You know what? I can really get used to these week long vacations during the school year. I got to run with Nolan, Spencer and Josh this morning. Carey, Doc and Brad along with the Coach are in Toronto doing some kind of sports panel show and they weren't expected back until after two. I went for a quick trip down to the sauna for a few minutes and right now I feel refreshed and yet, I don't know what I can do with the rest of my day right now? After we got back from our run, the clouds burst and it's pouring rain outside. The guys want to watch the Everett-Kingston game tonight at the arena just so they can know what kind of team they'll be playing come Thursday night when they have to face-off against Everett. They're kind of boring that way; they live, breathe and sleep hockey. After this week, Spencer and Nolan will be sent off to Hartford and Philadelphia to do battle against each other in the AHL playoffs. Those two guys are closer than brothers, have been for the last three years but in five days they'll be facing off against each other in a best-of-seven playoff series.

It's only like a twenty-five minute plane ride from Toronto to Kingston, so provided they didn't get hung up on traffic getting to the airport, they should be home any time now. I flip on the TV to catch the four of them on the panel show. Obviously they're running the taped version. The guys are laughing and talking about how the Leafs and Canucks are terrible this year; how the Montreal Canadiens are a favourite to win the Cup…again and how they'll probably beat Chicago in the final; what the Penguins need to do in order to solve Montreal's goaltending and a host of other things.

"Close your eyes and I'll kiss you, tomorrow I'll miss you." I hear a familiar and slightly off key voice ring through the hallway. "Remember I'll always be true." I walk over to the door and open it so see him dancing down the hall way. His eyes catch mine and he belts out the next line. "And then while I'm away, I'll write home everyday and I'll send all my loving to you." He ends right in front of my face and leans forward to place a quick kiss on my lips. "I heard you went for a run today."

"That's not the next line in the song." I joke.

"Funny…" He muses as he steps passed me into the room. "I was great on TV today, I think I nailed it!"

"I saw it, you aren't a little worried about being typecast as only being able to talk hockey?" I question as I close the door.

"Well, I wanted to talk about Macro-Keynesian economics, the impact of the International Monetary Fund on the developing world and Augustinian epistemology but they were worried it might be a drag on ratings." He flops down on the bed. "A little more than twenty-four hours before I've got to be ready to skate my legs off against Everett. I don't know what to do with myself."

"I was having exactly the same problem before you got here." I lay down next to him on the bed. "No sex." I warn. He feigns shock. "You were thinking it."

"I think about it once every seven seconds." He replies. "And some of the positions you take in those fantasies, my God woman, you might kill me." I laugh and playfully punch his pectoral.

"You were the one who decided on the chair last night." I protest.

"A long standing fantasy of mine when it comes to you." He answers and kisses my forehead. "Remind me to buy Nolan a car for getting you up here for this week."

"Yeah, he's a good guy. Maybe you should fix him up with Samantha DiDiomete, they'd get a kick out of each other, I think." I theorize as we just lay here staring up at the ceiling.

"Nolan's got a girlfriend back in Kitchener. A tiny redhead named Becky. It amuses the rest of the team, he's six foot five and she's like four foot eleven." He laughs. "I have a question, your parents know you're here, right?"

"My mom does, my dad's travelling with a Congressional Delegation through East Asia right now and my mom figured that the best way to prevent him from going off on the President of South Korea was to…" I trail off a bit.

"Implement a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy?" He jests. "Why does your dad seem to have taken a very sudden, very sharp dislike to me? Wasn't he the one who helped my put the carburetor in my car last summer?"

"You're seventeen, almost eighteen, you have expressed both a romantic and sexual interest in his only daughter, and you're a very attractive man with a very bright future and money to burn. He's not pissed at you…well, he's kind of pissed at you. He's more pissed at the fact that I'm growing up and I picked a good guy that, try though he might, he can't hate." I snuggle up against his chest. "I think he's trying to keep me at twelve years-old forever."

"You going to come to the Everett-Kingston game tonight?" He asks in a low whisper.

"I don't know, the idea of standing around the rail with you and the boys watching you rot your teeth with Coke and pick at stale nachos and bad cheese." I laugh a little. "Besides, when you're not playing, I find hockey kind of tough to watch."

"Blasphemy!" He jokes and puts on a deep baritone voice. I giggle again.

