Inside Edge by Michael Teitelbaum

Author:Michael Teitelbaum
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US

“Hey!” Tony shouted, turning and skating hard to catch up with the play. “That was a hard hit!”

“But a clean one, kid!” said Freddie as he fired a shot past Paul. “What’s the matter, don’t they check hard in the kiddie league?”

“Leave him alone, Freddie,” Vinny said. Then he turned to Tony.

“Freddie’s right, little bro,” Vinny added. “It was a clean check. You’re gonna have to get used to that.”

Tony knew that Vinny was right. He also now knew that he was going to have to get used to not just a faster game, but a more physical one, too, if he was going to help this team.

The longer the practice went on, the better Tony played. With the Seals’ next game just days away, he was hoping he’d feel ready when the whistle blew and the action was for real.

“All right, let’s run one more drill,” Vinny announced. “It’s almost one o’clock, so we should wrap it up soon.”

“One!” Tony shouted. “Is it really that late?” He had been so focused on keeping up with his Seals teammates that he completely lost track of time.

“Yeah, so what’s the problem, Tony?” Vinny asked.

“I gotta go,” Tony replied, heading off the ice. “I was supposed to be at the Penguins’ practice an hour ago. The guys are expecting me!”

“Hey, what about us, squirt?” Mack said, clearly annoyed. “I thought you wanted to play with us.”

“I do,” Tony said, then he turned to his brother. “Vinny, I really do. It’s just, you know, they’re my friends. I-I, I really gotta go!”

“I went out on a limb for you, Tony, with these guys,” Vinny shouted, pointing at his teammates. “And now you’re cutting out of practice early. I mean, do you want to play with us or not?”

“I’m sorry, Vinny,” Tony said, pulling off his skates and slipping on his sneakers. “I do want to play with you. I really do. This’ll never happen again. I promise.”

Then Tony dashed from the rink.

Tony ran the whole way from the Seals’ rink to the Penguins’ rink. Great, now Vinny’s mad at me. Nice work, Tony. You managed to tick him off after he stood up for you to his teammates. How am I ever going to make this two-team thing work out?

Bursting through the doors, he saw his teammates were wrapping up their practice.

“Hey, nice of you to show up, hot shot!” Joey shouted. He was practicing skating from one end of the ice to the other with the puck. “We’re into our final drill here. What gives?”

“I’m so sorry, guys,” Tony said, yanking off his sneakers and lacing up his skates. “Practice with Vinny’s team was so intense that I just lost track of time!”

“Oh, we understand, don’t we, guys?” Vicki said as she took a pass from Ernie and fired a shot toward Achmed in the goal. “He was busy with his new team.”

“Come on, guys,” Tony pleaded. “I’m here now. Let’s get to work.”

“You got anything left for us, Tony?” Ernie asked, firing a pass to Tony.

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