a hard pass. He had to swerve quickly to avoid a forechecker. The Tornadoes’ centre pressured him next, but Charlie was able to swing past him with a neat move, slipping the puck between his skates. Nick joined the rush, with Jonathon on the left and David standing near the far blue line. Charlie headmanned it to Nick, and the smooth-skating defenceman hoofed it up the left side.

Nick crossed the blue line, holding up close to the
boards near the top of the circle, the right defenceman watching him closely. David went straight for the net, attracting the other defenceman. A Tornadoes forward charged Nick, bending down low, stick and right leg along the ice. That left a gap at the top of the slot. Nick saw it and saucered the puck over the forward’s leg. Charlie arrived precisely as the puck touched the ice.

The goalie came well out in a deep crouch, glove hand up high. David and the defenceman battled for position in front. The goalie was playing him to shoot. Charlie was about to fake a shot and try a move short side, when he heard his name called. Jonathon was perched at the far side of the net, all alone. Charlie slid the puck across without hesitation.

“Lots of time,” Charlie said.

Jonathon was either too excited or too nervous. Instead of stopping the puck and tapping it into the open net, he tried to deflect it in one motion. The puck slipped off the heel of his stick and into the corner. A Tornadoes player got the puck and iced it.

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The icing call meant a line change. Disappointed, Charlie skated to his bench. A stick hit his shin pads.

“Beautiful pass,” Jonathon said, shaking his head. “Could I have had more time? I thought there was a guy right on me.”

Charlie didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise. Why bother? It would only make him feel bad about missing the open net. “It was a good play. You just fanned on it. Part of the game. You’ll get the next one.”

On the bench Jonathon smacked his linemates’ helmets. “Not a bad effort,” he said. “One goal, and we
should have had another. Give us a bit more ice time and we’ll tie this baby up.”

Charlie knew that wasn’t likely.

His line only got one more shift, and a short one at that. The Tornadoes answered Charlie’s goal with three more of their own. The Hawks managed two late goals — both by Mike. His first came off a blistering shot from Pudge. The puck squirted between the goalie’s pads. Mike had done little more than hang around the net all game waiting for Pudge and Zachary to feed him, and he was there to shovel the puck into the wide-open net. Then, with a minute left, Zachary went end to end before feeding Mike for an easy tap-in from three feet out. Mike celebrated each goal by pumping his arms and racing to the bench to slap gloves with the players on the bench.