"Aren't you worried that this is just for here?" I chance. "That for these few days here in Kingston we get to be what a part of us has wanted to be for a long time but when we get back to D.C. we're going to go back to being the way we were? You know, with the uncomfortable silences and the sexual tension and the knowing glances."

He pulls me close. "One way or another, I'm sure what happens, what has happened here will change things. The reason that I told you that I wanted you to make the decision back in January was because I knew you would make the right decision. I left it in your hands because I remembered all the times that we got close before and I walked away. I figured it was only fair that I stand out on that limb this time and give you the option of cutting it out from under me or not."

"And that's fair in your mind?" I ask.

"Not everything in life is fair." He replies. "Almost nothing in life is fair actually. There are kids here in Canada who would kill to have the skills I have on a hockey rink. Most of them have more passion for the game than I do, but I was born with an inherent amount of skill that they just lack. It's not fair to them but it is what it is. My dad taught us, when we were all very young that you should always read the Irish writers. I don't know why, there was something about emotional complexity and verbose simplicity. Two quotes just came to my mind, one was Oscar Wilde, he said 'They ruin every romance by trying to make it last forever'. The other one is also Oscar Wilde but I think I kind of describes the way I've seen you for a long time: 'A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world'. It may seem some kind of romantic intoxication to compare you to the moonlight but it's the kind of nervous, anticipatory energy I get when I'm around you." He kisses the top of my head. "I don't want you to make a decision while we're here. I'm not going to stop you from doing it, but I think we should be removed from what these few days are for us before we make a definitive choice." He slides out from under me and walks over to the dresser. "For now, I'm gonna head down to the pool and swim a few laps to keep up the muscle fitness for tomorrow's game. I'll see you in about an hour."

Sure enough, he went downstairs to the pool and swam laps for more than forty-five minutes. He came upstairs, dried off his hair and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. A knock comes at the door while the two of us are watching television on the bed. Brad gets up and walks over to the door. "Hey Nolan, what's up?" He leans on the door.

"Bunch of us are going to watch the game at a pub down the street tonight, they've got the game, three dollar pitchers and live music after the game." Nolan explains. "Sounds like a hell of a lot more fun than leaning on a wrought iron rail, eating stale popcorn and drinking bad expensive beer. Besides, if Kingston wins, then we have a slightly less-gruelling schedule over the remaining four days. If Everett wins, we'll at least have one night of fun under our belts."

"I'm glad I learned how to argue from you." Brad laughs. "Hey honey, you wanna go to a pub tonight?"

"I'm pretty sure we're both below the drinking age, even in Canada." I reply with a concerned smile.

"First, ain't anybody going to tell Brad he can't drink, he's more loved in Canada than the Mounties for God's sake." Nolan jokes. "We don't need to drink to have fun anyway, this bar has great poutine and fantastic nachos. It's got great Irish atmosphere, live music and we get to watch the game on a big TV, it's great."

"We'll be there." Brad nods, shakes hands with Nolan and closes the door.

"We'll be there, huh?" I walk over and trap him between me and the door.

"You would rather my friends drag me out to a bar alone where a collection of local puck bunnies will make no end of shoving their cleavage in my face?" He replies and I roll my eyes at him.

"Fine, I guess I'll go." I sound exasperated but really a small part of me kind of likes it when he takes charge like that……do I have to turn in my feminist membership card now? Another knock comes to the door.

"Nolan, what is it now?" Brad grunts as he turns back to the door and opens it wide.

"Nolan pestering my favourite client?" Kate Henderson, Brad's agent, is on the other side of the door. She pulls him into a hug and gives him a pat on the back. "I hear you've got a goal and four assists in the first two games of this tournament and that you're playing Everett tomorrow."

"Yeah, so?" I question.

"Playoff performance is everything to General Managers come draft day but you're playing with some of the biggest blue-chipper prospects in the game. Cory Stewart, Marcus Grundler, hell you're even skating alongside Nolan White, this is the showcase for you before the June Draft." Kate explains. "You're here." She looks over his shoulder, right at me.

"Nice to see you again, Kate." I smile quickly.

"Yeah, Nolan decided to surprise me by organizing this little vacation for her, really it was an awful nice thing for him to do." Brad smiles. "We're all heading out to some Irish pub to watch the game in a few minutes; you want to come with us?"

