Page 13 of Behind the Bench

There’s always something more to gain. As much effort as I put into this sport, it’s always giving back just as much. The hours I put into my skills as a player translates into real life. I knew nothing was going to come easy as a player, and I knew how hard I had to work to earn a college scholarship or make Team USA. As a coach, now I know how hard I have to work to be the coach I dream to be. I just have to remind myself that nobody and nothing is perfect. The journey and work you put in to get there is what really matters.

I sit back up in my chair and take a deep breath. I won’t let my frustration get the best of me this time. We know how ugly it can get when I do. I hold my breath and count to four before exhaling and giving myself a little pep talk.

“It doesn’t need to be perfect. I have time to improve this power play unit. I can do this.” There. That’s better.

“Do you always talk to yourself like that?”

I jump back in my chair at the sound of that deep voice and clutch my chest. “Cheese and crackers! Warn a girl, would ya?”

Link fights a smirk from my doorway. He has his hands in the pockets of his gray dress pants as he saunters into my office. He picks up the pen that rolled onto the floor after I threw it and hands it to me. “Cheese and crackers? Since when do you censor your cuss words? From what I remember, you weren’t ever afraid to drop an F-bomb during a game.”

It surprises me that Link remembers that small detail of me as a kid. It also surprises me that he’s standing here, making small talk. This is a good thing. We need to be able to work together, so maybe we’re finally taking a step in the right direction.

“Since this is my place of work. I’m trying not to say ‘fuck’ as much, even though it’s my favorite word. Damn it. I mean,darn it.Fuck!I am no good at this censoring business.” I drop my face in my hands.

Link chuckles.

That’s a new sound. It has me lifting my head up so fast, my neck cracks.

“The good news is you work at a hockey rink. If you don’t put a little flavor into your language, the players won’t take you seriously and will eat you alive. No need to keep it PG around here.”

He has a point.

And is that a smile on his face?

I feel like I’m in the twilight zone.

He interrupts my thoughts once again. “Did I imagine things, or were you cursing to yourself when I just walked by?”

Of course he heard me fighting to keep my cool. That is definitely not something I need to make a habit of.

“No, you weren’t imagining things. Nothing you need to concern yourself with, though.” I level him with a look that hopefully says not to push me.

Ignoring my glare, he eyes the whiteboard and the ridiculous amount of paper sprawled out across my desk before looking back up at me. “You working on the power play?” He takes a seat in the flimsy plastic chair that sits in front of my desk and grabs a handful of papers.

Blowing out a breath, I fill him in on my struggles. “Something just doesn’t feel right with Niko’s power play unit. I haven’t watched much game tape, but I’ve seen enough to know that we need someone else on the ice who can get him the puck. Niko is our goal scorer and he’s useless out there if he’s not getting the puck.”

Link hums as he flips through all the papers with my notes and various scenarios drawn up. Once he’s finished, he returns them to my desk and leans back in his chair. He rests his ankle up on his knee and places his folded hands on top.

“It’s only day two, Ellie. We have some time. No one expects you to have it all figured out by tomorrow.” He nods at the stack of papers he just placed on my desk. “You have a few options written down there that I think might work. Why don’t we just give them a try once practices start up and figure out what works and what doesn’t.”

It’s an odd feeling, sitting here across from Link, and not feeling absolute disdain for the man. I almost expected him to be upset with me for not having a plan, but instead, he’s sitting here supporting me.

This new glimpse into Link is giving me a little hope that we might actually be able to pull this off. He was a hell of a player and it’s becoming clear he’s a pretty damn good coach too.

I nod and look into his green eyes. “Okay, yeah. That sounds like a plan. Once we figure out what doesn’t work, we’ll be one step closer to figuring out what does work.”

Link sets his foot on the floor and leans forward to knock twice on my desk. “Exactly. You’re not so bad at this, Blondie.”

Rolling my eyes, I turn in my chair and start shutting down my computer for the day. He’s halfway to my door when I realize I can’t let him have the last word.

“You’re not so bad at this yourself, Coach.”

I’m pretty sure I hear him chuckle under his breath and then he’s gone.

The ice crunches beneath my skates and the cool air smacks me in the face as I skate another lap around the rink. My lungs are on fire and it tastes like blood every time I swallow.

Damn, I am out of shape.

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