AAOOOSC! #10

Chapter 1: "Yeah!"

In the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sidney Crosby is practicing with his good friend, Jonathan Quick. They are both wearing their team's' practice jerseys: Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings, respectively.

Sidney is standing in the empty arena on centre ice with the light mainly shining on him. He narrows his eyes at the target determinedly, mentally sketching out his plan of attack.

The puck, a few feet away from him, waits for him to move it according to his will.

Beyond the puck is the one who stands in Sidney's way: the goalie, Jonathan.

Jonathan is standing up with his back against the crossbar, also waiting for his friend to make a move.

With a nod of his head at the goalie, Sidney begins to push out toward the puck.

He swiftly scoops it into his stick's blade while passing it and smoothly cradles it while nearing the goalie.

Jonathan gets into his stance and follows the swaying puck with his eyes. He sees the puck a good foot away from him, yet still in the skater's possession.

Sidney pulls the puck away from the goalie, greatly toward his right. Jonathan follows the route and slides toward the puck, landing in the butterfly position.

Sidney then swiftly passes the puck over to the left side, regains possession of it, and backhands it with a clean arch into the net.

"GOOOAAALLL!" a booming, little-kid-like voice echoes from the tiny frame of the scorer.

Filled with gaiety, he skips away from the net and raises his hands and stick into the air with a humongous smile etched on his face. He imagines the goal horn of the Penguins ringing through the atmosphere; the fans' chants and shouts of excitement; his teammates' celebrations with him.

"Good job, Sid," Jonathan mutters to himself as he slowly gets up. He turns around and pushes the puck out from the net.

Sidney skates up to him and brakes next to him. "You just experienced the doom of every goalie!"

"Yeah, and it wasn't the first time." Jonathan mutters as he pulls the goalie mask up from his face to take a squirt of water.

"Don't feel bad, Jonny--" He pats his padded arm. "--you're not the only one who fell in my trap."

"One day--" Jonathan slips his bottle back into the bottle holder. "--one day I'll figure out how to stop that shot of yours, Sid."

"Would you be able to stop my radical shots as well, dude?" a familiar, lax, deep voice says from off the rink.

The two hockey players look to the left to see who talked. They spot Patrick Kane on the bench along with his friend and right-hand ruler of the NHL, Jonathan Toews. They are both suited up for hockey with Blackhawks practice jerseys.

"Hey, Patrick! Hey, Jonathan!" Sidney greets happily, raising his hand in the air. He skates over to him, braking next to the boards they are standing behind in. "What brought you guys here?"

"Ah, I was talkin' with Nemo man and he told me that you gnarly dudes were practicin', so I decided to come along with Tazer dude." Patrick indicates Toews by nudging him with his elbow.

"And yeah, we're here!" Toews nervously chuckles with a shrug. He then slaps Patrick's elbow seriously as a way of telling him not to nudge him.

"Awesome! Come along!" Sidney glides back deeper into the ice; the two friends follow after him.

"Oh great," Jonathan murmurs while slipping his mask back over his face. "Two more skaters. Just what I needed." He gazes to the benches again, this time seeing Nashville Predators' goalie, Pekka Rinne, stepping into the arena, wearing a Predators practice jersey.