"I'm sure that you all have better things to do than be escorted around town by a thirty-something agent." Kate smiles at him fondly. "But I did just have a very fond discussion with the Assistant General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks concerning you. He seems to think you're able to leap small buildings in a single bound."

"Only if I have a running start." Brad jokes. "Vancouver's a great city and they're hockey crazies of course."

"Few teams that have no chance at the first overall pick are calling my office pretty regularly. I'm hearing from Assistant General Managers from Carolina, Columbus, Philadelphia, the New York Rangers…you seem to be pretty popular, kid." She smiles at him. Why wouldn't she? He's a real meal ticket for her since his deal with her entitles her to something like eight percent of whatever contract he signs. After a few more minutes of business chat, Kate leaves the room.

"Why did you invite her to the pub, I'm not sure she likes me." I question.

"Oh, I know she doesn't like you." He replies. "But I figure it's because she doesn't know you." He thumps down on the bed and begins to tie his shoes. "Everyone who knows you, likes you. I figured she would too."

"Maybe you're right." I shrug. "Are you gonna get ready to go, or what?"

We walk into this pub and it has the same kind of feel you get from almost any old Irish pub, it's like your drinking in a cave. We take up a seat where we can see both the stage and the TV. "Would you all like to look at some menus?" Our hostess asks. We all nod and she runs over to the bar and grabs a few. She hands them out.

"Now remember, no booze for either of the two of you." Nolan instructs Brad and Josh.

"Why do you and Carey get any?" I question.

"Well, I'm nineteen." Nolan answers.

"And I got a fake." Carey flashes the ID. "Besides, any cops who stumble in here are gonna know that Captain America over here," he points to Brad, "and Josh aren't nineteen."

"Good point." I reply. "So, what exactly is poutine?"

"It's French fries covered with cheese curds and hot gravy. Ideally the temperature of the gravy is such that it melts the cheese over the fries." Nolan explains.

"It's like a million calories." Brad adds.

"Okay…no thanks." I reply, my hands subconsciously moving to my hips. "I don't think I want to exercise hard enough to work all that off."

"I swear, if you're about to have a self-conscious weight moment, I'm going to start bragging about how hot you are to these guys." Brad jumps in.

"You're threatening me with embarrassment?" I question.

"I am, it's been known to work in the past." He replies.

"Why does the coach refer to the four of you as 'The Beatles' when you go somewhere collectively?" I ask.

"It all started when Coach realized that Josh looked like a young Paul McCartney. Then he started hanging out with the three of us who were close-knit from last season. Carey's kind of the goof, so he's Ringo; Nolan's the quiet one, so he's George and Coach thought I was the leader of the group, so naturally that made me John." Brad explains simply. "I think the nachos, what do you guys think?"

"The nachos are great here." Nolan replies. "I'm getting a beer and the poutine."

"Sounds good to me." Carey adds on.

"Fish and chips." Josh coolly remarks.

"Chicken wings." I mutter. Our waitress is standing over us and takes down our order. The guys look up to the screen to see the puck drop for the Everett-Kingston game. "Who do you guys actually want to win the game?" I question.

"Kingston." Brad, Nolan and Carey answer. "We've played the a lot, we know we can beat them."

"Everett." Josh answers. "Championship games are only fun for the audience if there's some suspense involved. Good theatre sells tickets, it gets ratings."

"This coming from the kid who has stopped something like 78/78 shots so far in this tournament." Nolan remarks sarcastically.

"Well, most of it's luck." Josh chuckles. With the game on, the boys barely seems to acknowledge anything else in the bar but the television. When the food comes, they don't even acknowledge the waitress. Their hands just periodically drop down and pick up some food. They comment on mistakes they see in the other teams' games. They'll point out problems with Everett's fore-check or problems with Kingston's defence corps. A girl could get a complex after being lavished with compliments for a while and then subject to almost complete silence for 55 minutes.

When intermission finally hits, the boys turn away from the TV and back toward the middle of the table. Kingston is up 2-0 on the big bad boys from out west, the Everett Silvertips. "Everett can't get any pressure on this, the problem with bringing in a sixteen year-old like Billy Gillis to lead the team in scoring is that eventually he's going to have to match-up and he hasn't." Nolan comments. The rest of the guys all nod. The band takes to the stage to play for the twenty minutes of the intermission. They spent the last five minutes of the period testing their microphones and tuning their instruments. Once the intermission starts, they start playing some great Celtic tunes. They've got a female lead singer who also seems to be able to play just as mean a fiddle as her band's main fiddler. They perform solid versions of When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Molly Malone and Barrett's Privateers. The last song has the boys clapping, stomping and singing along with the band.

