Chapter 27

Monday morning came too early again. I knew not to be late to practice this week as the coaches were going to be in a foul mood for sure. I was out of the apartment with my stuff and at the arena a full half an hour earlier than normal and was out on the ice before anyone had come in.

It was peaceful to skate on an empty sheet of ice and I took advantage of the open space to practice my backwards skating, always my Achilles heel. I finally got tired of that and had Patrick out for shooting practice. My teammates slowly trickled out on the ice as I consistently put the puck in the small slots from all across the blue line and then beyond.

"Jesus Mike, how to you do that?" John asked.

"Practice, practice and more practice," I replied with a grin. "It's pretty simple actually."

"Yeah right," he said in disgust. "It would take years to be able to do that."

"Precisely," I replied.

Fred and the coaches stood on the benches and called everyone over to them.

"Gentlemen, the weekend in Boston was a fiasco," Fred started. "To be blown out by the BU Terriers seven to two is a disgrace to this team, the coaches and the University.

The team members that didn't feel the need to be back to the hotel on time will be will be monitored on a daily basis like children until the coaches feel they have learned their lesson. Additional community service will be assigned to them as well.

The four members of this team who felt it necessary to get drunk the night before the game will miss this week's games and will enter an alcohol counselling program if they wish to remain on the team. You will be also placed on the scout team until the coaches and your teammates deem you worthy.

The five team members who drank illegally in a opposing city the night before a game, three of whom were caught by police, are all suspended from the team for a month. We will not tolerate any illegal activities while you are representing the University of Michigan Wolverines. After you serve the suspension, you will have to prove you still deserve a place with this team and will be on the scout team until both the coaches and your teammates deem you worthy.

To the remaining team members I say this, these other players let you down, the coaches let you down by not supervising them as the children they acted like, and your captains and assistant captains let you down by not being more involved with their teammates and warning them of the consequences of their actions. Your captains have been spoken to and wish to address the team."

Gary, Steve and Daniel skated to the front of the group and boy did they not look happy.

"The three of us have not fulfilled all of our duties as leaders on this team so far this season," Gary said. "While being a captain has extracurricular activities like dealing with the media and various school activities, we also have a duty to help new players with their transition onto the team, to guide all teammates in conduct both on and off the ice, and generally let all of you know how to be a good representative of the University of Michigan Wolverine hockey team. It is obvious that we all have neglected this portion of our duties, in all aspects."

Steve continued "The three of us will be taking an active role in each of your lives henceforth. First and foremost we will be monitoring all activities the night before a game, both at home and away. Secondly, we will be pitching in more with coaching assistance at practice for those who either request it or who we see need it. Next we will have two meetings a week with the team, not on the ice. One will be to discuss any issues either we have or you might have about hockey or your personal life. The second meeting will be a fun get together to bond us better as teammates."

"As a final point, anyone caught breaking rules like what happened on the weekend, will find the punishment by the team members to be harsher than from the coaching staff," Daniel stated. "You are screwing with the potential livelihood of every one of us when you decide to put your fun above the best interests of the team."

They nodded to Fred and skated off to the side to let him speak.

"Ok, now to the real business," he said. "Ohio State will be here Friday and Saturday just foaming at the mouth after watching the video of Saturday's game. We have a lot of work ahead of us to establish new lines with a shortened bench. So before we start, the nine players, the four drunks and the five underage drinkers, leave the ice, get changed and wait for me in the dressing room. Frank and Sam will get with the defence and forwards to make the new lines and defence pairings while I deal with these children."

Frank met with all the defencemen. Mat Cook and Ralph Fox, the third pair of starting defencemen, were two of the seniors that got drunk and were out for this week. Ian and Brian, the two rookies, were both caught underage drinking and were out for a month. That meant that the last two defencemen on the rookie/scout team were in as John and my partners. Randy Pierce, a slow moving big rookie paired with John while I got the small but fast Don Farr as mine.

