September '96, a year and a half after the 5 best Hawks players left Minneapolis to pursue a way into the pros.
The Minor League tryouts were like nothing any of them had experienced before. Sure, Riley had been strict and they had practiced with blood, sweat and tears but they'd had little competition back home. Here, it was a different thing - everyone who was in the same boat as them was just as good so they worked even harder than before, putting all the time they could into practicing and staying fit.
Manhattan Beach, LA
"I'm so tired of this damn city!" Stickler grunted. "It's too big, it's always warm and the people are weird!" He stopped at a bench to take a break and slug some water, followed by the rest of them. "I miss home, Winnie, the guys...snow! I'm fucking tired of fake ice and thirsty women!" He grimaced in disgust as two tanned babes walked by and blew him a kiss.
"Stop complaining, this city's great, it's got it all - good weather, beaches, famous people! I can definitely see myself living here!" McGill laid back on the bench, taking in the sun.
"What about Gina?" Michael asked, surprised.
"She'll obviously come down here!"
The others scoffed.
"Hey, Brown, do you think you'll finally get a girl?" Larson nudged him. "If you can't get on here, I don't know where you will…"
"Shut up, Larson, you're so primitive!" Michael fired back.
"How about you, find any hot dudes yet?" Stickler teased Larson.
"As a matter of fact, I did, his name is Jake."
"Aha." The rest of the guys started questioning him about it, except Adam who was staring into the distance. Stickler nudged him. "Banks? Hello?"
Adam blinked twice, apologizing for his lack of attention. "Yeah...sorry, what's up?"
"Don't you miss home and all?"
"Yeah...yes."
"You're a shitty liar, Banks." McGill noted with a raised eyebrow.
"Something wrong back home?" Michael asked, concerned.
Adam sighed. "I spoke with Tina the other day, her family's moving back east, seems like for good."
The boys exchanged sympathetic looks. "Sorry, man, that sucks."
"Yeah, I guess but at least now I can fully focus on hockey and college." He blurted out, not knowing if he was trying to convince them or himself. "Anyways!" He exclaimed and jumped back up. "Let's keep going, you lazy bums!"
"You're a weird specimen, Banks!" Stickler chuckled.
The rest of the boys got up, ready to continue their run but he slumped against the bench.
"Come on, man!"
"I don't wanna! Leave me alone!"
"What's this, Nathan Stickler being lazy to keep in shape? Do you want us to bring you a slice of pizza? An ice cream maybe?" Larson teased him.
Nathan sprung up. "Me? Lazy? Come here, punk!" He started chasing after Larson down the beach.
"Careful, Nate, don't let his boyfriend see you chasing him!" McGill called after them, making the others laugh. Stickler turned around and gave him the finger.
The boys stopped for lunch at a seafood restaurant after an hour or so.
"I'm starving, I could eat all the shit in here!" Stickler declared loudly while struggling to fit into the small chairs. "What the fuck is wrong with these chairs?!" He grunted.
"No one asked you to get this huge!" Larson sneered at him.
"Fuck you!"
"Nah, he's right…" Michael, who had finally caught up to his friends in height, remarked.
Adam also struggled to fit his long legs in.
"What the hell are you morons doing?!" McGill came back from the bathroom and was about to sit down.
"This place is made for midgets, let's get the hell out of here!" Stickler threw the napkin on the table and tried to get up but then a waiter came through with a plate full of lobsters and salads. He gulped, his mouth profoundly watery, and calmed down. "We're staying here."
The other shook heads and chuckled. "Waiter!" Nathan called. "We'll have 5 lobsters, 2 plates of shrimps and 2 plates of curly fries!"
"No, I don't want-" Brown began talking but Nathan cut him off. "You're having this!"
"Anything for drinks?" The waiter asked. Stickler shook his head while the others got coke.
While eating, the boys were throwing occasional glances at the TV on the wall.
"Wait, isn't that…"
"Yeah, yeah, that guy, what's his name…" Just then, the announcer mentioned Gordon's name. "... where brilliant former Minnesota pee wee coach Gordon Bombay makes a striking entrance into the professional hockey scene with his team, the L.A. Kings. Watch their game against the Arizona Coyotes tonight at 7PM!"
"Yeah, Gordon Bombay!" Stickler exclaimed. "Damn, the dude made it into the pros, isn't he like...old?"
"Mid thirties I think." Brown replied.
"He used to coach those losers, district 5, right? Wait, so it took him 3-4 years to make it into the NHL?! What if it takes us that long?" Larson slumped back in the chair.
"It won't, he had an injury sometime in between, had to be in recovery." Adam noted.
"Hey, you guys ever think what would happen if we all get put in different teams, hell, if not all of us make it?" Nathan said with a hint of melancholy.
