Summary: Takes place immediately after D2. Virtually a continuation of the Jr. Goodwill Games, with a surprising twist for all. Important note: my previous MD fics have NOT taken place in this context. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Sadly, no one and nothing is mine.
Author's Note: Hey, everyone! Sorry for the delay, but I finally have an update. Thanks, as always, to those who reviewed the previous chapter! I truly appreciate it, and it does help inspire me to keep coming back to this story. Hope you enjoy Chapter 4, and I'll catch ya later!
The Mighty Ducks: All Stars
Chapter 4: Thrills of Victory
A very hasty lunch had just been finished when Gunnar Stahl finally allayed the suspense of his All Star players by laying out the completed roster listings of all the other teams in the tournament. Most were names they honestly didn't recognize, save for the odd Icelander or American. Until they saw the very last group of players.
"Look at this," Connie commented, pointing with a chuckle.
The others followed her indication, and Julie read aloud, "Dean Portman, Fulton Reed, Russ Tyler, Ken Wu, Luis Mendoza, and Greg Goldberg. You know, I don't think they quite got the concept of this whole All Stars week."
"But they do get the concept of beating us," Olaf remarked wryly. Now there was a confrontation he could look forward to, assuming they made it that far. These six celebrated Americans were scheduled to play the All Star Team last, so it truly would be the ultimate showdown.
"Here's the team we're playing first," Gunnar informed them, tapping his finger on the list of six names. "And after we beat them, we play this team. Remember, the games only last for one period, so they can schedule more than one in a day."
"You sound awfully confident that we're going to beat them," observed Adam, and in reply, their captain nodded.
"Because I know we will."
As it turned out, Gunnar's confidence in their first victory was well deserved. The opposing team consisted of a few Swedes and a couple players from Trinidad, and the All Stars pulled off a decisive victory at six goals to one in only a single twenty-minute period. Their next group of competitors, however, brought around a few familiar faces.
"Hi, Charlie!" Connie beamed as she embraced her long-time friend in the moments before the game.
Banks glided over to greet him as well, inquiring, "Are you the captain for this team?"
"I sure am," Charlie replied proudly. Like members of the team before him, he wore a stark white jersey with the black and red letters "Challengerz" scrawled across the front. "There's me, Jesse, a few Canadians, and even one of our old Viking pals: Amssalik, the guy who had that breakaway goal against us in the Championship."
"Yeah, I remember him." By this time, Julie had also joined them, along with their USA teammate Jesse Hall, and she now cast a furtive glance over to where the other three All Star players were happily chatting away with their old friend.
Just then, the referee skated over. "Come on, guys, let's play some hockey."
Conway nodded an acknowledgment. "Right. So good luck, everyone, and may the best team win!"
As it turned out, the "best team" was considerably more difficult to determine the second time around. Charlie's team played well, and very hard. Amssalik and Jesse each scored a goal early in the game before Sanderson was able to muscle in one of his own, putting the All Stars down by one goal with less than ten minutes to play in the abbreviated match. Gunnar called for a quick timeout.
"Okay," he said, motioning his teammates over to huddle around Julie at the net. "We have about nine minutes to score two goals."
"Two?" Adam echoed. "You mean if there's a tie, they win?"
The Icelander nodded. "We have to prove that we really are the best and still deserve to be the All Stars."
"We can do that!" Connie put in enthusiastically. "So, what's the plan?"
Gunnar heaved a sigh. "Amssalik won't give me room to catch my breath in this match, so I want Gustav to move up to the front with me and Olaf on offense. Connie, fall back to the middle, and Adam will stay on defense to help Julie just in case they get away from us. We can't leave her completely by herself."
"Gee, thanks," the goalie herself muttered with a brief roll of her eyes, yet she couldn't keep from smiling a little at the special consideration.
With that, their timeout ended, and the players moved to take their new positions as the play resumed. As before, Amssalik stuck to his former teammate like a wad of bubble gum on the bottom of his shoe, rendering Gunnar Stahl virtually useless; but even his valiant efforts were not enough with two other Vikings now present.
Olaf and Gustav threw their weight around on the ice like they had done so often in times past, and after a few concentrated attempts, the goal was theirs! But even so, it had taken them longer than anticipated to get the puck inside the net, so now there was just over two minutes left to play. And they were still tied.
Now, it was Charlie's turn to call a timeout for his Challengerz team.
"They're probably planning to play a tight prevent defense: anything to keep us from scoring," Gunnar ventured when the All Stars had once more congregated around their own goal.