On offence the first line stayed intact, the second line got Brad Eddings up from the third line to replace Kerry Simpson on left wing, the new third line was the entire rookie line of Bobby, Alex and Sergio, newly up from the scout team. The fourth line was centred by Shawn from the third line, along with two new rookies, Tim London and Paul Snider on left and right winger respectively.

It was like starting over from preseason, first game. The coaches had us doing the simplest drills with our new partners or line mates. We did two on two and three on two drills until we were comfortable with each other on the standard stuff. Then we moved on to five on five simple scrimmages to practice moving the puck out of the zone in a coordinated way. The last half hour was for special teams, with John and me pairing back up for the second pairing on the penalty kill and first pair on the power play. The new second line was the second power play unit's forward line and Henry and Ron of the second line were assigned the second penalty kill unit's duties as well.

Fred came back out and had us gather around quickly near the end.

"Ok, we know who is playing with whom now," he said. "We have four days to get comfortable with each other. We will practice Friday morning as usual. Tuesdays and Thursday afternoon at one we usually have a rookie practice. All are encouraged to attend and help everyone out to get used to the new lines and pairings. We will also leave the ice later each night for more practice if necessary. Thank you for your extra effort, it is not going unnoticed."

Daniel shouted out "Our first meeting is tomorrow night after practice in the arena cafeteria while we eat supper. Attendance is mandatory!"

We were finally let go and I rushed through my shower and getting dressed. I hurried to the main campus and entered the classroom from the back way. I slipped into the seat beside Stephanie and pulled out my notebook.

"Hey Princess," I whispered.

"Mikey, you're late Mister," she scolded me with a fake scowl.

"I tell you all about it later," I told her.

I spent the next hour and a half catching up with the professor, who seemed to be trying to break the land speed record for board writing. He finally finished and after giving out the assignment started packing up his stuff. I rushed down to hand in last week's.

"Sorry Sir, practice ran a little late, here's my assignment," I told him.

"Thank you Mr. Stewart, I hope the team will do better this weekend," he said.

"You and me both," I responded. "We certainly can't do any worse!"

He nodded and left the room. Steph brought my stuff down for me and we walked out of the building.

"Long practice this morning Mikey, maybe because you guys stunk up Boston like my little brother's peewee team?" she asked with a grin.

"Yeah, almost half the team went out the night before and got caught drinking," I said. "We played with only fourteen guys total, and only four defencemen."

"Shit no wonder you lost so badly," she replied. "Ok, I'll get the whole story at lunch. I'll see you soon."

I watched her walk away and reluctantly turned to go to Creative Writing class. I handed in both my assignment and my short story to the professor and found a seat. The professor asked for any more short stories and then started the new topic that would go to the end of the semester. It was an interesting lecture and the time flew by.

Steph met me in line and we grabbed some food before finding a seat in the cafeteria.

"So, bad weekend with the team?" she asked.

I gave her the whole story along with all the changes we had to do this morning for next game against Ohio State.

"What a bunch of stupid immature idiots," she commented. "They could end up costing you several games before it's all over."

"Tell me about it, we're back to square one with all the rookies in the line-up," I agreed. "But enough about me; how was your weekend?"

"Pretty good, we went to a movie on Friday and to a party on Saturday," she said. "I had to watch the siblings most of Sunday but got some studying in."

"It sounds like you're getting along with Ryan real well," I remarked.

"Yeah, we're meshing real well," she agreed with a smile. "So, when are the twins coming back?"

I hesitated for a bit and then decided to tell her the truth.

"They're not coming back, they got an offer too good to pass up and moved there full time on Wednesday last week," I told her.

"What about you and them in terms of your relationship?" she asked.

"They broke up with me Tuesday night, they thought it was better for a quick break-up rather than prolong it over months," I told her.

"Why didn't you say something Michael, you must have been hurting so bad," she said, putting a hand on my arm. "You could have talked it over with me, I'm sure you wanted to talk it over with someone."