When the second period starts, the band stops playing and they walk over and join us at the table. "You guys weren't bad for back-up singers." The singer sits down. "I'm Erin. That's Jake," she points to her percussionist, "John" she points to her fiddler, "and Jeremy," she points to her guitarist.

"Jake, John and Jeremy, huh? What do you guys call your band?" I question.

"The Jaybirds." Erin replies with a fast smile.

"Of course." I laugh. "Well, I'm Sasha and this is…" I go to point to the rest of the guys but the fiddler cuts me off.

"We know who they are; ya'd almost have to be livin' under a rock in this town for the last month not to know who they are." John explains. "You guys are scouting Everett from a pub, that wouldn't be better served up the street at the rink?"

"You'd be surprised." Nolan replies as he takes a sip of his beer. "TV camera catches some things you miss when you're standing along the rails."

"Of course you catch some things up on the rails that the camera misses, so that's why the Coach is at the game." Josh adds.

"I loved your version of Molly Malone by the way." Nolan's eyes meet up with Erin's. "Play a little fiddle myself, so I was especially impressed."

"Well, thanks." The redhead replies coyly. "Maybe you could join me for a tune in the next intermission?"

"Fantastic idea." Nolan has this sly grin on his face. I look at Brad who just nods and smiles like he's trying to restrain a fond laugh.

"I thought Nolan had a girlfriend." I whisper to him.

"I thought he did, too." Brad whispers back.

"This is the most I've heard these guys talk while the play is in action." I tell Erin and the two of us have a laugh of our own. Sure enough, when we turn back, all the y chromosomes are gazing longingly into the television. The guys seem encapsulated in the action of the game for the rest of the period. I laugh a little as I watch Brad grimace when Everett scores on a Marcus Grundler shot from the blue-line on the power-play. At the end of the second period, Kingston still leads Everett but the score is 2-1. Another intermission starts and Erin drags Nolan, Jake and Jeremy up on stage. Erin hands him the fiddle.

"Do ya know Mary Mac, lass?" Nolan asks her as he warms up his fingers.

"Do I know Mary Mac?" Erin scoffs at him and plays a little bit of a challenging riff to get Nolan in a competitive mood. Jake counts the band in on his drum and Erin and Jeremy begin to play. Nolan belts out the lyrics.

There's a neat little lass and her name is Mary Mac
And make no mistake she's the girl I'm gonna track
Lots of other fellas try to get her on the back.
But I'm thinkin' they'll have to get up early.

Erin stands in next to Nolan to sing the chorus with him. From the speed with which Nolan just sang, I'm guessing this is one of the faster ditties.

(Chorus)

Mary Mac's mother's making Mary Mac marry me

My Mother's making me marry Mary Mac

Oh, I'm gonna marry Mary cause when Mary's takin' care of me

We'll all be feeling merry when I marry Mary Mac

After singing the chorus together, Nolan and Erin go into a real duel of fiddles before he launches into the next verse.

Now Mary and her mother are an awful lot together
In fact you hardly see the one without the other
And people often wonder if it's Mary or her mother
Or both of them together I'm courting

The two of them sound really angry as they belt out the next round of the chorus together at an even faster tempo. I can hear the crackle of electricity between the big Kitchener defenseman and the little Kingston musician on stage but I'm not going to say anything just yet. Nolan gets the next verse as well.

Well up among the heather in the hills of Benafee
Well I had a Bonnie lass sittin' on my knee
A bumble bee stung me right above the knee
Up among the heather in the hills of Benafee

The two of them rejoin at the microphone to sing the chorus and Brad leans over to whisper in my ear. "Is it just me or are the two of them eye-fucking the shit out of each other? And excuse my language, love." He kisses my cheek.

"I'm not sure it's eye-screwing, it's like two carnivores that are about to angrily devour each other." I reply with a little giggle. They finish the chorus and move on to the next verse. Nolan still singing at an increasing tempo.

Well I said to bonnie lass how we gonna pass the day
She said among the heather in the hills of Benafee
Where all the boys and girls are making out so free
Up among the heather in the hills of Benafee

This time, the energy is still there between the two of them but they seem to be focused on their instruments. Nolan never plays while he's singing and either does Erin, it would be too tough to balance the fiddle otherwise. After the chorus, Erin steps up to the microphone to sing the next verse while Nolan continues to play.

