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Jake

T here was a part of me that wanted to feel the nose of Bolton’s star rookie shatter under my fist, but I’d managed to talk myself out of that idea.

Freshman-year Jake would’ve called me a pussy for not challenging the Bolton player who had made it his mission to harass my linemates.

If it wasn’t for the NCAA’s incredibly strict no-fighting policy I probably would have snapped ten minutes ago.

But with my contract signing coming up, the last thing I wanted to do was jeopardize it by getting suspended.

While I kept my fists to myself, I was putting a little more force into my body checks whenever a Bolton player got in my way. It was a rivalry game after all.

I’d seen red from the moment he opened his mouth in front of Eliana.

But once the rookie saw that I wasn’t taking the bait, he turned his attention to one of our freshmen — Tristan.

I could see that every chirp the Bolton player threw at Tristan was getting to him.

By the look on his face, it wouldn’t be long before Tristan snapped.

I pulled him aside and tried to tell him it wasn’t worth it.

Tristan was undeterred. Whatever the Bolton player had told him struck a nerve, and there was no going back.

The second my puck hit the back of the net, with only two minutes left to play in the period, Tristan threw off his gloves and skated right up to the Bolton freshman.

Before I can pull Tristan away, he lets a fist fly for the center of the Bolton player’s face. He keeps wailing away on the guy, and I know if I don’t break this up now he’ll regret this.

Skating behind Tristan, I wrap my arms around his torso and yank him back.

“Let go of me man!” he protests.

I shake my head. “You already won, and he’s not worth any more of your time. Trust me.”

“You need your captain to fight your battles for you, Tristan? Pathetic. And what happened to the Jake Keeley who used to knock guys out before he asked any questions? You’re getting soft Keeley. Guess that’s what happens when you’re pussy whipped.” Christ, this Bolton player was annoying.

A ref comes over and gently shoves the Bolton player back to his bench while I lead Tristan to ours. He heads straight to the locker room, knowing his game was over for tonight, and all he could do was hope that he wouldn’t get suspended since this was his first fight of the season.

Tristan’s fight causes a massive shift of energy to all the guys on the bench.

Now not only did we want to embarrass our biggest rival, but also had a member of the team to avenge.

Mason calls out a play and sends me back onto the ice with Adam.

I win the face off, managing to send the puck over to Adam who only makes it to center ice before he takes a brutal body check that sends him flying.

I have no doubt that hurt like crazy, but Adam refuses to show it, shrugging off the hit like it’s nothing.

He takes the next face off but clearly he’s a bit shaken up, resulting in a Bolton player being able to gain control of the puck. I chase after him, but it’s futile. The Bolton forward fakes left, managing to confuse Ollie, and sends the puck to the back of our net. 0-1, Bolton.

“Fuck.” Ollie screams slamming his stick against the net.

I skate over to him, “Don’t let ‘em rattle you. We’ll get them back.”

My words of motivation prove easier said than done.

Bolton’s defense is relentless, and laser focused on taking me out anytime I hit the ice.

In the span of the second period, I get railed into the boards three times, all in an attempt to steal the puck from me.

I relented each time, but I know for a fact I’m going to be sore as shit tomorrow.

The end of the second period is a much-needed reprieve.

In the locker room, I immediately move to ice my shoulders.

The rest of the team follows suit taking whatever ice packs our trainers provide.

Adam refuses to leave any ground untouched and dunks his entire body into an ice bath.

Mason and Coach Jameson take turns giving us a pep talk.

Focusing on what they’re saying is challenging as my entire body throbs in pain.

I’m sure I can fill in the blanks of what I miss though.

Likely how we need to keep our heads in the game and push through.

The third period starts off with the same of level of aggression as the first two, except this time I have all of Bolton’s dirty moves spotted.

Adam and I pass the puck back and fourth across the neutral zone until we finally cross into their territory.

He attempts a shot, that rebounds off the goal post. I’m on it in a flash, sliding the puck between their goalie’s legs before he has time to process. Tie game.

