𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒉 | ᴹᴰᴳᶜ

TRACK FIVE: Livin' On A Prayer

We were all watching our games tapes on the TV at the Ice Palace.

"Guys, come on now. Don't get discouraged, okay? That's why we watch the game tape– to get better." Alex told us.

"I never should have come out of my basement." Koob said. "I mean, I was safe there. I had a chair with cup holders." I tried not to laugh at his comment.

"It's like a masterclass in sucking." Nick stated. "Come on, guys. No judgment, okay?" Alex said. "Just positive, constructive feedback." I fake laughed.

"Yeah, nice shot, other team." I muttered, sarcastically, earning a laugh from Logan beside me.

🏒

"Alright, here we go. Ice practice." Alex announced. We got onto the ice and started practicing our shots. Evan and I were the only ones who actually made goals.

Then a guy came onto the ice with the zamboni. I rolled my eyes because it was pretty clear it was in use. "Who the hell do you think you are?" I asked. The man looked at me, and my eyes widened. "Oh my God, I know who the hell you are." He was Gordon Bombay. The Gordon Bombay. Alex walked over to him and spoke as I remained starstruck.

"Lilah?" Logan questioned. "That's– That's Gordon Bombay. Oh my God." I rambled. "Who?" "The Minnesota miracle man? The original 90s Mighty Ducks coach?" Logan shook his head, confused. "I think I might pass out, and this time it's not like a, "Oh, I haven't eaten" pass out. It's a, "Oh my God, that's Gordon Bombay," pass out."

I began to take deep breaths as Alex came over to us and told us to get out of his way. "Delilah, you alright?" She asked. "That's Gordon Bombay." I replied.

🏒

We've been trying to convince Sofi to join our team since we basically suck, but she won't budge. Evan even took her on a date. Well, he said it wasn't a date, but it definitely was.

Today, our game was against The Ducks, of course. I spent half of the game in the penalty box because I kept beating on the other players. The referee said if I got into one more altercation, I'd be disqualified.

Me being shoved in the box led The Ducks to have seventeen points and us to have zero. Alex flipped through her coaches notebook and found a new plan. She claimed she didn't write it, which means the Minnesota miracle man did.

I was let out of the box and quickly skated over to my spot at Maya, which gave me a quick run down of what I needed to do.

"Basically, just ram into number eight, but once he's down, don't keep beating on him. You need to score the goal." She said.

"Yes, ma'am." I replied, getting into my position as defense. The puck fell, and the whistle blew. Evan passed the puck to Lauren, who passed it to Maya. Sam and I stopped the other two players, and he covered for me as Maya passed me the puck, and I skated towards the goal.

I lifted my stick and slapped the puck as hard as I could. It soared through the air and just barely missed the goalie's glove, entering the goal and slamming into the net.

I cheered through my arms in the air as I skated over to Logan. "Did you see that?" I exclaimed. I hugged him tight before quickly breaking away. "Sorry." I murmured.

"It's alright. That was a nice shot!" He complimented. "Uh, thanks. You're getting better at this whole hockey thing. I haven't seen you fall once." "Oh, no, I have. You were just in the box." "Makes sense."

We skated over to the rest of the team and cheered at our first goal. Logan undid the lid of his water bottle and went to pour it on Alex.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" She asked. "I was gonna pour Gatorade on your head, like what they do with coaches?" He answered. "Aw, you guys, you're treating me like a real coach." She looked at Logan. "But that's okay. Maybe next time." She told him.

"Guys, I just wanna say, we've been thinking that maybe we don't belong in this league. And today, we got our first goal! It feels so good, and it's not much, but it's a start. I'm so proud, and maybe what we learned today is that we don't need anybody else. We've got strength already within ourselves. So, good job." Alex told us before Sofi entered back onto the ice and skated over to us.

"I can't be a Duck anymore. I'm in." She announced. "Oh, thank god. We need all the help we can get, right." Alex said. "I do wanna win, but not their way. You guys were right. I'd rather be a good guy." We started cheering when Logan poured the gatorade on Alex. "It's so cold!" She stated through a smile.