Wedding's on a Wednesday, everything's arranged
Soon you'll never change your mind unless you minus change
Of making the arrangements and feelings lots of rage
Marriage is an awful undertaking

We all join in this rendition of the chorus, it's a bit of a tongue-twister, especially at the tempo they're expecting from us but I think we managed it alright. This time, when she steps up to the microphone, Erin is still trying to catch her breath and she pushes some of her long red hair out of her face.

Sure to be a grand for grand of that a fair
Gonna be a fork and plate for every man that's there
And I'll be a bugger if I don't get my share
All though I may be very much mistaken

They go one more turn through the chorus before finishing the song. Nolan and Erin are both panting for air by the end like two tired lovers after well…Nolan strides across the stage hard puts a hand at the crook of her neck and pulls her into a kiss. Everyone in the bar gets up on their feet for a standing ovation.

By the end of the night, we've all had a lot of fun. The guys don't even seem to mind that Everett beat Kingston 3-2.

It's the next night and I'm getting ready to watch the Kitchener-Everett game in my room along with Brad's agent, Kate. The team couldn't wrangle tickets for either of us. Most of the organized scouting world will be in attendance for this game as will sizeable fan contingents from both Kitchener and Everett, as well as a healthy slice of the Kingston locals of course. I have yet to see a Kitchener game solely over the television but it's sure to be an experience. I'm wearing a set of Marine sweats that I bought last time I was with Dad on the Annapolis campus. I'm munching lightly out of a bowl of popcorn. There's a video montage that leads into the start of the game. It shows pieces of past Kitchener games and Everett games so I'll see snippets of Brad scoring a nice goal or Nolan throwing a big body-check or Josh making a big save and it's all to the tune of a hard rock version of Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.

"It's Friday evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ontario for this final round robin match that pits the Kitchener Rangers against the Everett Silvertips." The commentator announces. "This game is part of Sportsnet's continuing coverage of the 2020 MasterCard Memorial Cup. In goal for the Kitchener Rangers tonight, he is starting as he has every one of Kitchener's first twenty-two games in this post season, Josh Stafford. Stafford comes in with a record of 18 wins and 4 losses with a 2.19 Goals Against Average and a .937 Save Percentage in that span. At the other end is Everett's Mitchell Blake. Blake comes into the game with a record of 18 wins and 10 losses with a 3.01 Goals Against Average and a .903 Save Percentage.

I watch as the two teams line up at centre ice for the opening face-off. Doc wins the face-off and draws the puck back to Kyle McWilliam on the blue-line. Kyle plays with the puck for a second before sliding a pass over to Brad who has curled back to quarterback the rush. He carries the puck across the Everett blue-line before firing the puck around the boards to Carey Moore who's behind the net. Carey moves the puck back to Nolan at the blue-line. Nolan initiates the cycle by playing the pass over to his defensive partner.

The TV crew covering the game does a quick pan over to the Everett bench where you can see the Everett coach shouting at the top of his lungs. He doesn't like that the Rangers have been able to hem him in so easily or that his team looks so flat-footed. Brad moves up to the half-boards on the right side. Kyle moves hard like he's going to pass to Brad before firing a pass back over to Nolan. Nolan plays up the slap-shot before firing a hard pass over to Brad who has moved in from the boards toward the middle of the ice. Brad one touches the hard pass down to Carey at the left side of the net. Carey moves into the pass, fakes out the Everett goaltender, moves the puck to his backhand and fires a shot just under the crossbar into the Everett goal. 1-0 Kitchener.

"What a play!" The commentator on the TV says. "The Rangers just had the Silvertips running around on that play."

"The play I really like, Pierre is that one touch pass by Ross to hit Moore on the opposite side of the net." The colour commentator jumps in.

"No doubt, Bobby, this kid has all kinds of vision on the ice." The replays starts to play on the screen as the commentators keep talking. "He knows the pass is coming from White, he's already decided he's not going to shoot so he's looking for open targets for a pass and BAM!! Tape to tape pass to Carey Moore who roofs it on Blake."

