One of the Boys

Chapter 7

Delaney

Tonight was my first game with the Marlies and I was extremely nervous. I mean sure, I always get nervous before every game but this one's a little different. Usually the nerves I have before every game disappear into the air the second I step foot out onto the ice.

"You okay Del?" Jason skates up behind me in our warmup line and asks. "Yeah, just got some extra nerves I'm trying to shake off. That's all." I reply giving him a warm smile. "Just take a deep breath, you're going to have a great game tonight." Jace replied smiling down at me.

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"Ready to kick ass out there partner?" Riley smiled nudging me with his elbow as we lined up on the blue line for the play of the national anthem. "Ready as I'll ever be." I smile. "Relax Lane, you've got this! And if anyone ever tries to kick your ass tonight, don't you worry cause I've got your back out there." He replies winking at me. "Thanks Riley."

When the national anthem was over, we lined up for the first puck drop of the night. Christ was taking the face off against the centre man for the Utica Comets as Casey played right wing as Jason was positioned himself in the left wing. Riley and I stationed ourselves on the left and right defence as Jack held down the fort in net.  

The ref blew his whistle before dropping the puck. Chris won the face off and played the puck back to Riley. Riley scanned the ice surface to see which of our teammates was open before he started skating up with the puck moving over to the red line. "Younger!" Jason shouted as Riley looked up and passed the puck across to Jace who moved into the Comet's zone.

I watched the play as I positioned myself just inside the blue line of the offensive zone. Three of our opponents were moving in on Jason pretty fast and he was going to lose the puck at any given moment.

"Jace!" I found myself shouting as he looked over in my direction. Without anymore hesitation, Jason passed the puck back to me on defence and the three players that were covering him began to disperse, two of them coming at me.

"What are you waiting for Dels? SHOOT!" Jason yelled as I raised my stick into shooting position. "Take a shot Lane!" Riley shouted from the other end of the blue line. I aimed towards my target and hoped for the best as I shot the puck and watched it fly through the air before my view of it was screened by all the bodies in front of the net.

After watching the scramble in front of the net for a couple of seconds, the ref blew the whistle and called it a goal. "Dels you did it!" Jason exclaimed as he, Riley and Casey skated up and surrounded me to celebrate. "Way to go kid!" Casey exclaimed. "That a girl Laney!" Riley smiled as we fist bump before going over to the bench to high five our team.

Maybe everything's going to be alright after all. These guys seem to be totally okay with having a girl in their team. "Good shift out there Chris." I smile at him before grabbing my water and spraying the content of it into my mouth. "Yeah thanks." He replied.

Second period was almost over and we were leading 3-1 thanks to the second goal I had scored on our power play. I watched from the bench as Lucas carried the puck into the offensive zone, scanning for an open teammate. "Delaney, you're up!" Coach said tapping me on the helmet. I quickly hopped over the boards and onto the ice, rushing right into the play.

"Far side, far side!" Casey yelled as Jason whipped a long pass across the ice to Casey's stick. Casey cradled the puck and skated around with it before he got stuck battling it out in the corner to regain puck possession. Before I could even think, I found myself hopping into the crowded corner to help Case out.

Once the puck was lose, I passed it across to Chris who was left wide open in front of the net ready to receive a pass. As I released the puck and watched it glide across the ice over to Chris's stick, I began to skate backwards towards the blue line in case the Comets defence catches the rebound. But there's no need for me to worry about that when I see Chris raise his hands in the air as the crowd erupts in cheer and the goal horn blared through the crowded arena.

"Nice goal man!" Jason exclaims as we go over to fist bump him and celebrate the 4-1 lead. "Nice play Delaney." Chris says. "Nice goal." I reply going to fist bump him but was quickly rejected as Chris turned towards the bench. "Good work Del" Jason smiled patting me on the back.

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Now halfway into the third and final period, the Comets had caught up to our lead by scoring two goals. "Hey, you good?" Jason asked looking over at me as I break my focus from watching the game and turn to him. "Yeah, I'm fine." I give him a fake smile. "Hey, don't be so hard on yourself about it. I can tell he's trying." Jason whispered in reply knowing exactly what was running through my mind.

Alright Delaney, you've got this. You can do it! Just skate down the ice with the puck and take it as far as you can go. I silently encouraged myself as I raced down the ice while stick handling the puck.

It was down to one on one when I passed the blue line into the offensive zone. I kept my head up as I continued to stick handle the puck before I faked a play as the defender followed my move. Once he moved towards the right where I fake him out, I quickly moved to the left and got around him. Now it was just me against the goalie.

Alright Lange, let's do this! I exclaim to myself silently as I wound up to take the shot. Once the puck flew from the blade of my stick and in the air towards the net, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. I watched as the puck flew over the goalie's shoulder and hit off the crossbar before trickling into the back of the net.

Holy shit! I silently freaked out as my team swarmed around me to celebrate my third goal of the night. "Lane, that was awesome!" Casey exclaimed tapping the top of my helmet. "Del, that was amazing! You just scored your first hat trick buddy!" Jason exclaimed. "Way to go girl!" Riley said.

Chris and the rest of the team stepped out onto the ice as the final buzzer sounded. We had just won 5-3 and I scored 3 of those goals. My team congratulated me on my first hat trick as we left the ice, all except for Chris who appeared to be a little bit angry about something.  I stop behind Casey as he gave the trainer the game puck so he could put a piece of tape on it with the date in memory of tonight's game I just played.