"No, not really, I tend to keep things like this to myself," I said. "I want you to keep this quiet please; I haven't told anyone else about it here."

"Alright, but if you need to talk at all, I'm here for you," she said.

"Thanks Steph, I appreciate it," I replied, knowing that I wouldn't take advantage of her offer. "OK, shall we work on the logic assignment for a bit?"

We pulled it out and worked on it for half an hour before packing up for our next class. I watched her as she walked away and then left for algebra. I handed in my assignment and then sat through the class, taking notes on his lesson. I met Steph back at the cafeteria and we finished the logic assignment together. I worked on my algebra while she worked on her calculus until I had to go to practice.

At practice I worked with Don, my new partner, making sure we each knew who would carry the puck up, who would stay back, and how we played the different situations we knew would come up. John was doing the same thing at the other end of the ice with his new partner, Randy Pierce.

The coaches then had us work on special teams with the new line-ups again and then we had a faster paced scrimmage for the last hour. We stayed on the ice until seven, an hour later than usual, before walking tiredly to the dressing room. I stayed under the shower a bit longer than usual, but finally had to give it up for another guy. I got dressed and joined some of the others at the cafeteria for supper.

When I finally got home it was close to eight and I was exhausted. I finished my algebra assignment while watching the Monday Night football game and then hit the hay before it was done. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Tuesday was more of the same, with lots of hockey practice and only one class. The rookie practice at one was attended by a few older teammates which helped out our new rookie starters. Don and I started to click. We worked on the special plays that John and I had and Don really took to the fake dump in play. His speed had him past the forwards and defenceman in a heartbeat and he could either deke the goalie or pass it off to complete the play.

We all had a shower and relaxed in the cafeteria having a snack after the practice was over. I did my creative writing assignment for a bit while the other rookie players joked around and talked about girls they were shagging. I got it half done before we left for the locker room. The locker room attendants had our stuff all dry already so we got dressed and went out to the rink. The coaches pushed us hard again, keeping us late for the second night in a row. We were starting to come together again as a team which was good to see.

We all trooped off to the cafeteria and while we were eating, Gary, Steve and Daniel talked to us about various subjects. Appropriate behaviour, on and off the ice, rules of conduct for away games, curfew on pre-game nights, substance abuse were all touched on. Finally they paired each rookie and sophomore with a junior or senior, who would mentor them on all aspects of playing for the Wolverines. They would also be responsible for their conduct off the ice and would be doing the curfew and substance abuse check on pre-game nights. Someone at least thought the pairings through and assigned John as my mentor.

"Now Michael, we're going to have to sit down and have a long chat about what it means to be a Michigan Wolverine," he said as he sat down beside me. "We'll first talk about how to hold your stick properly and then move on to proper skating techniques."

"Bite me John, if you wake me up to check up on me, I'm going to put you through the boards in the next scrimmage," I threatened.

He laughed and replied "Now Michael, you poor misguided young boy, I am merely here to make sure your experience with us is a pleasant and enjoyable journey from a boy to a man. If your elders don't pass on the benefits of our years of experience, how can you hope to be an effective player or ever get a girl to even hold your hand?"

The guys nearby laughed at his BS as I shook my head at his antics. The captains finally let us go at eight thirty, with the notice that there would be a get together Thursday after practice for everyone on the team, with dates allowed. It would be of course, non-alcoholic and be over by ten o'clock.

I went home and finished my creative writing assignment. I checked my email and found a quick email from the twins. They wrote that they had a good week, busy of course, and hoped that I was doing well. They ended saying they were going to be in LA for a while shooting a couple of commercials and print ads, so they would be out of touch for a week or so.

They certainly have taken off I thought to myself. I knew at that point that they wouldn't be coming back to their much younger college boyfriend anytime soon, if ever. They had moved on quickly it seemed and had told me not to wait around for them. While I had no inclination to find another girlfriend at this time, I knew pining away for them was stupid and unhealthy. I went to bed and fell asleep thinking of them anyway.

