Congratulations

Matthew Williams raced through the middle of the ice, his heart thudding loudly in his ears, overpowering the sound of cheering from the stands. He breezed past the defence and then struck the puck so it went soaring past the goalkeeper's glove and squarely to the back of the net.

The buzzer sounded.

Timo Väinämöinen jumped onto him from behind, shouting happily. Alfred Jones, Gilbert Beilschmidt, and Matthias Kholer soon mobbed him as well, patting his helmeted head and slapping him on the back enthusiastically.

Numbly, he heard Gilbert shout his happiness about going ahead by a goal. Timo leaned close to his ear to yell his congratulations for getting his first hat trick. He glanced to the stands where their Captain was sitting with the principal after being suspended for three game. Matthew couldn't see him, but he knew their Captain was grinning proudly.

They soon separated. There was still plenty of game to play. They could celebrate more later.

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The game ended with the World Academy Fighters winning by two goals. Gilbert cackled happily as he raced for the lockers with Matthias and Alfred. Timo and Ludwig Beilschmidt skated slowly alongside their goalie, Berwald Oxenstierna, talking about some of the amazing saves he made that night. The rest of the team was already off the rink.

Matthew slowly skated after them, still on a high after his game-winning third goal. He couldn't keep a grin off of his face. He was about to step off the ice after Ludwig, when the coach stopped him and pointed to the commentators box where Yong Soo Im was waiting to get an interview with him for the school's news program. He sighed and decided to get it over with, knowing the Korean teen wouldn't dare do anything inappropriate while the video camera was rolling.

"Ready, Mattie?" Yong Soo asked once the hockey player was in the box with him. Once he got a nod, he gestured to his friend Xianliang to start recording. "This is Yong Soo reporting in after the totally amazing hockey game between our Fighters and the Castle Academy Knights. I've got assistant captain Matthew Williams here with me today to talk about the three goals he made during tonight's game. So, Matthew, how does it feel to get the first hat trick of your high school career?" He eagerly held the microphone over to the blond so he could capture every word.

Matthew laughed lightly. "Feels pretty good. I still can't believe I managed to make that third goal. You always hope you can but when it actually happens i—" He was cut off by a towel being pushed into his face. He managed to close his eyes in time, but not his mouth and was rewarded by the horrible taste of the shaving cream that had been sprayed all over the towel.

Yong Soo laughed and motioned for Xianliang to keep the camera rolling.

"Congratulations, Matvey~"

Matthew almost punched his Captain right then and there. Had he not been blinded by the foamy substance, he most likely would have. Instead he accepted the (hopefully) clean towel that was pushed into his hands and, once he'd wiped off his face, started to chuckle.

"You okay there, Matthew?" Yong Soo asked.

The hockey player nodded, not bothering to look around for his Captain. He knew the Russian was already in the locker room waiting for him with everyone else. He continued his interview, already planning his revenge.

'Just you wait, Ivan Braginski. Revenge will be sweet. And sticky. Let's see how you like maple syrup in your shoes, eh?'

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The End

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I love hockey. I really, really do.

Inspired by the Washington Capitals vs Boston Bruins game on January 24th, during which Mathieu Perreault scored got his first NHL career hat trick! Though if it weren't for Alexander Ovechkin's method of saying "congratulations" to his teammate, I wouldn't have wrote this.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't chose Russia and Canada because Ovechkin is Russian and Perreault is Canadian.