The puck hit the NRU logo on my chest protector dead center.I collapsed my shoulders, trapping it against my body like a precious stone.
No rebound.No drama.
The crowd erupted like I’d roofed a breakaway, but I barely nodded.I dropped the puck to the ref’s hand and tapped my posts.
Boring, Harper had said.Make it boring.
I realized what she meant.“Exciting” meant you were out of position.“Exciting” meant you were recovering from a mistake.“Boring” meant you had already solved the equation.
Second period.
We generated offense.Ryan deflected a point shot for a goal, ugly but effective.Morales scored on a wrap-around, stuffing it past their goalie’s skate.
2–0.
Students pounded on the plexiglass behind me, screaming my name.
I ignored them.I used the stoppage to smooth the snow in my crease, scraping the blue paint clean.Calm eye of the storm.
Stonehill answered late.
They set a screen—a massive forward parked right in my vision.
My instinct screamed:Look around him!Bob your head!Find the puck!
I tried to look around.I shifted my head left, then right, trying to find the release point.
Mistake.
Austen’s voice:Saccadic suppression.If you move your eyes fast, you go blind.
Because I was moving my head, I missed the release frame.The shot came from the point.I never saw it.
I heard theclackof the stick, thepingof the crossbar, then the roar of the Stonehill bench.
2–1.
I didn’t smash my stick.I didn’t yell at my defenseman for the screen.I knew exactly why that puck went in.My eyes had been too noisy.
I took a drink of water.I reset my stance.I tapped both posts—left, right.Constants.
Intermission.
The tunnel smelled of rubber mats and adrenaline.I walked with my head down, conserving energy.
Dalton met me outside the locker room.He checked the tape tension on my shoulder.
“Shoulder?”he asked.
“Functional.”
“Keep it that way.Don’t be a hero in the third.Be a mechanic.”
I sat in my stall and didn’t look at my phone.I closed my eyes and visualized the north end.The gray coat, the glasses, the guy who calculated vectors to keep me calm.
He’s there, I told myself.He showed up.
Third period.