Wednesday and Thursday flew by with the long practices. Steph and I worked on the computer assignment when we found the time together and decided to finish it on Friday in the lab, as my time was in demand with the team this week. I did book time with Cynthia through Pam for Saturday morning at eleven and maybe Sunday depending on her availability. Practices were tough and tiring but we were gelling finally.

Thursday after practice we all had supper in the cafeteria and then walked over to one of the student hangouts on the main campus. The team had booked it for the night and a bunch of well dressed ladies met us at the doors. The guys paired up with their better halves and went into the room.

Gary stayed with us, with his girlfriend beside him, and said "These ladies are either friends, roommates or floor mates of our girlfriends who volunteered to spend some time with the single guys. They are to be treated with the utmost respect and are here to have some fun talking and dancing with you guys. Anything that happens afterward has to be mutually agreed upon and is between the two of you."

We were told to dress good casual for the event but these girls were dressed to kill, in short clingy dresses or skirts and blouses and had their hair and makeup looking like they stepped out of a salon.

The more bold and confident of either gender started moving forward to pick a match. I wasn't picky about who I was paired up with so I stayed in the back and watched in amusement as some pairs were both happy, others only one was, and a couple were both disappointed. In the end there was no one left for me.

"Sorry Mike, I thought you would be bringing Vicky," Gary said.

"She's in New York, or maybe LA right now modelling," I said. "No big deal, I'm not starved for female attention."

I followed them into the room. There were booths around the outside of the big room, with a dance floor in the middle. At one end was a raised platform for a band or, in this case, a DJ, pumping out tunes. There was a bar as well, serving various non-alcoholic drinks, and each table had bowls of snacks. The lights were dim and all sorts of flashing lights lit up the dance floor. Amanda found me walking around and pulled me to a booth with John.

"John tells me the twins went back to New York again," she said.

"Yes, they left last Wednesday," I informed her.

"And?" she asked.

"And, they're going to LA to shoot a couple of commercials and some print ads," I told her.

"Wow, they are making it big!" she said. "When are they coming back?"

"They aren't, the move was permanent," I said.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry Mike," she said and John echoed.

"It was a tough week, but I'm trying to get over it," I told them.

"You should have grabbed one of the girls, I'm sure they would have all liked to spend time with you," Amanda said. "Shit, if I had known, I could have brought a couple of friends to hang out with you."

"I'm not that over them yet Amanda, the solitude is ok for now," I replied. "Ok, enough about me, why don't you two go and have some fun dancing; I'm just going to watch. And don't try to set me up with anyone Amanda."

She had the decency to blush before they left for the dance floor. I leaned back against the back wall and put my legs up on the bench while watching the dancers. I didn't dance and knew I would look like Lurch out there, so I hoped no one would ask me to join them.

After a while I got and walked around to the bar and got each of us a diet coke and brought them back to the table. John and Amanda came back to the table soon after and gulped down theirs, thanking me for the drinks. Amanda tried to get me to join her out on the floor, but I told her I didn't dance. She joined a couple of the other girls out there while John stayed with me.

"Man, that really sucks with Vicky leaving," he said. "Just as you two were getting so close. On top of that she's going to be famous and you won't be able to say she's your girlfriend anymore."

"Yeah, it's not been a good week, and I'll never find anyone like her, with both beauty and brains," I said. "At least I'll be able to say I knew them before they were famous."

"Well if you ever need to talk about it or just shoot the shit, don't hesitate to talk to Gary," he said with a grin. "He has to pretend to give a shit, because he's the captain."

"Some mentor you are, I'll think I'll trade you in for a new stick," I said sarcastically.

"Well, I would just tell you to look up the blonde from the Northern Michigan games or the redhead tutor," he replied. "And I would advise you not to get so close so quick. You have a long time left in college; enjoy some variety before you settle down again."

