Page 30 of Full Strength

Coach nodded once. “You guys clicked right away. You might not have the same chemistry as Hartman and Murray yet, but I’ve liked what you guys have done. We have to change something.” He shrugged. “We’ve lost two of the past five games. We can’t continue like that if we want another championship.”

We all nodded and that was the end of the conversation. He excused us and we walked to the locker room together.

“Are you guys ready for this?” Erik asked, eyeing both of us,

I nodded. Erik and I had been on the second line for a while last season. Nikolay had only been on the team for about a month, so we didn’t have the connection down yet but the only way we would was by working with each other.

“We’ve got it.” Nikolay sounded so confident, with his slight Russian accent, that I couldn't object. If he was fine with it then we would make it work.

“Let’s get changed and warm up so we can run some drills together.” As one of the alternate captains on the team, Erik naturally took charge so I wasn’t put off by his command. I agreed and hurried in to get ready.

I was the first on the ice so I did a few laps to warm up my legs. On the second lap, Erik and Nikolay joined me followed by Hartman, Reese, and Noah.

With only a few words exchanged between Hartman and Erik, three-on-three drills started. It was tough going against them since they’d been working together since middle of last season, but it was what Erik, Nikolay and I need to get better.

Nikolay got possession of the puck and I pushed passed Noah to get in position for Nikolay to pass to me. I was open and waiting but Nikolay turned, looked around, and finally sent a shot off toward Erik who wasn’t ready.

I slammed my stick on the ice. “What were you doing?”

Nikolay looked at me like he just remembered I was there. “I didn’t see you.”

I shook my head and headed back to center ice. “You need to be looking for me. I was in perfect position.”

He didn’t reply, just watched as we gathered together and started again.

This time Noah blocked me, delaying me from getting to where I wanted. Nikolay looked back at me then turned to Erik who was being blocked by Hartman. He didn’t have any options so he took a shot on goal. And missed.

I shook my head again. There wasn’t even a goalie in place. How did he miss?

Erik skated over to him and the two talked while I skated back to center. I didn’t know what was going on with him, but he needed to figure it out in the next hour or we could kiss this win goodbye.

“Hey, go easy on him. I heard his grandma died and he can’t go back to Russia for the funeral.”

I turned to Hartman and dropped my shoulders. “Were they close?”

He nodded. “She helped raise him.”

I slipped off my glove and rubbed my face. I needed the reminder that I wasn’t the only one with issues in my personal life.

“Thanks for telling me.”

Hartman narrowed his eyes. “And what’s going on with you? You aren’t normally the one to snap.”

I closed my eyes.

“Oh great. What did you do now?”

I sighed. “I crossed a line.”

“Which one?” His voice quickly jumping from conversational to threatening.

“I paid her rent.” I said in a low voice so no one would overhear. I didn’t want other people to know she’d needed that kind of help. Hartman was my captain. He was the team counselor and therapist. I felt safe telling him things without it getting out.

He cringed and gave a slight shake of his head. “That’s tough man.”

I was surprised he didn’t react the same way my brother had. “You don’t think I did something wrong?”

He shrugged. “If I knew Kendall needed help, I would have done the same thing. I’m sure she isn’t happy that you did that, but in the end, you saw a need and you filled it. I can’t condemn you cause I know what I would have done.”