Chapter 16
RAIN
My methods were simple. I watched the players, got to know them, and I tried to let them get to know me.
That was mostly it. So much of the focus was on winning, and that was the first obstacle for my job.
If the pressure was off, if the guys were having fun, if they were focused on doing the best they could against themselves, then the body relaxed.
Muscle memory took over. The focus got clearer.
It always depended on the player, the team, and the coaching.
Some of the newer guys sought me out to ask questions, but the veterans were more resistant. I’d learned that was part of the job as well. Management had hired me. Not the team. Not the coach.
Except I stopped caring about that, because in a meeting, I made the observation that Sunny was holding back.
The meeting came to a halt, and all the coaches looked my way.
“What do you mean?” Coach Hines asked.
“He was trained to be the left winger, and somewhere in his mind, I’m guessing that means he thinks his job is just to assist the center.
It’s not. You all know that, but when Bruge was the center, Sunny matched him, every step of the way.
When Bruge moved, Sunny was beside him. He’s doing the same thing with Griffin, but Griff’s faster.
He’s better than Bruge, and yet Sunny is still beside him the entire way.
I think there’s potential in Sunny that’s not being tapped, and I also think it’s an easy fix. ”
They were silent.
Coach Hines cleared his throat and leaned forward in his seat. It squeaked under his weight. “A simple fix?”
I tried to gauge Coach Hines to see if he was going to be offended if I continued on this pathway.
I decided to proceed. This was my job. “He needs to be told that he can find openings, make openings,” I explained.
“He needs to be told he can also be the star, and then it’s classic conditioning.
Tell him, then give him a chance to do it.
Reinforce when he does it and repeat. Eventually the lightbulb turns on.
You’ll know when he’s broken through the old way of thinking because he’ll walk into the locker room differently.
Then watch how the team reacts to him. He’s your first building block to changing their mindset. ”
I was half lying because the coaches’ mindsets were also an early building block. They needed to change alongside the team.
“Griffin—” Coach began.
I shook my head. I knew where this was going, and this was part of their problem.
“There can be more than one stand out talent on the team. Griffin is very aware of this. He’ll be the first to get excited about this change.
He’s used to winning. He wants to win. Griffin is another tool to use to start changing the team’s mindset.
He wins. Do what he does, and when you find yourselves wanting to hold back and put up some resistance, come to me.
You have two winners on your team right now, Griffin and Brick. Both expect to win.”
As I looked around the table again, I could see they were listening.
“I’d like to spend one-on-one time with the players, and some of that might be on the ice. Benoit assured me I’d be allowed freedom for my methods, but you’re the coaches. I’d like to make sure you’re okay with that.”
The assistant coaches looked puzzled, but one by one they turned to Coach Hines, who just continued to watch me as if I mystified him.
Eventually he realized they were waiting for him to say something, and he cleared his throat.
“Yeah. Uh, that’s fine. Just not for extended periods of time. I don’t want them over conditioning.”
I smiled, giving a nod in thanks. I was aware they were going on blind faith here. They’d been told about my success with American football, but they hadn’t a clue about my knowledge of this particular game.
It was the end of the day’s practice when I saw that Brick and Meester had stayed to talk to the goalie coach.
I waited until they skated off. “Brick.”
He turned to look at me.
The goalie coach glanced over, so I held his gaze, trying to remind him of the meeting this morning. After a moment he gave me a nod and continued, leaving us.
“Can I shoot on you?” I asked.
Brick had taken off his helmet, so I could see that my question caught him off guard. “Uh.” He looked beyond me, probably seeking out the coach before agreeing. “Yeah. Uh… You just want me in the crease?”
“Yep. Let me grab a stick and some pucks. I’ll be a second.”
It didn’t take me long to find one of the equipment managers. “Hey, Benny.”
He was a middle-aged man, and he was always on the run. He was a little breathless as he whirled toward me. “Yeah? How can I help?” There were beads of sweat on his forehead.
“I’m going to shoot on goal for a bit. You have a taped leftie stick I could use? I promise not to break it.”
He chuckled. “Griffin has some pre-taped sticks. He’s a leftie, but I could try and find some other ones…”
“No. That’d be perfect.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
I went over and found a bucket of pucks and laced up my skates. Brick was doing laps when I returned, but he moved over to the goal when he saw me step on the ice.
