Toe Pick (Being Redone)

At The Arena

After the national anthem concluded, Travis hopped over the boards and slowly gilded towards center ice with his linemates. Travis was a left winger whose main goal on the line was to put the puck in the net. Then there was the team's center, Connor Ashton. Connor was about Travis's height and was incredible in the defensive end of the ice. The final player on Pinewood's top line was Nick Callahan. Nick was already 6 foot 3 inches as a freshman. His job was simple, get Travis the puck.

Once everyone was set at center ice, Travis glared at Kevin McCown as the ref prepared to drop the puck to start the game. Then it happened, the ref blew his whistle and dropped the puck and the first game of the season was underway. Aspen High took the first possession of the puck and the five players in white, navy blue, and gold came flying towards the Pinewood goal. Travis quickly skated to where McCown was and carefully blocked the passing lane to Kevin McCown. Then, the Aspen High center, who appeared to be a freshman, sent a pass towards the now covered Kevin McCown. Travis tipped the pass out of the zone and the crowd inside Crombeen Arena cheered as Travis's shift was over and he skated back to the bench to change players.

Once Travis sat down on the bench, Coach Miller walked over and began to talk to Travis.

"That was a nice play in the D-Zone Travis, but you've got to lock McCown down more, that pass almost got through," Coach Miller concluded as turned to watch the game.

"Yep Coach," Travis replied as the players were once again getting ready to change.

Once the players began to change, Travis hopped over the boards and skated to his defensive zone to defend against the oncoming rush from Aspen High. Once again, Travis skated right up next to Kevin McCown and prepared to defend him. Unfortunately, McCown had already collected the puck and was beginning to break towards the goal. Travis raced back and poked the puck off of McCown's stick to the delight of the fans in Crombeen Arena. The puck slid into the corner of the rink and Travis and McCown raced after it. McCown got to the loose puck first but Travis was right on his back, repeatedly poking at the puck and knocking McCown around in the corner. Kevin McCown was clearly getting frustrated with Travis's pressure and the fans in the building knew it and they began to cheer. The Pinewood bench was also shouting encouragement at Travis.

But, before he knew it, Kevin McCown's glove came up and drilled Travis in the nose and the arena blew up in boos and anger as the ref allowed the play to continue. McCown took advantage of Travis's interrupted pressure and he skated to the front of the net. McCown, now unpressured, fired a shot towards the goal and it slipped past Alex and into the net, giving Aspen High a one goal lead. Crombeen Arena launched into a chorus of boos as McCown celebrated while Travis skated to the bench. As he did, McCown turned to Travis.

"Hey Fresy, you've got a lot to learn," McCown mocked as Travis sat down on the bench.

Travis glared at McCown as the play began again with about three minutes left in the first period. As the clock wound down to about 30 seconds, Travis hopped over the boards and flew down the ice towards the Aspen High zone, finally getting his first bit of offensive zone time in the whole game. Travis collected a pass from Junior Austin Rowe and he drove toward the goal. As he did, McCown stepped up to try and steal the puck. Travis deftly stickhandled around him and fired a shot that rocketed into the net. The arena roared and cheered as Travis was mobbed by his teammates. As Travis skated to the bench, he turned to McCown,

"Hey big guy, you've got a lot to learn," Travis smirked as McCown's face went red with rage.

After a few seconds, the 1st period ended and Travis made his way to the Pinewood dressing room. After a short intermission, the two teams were back out on the ice for the second period. The second period flew by with hard hits and rough, chippy play. Both teams rarely had any possession of the puck because both teams were suffocating on defense. The main highlight of the second period came at about the 5 minute mark when Nick Callahan checked an Aspen High player up over the boards and into the Aspen High bench. The third period came and went, just the same as the second, but with even more physicality. As the horn ending the third period sounded, each and every player sore, tired, and ready to get a win.