Body Check (10 page)

He really didn’t know, and it was too bad.

T
he next day, Mr. Mullen drove to the rink. Brent sat in the back with his equipment piled next to him. Lee sat up front with
their father. He glanced at Brent, who hadn’t wanted to talk much.

Lee broke the silence. “How are you feeling? Ready for the game, bro?”

Brent said, “Yeah, I’m ready. For the game, that is. I don’t know if I’m ready for whatever I’ll be doing
after
the game.”

“Don’t let that other stuff distract you,” Lee warned. “Okay? The game comes first.”

“I know that!” Brent snapped. Then he sighed. “Sorry. It’s just that I… ”

He didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

“I understand,” said his brother. “I don’t believe this is really going to happen. If I were in your shoes, I’d
be going through the same thing. But at least you can give Coach Maxwell a ‘W’ as a going-away present.”

Brent smiled “That’d be great! The Cyclones are tough this year. Three wins, one tie, and no losses. Maybe if we can beat
them, people will want Coach Maxwell to stay.”

Lee shook his head. “They’ll probably say you won because of what the new coach is doing. Their minds are made up, bro. Don’t
expect any miracles. But beating these guys would be really excellent.”

“I’d love to beat them,” Brent said, “if we can do it without cheating.”

As the Badgers did their pregame stretching, Brent could hear the noise of a few hundred people who had come to watch the
game. Usually before the game, there would be a lot of chatter in the locker room. Today it had been very quiet. When the
stretching was done, Coach Maxwell stood up and looked at the team.

“The Cyclones are a better team than last year… and they beat us then. But you have the talent to win today, if you go all-out
and play hard. Remember what we’ve worked on, keep your heads in the game, and
play as a team. Don’t worry about tomorrow or anything but what’s happening on the rink. Whatever happens today, you should
know that I’m proud of you.”

Coach Seabrook was next. He wasn’t wearing his usual smile. Instead, he glared. “These guys,” he said, “they think they’re
really tough. They think they’re better than you. They figure all they have to do is show up, and you’ll fold. Send them a
message. Make them respect you. Show the people out there that you’re
winners.
You know what you have to do, what we’ve practiced. Go for it!”

The team filed out onto the rink. Brent wondered if he’d ever wear his blue-and-gold uniform again.

The Cyclones were already on the ice, doing their skatearound, wearing black and red. The Badgers did their own warm-up while
the coaches for both teams huddled with the referee and two linesmen. As he skated, Brent saw his family sitting behind the
red line, only a few seats away from Cam’s parents and little sister.

The referee blew his whistle, and the two starting lineups took the ice. For the Badgers, the starting front line had Ted
at center with Brent and Sandy at the wings. The defensemen were Cam and Burt, and
Chip was the goalie. As was customary, the players from both teams touched gloves as they lined up for the opening face-off.
Normally for Brent, this was a very exciting moment. Today the usual excitement was mixed with sadness.

The whistle sounded again as a linesman dropped the puck. The Cyclone center beat Ted on the draw and slapped the rubber disk
to his left, where a defenseman took it. Brent dropped back to defend, keeping his eye on the puck and on the Cyclone wing
nearest to him. He saw the play developing across the ice as the Cyclone center and his left winger moved over the red line,
passing the puck between them.

The center took the puck between Ted and Sandy and skated it across the blue line. Then he dropped it back to a defenseman
and headed toward the crease.

Cam moved in on him, but the Cyclone defender passed to the right wing. Brent moved closer, looking for a chance to knock
the puck away or put a check on the player.

Another whistle blew, stopping play. A linesman skated over to the sidelines to explain the penalty he had apparently called.
That was fast,
Brent thought.

An official’s voice came over the public address
system: “Number eight, blue, two minutes for interference.”

Barry, who had been struggling with a Cyclone wing in front of the crease, had been called for doing something he shouldn’t
have. Looking as if he’d been caught taking cookies from a cookie jar, he skated over to the penalty box. Less than a minute
into the game, the Cyclones had a power-play opportunity.

