Hitmen Triumph (10 page)

The second reason I felt good was because Mercedes had agreed to go out with me again, on a real date. I would get to see more of that smile. Lots more.

I also felt good because of this—the chance to play.

When the puck dropped, it was my job to head toward the point, in case Nate lost the draw.

He didn't.

But he didn't win either.

He and the Vancouver center fought for the puck between their skates. I stepped in and jabbed it loose. Somehow I knew that Nate would squirt free and chase it. So I spun off for some open ice.

Before the puck reached my stick, I knew it was coming, even with my back to it. Don't ask how. I just knew that Nate knew where I was headed and that he would slap it toward me.

I widened my legs slightly.

Sure enough, the puck came through. Softly. Like a butterfly waiting to land on my stick.

I had plenty of energy. I kicked it up a gear and raced over our blue line into the neutral zone, puck on my stick. Their defenseman made an aggressive move to check me.

I dropped the puck for Nate.

A lot of young players think that a drop pass needs to be pushed backward. Wrong. The best thing to do is stop the puck and keep skating forward. That way your teammate
doesn't have to try to juggle a puck coming toward him. Instead it's waiting like a ripe cherry.

I left my drop pass in place but skated hard toward the Vancouver defenseman. I bounced off him, but because he had been making the move toward me, there wasn't an interference call.

Quick glance behind me. Nate had swooped on the puck and gone wide. I drifted a little toward center ice. I wanted to give him an outlet if he needed it. He did.

The other defenseman cut him off. Nate shoveled the puck back. As soon as it hit the tape on my stick, I flicked it back to him. A classic give-and-go.

Nate got the puck at their blue line. Clear ice between him and the net.

I tangled briefly with the Vancouver center but had plenty of steam to beat him in a race to their net.

I was skating at top speed. No chance to catch Nate. He was in full stride too. My job now was to get ready for a rebound.

Good thing I was watching so closely.

Nate pulled the goalie with a great move to his backhand. With the wide-open net, Nate did something I'd never seen before. He passed it back to me.

Even though I was watching so closely, even though our radar system seemed to be working again, it still surprised me.

I almost missed his pass.

I caught it with my stick, bobbled it briefly; then I kept my knees low and fired a screamer into the upper right side of the net.

I raised my hands in the air!

Nate caught up to me as I circled.

“It's the new me,” he said. No one else would have been able to hear him above the noise of the crowd. I didn't need to. I saw his face clearly. Not only how his lips moved. But that he meant it. “From here on, brother, it's going to be more equal.”

I grinned back. High-fived him.

We scored another goal that shift.

Two more by the time the game ended. With a victory for the Hitmen.

It was great to have my brother back.

Sigmund Brouwer
is the best-selling author of many books for children and young adults. He has contributed to the
Orca Currents
series (
Wired
,
Sewer Rats
) and the
Orca Sports
series (
Blazer Drive
,
Titan Clash
,
Cobra Strike
). Sigmund enjoys visiting schools to talk about his books.

Interested teachers can find out more by e-mailing [email protected].

For more titles in the Orca Sports series, please
click here
.

To view titles in the Orca Currents series, please
click here
.