Power Play (Ragnarok on Ice)

Chapter 1 - Practice

Hi everyone - This is my first go on wattpad, so I figured I would start with my first novel. It's available on amazon, so if you like it I hope you check it out. I'll also continue to post chapters here randomly and would love feedback.

Jeremy

Welcome to Manchester, my home. Even though the town only has two bars, three stop lights, and most of the locals have lived here since the day they were born, it was a decent place to live. The real calling card however was it was a great place to play hockey. The local team, the Bears, had been here for years and on game nights everyone flocks to the arena. Not even a blizzard with a dash of ice for fun could keep our loyal following from coming out to the game last night. We beat the Admirals in overtime three to two.

It was a mixed bag of emotions for me though. I scored our second goal of the game late in the third period which is always gratifying. The goal, however, made me the all-time leading goal scorer in the Eastern Hockey League which meant I had been in the minor's way too long. Oh by the way let me introduce myself: my name is Jack Skelton, minor league hockey player extraordinaire and captain of the Bears. I've been here for three years now and before that I played nine years with the Huskies. A few times I was close to getting called up at the start of my career, but now as the years have gone by most pro teams wanted younger guys on the roster. Not someone like me who at this point is the old dog that can't learn any new tricks.

I love hockey though, that is why I keep playing. Right before the Huskies traded me off, I got called into the general manager's office with an offer of a different sort. He wanted me to retire from the game and start coaching. The head coach at the time was even prepared to make me his lead assistant. Within a few years I could be a head coach somewhere, even make it to the pro's one day. I told them I was honored they thought so highly of me, but I still had a few more years left in me and I wasn't about to give up the ultimate goal yet. I figured they would support that and when the time came closer we could revisit this idea.

A day later, I got the call that I was being traded to the Bears. The Huskies were happy with my years of loyal service, but they needed a fresh start with some new faces. When I told my wife what had happened, I once again was shocked by the response. Instead of supporting my decision to continue on, she ridiculed me for thinking only of myself and that she couldn't take it anymore. She left that night and not too much longer later we were divorced. She didn't even ask me for anything, not even alimony. Her lawyer told mine that she felt as if I had no usable assets and to make this go away as quickly as possible.

Not everything in my life though is depressing. In the trade that sent me back to my home town, I was reunited with my best friend Stan Stansky. Unfortunately for Stansky, his parents had a strange sense of humor and named him Stan. Most of his life people gave him a hard time over it. I myself was named after some cartoon movie character that my mom had liked so I could appreciate his plight. Never once had I ever acknowledged how ridiculous his name was. His luck (and maybe skill) was better than mine and was called up a few different times but never for any length of time. The Bears as an organization have always thrived on mixing the new with the old. Their goal is to give Manchester a championship and each year since I've been here we have seemed to be on the right track to deliver that.

Manchester, Pennsylvania is a sleepy little town in the center part of the state, not all that far from Philadelphia. Even being that close to a big city, a majority of the guys lived here during the season. I bought a house here not too far from where I grew up and have come to grips that this is where I will probably be for a long time.

Hockey practice was just finishing up and it had been a long four hours. At thirty, my body was not nearly as tolerant of these marathon practice sessions as it once was. All that was left was the power play shooting drill and it was off to the whirlpool.

"Coming up top, let it go!" It was my turn and I lined up a fired the puck as hard as I could. A little high but I thought it was a decent shot. Our goalie Mike Herbert apparently did not and snatched it out of the air with a wicked glove save. When it came to goalies, Mike was one of the best in our league and every day at practice it showed.

"Decent enough effort Skelton, but damnit get that puck lower for a deflection! You've been around long enough to know the basics!" Ahh, good old coach Norm Clayton was up in arms again.

The good thing about playing for Clayton was he demanded perfection. The bad thing about playing for Clayton was that he demanded perfection. "You got it coach. I won't go head hunting next time." I knew what he wanted to hear and obliged.

"Alright Bears good practice. Let's take tomorrow off and then on Saturday we will just do a light skate around in the morning. The Seadogs have been in a funk recently, but let's not get complacent. Rest up and go over some game tape before the morning skate. Now get out of here so I can go see my wife and kids."

So just like that we were dismissed and hit the locker room. Don't believe all the stories you here about locker room mischief. Most of the younger guys were under twenty-one and didn't want to risk getting a negative reputation this early in their careers. The rest were older like I was and just didn't care that much anymore for the crap that came along with certain lifestyles. They were a good group of guys and I was proud to have them as teammates.

"Jack get your head out of the clouds and back down here. Want to join a few of us at Hooligans for a beer or two?" That's Stansky for you. I guess you can't fault the guy, what else did we have to do in this town?

"You guys go on without me. My body needs the whirlpool and after that I think it will be a nice fourteen hour nap. But I appreciate the offer."

"Listen man, I know what is going on. Being a shut in to society isn't going to bring her back. You can't keep beating yourself up over chasing a dream that may or may not lead to a dead end. However, there are plenty of good women out there who would stand by you knowing the journey might be tough but in the end will be worth it no matter the outcome."

I hate it when he goes philosophical on me. I hate it even more when he has a good point. "Alright, I'll go just to shut you up. Can a guy at least shower and change before going out? Even to a hellhole like Hooligans?"

"That's a good idea, you smell like death warmed over." He then lowered his voice and got semi-serious. "It will do you some good Jack getting out and interacting with the human race again. Hell who knows? You might even get out there and find what you've been looking for."