Normally goals would garner a much bigger celebration from the bench but the entire team is battered and bruised.

Probably best we conserve our energy for what’s left of this game.

Whether I’m on the ice or catching my breath, one thing is clear — Bolton is not going down without a fight.

With only two minutes left of the period and both teams primed and ready to rip each other’s throats out, the hope of us ending this game early fades away with the time clicking on the clock. Or so I think.

One of the Bolton freshmen loses it after he has the puck stolen from him and trips our defensemen right in front of the goalie. The crowd goes insane as he gets sent into the sin bin, and we enter a powerplay.

I wave the boys over to huddle up, “Alright boys we’re not going to rush this.

Two minutes is more than enough time to get one goal and end this game without going into OT.

We’re going to force them to the inside.

Closer and closer toward their goalie, until they’re blocking most of his view.

Then, whoever has the puck goes in for the kill. Sound good?”

Adam, and the rest of my linesmen, nod in response.

My initial game plan proves harder than I thought, with a Bolton senior managing to get control of the puck and ices it.

I rush down the length of the arena and bring the puck back into their zone.

The next minute is agonizing. Step by step, pass by pass, we inch closer and closer to the goal.

Everytime I think we have an opening their goalie shifts, primed to stop our attempt.

With 10 seconds left the crowd starts to get rowdy, yelling at us to shoot.

I feel the puck hit my stick and in an hail mary attempt I send it flying toward the net.

The Bolton goalie dives, closing his glove.

Except when he opens it there’s no puck inside — its buried in the side of their net.

The game ends and the arena goes crazy over beating our biggest rival. I lock eyes with Eliana as I skate back to the locker room and from the mix of pride in her eyes, all I want to do is rush over to her and start our post-game celebration early. First I had to get through our post game meeting.

Coach Jameson stands in front of all of us looking like he went a few rounds himself on the ice.

This was an important game for all of us, and the win couldn’t feel sweeter.

“I won’t speak for too long because I know how exhausted you all must be.

That was a hard-hitting game, with a lot more good moments than ugly.

A win against your rival is nice. But not as nice as being champions.

You remember that when I continue to push you all during practice next week.

Shower and get some rest.” Coach was never the type to let a win get to his head.

As the rest of my teammates file into the shower, Mason pulls me aside. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

That catches me by surprise. “What’s up Coach?”

“That Bolton player was coming after you hot in the beginning. You okay?”

I blink. “Uh yeah. He was just a freshman with a mouth that didn’t know when to quit.”

“I’m surprised you weren’t the one to shut him up.”

“Trust me, I wanted to, but I realized it wasn’t worth jeopardizing my future.”

His eyes soften as he gives me a genuine smile. “You’ve come a long way since we first met Jake. I’m really proud of you.”

Damn. “That means a lot coming from you Coach.”

“Any chance you can rub off some of your maturity to Tristan? I’m going to talk to him after this but, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a kid go that hard before. Usually once you know you’ve won the fight you back off. Tonight you had to pull Tristan off.”

“I tried to talk him down. I couldn’t hear what the Bolton player was saying to him, but when he was chirping at me earlier, he spoke about someone I love. Someone who’s off limits. I nearly snapped too. It’s always hard when they come for someone you care about. ”

“It is. But it’s also not worth getting hurt over. You never know which injury will become the injury.”

I give him a nod. He would know better than anyone.

Mason smiles. “Well I should track down Tristan and see how he’s doing. I know Coach Jameson has already pulled him into his office so?—”

I wince. Poor kid.

“Yeah, my sentiments exactly. Keep up the good work Jake. I’m really proud of you” He pats me on the shoulder before heading out the locker room.

The pride I feel from his words are one of the things that keeps me going, after my entire body is screaming in pain. The other thing is the reality that soon, so soon, I’d be able to bury myself in Eliana’s warm embrace, and pass out for the rest of the night.