Shutout by Jeff Ross

Author:Jeff Ross
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459818781
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2018-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

It felt strange going into the locker room without my gear. I walked in and sat beside Luke.

“Hey, buddy, how are you?”

“Jolly good, old chap,” I said. But it didn’t feel right.

“What’s going on?” Luke asked quietly. I could hear the nervousness in his voice. Across the room Travis was strapping on his pads.

“Coach wanted me to come,” I replied.

Jordan Frederick, the junior goalie, was suiting up beside Miles. He looked nervous as well. Even though he was just backup, there was always a chance he was going to have to go in and play against these bigger, stronger guys.

“Big game, guys,” Coach Ryan said as he stepped into the room. “We can either tie it up or go down two nothing.” He crossed the room with his hands behind his back.

“I asked Alex to be here to try and clear up some issues.” He looked at me and then across the room at Travis and Aiden. “By now you all know what’s been happening. Alex was suspended from the last game because there was a picture circulated on social media that appeared to show him drinking at a party. Whether this is true or not is still up in the air, but the principal has also been dealing with a number of incidents of vandalism at the school. All evidence seems to point to Alex. Therefore, unfortunately, Alex will not be playing or placed in a backup position tonight.” Coach crossed the room again and stood close to Aiden and Travis. I hadn’t said anything to him, but maybe he was thinking the same thing I was.

“Alex has told me that he was not drinking at the party and that he is not the one damaging school property,” Coach continued. “I believe him, and I would sincerely hope that no one here is attempting to discredit one of his teammates. We are on this incredible run because we’ve always been a team.”

He walked away from Travis and Aiden and stood in the center of the room. “Does anyone have anything they would like to say?” He looked around the room. I kept my head down. “No one has any information that might be useful?” Still nothing.

He nodded, then switched gears. “This is a best-of-five, as you know. We’re only down one. That’s not that much. The problem is, we’re down at home. It will be tough if we have to go into their arena down two games. But I don’t see that happening. I saw a good effort in the last game. But effort isn’t enough. We need to be smart. We need to think our way through this game. I don’t want to see any more drop passes. Those cost us at least two goals. I don’t want to see anyone trying to skate the entire ice. No one here is a one-man show. I want to see people in front of our net. I want to see pucks cleared, and I want to see us going back to the basics.

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