Note: This isn't how I was originally planning on starting the next chapter
but after reading the reviews I wanted to answer crazy4nc128 question -
what about scooter? Hope you like the choice I made about Scooter. Enjoy!
The celebrating continued in the Warriors locker room as they showered and got changed after the game. Everyone was congratulating Riley on his winning goal. Adam just chose to stay out of everyone's way as much as he could.
Everyone was going to Ed's place, a near-by diner and hang out for the kids at Eden Hall. It was a post game ritual and the whole team was expected to go. Adam figured he show up for a little while and then slip out. He really didn't feel like hanging out with the team anyways but he also didn't want to cause any more problems for himself.
As he grabbed his jacket out of the locker he felt a hand come down on his shoulder.
"Nice job out there kid," Scooter told him and then left the locker room with Riley and Cole.
Since scoring the second goal in the game Adam found himself smiling again. Maybe all of his new teammates weren't so bad. Making sure all of his stuff was in the locker Adam closed and locked his locker and left the locker room. He was the last member of the team to do so.
He found six of the Warriors still right outside of the locker room though. Riley and Scooter were standing a little bit away from the other four. They were keeping their voices low but they seemed to be arguing about something. The other four Warriors were simply waiting for their Captain.
"Hey Adam," a voice called startling him. Adam looked in the direction of the voice to see Charlie and the rest of the Ducks who had come to the game standing near the stands. "We're going out for ice cream. Come with us."
"I don't know," Adam said casting a glance to the Warriors. He wanted to go with the Ducks. He knew he would have a much better time with them than with his teammates but he had to skate with the Warriors at practice the next day.
"Come on Adam," a couple of other Ducks insisted. Before Adam could reply another voice was heard.
"We don't have to do everything together Riley," Scooter said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm going to spend some time with Julie tonight," he continued "and if you have a problem with it than tough."
Scooter walked away from Riley and headed toward where the Ducks were standing. His path took him back past Adam. On his way by he put his arm around Adam's shoulders saying "Come along kid. Let's go celebrate." Scooter led him toward the Ducks making Adam's choice for him but Adam didn't mind. It was the choice he had wanted to make anyway. Adam couldn't help but start to worry about how practice was going to go the next day though.
"You skated great tonight," Russ said to Adam as he and Scooter joined the group.
As Russ and some of the other Ducks congratulated Adam on his game Scooter found Julie. As the group headed out of the arena and toward the ice cream parlor Scooter took Julie's hand. Julie felt her face flush and knew she had a huge smile on her face. She didn't really care. Holding Scooter's hand was a dream come true for her.
"You played good too Scooter," she said to him looking up at him.
"I did alright. I would have rather had a shut out but there is always next game," Scooter told her.
"Hey a goalie can't stop everything," Julie said.
"Yeah, I guess your right," Scooter said laughing. He planned on enjoying himself tonight despite Riley and Cole.
On Monday afternoon Charlie found himself arriving at the arena twenty minutes early. He was a bundle of nervous energy. He couldn't help but wonder who the new coach was. He figured he would get to the rink early and do a few laps to burn off some of the energy. Besides, he had been kicked out of his dorm room by his roommate because he couldn't keep still. His roommate had said he was driving him crazy.
Heading for the locker room, Charlie noticed that two people were already out on the ice. As he walked closer to the rink he could see that it was Adam and Goldberg. He had been wondering why Goldberg had been the first one at practice this pass week. Now he knew why. What he didn't know was why he hadn't told anyone he was doing extra practice.
"Good job today Goldberg," Charlie heard Adam said as he and Goldberg wrapped the practice session up for another day. The two of them were headed toward the gate to exit the ice.
"Thanks," Goldberg told him. He was finally starting to feel as if he was actually making progress.
"Hey Charlie," Adam said seeing Charlie as he stepped off the ice. "What are you doing here so early."
"Anxious about meeting the new coach I guess."
"Afraid he's going to take the C away?" Adam said with a smile on his face.
"Very funny."
"I'm kind of nervous too," Goldberg admitted. "We just got use to Coach Orion and now we have to get use to someone else. What if we get someone really terrible."
"I think you guys are worry too much," Adam said. "Coach Orion said he thought you guys would like him right. If Orion said that, then this guy can't be all that bad now can he."