"That's very possible, dude, better get used to the idea." McGill retorted.
Stickler sighed loudly. "Well, we gonna see this game tonight or what?"
"Yeah, let's go check if there's still tickets."
"Are we lucky or what?!" Stickler yelled out while waving his ticket around. "The last ones!"
"Yeah, let's get home and get ready, we only got about an hour and a half till the game!" McGill said as he was backing out the car from the parking lot.
"You know, I wish we lived in a world where the five of us didn't share a car!" Larson grunted as he was squeezed between Brown and Adam.
"Or an apartment…" Michael added, absentmindedly.
"Hey, come on now, we agreed we were gonna do this whole independent thing, with no help from our parents, I'm happy how things turned out!" Stickler pursed his lips to contain a laugh.
"Yeah, that's because you got the biggest room with a separate bathroom!" The rest started hitting him.
Nathan was laughing his head off. "You guys got only yourselves to blame. You decided to play arm wrestling to decide who was gonna get that room. Did you really think you stood a chance against me? Now, if you'd picked something like…" He paused for a second "...geography trivia, I probably would've been sleeping in the hallway but noooo, you guys had to prove...I don't even know what you were trying to prove."
"Oh, yeah that's right, we should've, this fucker can't even name 5 countries!" Larson facepalmed.
"Why does it matter anyways, it's not like we need to be bringing anyone inside - Larson can go to his dude's place to hook up and it doesn't look like Brown's gonna be getting a girl anytime soon? Everyone else here is in a relationship...oh, shit, sorry, Banks, I didn't mean to-"
"It's whatever." Adam gave a weak smile.
"Stop sulking, Banks, look around you, this place is full of babes, you're gonna be a professional athlete, you're rich, and with your baby blues, you can literally pick any one you want!" McGill shook his head.
"Mhm." Larson nodded in agreement.
Ten minutes later, the guys had arrived at their apartment. After getting ready first, Stickler sat down in front of the TV to play video games.
"No, it's my turn next!" Larson cried as him and McGill were pushing and shoving each other.
"Fuck! Just go use my bathroom!" Nathan raised his voice. "Just hurry the fuck up!" He looked at his watch. "We need to leave in 20!"
Arriving at the stadium, they took their seats, eager for the game to begin. "Damn, Bombay *is* good!" Stickler commented, impressed, after Gordon scored 2 goals in 4 minutes.
"He used to be a Hawk in the pee wees, back in the '70s." Larson noted.
"Huh, really, well, it shows!" McGill smirked.
The game ended 9-4 in favor of Bombay's team.
"Hey, let's go say hi to him!" Adam suggested.
"Why, he probably doesn't remember us, or if he does, he definitely doesn't like us, it's not like we were buddies with his team." Larson replied.
"Come, come!" Adam was already getting up to go. The others shrugged and followed.
Bombay was heading out of his locker room, saying goodbye and high fiving with his teammates. The boys waited for him to be alone before approaching him.
"Gordon Bombay?" Adam called out.
"That is me!" Gordon said with a chuckle, fully expecting to be called out by fans, reporters and sports agents. "Hang on, do I know you boys from somewhere, you seem very familiar."
"Uhh, yeah, we were in the Hawks, same time as your former team, the Ducks." Michael explained.
"Ohh, that's right...I couldn't recognize you, you're all grown up now. What brings you to LA?"
"We're here for the Minor League tryouts."
"Is that so? How are you finding it so far?"
The boys chuckled nervously. "It's rough, but we'll pull through!" Nathan said.
"I'm sure you will, you boys were quite the players back in the pee wees...Adam, right? I heard from Hans you managed to beat your personal, the Hawks and the all time pee wee record in '93, that's...something."
Adam smiled shyly. "Yeah, well, your record held out for 20 years! I can only hope for that!"
"Field's getting more and more competitive by the year! Listen, I gotta run now but if you boys wanna catch up more, I live in Malibu, just ask anyone for the grey house with the pink flamingos!" Bombay waved bye and started walking out when he abruptly stopped. "Oh, by the way...as a former Hawk myself, thank you for what you did about Riley, about time the team got a coach who didn't treat hockey as a war to be fought! You guys did great! Well, I hope to catch you soon! Take care!"
The guys said bye and began walking towards their car. Stickler had a shocked expression on his face. You hear that? Pink flamingos in your yard? What's wrong with people here? I wanna go home, please don't let me die here!" He ran his hands through his hair.
"Alright, alright, calm down!" Brown put an arm around him.
"Someone's homesick!" "Aww!" The others mocked him.
"I will kill you all!" Nathan declared in all seriousness and snatched the keys from McGill. He needed to drive himself to clear his head a bit.