Chapter 9

The play continued back and forth with Brad and the others taking a regular shift. The unit of five players readily listened to the veteran, more skilled teammates on finer points to their game. The first period ended with Ottawa leading 2 to 1 on Spacek’s goal for Montreal and Fisher regaining the lead for Ottawa.

“I don’t know about you, Jake, but I’m fucking exhausted, and we’ve only played the first period!” Brad complained.

“Man, what a workout! Can you get bruises on top of bruises?” He asked, inspecting several red spots on his sides and right arm.

As Coach Clouson spoke, the boys refreshed with energy drinks and several oranges. “You Belleville rookies had it easy in the first period. For the remainder of the game, you’ll be split up to play on different lines. I’m encouraged to see that you’re working hard to keep the mistakes to a minimum and listening to the veterans.”

Assistant Coach Curtis Hunt set the lines for the second period.

Brad sat on the bench, paired with Mike Fisher and Peter Regin. The second period began, and they followed the play of Jake with Ryan Shannon and Alex Kovalev.

Gord Miller picks up the play. “Shannon wins the face-off but loses the puck to Gomez, who passes it to Kostitsyn, who lets go a snap shot from far out that goes wide of the net! Campbell and Cammalleri fight hard along the boards for the puck as the other players skate for positioning. Campbell gains possession and passes to Shannaon, who leads a rush up ice. Kovalev is just a step ahead of Shannon, and the play is offside.”

“The play is getting a little chippy with Campbell and Gomez pushing and shoving after the whistle,” Ray mentioned.

Brad and Jake exchanged glove taps as they changed lines to continue the game.

“Lapierrie wins the face-off for Montreal against Fisher, pushing the puck back to Bell. Bell is pressured by Hayward, and he sends the puck around the boards. Eric Karlsson traps the puck before it crosses the blue line and evades a check from Gomez. They fight for possession, and Hayward chips in. Hayward gets the puck and passes to Fisher.Fisher passes to Regin, who lets wrister go!”

“He scores! Regin let go a shot from about fourteen feet out that beat Price on the short side, shoulder high, to give Ottawa a 3 to 1 lead!”

The fans jumped up, cheering and applauding as the players gathered to congratulate Regin. He led the line to receive glove taps from their teammates., then took their place on the bench.