"We don't have time for any experiments," Gustav suddenly addressed his captain, "so let's finish this our way. You and Olaf take the puck and run it right down their throats for a quick goal." His blue eyes sparkled mischievously. "I'll keep Amssalik off your back."
His fellow countrymen grinned, looking for all the world like two young racehorses eager to be released from their gate and do what they did best. It was about time!
"Good luck, guys, you can do it!" Connie shouted after them as the three Vikings moved up for a faceoff at center ice.
Amssalik was waiting for them, clearly expecting to be lined up opposite Gunnar as before, but he simply didn't have time to adjust when Gustav appeared to take the faceoff without ceremony. And then their roles were switched. Once the puck had been cleared away from the middle, Gustav ran his opponent up alongside the boards, trapping him there as the two of them bumped and skated side by side. He was virtually defending his own teammates from the opposing team's key defender.
And it was working.
With Amssalik securely out of the picture, it was a piece of cake for Gunnar and Olaf to duplicate the success they'd enjoyed so many times throughout the tournament. The Team Iceland trademark move of faking a shot on one side of the goal while actually turning a full circle to pass the puck to a teammate on the other side worked like a charm, providing the timing was right. And for these two stars of the Iceland Vikings, their timing was always right. It was inevitable, after daily spending so many hours in practice together.
The poor goalie from Canada never had a chance. Gunnar and Olaf brought the puck right up the middle as Gustav had suggested, effortlessly scoring the goal to win, and then the clock slowly ticked away to expire on the first day of victorious matches for the All Star Team.
Back in the locker room after the game, Julie couldn't help but notice how…uncomfortable things were. All six of them were obviously elated to have come away with such an exciting victory at the start of the tournament; but now that they were alone together again, it was almost as though they didn't know how to celebrate.
The Icelanders were being more loud and boisterous, of course, as they congregated together on one side of the locker room and congratulated each other in Icelandic. The three Americans were on the other side of the room, still all smiles about the day's events, but far more subdued as they discussed the well-fought game.
"Does anyone else feel kind of superfluous here?" Adam quietly asked the girls. He cast a cautious glance over at their other teammates, who were clearly paying no attention to the others in their midst. "Like those three did all the work?"
Julie stared at him, indignant. "Hey, we all played hard out there! Including you – you kept Charlie quiet the entire game. And I know he would have loved to score, especially after sitting out for the Championship."
Banks shrugged. "I still would have preferred to be up on offense."
"Adam, you're a good player; that's why Gunnar chose you," Connie consoled him with a warm smile. "And he probably knew you wouldn't complain as much as some of the others about playing defense, if that's where he decided to put you. But you'll get your chance, I'm sure. Just wait."
He smiled back, grateful for the encouragement, but was interrupted before he could reply.
"Are you ready to head back?" Gunnar called over to them, and they all nodded, shouldering their equipment bags to match the example of their peers.
"It was a good start today," he went on as the six players exited the locker room. "You all played very well."
"Thanks," Julie responded, though more out of politeness than real emotion. In her opinion, it matched his own tardy congratulations better that way. But despite their somewhat awkward beginnings as a team in this tournament, Julie suspected that the thrill of victory over a common enemy would be enough to unite them all ere the end. In the meantime, however, it would be interesting to see how events unfolded. Very interesting, indeed.
They were outside now, on a direct course for their new lodgings which were located a bit farther away from the ice rink than their previous ones had been. Yet the girls were at least grateful that, so far, there had been no need to worry about the pranks, practical jokes, and otherwise rowdy behavior so typical of the guys on Team USA. Perhaps Wolf Stansson insisted that his team live, as well as practice, with considerably more discipline than was customary of teenage boys.
As they walked on, the sky grew ominously darker, and the air was suddenly heavy with the threat of rain. By some unspoken consensus, they all quickened their pace with a distrusting glance skyward, hoping to outrun the storm now heralded by distant rumblings of thunder. But it was no use. What started as a light sprinkle transformed into windswept torrents in a mere matter of seconds. Thankfully, it was a warm summer rain, but that didn't make the experience of getting drenched any more enjoyable.
They immediately started running, and Gunnar raised his black sports jacked above his head to create a sort of unstable shelter, spreading it out to also cover Connie, who ran alongside him. Adam did the same for Julie, and even though the gesture did little to guard them against the whipping wind, it was the thought behind the action that mattered.
The hockey players finally reached the right parking lot through the drenching downpour, spurring them on with new energy as they sloshed heedlessly through puddle after puddle. Once they finally stood together dripping wet inside the building, Olaf shook his fair blonde head like a dog, sending another shower of water into the eyes of his already soaking teammates.
When they groaned and protested, he just laughed. "That was fun!"