Which is why Damon and I spent the last months working with the new owners of the team—because the previous ownerssold the steaming pile of shit that was the Sierra as soon as the news broke about Hiller’s toxicity—to clean house.
To keep only the players and staff who are committed to a competitive, healthy future that is built on family.
Not fucking taking what you want without care for others.
Not full of hazing and a toxic locker room.
Not dragged down by hiding bad behavior.
I hold myself to a gold standard and know so do the back and front office staff, and—more importantly—the players do.
I couldn’t have done it if the guys weren’t on board, if Damon wasn’t equally locked into the program, along with the new owners.
But now we’re starting the new season on a fresh note.
There are no hidden bad behaviors, no excuses made, no unsafe spaces that exist.
Now we just need to keep it that way.
I pause outside the doors to the locker room, hearing the guys talking inside, laughter punctuated with teasing, and know the camaraderie isn’t because of me, not really.
It’s Knox and Lake, Riggs and Leo, Colt and Storm. They’ve had my back from the moment I stepped into the head coaching job and they haven’t stopped.
And because of that, the other guys fell in line.
Because of that, our new players had a stable framework to step into.
Now we’re going to build on that.
Starting tonight.
I close my eyes, take a breath, push the intense off-season I spent working my ass off, the training camps and scouting trips, the time with our player development department, the practices and film I’ve studied, the line combinations I’ve tinkered with, the press conferences I’ve endured…I pushallof that aside.
Tonight I get to do my favorite thing.
Be on the ice and coach some fucking hockey.
Exhaling, I roll my shoulders, open my eyes, and reach for the handle just as my assistant coaches round the corner—Tommy, Dave, and Kaitlyn. Tommy and Dave focus on defense and offense, respectively, and Kaitlyn is a new addition who sees the big picture.
She’s fantastic and I cannot wait to see her grow.
But, for now, I have a team to focus on, a strategy to reinforce, a lineup to share?—
“I’m ready, Coach Joey!”
Or well, a lineup to pass off to an adorable little girl who’s decked out in full Sierra regalia and who is going to put the boys in their places.
Little Evie is a spitfire.
And I don’t just mean her bright red hair.
She’s boisterous and confident and so damned sweet I swear I’m going to get a cavity every time I talk to her.
She belongs to Ivy, the team’s strength coach—one of the women who was exposed to Hiller’s extremely unfortunate attention last season—and is recently adopted in all but paperwork by Knox, one of my best players.
She’s also become one of the team’s mascots.
Always energetic, that adorable personality, confidence for days…and thus, the perfect person to announce the roster for our first game of the season.