"And the goal is recorded as Carey Moore from Brad Ross and Nolan White at 41 seconds into the period." The colour commentator announces. "This line is just having a fantastic tournament for Kitchener. When the heat's on, you need your big time players to have that extra gear and the guys on the Ranger's top unit have shown they have it."

"For Brad Ross, this is his sixth point and fifth assist in three games. For Carey Moore, it's his fourth goal of the tournament and for Nolan White, his third assist." Brad's line goes to the bench

"Would be nice if he would shoot more." I hear Kate mutter.

"Didn't Brad score something like 75 goals in the regular season?" I question, looking at Kate.

"Yeah, so?" Kate answers.

"Maybe he wants to show that he knows how to play well with others." I suggest and she nods slowly.

"Good point." She concedes. In the middle of the period, Kitchener gets into penalty trouble. They spend something like five and a half consecutive minutes on the penalty kill. During the course of which, Everett gets all kinds of pressure on the Kitchener net but Josh Stafford is standing tall yet again. The Kitchener defensemen are also doing a good job laying their bodies down to block shots from actually getting on net. At the end of the first period, Kitchener holds a 1-0 lead and Josh Stafford has stopped 14 shots on goal. "So, why do you watch every game he plays when the two of you meet up?" Kate asks me.

"Well, I'd like to say that I enjoy the sport but…" I hesitate. "It's not that I don't like watching the game when he plays, but my favourite part of it is…and you can't hold this against me."

"That's if you actually manage to spit it out, right?" Kate jokes.

"I think he looks really hot when he's standing there in his equipment, with his helmet off, giving interviews." I just know I'm turning bright red. "I guess part of that is that you can tell how much fun he's having just by being out there."

"Well, at least you're honest." Kate comments and steals some of my popcorn. We settle in for the second period after ordering some dinner from room service.

"Kate, where do you think Brad gets taken in the draft?" I ask, it's a thought that passes through my mind more often than it should but now that I have someone who knows what they're talking about that I can talk to, I'm going to get her opinion.

"Well, I'll tell you but you can't tell him." She answers.

"Why not?" I shift in my chair.

"Because I want him focusing on hockey for the rest of this tournament and at the draft combine in two weeks and he can't do that if he thinks he's a sure thing." Kate lies down on the couch. "He'll go in the top five, with a better than eighty percent chance that he'll go in the top three. This means there's a solid chance he ends up in Vancouver, Dallas or Toronto. But there's still the draft lottery, so he might end up in Carolina or playing with the New York Rangers."

"So, nobody knows?" I inquire.

"Nope, and nobody will until the draft lottery happens." She smiles quickly and we turn our attention back to the TV. The Rangers start the period with the line of Kunitz, Gagne and McKee on the ice. "The kids" as Brad calls them, do a good job of keeping Everett deep in their own zone with a solid fore-check, even though they barely touch the puck. The game moves at a pretty good pace over the course of the second period. With about six minutes or so left in the period, the coach sends Brad's line over the boards again.

They line up against Everett's top scoring unit including Marcus Grundler who the Kitchener coach had done a good job of keeping Brad away from up until this point. Doc loses the face-off to Everett's sixteen year-old phenom Billy Gillis. Gillis draws the puck back to Grundler but Carey puts pressure on Grundler right away to get rid of the puck. Grundler tries to make a hasty pass back to Gillis but it ends up on Doc's stick. Doc moves in passed Grundler and fires a shot on net. The shot is handled easily by Mitchell Blake, the Everett goaltender to passes the puck out to Grundler who's circling back in his own zone. Carey and Doc are still fore-checking but Brad seems to have anticipated a counter-attack and dropped back to shore up the defence.

Grundler makes the long pass up to Gillis but Doc is on his horse trying to chase Gillis down. He gets in behind the sixteen year-old who's flying up the right side. Gillis is about to cross the Ranger blue-line but he's got Doc forcing him to the inside. Gillis ducks down and cuts to the inside but all of a sudden this big white mass come in from the inside of the ice and hammers Gillis with an open-ice hit. I guess I'll turn you over to the commentators now.

"Oh WOW! Did. You. See. That. Hit?!" The commentator enunciates.

"Ross just moved in from the inside, lined up Gillis and dropped him with a solid hit." The colour commentator adds. "But Billy Gillis hasn't gotten up." The camera pans out to a shot of the ice that shows the play continuing on while Gillis lays on the ice just inside the blue-line not moving. When an Everett player touches the puck, the ref blows the play down and the trainer comes out to check on the kid.

