“We could learn a lot from studying their infantry formations!” Paul Roy shouted from his stall on the far wall.
“Can someone please explain to me what Roman infantry has to do with hockey?”
Pauly shook his head. “You just aren’t ready to think outside the box.”
“Thinking outside the box? What is this, a multi-level marketing scheme?” Mitch shot back.
Matt Lee poked his head into the locker room. “Wait, what do you guys think about me selling essential oils? My sister does it and makes bank.”
The response was loud and unified: “No!”
“I like your boyfriend.”
Jamie glanced over at Emils, whose face flushed pink, like maybe he hadn’t meant to say something out loud. “Sorry,” the younger Swede continued. “I talked to him about music at your party and he is very nice. Good taste. Nice hair.”
“Great hair,” Onni chimed in, nodding. He was already in his pads, staring out at the room from his stall with solemn stoicism. “Much too cool for you.”
“What the hell, Onni?” Jamie looked over at the rookie goalie, indignant. “You live for free in my basement, you’d think you’d be nicer to me!”
Onni shrugged. “I am nice. I also tell truth.”
The guys around him laughed, and Jamie felt like he was finally releasing a breath he’d been holding. He was back with the boys, where he belonged.
The team made their way to the ice where they were joined by the coaches. Jamie skated in aimless circles, testing his edges andreminding his body of the weight of his gear, the feel of his stick in his hand.
The drills were second nature. He started slow, gradually working his body up to full speed and effort. Sweat beaded under his helmet, and he went by the bench to grab a drink before he lined up against Carter to work on corner puck battles.
On the whistle, they skated hard to the corner. Jamie’s body hit the boards and he turned, trying to get his stick in position to win the puck.
Carter was huge, taller and broader than Jamie, and he used every advantage he had to push Jamie out of position. Jamie worked his skate in, trying to kick the puck toward his stick.
“You wish, old man,” Carter growled, but there was humor in his voice.
“Spoke too soon,” Jamie shot back, right as he dug his stick in and scooped the puck out.
Carter groaned. “I hate how good you are.”
Jamie threw his hands up and laughed. “I’m on your team, man!”
They circled up to review their face-off sets, taking a knee around the whiteboard Coach Hollister had wheeled out onto the ice.
“Some knees are not made for kneeling,” Ollie muttered under his breath beside him.
Jamie nudged him in the shoulder. “Focus up. You’ve had some good chances to score off the face-off, especially if you get position in front of the net.”
Ollie turned his attention to their coach, and Jamie smiled.
He was so fucking back.
Practice had ended, but Jamie wasn’t done. After his time off, he needed the extra minutes on the ice, the extra reps with the puck.He could push himself today, and still have plenty of time to recover before he was back on the ice.
It was their last practice before their Christmas break–the whole league took off for three days, and then after the holiday the team would be hitting the road for two quick away games–Dallas and Chicago–before coming home for the Winter Classic.
Jamie made his way around the rink, gathering all the pucks in the center of the ice. Grabbing one on his stick, he practiced his stickhandling through the pucks, doing his best not to hit any of them. He wove his way back and forth, building speed as he began to feel more comfortable. His hand had felt good throughout practice, and even now any lingering discomfort was barely noticeable.
He heard someone fall in behind him, but he ignored them. After he came out the other side, he turned and saw Ollie, Bailey, Matty, Victor, Emils, and Carter had all gathered around the center circle.
Jamie felt a wave of pride. “Go on then,” he said, pointing his stick to a few loose pucks at the edges. “Grab a puck and follow along.” He looked down the ice, and saw Anders and Onni still running drills in the crease. “Maybe we can rope in a goalie to stick around.”
