“You’ll be a free agent tomorrow!You can’t leave us!”
“Calm down.”Phil gestured around the garden as Hayes and his wife along with Vanderbilt, his wife, and their baby stepped out through the patio.Dmitriyev followed closely behind them, chatting to the new draft pick, a Russian forward.“Does this look like I’m leaving you?”
“But you haven’t said anything!And there haven’t been any updates on Instagram!”
“He has been checking all morning,” Luca said in a long-suffering tone.He appeared not to be worried about whether Phil had signed an extension.Nor should he be; his place with the team was more than secure.He’d put up twelve playoff points his first go-around.If the Sea Lions didn’t treat him well, the rest of the NHL would be pounding at his door.
“Let me get the grill fired up and—”
“No way, Phil.That will take you ages,” Tom interrupted.“Tell everyone now so we can get it over with, eh?”
Ben slipped out of the house in a gray T-shirt with a graphic of a cartoon hockey stick that had been snapped in half.The caption read, “Just my pucking luck.”Involuntarily, Phil smiled at him, and Ben smiled back.
“All right,” Phil said.“Is everyone here?”
“Yup!”Mooney called as he entered the garden around the side with the Swedes following hot on his heels.Far more interestingly, Mooney held hands with a woman with freshly dyed hair in pink, purple, and blue.Talk about punching above his weight.
“So, we have a special guest today,” Phil announced.
“Is it Mara?”Breezy asked, eyeing Mooney and his date with a mix of skepticism and glee.
Mara extended her middle finger at him lovingly.
“No, it’s your new head coach.”
Everyone swiveled to stare at Ben.
“Not me,” he said hurriedly.“My coaching days are over.I just live here.”
That raised a few question marks Phil had no interest in resolving.They were quietly out to Tom, Jax, and Breezy, and they acted the same as they always did around each other.Some guys had put two and two together; others didn’t want to see it.Phil didn’t need more fuss in his life.
“Is it you?”Luca asked Phil.“If you didn’t sign…”
Too clever for his own good, that one.
“Oh my God, this is so lame.”Charlie opened the door to the shed.“I’m sorry you had to wait in there for so long.”
“No problem.Hi, guys, nice to meet you.I’m Susannah Lindenberg.Your new head coach.”Susannah beamed around at everyone.She was of a height with Luca, shorter than most everyone else, and from her platinum-blonde, perfectly styled hair down to her meticulous outfit, she looked more like one of the WAGs than one of the staff.
When he found out who had gotten the job, Phil had spent an entertaining afternoon watching the highlights of her hockey career, first as a college athlete and then as an Olympian for Canada.She could teach Breezy a thing or two about legal checking, and her slapshot was vicious.
Luca recovered first.“It is a pleasure to meet you.”
The other guys followed suit, some with more grace than others.Susannah presented her professional and coaching history and her goals for the team.She and Phil had talked through this over coffee, so he knew there was more detail to it than “reliable defensive presence” and “Cup or bust,” but the Cliff notes were good enough for a pre-training-camp garden party.
Phil used the distraction to get the grill going, and by the time everyone had more or less acclimatized to the news, Ben had passed around drinks, and Charlie had introduced Mara to the WAGs.Phil wondered how she would get on with them as they obviously moved in very different circles.The team drifted into its usual configurations—the Scandinavians in a loose group by the patio chairs, the Russians by the shed, Hayes and Vanderbilt playing basketball with a few call-ups, while the younger guys congregated by the table.Howie talked Tom’s ear off about his summer, something to do with sustainable farming in Victoria, BC, versus rural Russia.Phil tried to listen but tuned out when Howie began describing how his family farm’s quarterly results compared to livestock farms near Minsk.Who knew the kid knew so much about Russian agriculture?
“If you’re not coaching, and you haven’t signed,” Breezy said when it was his turn to grab a burger from the grill, “what are you doing?”
“I never said I wasn’t coaching,” Phil said.“But I have nowhere near enough experience to be a head coach.”
“Who needs experience to coach?”Ben asked, coming up to pat at Phil’s shoulder.“Did you know Winnipeg actually offered me a gig as Special Teams coach even knowing the truth?They said if I could get Winnipeg into the playoffs, let alone the conference finals, they would keep me forever.”
Phil frowned and wrapped his free arm around Ben’s waist.“You’re not moving to Winnipeg.”
Ben kissed his cheek.“I’m not moving to Winnipeg.”
“Are you moving?”Breezy asked.“Did you sign somewhere else?Are you coaching Juniors?”