Benny hurried down the hallway, carrying two sticks. He was out of breath as he handed one to me. “That’s one Griffin prefers, but here’s another in case that one doesn’t work.” He placed it on the bench, and only then did he see Brick waiting for me in the crease. His face went slack. “Uh…”
I took the stick and bucket with me as I pushed off. “Thanks, Benny.”
“Yeah. Uh, yeah…” He remained watching until someone shouted his name, and I could hear him hurry away.
I shifted my focus to Brick, dumping the bucket of pucks on the ice.
He watched, probably wondering what the hell I was doing, but this wasn’t for him. This wasn’t even for me. I was doing this for anyone who had doubts.
I skated up to him and spoke plainly. “You don’t need help with this. That’s not why I’m here. Just…bear with me. Okay?”
He hesitated a second before giving me a nod.
“I’m going to shoot two times at you. The first will hit your chest. I want your eyes closed. Once it hits your chest, open your eyes for the second shot. Block the second. It won’t be going to your chest. And we’re going to go fast. Got it?”
He frowned a little but gave another nod.
I did a quick circle. “Ready?”
He closed his eyes, and I shot.
It hit his chest, as promised. He caught that first puck, tucked it down, and immediately looked for my second shot that came from the side.
The drill was designed to help with rebounding goals, which was a skill any goalie could hone.
Brick caught on to the speed after a round or two, and his eyes flared.
He liked the drill.
So did I, because my shots came from all angles.
I went top shelf. Far side. Glove side. Corners.
Sixth and seventh holes. Sometimes they got through, sometimes they didn’t.
But over and over, as soon as I hammered out the second shot, I circled fast around his net and grabbed the first puck again. That was my signal for us to repeat.
We did this for ten minutes until he grabbed some water.
“You want to keep going?” I asked. “Or head home? Up to you.”
He licked his lips, eyes blazing. “Keep going.”
I grinned. I couldn’t help myself. God, I had missed this sport.
In this moment, we were two hockey players appreciating the sport and appreciating each other’s abilities.
I turned my brain off and let myself get lost in the skating, in the feel of handling the puck, in sweeping around the net, all of it, though I was aware we’d attracted an audience.
I saw them by the bench, watching. But then I let that go too, because it meant I’d already accomplished my goal for this session.
The rest of our time was for me and Brick.
We went another ten minutes, fast and furious, and when I signaled we were done, Brick was panting. His eyes gleamed. He pulled off his helmet and skated my way. “You’re good.”
My heart raced, and I could only manage a smile.
“Why are you not playing in the PWHL? Your snap shot is insane.”
My smile grew. It was nice to hear him say that, but I did my job for a reason, and judging by the new way he looked at me, I’d accomplished it with him. I turned to see who had been watching us. Meester was there, alongside Marken, the goalie coach, and a few other players. Benny as well.
No Griffin. I ignored the dip in my stomach. He tended to head out immediately, probably returning to his sister’s side. I shouldn’t have been surprised because we’d been ignoring each other whenever I was around the team. Today wouldn’t have been any different.
I refocused on Brick. “Thanks, but that’s not the job I want to do.”
I could see his confusion, which made me laugh. He was a hockey player. If someone had the skills to play professional hockey, why wouldn’t they?
“You’re one of the best goalies in the NHL,” I told him.
His head raised.
“You will be in the Hall of Fame, but this fanbase and this team doesn’t seem to realize that. I want them to be made aware of it sooner than later.”
His eyebrows pulled together. “That’s why we did this drill together?”
“No. We did this drill because I wanted to shake some people up.” I flashed him a look. “This is my job. Everyone here thinks a certain way. They have pre-set assumptions in place, and I need to clear those out. You just helped me start doing that. Thank you.”
He grunted, switching his helmet to one side so he could pull a glove off. He wiped his hand over his face. “I don’t understand a thing you just said, but I had fun. I’ll do that with you any day of the week.” He looked over my shoulder. “I got a feeling Meester is going to be asking to do it too.”
Meester was the only one still watching. He gave us a wide smile before heading to the locker room.
Brick gestured to the ice. “You want help cleaning up?”
“Nah. I got it. I’m going to do some laps anyway.”
“Okay. It’s been fun, Connors.” He tapped my shoulder as he passed.
I quickly picked up all the pucks and skated the bucket and stick over to the bench. After that, I bent my head down and began to skate.
This time was for me, and I didn’t hold back.
I skated until my heart wanted to explode out of my chest.
And I grinned the entire time.