Chapter 11

Friday morning was normal and I walked to the guidance office to write my last exam. Miss Shannon was dressed demurely when I arrived and had a serious face on.

“Good morning Mr. Addler, ready for your science test?” she inquired.

“Yes, Miss Shannon,” I replied, keeping it very professional.

“Come on in and get ready then, you only have fifty minutes,” she said as she moved to sit behind her desk.

I sat down and got my pencil and eraser out and she handed me the test across the desk. I raced through the exam but luckily I knew everything that was asked. I didn’t even have to ask Base for help. I had five minutes to spare, and that was with eating lunch while writing.

“Done, Mr. Addler?” Miss Shannon asked.

“Yes Ma’am,” I replied.

“Mr. Adams will be testing you in shop and then I’ll have all your marks on Monday at lunch and then we’ll see what the new administration says about moving you up a grade to start,” she told me.

“Thanks Miss Shannon for doing this for me, have a good weekend and I’ll see you on Monday,” I agreed and left her office, nodding to another man standing just inside the left-hand office, obviously listening to us.

“Base, why don’t you research the SAT exams in Canada, what is entailed as well as where and when I could write them,” I suggested. “We might have to get some practice tests and tutoring in some subjects before I write the real ones.”

“I can certainly do that now,” Base agreed. “You suspect there may be issues on Monday?”

“Miss Shannon seemed off and cautious so I’d like to ready should we have to go another route,” was my response.

“Good thinking,” Base said.

How to study and French went quickly and Mr. Adams in shop had me using each machine to cut, drill, sand or otherwise make different pieces for him in the hour we had.

“Good work, Mr. Addler, I’ll be passing you through grade nine shop if they allow it,” Mr. Adams finally said.

“Thank you sir,” I replied.

“Good luck in the game this afternoon,” he said as I packed up.

“Thanks, we’ll need it,” I replied before leaving.

I walked up to the front while Base let me know that Winnipeg was the closest place to write the SAT and that the next one was scheduled for late October on a Saturday. There were lots of prep courses online for a fee which also had practise tests. Dad waiting outside with my equipment in the back of the truck.

“How’d everything go?” he asked as I climbed in.

I explained how I did with the French and shop tests. I also told him I think the new administration might have issues but I would see how things went on Monday.

“We should research the SAT tests and get you some study material in case we have to go another route,” he said as we drove to the arena.

“I agree,” I replied. “I’ve done a bit of research and found the next one is in late October on a Saturday. Closest place is Winnipeg, Manitoba. There are prep courses and practice tests for a fee online. I’ll do a bit more research for costs and see if I can find a practice test for free and write to see where I stand before going Monday’s meeting.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” dad said.

It only took a couple more minutes to get to the arena.

“Alright, mom and I will be back to watch your game, so good luck and show them what you got without showboating or hogging the puck,” Dad said. “And, before I go, I want you to know how proud we are of you and all your accomplishments.”

“Thanks dad, I appreciate that,” I said. “I’ll see you after the game.”

He nodded before I got out and grabbed my equipment. I walked down the hallway to the changing rooms and had to squeeze by a couple of the Ice Dog players already in their equipment.

“Are you even old enough to be in high school?” one of them asked, even though I was almost as tall as them without having skates on.

“Just old enough,” I told them. “I’ll see you out on the ice.”

I took note of their numbers, twelve and twenty-nine as I went into our dressing room. I found a spot in the crowded room as we had to fit everyone into one room whereas in our practices we could spread out into two rooms. I quickly got changed and into my equipment and waited for the coaches to let us know what the plan was. Ten minutes later the coaches came in and quieted us down.

“So, the Ice Dogs are fielding most of their current team as the youngsters who didn’t make the team are already back at their homes,” Coach Sanders announced.

Quite a few guys groaned at that news.

“I know; they have us in size, speed and experience,” Coach admitted. “Remember, this is our first exhibition game, this doesn’t count. We’re just getting some ice time against an opponent. I don’t want you to get angry or discouraged out there. Learn from your mistakes and their play. Try to enjoy yourselves out there, even if they run up the score.”

He looked around and came to the realization that his pep talk wasn’t doing much.

“Okay, we’ll go with the same lines we posted and have been using the last two practices,” he continued on. “Line one and line two will be the power play lines and Lines three and four, obviously just two of them, will be the penalty kill unless we change things on the fly. Defence pairs will rotate out on the powerplay and penalty kill as Coach Tretiak dictates.”