"Don't look now, here comes the old ball and chain," I said, "and I think she heard you!"

He got a panicked look on his face as he turned to the dance floor, to see her still out there dancing up a storm.

"Shit, don't do that again, if she heard me say that to you, it would be all over for me," he said with a relieved look on his face.

"What, you're not taking your own advice and settling down with one girl are you John?" I teased.

"She would probably hire a hit on me if I left her now," he admitted. "She's put up with a lot and invested a lot of time and effort to get us where we are now. Besides, a new girl wouldn't put up with our schedule."

"She's good for you John, don't fuck up a good thing by looking for greener pastures," I advised.

"I know, I know," he said. "I was looking at the one in purple actually."

"That one is hot, I must admit," I agreed. "She doesn't seem to be too happy with poor Randy."

"Randy is not our most intellectually sophisticated player," John admitted. "She probably thought she was picking you but didn't look up your picture."

"Yeah right," I replied, shaking my head.

"Like it or not, you're one of the stars Mike, you're in the paper every week, scoring goals and assists, leading in hits too," he said. "The girls pick the stars first, whether for a short term hook-up or to try and snag a rich husband to be."

"Damn, that is pretty calculating," I said, shaking my head. "Now I'm going to be paranoid about any girl that comes up to me."

"That's a good way to be Mike," John said. "Don't get attached to any girl until you really know her well. They will all be on their best behaviour at the beginning so it will be hard to tell who is a nice girl and who is just out for the star factor. Always wear a condom, even if she has a clean bill of health certificate and is on the pill. The last thing you need is a paternity suit against you, even if it is false."

"That I will do, for safety's sake," I told him.

Amanda came back and slid in beside him.

"So, did you warn him about the hussies?" she asked John.

"Yes dear, I have mentored him in the wily ways of some of the opposite sex," he assured her.

"Good. Michael, if you don't believe John, then you listen to a woman's perspective," she said to me. "Half of the girls here, even some of the girlfriends of the other players, would take you home tonight in a heartbeat if they knew you were single again. A lot of them would be just a one night affair so they could brag to their friends; the others would be there to get the financial rewards of a future pro hockey player. They will be the sexiest, friendliest girls you will know but they are there for one thing, your earning potential."

"I will keep that in mind," I assured them both. "It won't be easy to tell them apart though."

"There are a few who always hang out trying to get any sports star, we will point them out to you," she told him. "For others, you can introduce them to us and I can let you know if she says or does anything that is suspicious."

"Ok, thanks guys, I guess I'm a bit naive about women, even after Vicky," I replied.

We all watched as purple dressed girl left Randy on the dance floor and stomped off to the washroom.

"Oh, you stay away from that one Michael, she's a known star whore, beautiful but motivated by fame and greed," Amanda cautioned. "She dumped the star receiver on the football team a couple of weeks ago when he got injured for the year. She is here trolling for a new star, probably you."

I nodded and just looked around the room, watching how the couples interacted. Some were really getting along well while several of the single guys and their new partners were still very tentative with each other. Hopefully they were at least having a bit of fun.

Purple dress girl came out of the washroom and looked around for her next target. She went to the bar and got a drink and then flashed a big smile to Paul, standing behind her waiting to get a drink. She asked him something and Paul turned to look around the room, and pointed at me. She smiled at him again and then made her way over to me. I had watched the whole thing from the corner of my eye so she probably didn't suspect I knew she was coming over.

"Don't look now but purple dress star whore is on her way over here," I told them. "Play along with me on this."

I pulled out the picture of the twins on the runway in their bikinis just as she came up.

"I know you wanted to see a picture of my twins on the runway Amanda," I said, a bit loudly. "Here they are at the fall fashion spectacular in New York last week. They're off to LA to shoot some commercials and to do some print ads."

"Wow, they look hot Michael," Amanda said. "You are one lucky guy to have twin supermodels for girlfriends."

