Okay, I'd LOVE feedback, even if you told me I suck. I can't decide who to put Cal with. It is floating between OC, Mac, and Jim Craig. Let me know who you think should win the toss up…
Herb Brooks looked at the faces of the twenty six young men that he had chosen for his preliminary roster. "Take a good look around boys," he said pausing briefly, "because they're the ones getting off easy." He continued his speech, telling them how he would be their coach, not their friend. If they needed a friend they could go to Coach Patrick, Doc, or Doc's assistant Cal. Herb motioned to a woman making her way down the stairs towards them.
Cal walked over to where Doc was standing with Herb and Craig. The two coaches shook Cal's hand, and Coach Patrick handed out some sheets to the players while Herb left. She stood with Doc listening to him speak softly.
She hadn't been surprised by some of the names on the list. Having watched them, she could tell they were all solid players. Cal knew there were six more of the men that would be leaving before the end, and she watched the group leave with a critical eye. There were several Minnesota boys, and several Boston boys. Should be interesting.
She had been surprised when her great uncle, George Nagobads, or Doc, had contacted her, asking her to come and assist them with this endeavor. She had graduated the semester before with a degree in physical therapy, and would be going back to finish for a degree in sports medicine. Calliope Vanya Nagobads was twenty years old, and felt ages ahead of the other young people in her age group. She was born in New York to a Latvian father, and a Russian mother. They had died 2 years earlier in a plane crash. Since she was a child she had spent most of her summers in Minnesota.
Cal tried not to think of her parents too often. Their death still burned a hole through her heart. She shrugged off her melancholy. She was meeting some of her friends from the area at the local bar that evening, and needed to get ready.
Most of the players were at the bar when she and her friends entered. She noticed that they were already separating into their different groups. She shook her head wryly thinking how they'd better get over that real quick.
"Oh, Cal, who's that?" her brunette friend Teri asked her pointing to one of the players. Teri was tall, with long, straight, brunette hair. A smattering of freckles fell over her pert nose, and she had a wide smiling mouth. She was a pretty girl, who was skinny as a stick.
Cal thought for a moment before answering, "That's Rob McClanahan. He played here in Minnesota under Coach Brooks."
"He's cute." this came from her other friend Michelle. The redread of the group, Michelle was petite, with a curvy body. "Heck, most of them are."
Cal shrugged. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend. They had dated for two years, and Cal wasn't looking to starting to date again. "Yeah, but in the end they're all just boys. You see that other boy at the end of that table." The boy she was pointing towards looked angry. "That's Jack O'Callahan, they call him OC. I overheard him talking about Minnesota earlier. He has some real issues, especially with Rob McClanahan."
"I think it's pretty exciting, what you get to do." Teri gushed.
Michelle was watching Cal's sour expression. "It's going to be hard work."
"Yeah, but it'll be amazing on my resume. With my grades, and this experience, I can choose whichever college I want to finish up my degree." she mused.
Teri snorted, "Cal, with your grades, you can pick any college now."
Michelle laughed, "At least we'll be able to spend some time with you while they're practicing. I've missed you while you've been schooling year round the past few years."
Cal lifted her mug of beer in a toast, "Here's to good friends. Friends who've stood by, both near and far." Looking at her two friends mischievously, she remembered a chant they used to say when they had first entered their teens, "May we never have to stuff our bras…" The other two joined in, their mugs also in the air, "or date men with back hair!" The three girls burst out laughing at their silliness, drawing quizzical looks from the hockey players.
Teri slyly pointed towards a player with a full beard, "I would bet you money that one has back hair." she whispered, eliciting snorts of laughter from her friends.
Calliope woke early the next morning, and headed to the rink. It was still too early for anyone else to be there, so she dressed in some warm tights, a white leotard, and an oversized, and ragged red sweater. She pulled her long, curling, chocolate brown hair into a loose bun on top of her head. Setting her tape player on the benches, she finishing tying her skates, and headed for the ice to stretch out.
She started skating to Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, by Paul Simon. It was a fast paced song, and she loved feeling the air rush by her as she skated. Spinning, and jumping she let all of the distractions in her life melt away for a little while. She didn't notice several of the players had entered and were watching her from the top of the stands. After Paul Simon, the music changed into Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. A little slower, but it gave her the same rush.
This was why she'd never chosen to even try to skate professionally. She was good, but she wouldn't have been able to skate to what she enjoyed skating to. So many rules to follow. Plus, she knew she wasn't good enough.
Cal laughed delightedly as Tush, by ZZ Top came on. It had been too long since she'd given herself a break to skate for fun. Too much time spent studying. In the stands the players were almost speechless, watching the lovely girl skate with such enthusiasm.
"Does anyone know what she's going to be doing to help us out?" Mac asked.
The other players were shaking their heads.
"I guess I'm surprised that he'd bring a girl in with all us guys." This came from Jim Craig, the goalie. It had been a rough year for Jim. His mom had died, his dad had lost his job; Jim appreciated that coach wanted to give him a shot at the team.
The last song she skated too was Aerosmith's Dream On. It was the song she always cooled down to. In many ways it reminded her of her parents. When she finished, as the song ended, she heard clapping coming from the darkened rink. She was slightly embarrassed to see the hockey players watching her, but brushed it off. Coach Brooks, Coach Patrick, and Doc had just entered the rink, so she skated off the ice to kiss Doc on the cheek.
"You're pretty good on the ice." Herb told Cal before turning to address his players. "Shows over guys, before we get on the ice, introductions are in order. You all know Coach Patrick, and Doc. The lovely young woman next to Doc is Calliope Nagobads. She likes to be called Cal. She's a registered physical therapist, and is going for an additional degree in sports related medicine. We're lucky to have her and Doc. As you can tell from her name, she's Doc's niece." Herb turned and headed for the ice. "We'll do shifts working the puck."
Cal watched the boys intently. She knew they were men, but her mind kept classing them as boys. Doc and Coach Patrick were talking in next to her.
"I thought Herb would be pretty miffed that Jim didn't take the test, but he just gave me this look, like everything was fine." Coach Patrick was saying.
"Well, Maybe he has reasons for this." Doc answered. Cal found this intriguing. She'd seen the psychology test that the coach had handed out. It had shown her that the coach was an intelligent and highly canny man. He seemed to know what he was doing with this team, even if he had already upset the board in cutting them out of the choosing process.
Cal was deep in thought when the fight broke out between OC and Mac. Coach Brooks didn't even try to separate them, just insulted them. The other guys pulled them apart. She sighed knowing she'd need to check them out to make sure they were okay. Cal would also be helping Doc with checking out the boys muscles to make sure that nothing was pulled, or if something was injured, it would recuperate quickly. She smiled thinking that it was a good thing she gave awesome neck rubs.