The Hat Trick

chapter thirty three

we all sat at the bench, anxious about the shootout.

"Hall!" shouted coach. "you're up first. get on out there." Jesse looked at Bombay nervously and hopped over the boards.

"number 9 Jesse Hall will be first in this shootout." said one of the commentators. Jesse circled around the puck that the referee had just placed at center ice, then took off with it. he cradled it as he skated towards the goal, then took his shot.

the Iceland goalie tried to block it with his stick, but was too late. the puck made it into to the goal and we all cheered proudly at the bench.

next up for the shootout was number 74 for Iceland. he took a shot and made a goal past Goldberg.

the shootout score was tied 1-1 and my anxiety was building by the minute.

it was Guy's turn now. he skated carefully towards the goal and waited until the last second to take his shot. the puck went straight past Iceland's goalie and into the side of the net.

next, another Iceland player took a shot. Goldberg caught the puck perfectly with his glove, which was impressive because his glove side was always weaker than his stick.

Dwayne was next. to show off, he used his stickhandling skills to bounce the puck on his stick while he skated forward, but ended up missing the shot.

next was number 27 for Iceland, who took an aggressive slapshot that flew right past Goldberg. the goal tied the shootout once again, 2-2.

"Bradley!" shouted coach. I jumped a little. "get out there." he said with a smile. My stomach turned as I hopped over the boards and onto the ice.

I made a circle around the puck before taking off towards the goal. I skated pretty fast and tightly cradled the puck. I faked out the Iceland goalie and made a wrist shot that flew right into the top corner of the goal. everyone cheered as I proudly skated back to the bench.

a moment later, another Icelander took a wrist shot that went right past Goldberg, making the shootout score 3-3.

Banks was next up. I especially cheered for him, he meant a lot to me and was an amazing friend.

he stood at center ice and nodded at coach Bombay before skating off with the puck. Banks took a wrist shot and scored. "way to go Adam!" I cheered. He skated back to the bench with a smile on his face.

I looked down to the end of the bench and saw coach Bombay talking to Julie. then, I saw Julie get up and onto the ice as Goldberg skated off.

I cheered loudly, my voice shaky from anxiety.

once Julie got to her position between the pipes, Stahl skated slowly onto the ice. I could tell he was nervous. the referee dropped the puck in front of him, and he skated off towards Julie.

she watched closely to Stahl as he approached her, calculating his every move. he cradled the puck back and fourth.

when he took his shot, the entire stadium went silent.

did Julie catch the puck, or did it go past her? every player and spectator anxiously longed to know.

Julie tossed the puck out of her glove, and the crowd went wild. and of course, so did we.

"we won!" shouted Luis. "I know!" I yelled back.

that was it, we won!

exactly what I had came to do. not to get myself into a dumb hat trick, but to win.

we all skated onto the ice, then gathered around Julie. my team and I were the happiest people on earth as we celebrated our victory out on the ice.

this was the best moment of my life. and only one thing could make it even better.

in the middle of the wonderful chaos, I looked over to see Luis heading towards me.

"Hallie Janelle Bradley, I need to ask you a very important question."