Crosby (Portland Wildfire #1)

Juno

I’d done my homework on Arch Hewitt long before tonight, the same way I did with every player on the roster. Born in northern Minnesota, the oldest kid to blue-collar parents, it was the kind of background that produces men who don’t talk much about the pressure they grew up with.

He wasn’t a star coming up—no viral highlights, no headlines—but he climbed anyway. Steady hard work through junior leagues, minor systems and short-term contracts. Winnipeg took him because he was dependable, because he played like someone who understood that hockey was a job, not a performance.

On paper, Arch Hewitt is exactly the kind of player people overlook, but in person, it’s obvious why teams keep him. Because he is consistently dependable.