His eyes meet mine, but he stays quiet.
“ Carter, I’m gonna make you a deal, okay? As long as you keep skating like you do, and scoring like you do? I’ll make sure you keep having the chance to. Deal?”
I hold out my hand to shake. He looks at me hesitantly, and I can tell he’s not convinced. After a long pause, he holds out his hand, too.
“Deal.”
CHAPTER NINE
JAMIE
September turns to October,and before I know it the regular season has begun. With this, we lose some of the guys from camp — Matthews and I stay up, but Finn, predictably, gets sent to Des Moines to grow and develop.
For the first time since I got off my flight in Minneapolis, I’m feeling good about my place on the team. After Dallas, we continued to string together a series of strong games through the end of the preseason. Tremblay’s directions to the team in that locker room seem to have stuck, and as the wound on my head heals over, it feels like I’m finally a part of the team.
Unfortunately, we are starting the season on a road trip — St. Louis, Detroit, and Columbus. The flight to St. Louis is a quick one — so quick it feels a little insane to even bother with a plane. With the extra time, Coach calls a team meeting before we board.
“Alright, guys. I think we can all agree that we saw some improvements during the preseason. Now we’re going to be going up against the best of the best, and we’re going to have to get even better. Don’tforget what your captain said in Dallas — things are only gonna get harder now.”
If I’m not mistaken, Gagnon is cracking his knuckles while looking at me. Thank God he’s on my side.
“I’ve got some tape pulled up on iPads for you guys to review on the flight. Kovalenko, I need you to check out the fake out this kid in St. Louis keeps pulling. He embarrassed five goalies with it in the preseason; don’t be the sixth.”
“Yes, Coach.”
“Cap, I’m gonna ask you to walk through St. Louis’s defense with Carter. I want you two to come up with a game plan for managing them.”
My eyes widen a bit at that. Tremblay and I have not had the active antagonism from early in the preseason, but our interactions are still incredibly awkward.
“Yessir, Coach.” Tremblay says obediently.
I guess he’s not as surprised as I am — or at least not unwilling.
Coach goes through the rest of the team, making assignments — Lindy and Matty are watching goalie tape, Gagnon is analyzing the new left winger and finding ways to shut him down.
As we walk out to the plane, I find myself a little grateful for Coach’s assignment. I’d fallen into the habit of sitting with Finn and some of the other rookies who've gone down to Des Moines. Without them around, I’d have had to figure out a new seatmate — now, I can put that off for at least another day.
Tremblay sits toward the front of the plane, and I sit down next to him.
“You good with the aisle seat?” He asks, again surprising me with his consideration.
“Uh, yeah. That’s fine.”
“Sorry you have to sit up here with the old guys — I know it’s probably more fun in the back.”
“Oh, no, that’s ok. I, uh, look forward to your insight on the defense.”
“My insight, huh?” His look is sardonic, as though he knows I’m bullshitting him.
I snort a laugh.
“Pull that iPad out. I don’t want to get in trouble with Coach.”
He laughs, but does what I ask. On the iPad, we find a series of videos of St. Louis’s defense.
First, there is a series of clips of their top d-pair. I expect to see film of them blocking shots or stealing the puck, but no – it's just shots of them passing to one another.
“Um, do you think Coach picked the wrong film?” I ask Tremblay, still struggling to see the value in this.
