Trout snorted again.He clapped Ben on the shoulder as they headed out to the rink.
Progress at last.Trout was a hard nut to crack, mostly because the primary characteristics he displayed on a day-to-day basis (misanthropy and mistrust of everyone under the age of forty) didn’t invite friendly overtures.He’d also been hoping for the job Ben ended up getting, so he treated Ben with veiled hostility and gave him constant unasked-for tips, making Ben’s fake job as a coach that much harder.Trout had played a few seasons in the nineties but retired early after a rotator cuff injury, and he appeared to miss the slower pace and higher aggression of his playing career.Ben had invested two months of research into the game, and if he could grasp the concept “speed and finesse good, breaking skulls bad,” surely it shouldn’t be too much for an actual professional coach.However, Trout’s solution to changes in the game was to work the D-core till they cried every time he got the chance, leading to constant exhaustion and, in Easton’s case, chronic knee pain.No GM in their right mind would hire him on as head coach.
Then again, the Sea Lions’ GM, Martin Pulvermacher, had hired Ben to solve his coaching problem and had handwaved his shoddy credentials to the press, so sanity had nothing to do with his staffing choices.
Ben had been trying to get Trout to trust him for three months now.Bonding over Trout’s lack of respect for his charges counted as a step in the right direction.
On the ice, a fight broke out.Ben suppressed a groan.Why were hockey games like this?It was Crowler, too, the team captain.Heneverfought.Watching his wildly flailing arms, Ben figured he had good reason to avoid it.“What the—”
“Oh, shit,” Edwards, the offensive coach, hissed, as Jaxon Grant and another Arches player joined in.
Easton barreled into the fray.He succeeded in separating Crowler from the man he’d been trying, and failing, to hit.But within seconds, he crashed to the frozen ground, his leg angled all wrong, and when he tried to stand up, it gave way under him.
Ben winced.
At the mouth of the tunnel, Crowler and Grant handed Easton off to Trout, who supported him toward the trainers to evaluate the injury.Ben doubted the news would be good.
He gave the refs a few minutes to decide on penalties, then reshuffled the lines on the ice so someone would be doing Easton’s job.When the game resumed play, he followed the others down the tunnel.
Easton sat, propped up on an examination chair, his bare leg stretched out in front of him in a position that made his quads even more impressive.Unfortunately, his wincing ruined the whole tableau.
“Verdict?”Ben asked Trout under his breath.
“ACL,” Trout said, not bothering to lower his voice.“Already operated on once three years ago.Not sure how bad it is.It’s too swollen to tell, but he’s not playing the rest of this trip.”
Easton glared daggers at Trout, and rightly so.He sounded unbearably smug.
“Guess we’ll have to call someone up,” Ben said.
“Mm.”Trout took his phone out of his pocket.“Lemme check the roster.”
In the instant before he pulled out the AHL team roster, Ben caught sight of the page Trout had been on before.Ben didn’t know the URL, but he had a distinct feeling he’d only be opening it in an incognito tab when he looked it up later.
It was a shame Easton had gotten hurt, but at least Ben finally knew where to start his research.
Chapter One
Kayleigh [off-screen]: This is Ask a Lion, your exclusive behind-the-scenes in with the San Francisco Sea Lions.I’m Kayleigh, your friendly local PR rep, and I’m here with Phil Easton, defenseman, alternate captain, and, I’m told, a pretty awesome grill master.Phil, what made you want to become a hockey player?
Phil: Uh, I don’t really know.I was an active kid.My parents tried me with soccer, baseball, track and field.Hockey was the one that stuck.When my coach told me I could go somewhere with it, I thought, “Why not?”And here I am.
Kayleigh: So the path to the pros was straightforward for you?
Phil: [laughs] Not at all.I nearly gave up…so many times.
Kayleigh: Why?
Phil: Not many guys like me in the NHL when I was growing up, you know?
Kayleigh: Oh, yeah, of course.So what made you stick it out?
Phil: I think I was about sixteen?Seventeen?I played in Kelowna for Juniors, and I’d never been away from home for so long.And there was a Black kid in the stands, about yea high, and he had a homemade Easton jersey.And I thought, you know, maybe if I make it, that kid won’t feel the way I did.
Top comments:
sealions4lyfe: Easton confirmed most boring man in the NHL
seelionssaylions: @sealions4lyfe—Not with Crowler around he isn’t.
