Full Strength

Sixty Five-Logan🏒

        They'd turned the lights off, leaving the ice a deep shade of blue. With the lights sparkling, the crowd roaring, and the smoke billowing, we skated out. I followed Graham around the edge of the ice, my legs pumping. It was loud, like a freight train was running through the arena. The ice was fresh and untouched, the cold seeping through the layers covering my body.

        I loved it.

        The entire night was already feeling like a blur. Warm up, anthem, bench. Puck drop. Graham goal. Penalty on Adam. Penalty kill. Back and forth, like I was watching old tape but too tired to pay attention.

        Sitting on the bench with my stick between my knees, I let my gaze wander around the arena. There was Lillian, sitting right next to Eve, Nick, Lina, and the twins. They all seemed to be sharing a bucket of popcorn bigger than my head. A little further down, I found Adam's wife with their two girls. There were my own parents-I'd missed them in a row above my sister. I looked back at the ice; we were still in the defensive end. How long had this shift lasted?

        "Approaching two minutes," Coach Jay grumbled, answering my question. He often talked to himself during games. It had taken me a while to learn how to tune it out at the right time.

        Finally, Adam cleared the puck, allowing a change. Graham sat down beside me, breathing hard and looking up at the jumbotron. Without realizing it, I'd missed three goals by the other team. 

        "What's wrong with you guys?" I asked, surprised. This wasn't our style of playing at all.

        He shook his head. "I don't know. We can't get momentum on anything. We can't even enter the zone, for crying out loud." He was just as frustrated as I was. Probably more so, since he was the one actually playing like this. 

        "Crowd isn't helping either," I muttered, looking up into the stands. The arena was as quiet as my living room. Everyone was looking pretty dejected considering we were barely halfway through the first period. We were the top seed in the first game; it should've been electric in here despite the quality of play.

         The first went by with us still down by two goals. The locker room was tense, even with Graham trying to reset the mood. Coming back out to the ice, we were welcomed with the roar of the crowd. I wondered if they realized just how important they were to the game. Statistically, we were only a winning team at home. Our fans made the difference, and if they chose not to show up....

          Another reason the playoffs are hard: it's not your normal fans. It's the filthy rich in the stands, the people who won't rip off their shirts and scream out their vocal cords to help you win. 

          Sure enough, the second was unfolding exactly like the first had. Now we were down by three. During a commercial break, Graham skated over and asked Coach Jay what to do. 

           "I'll do it," Graham offered. I'd missed the first part of the conversation. 

           "No way. None of you are starting a fight. Especially not you," Coach Jay said sharply. "I need you on the ice, not in the box."

           "Then put Logan in," Graham suggested, almost daring him to shoot down the idea.

           Me? That was a terrible idea. I was ready to play, sure, but I hadn't played a real game in months. A playoff game was out of my league right now. Maybe if it were opening night, I could manage, but this was asking too much of me.

          I didn't like how Coach Jay was not immediately shooting the idea down.

          "Graham!" I hissed. What has he done?

          "After next commercial break, I want you in for Preston," Coach Jay said, but Graham was already shaking his head.

        "Use him on a breakaway. As soon as you see that we have control, that we're going to head back to the offensive zone, switch him out," Graham said.

         That was maybe the second dumbest idea I'd ever heard, which he seemed to be full of tonight. For starters, it was hard to get a breakaway like that with no one watching. The timing would have to be perfect-on everyone else's part, not mine. The only good thing about this plan was that I had the freshest legs, meaning I'd get a good start.

        "Okay. Logan, be watching." Coach Jay was already telling Morrows and Evan the plan, letting them know that I'd replace one of them once we got control of the puck. Sitting on the bench, with my stick between my legs and my knees against the back of the boards, I felt very unprepared. Also very responsible for the fate of the game.

         The puck drop was in the defensive zone. As I'd suspected, we lost the faceoff, the puck going to the point. Then it was shoved in deep, where Graham challenged the center by pinning him to the glass. The puck was lost in a sea of skates, then chipped back again.

         There it was. Graham was half a step ahead of his defender; just enough to ensure that he would come away with possession. Morrows dashed to the bench from his position at the point, letting me jump on the ice. As soon as I landed, Graham flung the puck all the way back from behind the goal. It was the best pass of his life, neatly hitting my stick as I entered the zone.

        While it had been a stealthy play, my actions hadn't gone unnoticed. As soon as I'd hit the ice, the crowd had burst into cheers, then screamed as they realized just how far ahead I was. The other team hadn't exactly caught on right away-they were looking around trying to figure out what was so significant.

        Only one defender even came close to chasing me, and he was still on the other side of the ice trying to play tentative defense. I poured on the speed, my legs pumping as I sprinted right down the high slot. I didn't even slow down as I approached  the goalie, scooping up the puck and throwing it right over his shoulder.

          "YEAH!!" I shouted as the horn blared in my ears, my voice drowned out in thousands of others. My arms were in the air, my smile enormous. This was what I lived for. This was the missing piece that I'd been craving all year. The flashing lights seared my eyes like fireworks, the world now a sparkling, glittering sea of bright red. Breathing hard, I was feeling unstoppable, like a real-life superhero.

           I shouted again as Graham slammed me against the glass in a hug, his excitement at an all-time high. Then Evan, Christopher, and Charlie joined in the hug, cheering for me like I'd just won the most important game of our lives and patting the back of my helmet. Adrenaline was still running through me, causing me to smile so wide it felt like my face would tear in half. Turns out I'm still a pretty amazing hockey player.

           Just like that, I'm back on top of the world.

A/n: Guys we're almost at the end of the book *sob* only a couple chapters left.