Two Minutes for Hooking

Chapter 5

Beachball: Item a goalie can't stop when he's not playing well. (The Complete Hockey Dictionary)

James

I don't know why I didn't say anything or ask about the other pictures on her wall. The ones that would put a definite damper on any potential relationship between us. The ones proclaiming her a part of the U18 select camp. The camp where they selected our future Olympic athletes.
It's not that I was surprised, not really. The way she played was as good as any forward on our team. She was incredible. But the fact that she was on the olympic track was a potential issue. I didn't want to just mess around. I wasn't that kind of guy. Frivolity wasn't really in my nature. I had to remind myself she was one of 72 women in that camp, the odds that she was a member of the olympic team were fairly low. But if she was on that track, she was every bit as serious about hockey as I was. And unfortunately it was much harder to make a career in womens hockey. The nasty truth was that there were too many small leagues that didn't pay shit, and even with the NHL's help, they didn't quite have a womens league that was similar to the NWSL. Even though they deserved it.
It was on it's way. Over the past couple of years since the women won gold, they had been making incredible strides toward a fair league. In case you couldn't tell, I sit solidly in the camp of womens hockey is amazing. Their natural grace and athleticism made them take to hockey like a fish to water. And when they worked to hone that talent, they could compete with anyone they set their minds to.
As I pulled into my driveway and parked. I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. I had liked this girl from afar for far too long to just let it go. I should be excited taht she had agreed to a date.
"Hey, I'm home." I called down the hall, tossing my keys onto the breakfast bar that we used as a table. I stopped in the doorway to Ryans room and leaned against the frame.
"Hey," he said, leaning back in his gaming chair and putting his headphones around his neck. "I would ask how it went but judging from your face I'm gonna say not good."
I sighed and moved into the room, sitting on the edge of his bed and pulling my hair through my hands.
"We're going out tomorrow" I narrowly dodged the water bottle he threw at my head as he laughed.
"Dude, that's awesome. But why the long face? I thought that was what you wanted?" he quirked an eyebrow at me.
"I do, and it's great. But I found out she's part of the U18 select."
His eyes widened, "no shit, olympic huh?" he let out a low whistle. "Damn bro, that sucks. But she agreed to go out with you, so that says something, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. But she is obviously as serious as I am and the last thing I want to do is hold her back. It's harder for her, you know? I don't want to ruin anything."
"Ok, you need to step about 300 paces back. It's just a date." He leaned forward, his dark eyes boring into mine. His jaw set and eyebrows raised as he called me out on my utter ridiculousness.

  "You're not getting married, you didn't knock her up, and you didn't get her caught in some ridiculous scandal that neither of you are likely to be a part of in the worst of times. So settle the fuck down."
"You know your no bullshit manner is a pain in the ass right?" I said as I threw the water bottle back at him. This was the side of my roommate that few knew. In the locker room he was almost always silent. sitting in the corner of the room with his headphones on taping and retaping his stick. Anyone who approached him before a game would get nothing out of him but a scowl. 

I asked him about it once and he said focusing his eyes on the repetitive motion of the tape helped him to focus and get into "the zone." He felt he played his best when he didn't focus on anyone or anything but the tape in his hands. I don't know if that was necessarily true or not as I wasn't stupid enough to test the theory. Goalies were weird, I just never said that to their faces. 

Ryan was definitely no exception. Most of the guys on the team were too afraid to talk to him. He usually sat there with his tape and a scowl and let everyone think he was an asshole. He wasn't though, not really. In reality he was a grumpy teddy bear. He bent over backwards to make his girlfriend happy. Which was definitely a feat, that girl was never happy with anything or anyone. He was patient and a real mentor to Rush even if he grumbled about it. 

I wouldn't lie though, sometimes I used his grumpy exterior to my advantage, which he knew. Whenever I needed the guys to fall in line without asking too many questions, I would ask Ryan to help. It was rare that I needed it though, I wouldn't have been named captain if I couldn't get the guys to listen to me. 
"Noted." He caught it easily, his goalie reflexes were obviously still honed. "But am I wrong?"
Not wanting to admit that he was, likely, right, I scowled, flipped him off and left his room to the sound of his laughter.

I was gassed but I was still too anxious to sleep so i did what I always did when I needed to find some focus. I got online and pulled up the game feed from tonights game. 

Seeing how shaky McDuffy was made me wish all over again that Ryan wasn't injured. I knew it wasn't his fault, injuries happened, but we needed him. As long as he kept up on the physical therapy and whatever training he was cleared for, he would likely be cleared to play by the end of the month. But in the meantime, it was looking like I was going to have to talk to coach to see what we could do. I knew McDuffy's family put a lot of money toward the team and that made the owners happy but he just wasn't the right caliber goalie for this league. It might be time to see waht Rush could do, Maybe i would talk to Ryan as well and see if he could work with Rush a bit to get him up to speed. 

Rush had a lot of raw talent but he was lacking the maturity. Coach never wanted to play him because he was afraid he would repeat the same crap he pulled in practice. Which was to start figure skating in full gear around his end of the ice because he was bored. Or serenading both sides during a faceoff. He was a good kid, he volunteered a lot with the younger hockey players in the community and he tutored at the local high school. If he could find a way to channel that same dedication and maturity into his playing, he might be able to take the crease when Ryan aged out at the end of the season. 

Whenever i watched tape, i had to focus my attention on the rest of the team first before evaluating my own play. if i just watched myself i would become so focused on all of my mistakes that i wouldn't notice the plays as a whole or see how the opposition pulled off the maneuvers they pulled off. I knew i was extra hard on myself but sometimes that was what you had to do in order to be the absolute best that you could be.

Finally, when my eyes could barely stay open any longer, i turned off my computer, took a quick shower and then went to bed. 

My dreams were filled with Jocelyn. At times the dreams were so visceral i was sure they were real. But then i would wake up and realize i was alone in my bed and go back to sleep slightly disappointed. 

After too many dreams and not near enough sleep, the sun crept through the windows enough to let me know it was a half way acceptable time to be up. I dressed in my running shorts and a team teeshirt, grabbed my gym bag and hopped in my truck to go to the gym.