Coach Maxwell put Brent, Ted, Cam, and Burt in as his penalty-killing unit. Following the face-off — in the circle to the
left of the Badger goal — the Cyclones controlled the puck. They began by passing around the perimeter of their offensive
zone, looking for an opening, but the Badgers covered well. A Cyclone wing suddenly darted toward the crease, hoping to catch
the Badgers by surprise. A perfect, needle-threading pass got to him, but Brent’s lightning-fast poke check knocked the puck
away, right to where Cam could take it. Cam sent the puck skimming all the way down to the other end of the rink, forcing
the Cyclones to use valuable seconds getting it back. Brent heard his brother yell something, but he couldn’t make it out.

With under a minute left in the penalty, the Cyclone
center fired a shot to the upper left corner of the goal. Chip took it on his blocker and lunged after the puck as it skittered
on the ice. But before he could capture it, a Cyclone wing came around from behind the net and hooked it in for a goal. The
Cyclones led, 1 to nothing.

With the score, both teams were at full strength again. Cam and Burt were replaced by Arno and Darryl, and Gavin came in for
Ted. Coach Maxwell signaled Brent and Sandy to stay on for another minute.

Even against Gavin, a fresh center, the Cyclones controlled the face-off. But the Cyclone wing closest to Brent tried to get
behind the Badger defense and left Brent unguarded. Arno threw a good body check at the opposing center, jarring the puck
loose. Sandy got it and fired a perfect pass to Brent, streaking across the red line. Too late, the Cyclone wing saw his own
mistake.

Brent outskated the closest Cyclone defenseman and had nobody between him and the Cyclone goalie — a perfect breakaway opportunity.
The goalie moved out to try to cut down Brent’s shooting angle.

Brent feinted to his right, drawing the goalie over to the side, and then slammed a shot into the upper left
corner of the net for the tying goal. It was only his second goal of the season, and it made the score 1-1.

Brent was mobbed by his teammates as he and Sandy came to the bench to be replaced by Vic and Gil. For the next several minutes,
neither team was able to score. The Cyclones managed a shot on goal that Chip saved with a sliding stop. Just as Brent was
poised to scramble back onto the ice in a change on the fly for Gil, there was another whistle. This time, it was a penalty
on Vic for high-sticking.

Brent saw the linesman skate over to the Badger bench, looking angry. “I could just as easily have made this a major penalty
for slashing,” he told Coach Maxwell. “Tell your guys to watch themselves. They’re getting too rough out here.”

Coach Seabrook leaned in and began yelling at the linesman as he skated away. Coach Maxwell pulled the other coach back and
said something to him that shut him up fast. Meanwhile, Brent went back out on the ice — as part of the Badger penalty-killing
unit.

Forty seconds later, the Cyclone center made a beautiful pass to one of his wings, who had taken up a position next to the
corner of the Badger goal. Chip managed to deflect the wing’s shot but couldn’t hang
onto the puck, and the center himself poked it in for a goal. The Cyclones now led 2-1 and had scored both their goals on
power plays. The period ended with the Cyclones still ahead by a goal.

In the locker room during the break between periods, Coach Seabrook gave an angry talk. “I’m not seeing the kind of spirit
I want out of this team! We’re not sending these guys a message! Do you want to win or not? If you do, then do what you have
to!”

Coach Maxwell’s talk was quieter. “It’s still our game to win or lose,” he said. “Their front lines have a tendency to get
themselves out of position. They’re looking for odd-man advantages, and that means we could find chances to get another breakaway.
Also, you defensemen, don’t neglect your defensive responsibilities. Don’t get so far into the offensive zone that you can’t
get back when you need to. Keep your heads in the game.”

Brent couldn’t tell if either speech had made much of an impact. He found out two minutes into the second period.

Brent was on the bench at the time. The front line was Ted, Gil, and Neil, with Cam and Vic on defense. The Cyclones had advanced
across the blue line into
their offensive zone, and their left wing had passed to the center, lurking behind the net. Brent was watching the puck when
out of the corner of his eye he saw Cam streaking toward the wing who had just passed. The wing was also watching the puck
and didn’t see Cam until the husky defenseman slammed into him and knocked him against the boards. The boy in black and red
slumped to the ice and didn’t move.

