Page 7 of Hockey Bois
Playing was fun.
Winning wasmorefun.
Personally contributing to that win? Definitelythe mostfun.
He’d done sports during high school, and in the back of his mind, he’d assumed this whole hockey thing would run the same way. He’d sign up for a team, they’d have practice, and there’d be a coach, or at least someone distinctlyin chargewho would make decisions.
Benns was captain and all that, but Nick was fairly certain that role was more to front the money for league fees and be the go-to guy between the commissioner and the team. Sure, Benns made the lines and wrote the team emails about upcoming games; he gave the occasional pep talk and appeared very captain-y when he talked to the refs. He was “in charge”… but that in no way stopped people from starting their own email chains or switching up lines on the fly.
Team practice? Definitely not a thing. Not only was there no (cheap) ice time available, no one seemed towantit. They showed up for games, talked in the locker room and on the bench, played some hockey, maybe downed a beer or two, and then went their separate ways. That was about as much time investment as people seemed to be ready to make, and a drastic contrast to how Nick had structured his own schedule while he was learning to play.
It made sense, really. In high school he’d done cross country, and aside from practice and homework, what the hell else was he doing? As a semi-functioning adult, he had work and other hobbies that he could devote his time to instead. For the rest of the team, hockey was just another hobby and maybe a source of weekly exercise.
“So practice on your own,” his cousin Terry said as he snatched the popcorn out of Nick’s hands. The movie hadn’t started yet, but an older couple a few rows down glared at him.
Nick and Terry ignored them.
“How the hell do I practice hockeyon my own?” Nick said. He reached for the popcorn, which Terry only allowed when he saw Nick was grabbing a handful instead of the whole bag. “It’s a team sport. I can’t practice passing by myself.”
“I thought you were still worried about skating,” Jenna said. “You can do that on your own. Plus you were doing all those clinics before; those have other people to practice with, right?”
“Yeah, and I’m still doing the clinics,” he said around a mouthful of popcorn. “It’s just hard to find time now that I’m playing games too.”
“Sounds like you’re making excuses,” Terry said. “You said there’s a rink, like, right by your house. Go on the weekends in the morning or something.”
“I run in the mornings.”
“Ew,” Jenna and Terry said in unison, weirding him out the same way it always did. Jenna and Terry weren’t even related, and yet no one would ever know it from how they acted. Jenna was his cousin on his mom’s side, and Terry on his dad’s, but they’d all been in each other’s lives so much that Nick hadn’t realized how everyone was or wasn’t related until he was nearly in high school.
Nick rolled his eyes at them. “Fine, I’ll go to a damn stick-and-puck to practice.”
“Every weekend,” Jenna said.
“After your run,” Terry added.
“Instead of your run.”
“No running. Skating only. Slow skating. Lazy skating. Really just sliding across the ice like a slip ’n slide would be ideal.”
“Seconded. Let’s remove skating altogether. No exercise.”
“How the hell are we related?” Nick grumped, not for the first time.
“Says the weirdo whoexercises,” Terry said and then dumped the remains of their popcorn into his mouth.
“So aside from this terrible ‘working out’ and ‘being in shape’ nonsense, how’s it going?” Jenna asked more seriously. “Is it everything you were hoping it would be?”
“Yeah, actually,” Nick said with genuine excitement. “I have a few assists, I almost got a goal, and I haven’t taken a penalty or gotten into a fight, so I must not totally suck.”
“Pssh tell me that when you have a hat trick.” She paused and whispered, “That’s a thing, right? Hat trick? I’m not making that up?”
Nick gave her a thumbs up.
“Or maybe get a goal,” Terry added helpfully. “Just one.”
“Thanks guys. Love you too.”
“The team any good?”
