Page 23 of Dreams
Chapter Six
“About damn time we get to start playing some real games,” Mack said, sitting in the locker next to Josh’s.
“Yeah,” Josh responded.
“Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?” Mack shoved his shoulder, trying to get a reaction. “You’ve been morose all week.”
“Morose?” he faked a laugh.
“Sad. Pain in the ass. A regular kill-joy. That better?”
“Whatever, man.”
The coaches walked in and stared around the room.
“Opening night,” Coach Peterson said. “We’re onHockey Night in Canada.You ready?”
“Yes, sir,” they all said.
“Well, you know I’m not one for speeches,” the coach continued. “So just go out there and start the season right.”
Carter sat on the edge of his locker with his head in his hands. “Man up, Neiler!” Mack said. “This is the biggest night of your life, kid.”
Carter shook himself and then looked up at Josh.
“Just remember what I told you,” Josh said. “Play your game. You’ve got this.”
Carter made the team out of camp as a fourth-liner, but Josh knew he was too good to stay there for long. He was just young. Young guys had bad habits. They didn’t play defense. They took penalties. Josh was young too, but he’d been in the league a couple years and had those habits coached out of him.
They filed out of the room single file and marched down the hallway. It was Toronto’s opener as well, and they were making quite a show of it. The arena was dark, except for the spotlight that followed the Toronto players to their spot on the blue line.
The roar of the crowd was deafening. Josh’s stomach clenched. He still got nervous every time he stepped out onto the ice in front of thousands of people. It wasn’t something he thought he’d ever get used to. He looked back at Carter and grinned, knowing the kid was feeling the energy for the first time.
Toronto finished up their opening-night show, and it was time for hockey. The starting line-up was announced overhead and Josh stood next to Mack on the ice as both the Canadian and American national anthems were sung.
Mack bent down to take the opening face-off, and the game was underway. Toronto scored on the very first shift, deflating the Jackets’ bench a bit.
On his next shift, Josh raced after the Leaf player who controlled the puck. He hit him into the boards, but not before the Leaf passed the puck off to his teammate, who had come streaking down center ice.
By the end of the second period, the Jackets were down 3-0. The third goal had come on a power-play. Josh was on the ice for all three goals.
Coach Peterson didn’t bother to come into the locker room during second intermission. He sent a fuming Coach Scott instead.
“You’re embarrassing yourselves out there,” he said, obviously trying not to explode on them. “Do you really want to start the season on this note?” He paused. “Walker, I don’t know what is wrong with you today, but you need to get your head in the game. It isn’t like you to have that many turnovers. Everything outside of this building stays out there. You got that? That goes for everyone. Leave your problems out of this room and off of that ice. You are professionals, for Christ’s sake. Mack, you need to start winning more of those face-offs or I’ll have Olle take yours. Now, there’s still time to win this. Let’s get ourselves the win and try to forget the first two periods.”
They didn’t forget the first two periods, losing the game 5-1. The locker room was quiet as the players showered and donned their suits. Originally, they’d planned on staying the night in Toronto, but now Coach had them boarding the plane for Montreal. Their coach said there was one good thing about the game - that it wasn’t at home where their fans could see them shit the bed.
Josh settled into his seat on the plane next to a glum Carter, but his mind wasn’t on the game. That had been the problem all night. His mind had been invaded by a certain girl he hadn’t heard from all week. He called, but she didn’t answer. The last thing he heard from her was the text saying she was OK after she’d run out into the rain.
He’d screwed up tonight. He knew that. It was probably his worst game since his rookie year, and he hated it. It just reinforced his view on distractions. There was nothing he could do about it now though. He’d just have to figure out a way to have her in his life that wouldn’t interfere with his game. He knew he had to be careful with her after everything she’d been through and for now, he just wanted her to let him be her friend. He got the impression she could use one of those.
He sighed and closed his eyes, letting himself succumb to the post game exhaustion he was so familiar with.
* * *
The rest of their road trip was just as rough, and they’d started the season with three straight losses. No one was happy, and no one was playing well. It wasn’t anything new to them. Last season the Jackets started off on a losing streak. It took months for them to play themselves back into the playoff race.
It was late when the team got through customs at the Columbus airport and everyone was anxious to get home to their own beds. Luckily they had the next few games at home before heading out on the road again.
