“Fuckkkk,” Wahl rumbles unhappily upon rising to his feet.
“You’re still a fucking beauty!” shouts one of the Goonie Tunes.
“Such a fucking beauty!” echoes his brother.
“That shit is wayyyyyy harder than it was in the minis,” he snickers during his return, dusting away the ice in the process.
One by one, the team takes turns wheeling.
Sliding.
Swiping.
And one by one, players miss.
Bounce it off the post.
Laugh and shake their heads at the perceived failures.
Get back to the group and assist in cheering on the next player.
“Come on, boys!” Coach cackles from the opposite end of the rink. “We need one!” Bronny collects the puck from near the net. “We just need one!”
“Ten-dyyyyyyy!” Matty howls with a hit to my back. “You got this!”
“Bring us that dub, Grofffeeee!” Frosky instantly joins in.
“Nu vot,” Cap begins nodding, boyish grin growing, stick taps continuing. “Nu vot! Nu vot! Nu vot!”
His fired-up nature naturally spreads to the rest of the team – despite them having no idea what he’s saying, which is just “here we go”.
I happily welcome the energy…the vibe…turn their taps into a tuneskie and let everything else fade away exactly as I would if I were between the pipes.
Getting a small rush up to the blue line aids in the diving part for the foam obstacles.
Cold air unforgivingly slaps my face.
Motivates me to keep moving.
Keep pumping.
Get lower to the ground.
Sticks taps continuously thunder around the rink acting like the applause of a packed barn stomping and clapping along to the Queen classic I always look forward to hearing.
Waiting a bit longer to flop to my stomach to glide underneath the bar gives me the additional distance needed to not only get to the puck while it’s still soaring but to flick it back towards the net where it hits the crossbar and drops dramatically into the white, knotless nylon.
“Gooooallllll!!!!!” Coach excitedly shouts and throws both arms into the air.
“Gooooallll!!!” the boys immediately repeat prior to banging their sticks even harder, the vibrations actively shaking my chest right alongside my laughter.
Man, I love what I do.
And who I do it with.
And for.
And I know – without a single doubt – thatthis seasonis going to bethe best seasonyet.