Someone in the stands screamed. The ref blew his whistle, and everything stopped. Cam stood over the motionless Cyclone player
like a statue. The crowd was suddenly silent. But the Cyclone coach was anything but silent.

“That was flagrant!”
he yelled.
“He hit him from behind!”

Two of the officials were now bent over the boy on the ice while the other linesman grabbed Cam by the arm and led him away.
Cam seemed dazed.

The Cyclone coach, realizing that his player might be seriously hurt, came out onto the ice followed by Coach Maxwell. The
Cyclone coach was yelling at the officials and at Coach Maxwell, who put his arm around the other coach and said something
that quieted the angry man. The boy on the ice had not yet
moved. Brent couldn’t tell whether he was conscious or not.

A few minutes later, a stretcher was wheeled onto the ice. The boy was gently lifted onto a board and then onto the stretcher
and quickly taken out of the rink. Brent saw a man and woman hurry out of the stands to follow the stretcher. The boy’s parents,
he assumed. Everyone in the arena had stood up and clapped, saluting the injured player.

At the side of the rink, the Cyclone coach whispered to another man, who nodded and also left.

Now the officials called over the coaches of both teams and had a brief conversation. At one point, Brent heard Coach Seabrook
say, “But that’s not fair! You didn’t see what happened!”

The referee stuck a finger under coach Seabrook’s nose, and whatever he said silenced the coach immediately. Now the announcer
spoke over the public address system.

“Number five of the blue team” — that was Cam — “has been given a game misconduct, and the red team will receive a penalty
shot. Because the player who was hit is unable to take the penalty shot, it will be taken by a substitute.”

Cam had been kicked out of the game. As for the Cyclone who’d been hit, word spread that he’d been taken to a local hospital.
It wasn’t clear how badly he was hurt. Coach Maxwell put his arm around Cam, who still appeared to be stunned. The coach walked
Cam into the locker room. Cam’s father followed them.

A few minutes later, the substitute Cyclone took the penalty shot. Brent held his breath until Chip blocked his shot with
a glove, and play resumed.

Neither team played with much energy; it was obvious that what had happened had taken the steam out of everyone. When the
Badgers went to the locker room after the second period, Cam and his father were gone. Coach Seabrook tried to make another
go-get-‘em pep talk, but nobody paid much attention. Arno muttered, “Guess we know what he means by ‘sending them a message,’
don’t we?”

The third period was a disaster for the Badgers. The final score was 4-2 Cyclones.

Coach Maxwell said, “I’m going to the hospital to see how that boy is. “I’ll let people know as soon as I have information.”

Coach Seabrook said, “I’d like to say that what happened
was very unfortunate, but accidents sometimes happen in hockey. I hope you boys weren’t too upset, and I’m sure that young
man is going to be just fine tomorrow.”

Everyone left quickly.

I
n the car, Brent said, “Can we go to Cam’s house?”

Mr. Mullen frowned. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, son.”

Brent replied, “I’d really like to.”

“Tell you what,” said his father. “I’ll stop and see if they’re up for a visit. All right?”

“Fine,” Brent said.

At the Johanssen house, Mr. Mullen rang the doorbell and went inside. A moment later, he came back to the car.

“Cam wants to see you. I’ll drive home with Lee. Call if you need me later. And, son?”

Brent had opened his car door. “Yeah?”

“I’m proud of you. This is a thoughtful thing to do. He needs a friend tonight.”

Brent nodded and went to the open door. He found Mr. Johanssen in the hall.

“Hey, Mr. J., how’s Cam doing?”

Cam’s dad managed a weak smile. “Not great but glad you’re here. He’s in the den.”

Brent found his friend on a couch, staring at the floor. “Hey, dude,” Brent said. “Okay to sit down?”

“Sure,” Cam said. “You hear anything about how that guy is?”

“Not yet.” Brent sat across from Cam. “Oh yeah, not that it matters now, but we lost.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Coach Maxwell is at the hospital. He’ll let everyone know when there’s news.”

Cam kept his eyes on the floor. He said, “I wanted to go to the hospital to see how he was and apologize, but Dad said it
wasn’t a good idea. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Maybe,” Brent said, hoping that the boy would be in shape for visitors by then.

Cam looked at Brent. “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”