"I hope not," Charlie said.
Goldberg took a seat on the lowest bench of the stands as Charlie and Adam headed for the locker room. Charlie had to get ready for practice and Adam had to get out of his gear. The walk to the locker room was quiet.
It wasn't until Adam was gathering his stuff together and putting it in his bag and Charlie was lacing up his skates that Charlie found the courage to ask what he had been wanting to ask.
"How did practice go Saturday?" Charlie asked.
"Okay I guess," Adam said. "No one really talked to me but that isn't new. No one mentioned Friday night after the game either. I think the fact that Scooter actually stood up to Riley kind of has everyone on edge."
"Your not having that much fun on varsity are you?"
"I never said that," Adam said quickly.
"You don't have to say it. I can hear it in your voice."
"Sometimes it seems like I'm skating on the Hawks again," Adam said leaning up against the lockers. "Coach Wilson wants us to win no matter what just like Coach Reilly. If you mess up he has no problem with addressing it right in front of the whole team and you can tell he's upset about it like there is no room for mistakes. It is getting to the point where I'm not having fun when I'm skating."
"But I thought you enjoyed playing when you were with the Hawks. What's so different now."
"When I skated with the Hawks that was all I knew. Now I know hockey can be fun even if you don't win but don't ever tell Coach Wilson I said that."
"Maybe we should all just hope we don't get a coach like him. As long as the coach doesn't take the fun out of playing I guess I can stand whoever we get," Charlie said as other members of the Ducks started coming into the locker room. "Hang in there Adam. Don't let Coach Wilson take away your love for the game," Charlie told him as they headed back out of the locker room.
By this time Goldberg was back out on the ice. He was working on his backward skating. Charlie said good-bye to Adam and stepped onto the ice himself to start warming up. Instead of leaving Adam climbed up into the stands and took a seat. He had to admit that he was curious as to who the new JV coach was himself.
Before long the rest of the Ducks had come out of the locker room and had gathered on the ice. Charlie glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a few minutes past the time for practice to start but there was no sign of their new coach.
"Should we start practicing without him Charlie?" Connie asked.
"Yeah we do have a game tomorrow," Russ said. "We have to practice tonight."
"Let's just give it a few more minutes," Charlie said. He had no intention of meeting this new coach like he had met Coach Orion, flat on the ice at Orion's feet. He was hoping the relationship with this new coach would start a little smoother.
They waited five more minutes but there was still no sign of the new coach. Charlie looked nervously at the clock. How long should they wait.
"Let's do a few laps to warm up," Charlie told his teammates. Certainly the new coach wouldn't be upset it they were doing laps when he came along.
They were doing their second lap when they heard a familiar sound. It was a duck call. The Ducks stopped wherever they were at and looked in the direction of the sound. They couldn't believe their eyes. It couldn't be.
"Come on over here Ducks," Gordon Bombay called out as he stepped out onto the ice and headed for the closest player's box. The Ducks quickly skated over and gathered around him.
"Are you the new coach?" asked Charlie finally putting to words what they were all wondering.
"Yeah, I'm taking Orion's place. I told him not to tell you that I wanted to surprise you," Bombay told them.
"But what about the Junior Goodwill Games," Fulton asked as the cheering started quieting down.
"It wasn't working out. I wasn't happy there. I missed coaching and I missed you guys," Bombay told them. "Now, I understand that we have a game tomorrow night so let's get to work. We'll start with a scrimmage so I can see what we need to work on. Charlie, Goldberg, Dwayne, Fulton, Ken and Guy will be one team and the rest of you are on the other team."
He gave them a few minutes to get the red and blue scrimmage jerseys on and to organize their teams. As they got situated Bombay turned around in the player's box where he was standing and called out, "Hey Banks, how about coming down here."
Adam stood up from where he was sitting and made his way down the stands.
"Yeah Coach," he said as he approached the bottom.
"Come join me. Another set of eyes will be useful. You may pick up on things I don't see," Bombay told him.
"Okay," Adam said already heading over to the gate to join Bombay in the player's box.
As Adam joined him in the box, Russ and Charlie took their places center ice ready for the face off. Bombay blew his whistle and the scrimmage began.
'It's great to back', Bombay thought as he watched practice. He had missed coaching as much as he missed playing the game. And he had missed his team. When Orion had called saying he had to go to Baltimore it didn't take much convincing to make him realize that this is where he belonged.
