Even with Luke’s quick recovery, neither of us managed to stop Felix from passing to Chase and the quite impressive goal Chase scored. There was a loud ‘fuck yeah!’ as Chase dashed across the ice towards Will and Felix, celebrating like he had just scored the winning goal in an NHL game.
“Come on, Luke, let’s not let the kids win,” I called out, getting the puck. There was a loud ‘hey’ from Will who was closer to the age Luke and I were. But that was beside the point.
Luke zipped up the ice to join me, skating just ahead so I could shoot the puck towards him in a diagonal line that would take it closer to the goal as well as further from Felix’s reaching stick.
We traded back and forth, gaining a little with every pass, until Luke charged into Will. He slipped the puck to me at the last possible second. Without a moment’s hesitation, I slammed it straight into the goal.
Will roared his frustration, while Luke and I cheered like over-excited kids ourselves.
“One more,” I told Luke with determination in my tone. “Home-ice advantage,” I reminded. “Can’t let me lose on my own home ice!” Of course, there was no real losing or winning, but the guys definitely would not let me live it down if I couldn’t bring a victory on my high school ice.
Getting the last goal turned out to be more challenging than I had expected. The other guys definitely stepped their game up. There was no giving anyone the victory as we poured our all into this pick-up game. Luke dashed across the ice and giving me some of the most perfect passes.
Will, though, managed to stop the puck from sliding straight into the goal in a maneuver that even our coach would have been impressed with.
The five of us fought it out, the puck pinging across the ice so fast it was hard to see it. This was no lazy, easy game because we were on vacation. All of us treated it seriously.
But none more seriously than me. Memories of winning - and losing - on this very ice before I’d made it to the pros seemed to speed my skates on faster and faster. Every time Luke passed me the puck, I weaved my way between Felix and Chase, bolting straight for the goal.
Finally, I dodged Chase, feinting left so he’d follow me that way before immediately pivoting to the right. Skating forward the last few feet, I shot the puck straight between Will’s legs.
While the victory didn’t feel as good as winning the playoffs, or even as good as getting to the playoffs, it still felt good. We’d agreed to stop after three goals, needing some sort of a limit. As we all skated towards the boards, I smacked my hand against Luke’s back.
“That home-ice advantage and captain advantage really worked out for me,” I joked. But it did feel good to win here, even if it was just a pick-up game. My heart was beating faster, excited to share this ice with guys I considered family.
“Congratulations,” Will said, pulling his helmet off. “We obviously let you win,” he chirped. That was fine because we all knew that they definitely hadn’t. None of us were the sort of men who’d intentionally let another guy win at hockey.
Felix grinned, nodding his head as we headed to get our skates off. “So come on, Levesque, where’s this beer I was promised?” he asked.
Luke groaned, stooping to fit his guards over the blades of his skates. “I can’t keep up with you youngsters,” he lied. “First we build a house, then we skate, and then you want beer?”
The guys were still here for a few more days, there was no rush. “What about beer tomorrow?” Chase suggested. “It’s supposed to be the last nice day before the storms, right? Unless you’ve got other plans, Sam.”
“No, that sounds good!” I nodded. The guys had rented a house in town. From what I’d seen when picking them up, there was a pretty decent back yard. “We’ll do a barbeque? I’ll invite Pat, too, so he can buy all the beer as a thanks for all your hard work,” I joked.
In the end, Pat did actually end up buying a large part of the beer. It kind of evened out with the amount of meat I bought for the barbeque. There wasn’t exactly a lot left by the time I’d bought enough to feed six grown men, five of whom were professional hockey players.
The back yard of their rented house was big, just as I had assumed. We’d even found a bunch of outdoor furniture in the shed. It made for a great time. We let Luke take care of the food so he could make sure nothing he might be allergic to went in it. It seemed like a fair deal.
“So what is it that you do, Pat?” Will asked, taking a seat and handing my brother a beer. “Apart from putting us all to shame by building houses as presents,” he joked.
“Pat’s a social worker,” I jumped in to say. “He’s always out and about helping people. The much more altruistic brother,” I joked. Pat could have, of course, answered for himself, but I knew he’d undersell his achievements. “We’re really proud of him,” I added, grinning at Pat as he blushed slightly at the compliment.
“Yeah, well, we’re pretty proud of you too, big brother,” he teased. “It’s not just anyone who can become a professional hockey player.” Everyone beamed at that, pleased by the compliment, however indirect.
It was good to bring both sides of my ‘family’ together like this.
