“Yeah, I think the team needs to be more in sync.” I look at Eric, who nods. “They aren’t trusting each other on the ice, and it’s starting to show.” I look over at Cam to see if he’s going to repeat these words too, but he just leans back in his chair and rocks back and forth. “So I got a hold of a place where they do team-building exercises.”
“I’m not going to that,” Cam declares without waiting for me to tell him what it is.
“Why the fuck not?” Eric snaps out, looking at Cam.
“I just don’t think it’s a necessary activity,” he says. “I’ll make up an excuse that I have an appointment or something.” He shrugs.
“You think that’s a good idea?” I ask him and he nods his head.
“I’m skipping it.” He sits back up, crossing his hands on the desk. “I’ll hold down the fort here and work on the power play and power kill plays.”
“Sounds good,” I reply, turning to Eric. “Looks like it’s me and you.” I slap his shoulder and squeeze it, telling him it’s not worth it. He nods his head, avoiding looking back at Cam before we walk out of the office.
“That guy is a piece of—” I cut him off before he says something and someone reports it.
“To be honest, this wasn’t for him, or for us, it’s for them.” I point toward the locker room. “We have a game on Saturday, and we have to win it.” He just nods at me as we walk into the locker room.
“Guys,” I call out, my voice booms as everyone stops talking. “I know we are supposed to be on the ice in about an hour, but the bus is going to be here in twenty minutes,” I tell them and I see they are all sharing a look. “It’s nothing bad. So get to the kitchen and get some grub before we leave.”
Twenty minutes later, I’m the last one on the bus and I look over to Eric, who is sitting in the back with some of the rookies. I give him a chin lift as I sit in the front next to Jaxon, who is turned in his seat talking to Kirby and Knox. “So we have to know,” he says to me, “where are you taking us?”
“Disney,” I side-eye him, smirking, “the most magical place on earth.”
“I’ve been and it’s, in fact, not magical. It’s where parents go to die,” Knox states as I look out the window. “You think it’s magical until it’s past a naptime and your kid has a mental breakdown in the middle of the fucking sidewalk because she can’t get a Mickey Mouse ice cream,” he groans. “I refuse to take the kids back until they are old enough to not have a meltdown.”
“So, never,” Kirby jokes with him. “I’ll take them.”
“I will have them packed and ready to go,” Knox agrees, and I laugh. When we pull into the building, I get up from my seat.
“I know you guys are probably wondering where we are.” I look at everyone. “I thought that instead of on-ice practice, we could do some team-building exercises.” I clap my hands and the door to the bus opens. “Let’s go, people.”
We get off the bus and walk into the building where two men are there waiting for us. “Welcome.” They look at us and wait for the team to get in the front door before talking. Eric comes and stands next to me. “We’re excited for you guys to start.” He looks at the guys. “Let’s go to the first activity.”
I follow him into the first room, which is set up with aluminum plates all scattered around four separate workspaces. “Okay, I want you guys divided into the lines,” I tell the guys as everyone gets in their respective lines.
“This is where you are going to see if you trust your team,” the associate says. “I want all the guys to put on a pair of goggles.” The other guy holds out a basket as he passes them to each player. “And the guy in charge is going to guide you through the pathway. If you step on the plates, you have to start back at the beginning.”
The guys all line up, the first line has Jaxon leading them. The second line has Owen leading them. I stand back and watch as Jaxon starts and they all line up. His team holds each other’s shoulders while the other team puts the players on their shoulders. “That’s interesting,” I say as they work their way through the playing field. Lots of laughter fills the room and lots of frustration when it takes one line over thirty-five minutes to make it through. Owen’s team is the second to last place and they hate it. Each of them points the finger to the next person.
The next activity has each team putting their feet on two planks of wood with ropes being tied to them. Each player holds the rope in each hand. “The team that gets over the finish line first wins,” he tells the group of guys. “Easiest drill.”
Jaxon’s team has him in the front. Owen’s team has him in the front, the two of them are side by side. The whistle blows and Owen shouts out for his team to go right first, which is fine because they all lift their right foot but don’t really go ahead, while Jaxon leads his team with instructions to lift the foot and move forward. They easily get to the front first with Owen behind him, and he’s pissed to be behind Jaxon.
“See the cracks in the foundation?” Eric leans over and whispers to me and I nod my head.
“A couple of them I do,” I confirm, watching Owen and the guys I found in the office with Cam stand to the side and talk amongst themselves.
By the time we get back on the bus, half the team is laughing while the other half of the team is unsure. “Might be time to rework some of those lines,” I tell Eric when we get back to the arena.
The next day I show up early, and the press is there already setting up. “Hey, Coach,” a couple of them say as I walk to my office then to the other room where the whiteboard is.
“Hey.” Cam walks into the room. “What are you doing?” he asks as I look at the board.
“Going to switch up the lines,” I reply, and he looks at the board with me.
“You think that is a wise decision?” he retorts and I look over at him.
“If you had come with us yesterday, you wouldn’t ask that question.”