The celebrating continued in the Warriors locker room as they showered and got changed after the game. Everyone was congratulating Riley on his winning goal. Adam just chose to stay out of everyone's way as much as he could.
Everyone was going to Ed's place, a near-by diner and hang out for the kids at Eden Hall. It was a post game ritual and the whole team was expected to go. Adam figured he show up for a little while and then slip out. He really didn't feel like hanging out with the team anyways but he also didn't want to cause any more problems for himself.
As he grabbed his jacket out of the locker he felt a hand come down on his shoulder.
"Nice job out there kid," Scooter told him and then left the locker room with Riley and Cole.
Since scoring the second goal in the game Adam found himself smiling again. Maybe all of his new teammates weren't so bad. Making sure all of his stuff was in the locker Adam closed and locked his locker and left the locker room. He was the last member of the team to do so.
He found six of the Warriors still right outside of the locker room though. Riley and Scooter were standing a little bit away from the other four. They were keeping their voices low but they seemed to be arguing about something. The other four Warriors were simply waiting for their Captain.
"Hey Adam," a voice called startling him. Adam looked in the direction of the voice to see Charlie and the rest of the Ducks who had come to the game standing near the stands. "We're going out for ice cream. Come with us."
"I don't know," Adam said casting a glance to the Warriors. He wanted to go with the Ducks. He knew he would have a much better time with them than with his teammates but he had to skate with the Warriors at practice the next day.
"Come on Adam," a couple of other Ducks insisted. Before Adam could reply another voice was heard.
"We don't have to do everything together Riley," Scooter said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm going to spend some time with Julie tonight," he continued "and if you have a problem with it than tough."
Scooter walked away from Riley and headed toward where the Ducks were standing. His path took him back past Adam. On his way by he put his arm around Adam's shoulders saying "Come along kid. Let's go celebrate." Scooter led him toward the Ducks making Adam's choice for him but Adam didn't mind. It was the choice he had wanted to make anyway. Adam couldn't help but start to worry about how practice was going to go the next day though.
"You skated great tonight," Russ said to Adam as he and Scooter joined the group.
As Russ and some of the other Ducks congratulated Adam on his game Scooter found Julie. As the group headed out of the arena and toward the ice cream parlor Scooter took Julie's hand. Julie felt her face flush and knew she had a huge smile on her face. She didn't really care. Holding Scooter's hand was a dream come true for her.
"You played good too Scooter," she said to him looking up at him.
"I did alright. I would have rather had a shut out but there is always next game," Scooter told her.
"Hey a goalie can't stop everything," Julie said.
"Yeah, I guess your right," Scooter said laughing. He planned on enjoying himself tonight despite Riley and Cole.
On Monday afternoon Charlie found himself arriving at the arena twenty minutes early. He was a bundle of nervous energy. He couldn't help but wonder who the new coach was. He figured he would get to the rink early and do a few laps to burn off some of the energy. Besides, he had been kicked out of his dorm room by his roommate because he couldn't keep still. His roommate had said he was driving him crazy.
Heading for the locker room, Charlie noticed that two people were already out on the ice. As he walked closer to the rink he could see that it was Adam and Goldberg. He had been wondering why Goldberg had been the first one at practice this pass week. Now he knew why. What he didn't know was why he hadn't told anyone he was doing extra practice.
"Good job today Goldberg," Charlie heard Adam said as he and Goldberg wrapped the practice session up for another day. The two of them were headed toward the gate to exit the ice.
"Thanks," Goldberg told him. He was finally starting to feel as if he was actually making progress.
"Hey Charlie," Adam said seeing Charlie as he stepped off the ice. "What are you doing here so early."
"Anxious about meeting the new coach I guess."
"Afraid he's going to take the C away?" Adam said with a smile on his face.
"Very funny."
"I'm kind of nervous too," Goldberg admitted. "We just got use to Coach Orion and now we have to get use to someone else. What if we get someone really terrible."
"I think you guys are worry too much," Adam said. "Coach Orion said he thought you guys would like him right. If Orion said that, then this guy can't be all that bad now can he."
"I hope not," Charlie said.