"You hate to see something like this." The commentator says and the replay comes up on screen. "It wasn't a dirty hit, Ross was back-checking with the Ranger defence, Gillis is forced to the inside by Bay, and Ross is just coming over to play the man. He's in a bit of a crouch, so he's not aiming for the head but he just explodes through the hit and because Brad Ross is six foot three and Billy Gillis is five-foot-ten, it doesn't really matter if Ross wasn't intending for his shoulder to hit Gillis' head, it just happened anyway."

The ref escorts Brad over to the penalty box and the public address announcer takes over. "Kitchener penalty to number seventy-nine, Bradley Ross; four minutes for checking to the head at fourteen forty-three." Right now, I don't think Brad is so much concerned with the four minute penalty as he is with the fact that he might have just seriously injured somebody. After about five minutes, there's a little movement from Gillis' arms and legs which is a good sign but they bring out the EMTs and the gurney to get the kid off the ice. There's a standing ovation for Gillis as he's wheeled off the ice , the players are all tapping their sticks on the ice and Brad is tapping his on the glass on the inside of the penalty box.

I don't think I ever thought of it until now, maybe I never had to, but I didn't realize how great the potential for injury was for Brad while he's out on the ice. I know that the last thing he ever intended to do was hurt Billy Gillis, but something about your perspective changes when you see a kid wheeled off the ice on a gurney. After a few more seconds, the play re-starts with a face-off at centre ice. The Rangers basically spend the rest of the period, including Brad's entire penalty, on defence. At the end of two periods, the score is still only 1-0 for Kitchener and the Rangers are being out-shot 31-22 by Everett. Josh Stafford has been standing on his head again but a correspondent for Sportsnet pulls Brad aside in the tunnel between periods for an interview.

"Brad, what was going through your mind after that hit on Billy Gillis?" The correspondent asks.

"Oh man, I felt terrible." Brad shakes his head. "You know, I just meant to knock him off the puck, I wasn't trying to hurt Billy by any means and I sure as hell hope he's gonna be okay. It was just one of those freak accidents, you know? Two big guys, going at high speeds happen to meet up at a bad time."

"Josh Stafford is putting up more impressive numbers tonight, do you guys say anything to him in between periods?" The interviewer asks.

"Nah, when Josh gets on a role, you just let him do his thing and you try to stay out of his head. He's a great goaltender." Brad wipes a few beads of sweat off his forehead with a towel.

"Thanks, Brad." The interviewer says.

"Yeah, any time." Brad nods and heads off to the dressing room. I just can't get over that hit. I mean, maybe Brad's right and it's just the result of two guys in great physical shape, travelling at high speeds colliding with one another but I get the feeling that it's going to be a little nagging presence in the back of my mind every time he steps on the ice from here on out.

A few minutes later, we're greeted with the start of the third period. Everett seems out to get a little vengeance on Brad as, during his first shift, he has to duck three or four pretty blatant head shots. Finally, Everett Captain Marcus Grundler pins Brad down in the corner with a hit. The two of them appear to exchange some unfriendly words before heading off for a line change. The period continues what has been a pretty back-and-forth pace between the two teams.

About halfway through the period Kitchener gets a power-play, Brad's line gets sent over the boards again so Everett matches with Grundler's defensive pairing. Doc wins the draw and slides the puck back to Nolan at the point. Nolan rifles a shot on net that hits Everett goaltender Mitchell Blake in the shoulder and bounces off into the corner on the left side of the rink. Carey goes into the corner to fish out the puck and slides a pass behind the net to Brad in the other corner. Brad's fighting with Grundler for the puck. Grundler's trying hard to throw Brad off the puck very violently but Brad is hunkered down and trying to fight maintain puck control. Eventually, in a burst of leg strength Brad spins and fires a pass out in front of the net. Doc gets his stick on it and flicks a shot passed the Everett goaltender. 2-0 Kitchener.

Brad leaps out from the corner and wraps Doc in a big hug. He rubs the top of his helmet and the two of them head back over to the Kitchener bench. It's a tide turner for the game. Everett never plays with quite the same intensity. With a few seconds left in the game, Everett pulls their goaltender to get the extra attacker. Nolan fires a shot from centre ice into the empty net for an empty net goal. 3-0 Kitchener. I guess they're on to the championship on Sunday afternoon.