Chapter 3

The assistant coach, Carl Benson, came out to the bench for his clipboard, noticed Dan shooting pucks, and stopped a moment to watch. After four shots pinged off the posts and in the net, he hurried back to the office.

“Frank, you’ve got to come and see this!” He said, grabbing the speed gun used to register the speed of a slapshot. Frank followed him out to the bench. Frank and Carl watched Dan, as bang, bang, bang, each shot off either post and in the net. Carl trained the speed gun on Dan for his next slapshot.

“This thing must be broken,” Carl remarked, tapping it on the side.

“Why’s that?” Carl showed Frank the number on the gun screen.

“110!” He exclaimed. “That can’t be right! The pros don’t even shoot that hard!” Carl gunned Dan’s next shot.

“108!” He told him.

“And look, every shot is off the post and in the net.”

“Holy fuck!” Frank exclaimed, tipping his ball cap back off his forehead.

Now it was Brad’s turn. Dan fed him several passes, and the first one hit the left side of the mesh. The next one was off the right post and in.

“Good shot Brad,” Dan complimented.

“Wow, ninety-eight!” Carl said, showing Frank the gun number.

“Pretty damn good, for a fifteen-year-old kid,” Frank noted. Dan then switched hands and shot several left-handed.

“Holy shit Frank, the guy just shot ninety-nine from his left side!” Carl was amazed.

“That’s Dan. Dan Hayward. His son Brad and Mike Johnson played midget together. No one switches sides like that to shoot in hockey as they do in baseball,” Frank commented.

Brad tried some wrist shots from his left side. “Feels awkward,” he mentioned.

“It’ll come to you Son. Like I said, you can practice on the machine and nets we have at home, I’ll help you. Let me try your stick,” he asked.

Dan noticed the immediate difference in weight and balance and wristed several shots at the net to judge the feel of the stick. He turned away and skated towards a puck. Carl trained the speed gun on the puck. It made a different slapping sound against the ice and puck compared to his wooden one.

“114!” Carl exclaimed.

“Okay, Brad, set me up for a one-timer,” Dan asked, his stick poised to fire. Brad fed him a medium-speed pass along the ice and crack! The stick didn’t break but flexed further than his wooden stick can, pinging off the goalpost and high to the opposite glass.

“Oh my fuck, 116!” Carl cried.

“Wow Dad, that is unbelievable!” Brad looked on as Dan wristed and backhanded a few more pucks.

“Nice stick, Brad. It would take a little getting use to. I’d need one with slightly less flex otherwise, I’ll break yours too often,” he said, handing it back to him.

Brad did the same as his dad, skating into a powerful slap shot, “100!” Carl announced. Dan fed him a perfect pass, and he fired off a one-timer off the post and in the net. “Again 100!”

They carried on enjoying their time together, unaware they were being watched by Frank and Carl. Dan and Brad skated end to end, passing the puck back and forth. Dan would lead a pass so Brad could take it in full stride. “Remember Brad, making a pass is the same as instantly doing mathematics. You have to anticipate speed and distance so you can make an accurate pass to your teammates. It’s doing a triangulation of math while in motion.”

Each one tried to outdo the other with trick shots like between the legs, pirouette, and backhand. Dan had Brad pass a puck about knee to waist level and showed him how to deflect it into the net.

“Dad, I want to apologize for my earlier comment. You can definitely know how to help me with my hockey!”

“It’s my pleasure, Brad. Someday you might play in the NHL, but remember there is no me, in the team.”

Coach Stanton took his cell phone from his pocket. He called Greg Peterson, the General Manager of the Falcons. “Greg, there’s a kid on the ice right now practicing with his Dad. The kid plays for the Trenton River Rats. He’s draft eligible next year. I think he’s worth keeping an eye on.”

“I’ll tell you, Frank, the kid is willing to learn,” Carl observed.

“Greg, this kid just did a slap shot at 100 and believe it or not, his dad hit 116! Okay, Greg, thank you,” Frank said, closing his phone. Frank placed his right hand on Carl’s left shoulder. “Call Ben and have him find out all he can about this Miller kid. Check his game schedule and add him to our list along with the Campbell kid from Bellville. You just never know ... maybe we have found a diamond in the rough,” he said, letting his thoughts trail off.

Dan and Brad shot a few more pucks, followed by Dan demonstrating some tips on shots around the net and ways to improve his body-checking and backchecking. One skill he showed Brad, his ability to roof the puck into the net, about two feet out from the goal line.

“The goalie will always slide post to post covering the bottom of the net because it’s the shortest distance along the ice especially on a wraparound. He wouldn’t expect and can’t defend a shot almost straight up,” he said. Dan roofed a backhand wrister hitting just under the crossbar in the net. Brad tried the same thing and smiled when his second attempt copied Dan’s goal.