Goldberg took a seat on the lowest bench of the stands as Charlie and Adam headed for the locker room. Charlie had to get ready for practice and Adam had to get out of his gear. The walk to the locker room was quiet.
It wasn't until Adam was gathering his stuff together and putting it in his bag and Charlie was lacing up his skates that Charlie found the courage to ask what he had been wanting to ask.
"How did practice go Saturday?" Charlie asked.
"Okay I guess," Adam said. "No one really talked to me but that isn't new. No one mentioned Friday night after the game either. I think the fact that Scooter actually stood up to Riley kind of has everyone on edge."
"Your not having that much fun on varsity are you?"
"I never said that," Adam said quickly.
"You don't have to say it. I can hear it in your voice."
"Sometimes it seems like I'm skating on the Hawks again," Adam said leaning up against the lockers. "Coach Wilson wants us to win no matter what just like Coach Reilly. If you mess up he has no problem with addressing it right in front of the whole team and you can tell he's upset about it like there is no room for mistakes. It is getting to the point where I'm not having fun when I'm skating."
"But I thought you enjoyed playing when you were with the Hawks. What's so different now."
"When I skated with the Hawks that was all I knew. Now I know hockey can be fun even if you don't win but don't ever tell Coach Wilson I said that."
"Maybe we should all just hope we don't get a coach like him. As long as the coach doesn't take the fun out of playing I guess I can stand whoever we get," Charlie said as other members of the Ducks started coming into the locker room. "Hang in there Adam. Don't let Coach Wilson take away your love for the game," Charlie told him as they headed back out of the locker room.
By this time Goldberg was back out on the ice. He was working on his backward skating. Charlie said good-bye to Adam and stepped onto the ice himself to start warming up. Instead of leaving Adam climbed up into the stands and took a seat. He had to admit that he was curious as to who the new JV coach was himself.
Before long the rest of the Ducks had come out of the locker room and had gathered on the ice. Charlie glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a few minutes past the time for practice to start but there was no sign of their new coach.
"Should we start practicing without him Charlie?" Connie asked.
"Yeah we do have a game tomorrow," Russ said. "We have to practice tonight."
"Let's just give it a few more minutes," Charlie said. He had no intention of meeting this new coach like he had met Coach Orion, flat on the ice at Orion's feet. He was hoping the relationship with this new coach would start a little smoother.
They waited five more minutes but there was still no sign of the new coach. Charlie looked nervously at the clock. How long should they wait.
"Let's do a few laps to warm up," Charlie told his teammates. Certainly the new coach wouldn't be upset it they were doing laps when he came along.
They were doing their second lap when they heard a familiar sound. It was a duck call. The Ducks stopped wherever they were at and looked in the direction of the sound. They couldn't believe their eyes. It couldn't be.
"Come on over here Ducks," Gordon Bombay called out as he stepped out onto the ice and headed for the closest player's box. The Ducks quickly skated over and gathered around him.
"Are you the new coach?" asked Charlie finally putting to words what they were all wondering.
"Yeah, I'm taking Orion's place. I told him not to tell you that I wanted to surprise you," Bombay told them.
"But what about the Junior Goodwill Games," Fulton asked as the cheering started quieting down.
"It wasn't working out. I wasn't happy there. I missed coaching and I missed you guys," Bombay told them. "Now, I understand that we have a game tomorrow night so let's get to work. We'll start with a scrimmage so I can see what we need to work on. Charlie, Goldberg, Dwayne, Fulton, Ken and Guy will be one team and the rest of you are on the other team."
He gave them a few minutes to get the red and blue scrimmage jerseys on and to organize their teams. As they got situated Bombay turned around in the player's box where he was standing and called out, "Hey Banks, how about coming down here."
Adam stood up from where he was sitting and made his way down the stands.
"Yeah Coach," he said as he approached the bottom.
"Come join me. Another set of eyes will be useful. You may pick up on things I don't see," Bombay told him.
"Okay," Adam said already heading over to the gate to join Bombay in the player's box.
As Adam joined him in the box, Russ and Charlie took their places center ice ready for the face off. Bombay blew his whistle and the scrimmage began.
'It's great to back', Bombay thought as he watched practice. He had missed coaching as much as he missed playing the game. And he had missed his team. When Orion had called saying he had to go to Baltimore it didn't take much convincing to make him realize that this is where he belonged.