"Tell me about it," I said with a smile. "It makes it easy to come to these things alone, knowing they will be back soon."

"Well, no girl could ever measure up against one of them, let alone both," John said as Purple dress girl's smile slipped from her face and she kept walking past the booth.

I watched her as she started looking for her next target.

Thanks guys for your help," I said to them quietly. "I don't need any extra hassles in my life right now."

"No problem rookie, that's what we mentors do, look out for our young naive teammates," John said pompously.

Amanda gave him a shot in the ribs with her elbow and then said "They gave you the easiest assignment of the bunch so don't push it mister. Mike, we'll both help you with the girl thing, which is about the only thing you need mentoring on, and John knows it."

"John did a great deal of mentoring earlier in the year, so he deserves all the credit he wants," I said. "I would be playing intramural hockey if it wasn't for all his help."

"See woman, I'm not just a pretty face," John said with a smug smile.

"Ok pretty boy, take me dancing then," she said, pushing him off the bench as she slid over.

They went back to dancing to the tunes while I watched the ladies moving to the music. It was a pleasant way to pass the time as a high proportion of them were gorgeous. Finally the time rolled around to ten and the get together broke up. I wished John and Amanda a good night and as well as a few of the guys before walking back to the arena to get my car. I drove home and hit the sack soon after getting out of my good clothes.

Friday's morning practice was an all out scrimmage to see how the new lines meshed at game speed. Don and I played well together and, on top of being a good skater and passer, he was becoming a decent defender as well.

John and Randy were not working out as well, as Randy wasn't ready to play and everyone knew it. He was too slow to defend well and his passing was sub-par as well. He had a hard shot but that was all he had going for him at this time. They became the third defensive pair, to be used sparingly. Frank decided to send John out with me once in a while, double shifting me if necessary.

I left the arena and met Steph in the computer lab, where we worked for a couple of hours on our assignment. We took a break for lunch and the then went back to finish it off. We finally completed it and printed out the results.

"Ok Mike, good luck tonight and tomorrow night, make sure you score a goal for me," she said. "I'll see you on Monday."

"Alright Steph, have a good weekend too," I replied as we gathered up our stuff. She headed to her dorm and I went back to the arena to get my car. I stopped for some groceries and headed home to put them away. I did some laundry and then relaxed, watching a movie while lying on the bed.

Luckily I had set the alarm as I dozed off half way through the movie. I awoke in a panic but saw I had lots of time to get back to the arena for the team supper. After packing my suit for the walk out of the arena, I drove there and got in line with my teammates. I sat with Don and we shot the shit while eating. He was pretty loose before his first game, at least so far.

When we were done, we got changed and had our warm-up skate before resting in the locker room while Ohio State took to the ice for their skate. We finally got on the ice to play the game almost an hour later. The arena was packed as Ohio State was our second biggest rival, next to Michigan State.

The game started with the teams' first lines against each other. The Buckeyes came in smelling blood and tried to capitalize on our weakened line-up. We held up for the first run through our lines and defence pairs. Their team was big on defence and on the first couple of lines. They used their size to punish our smaller players, hitting them whenever they could. I winced when John got slammed in the boards after he had passed the puck up the ice. He managed to get off the ice and Steve and Albert replaced them.

"You ok man?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I knew it was coming so I was prepared for it," John replied. "It still hurt but I'll be ok."

Don and I went on with the first line next for our second shift. I had the puck behind the net and slowed things down for a second. When their forward came around to get at me, I went the other way and skated out, with him chasing me. I passed it to Chris on the wing and followed him up the ice. Chris carried it to centre and dumped the puck into the opposite corner, where Daniel chased it down, speeding by their defenceman. He corralled the puck, wheeled and slapped a hard pass towards Gary, streaking for the net. Gary managed to get a stick on the pass and deflect it towards the goal, where the Buckeye's goalie had to make a quick reaction save with his glove to prevent a goal. He held onto the puck for a whistle and a face-off in their zone.