3. Lucas
Chapter three
Lucas
L ight streams through the windows in the living room where I sit and reminisce about last seasons, which feels like it just ended yesterday, but somehow it’s May.
I didn’t take my team to the finals to win it all, but we made it pretty damn far getting to the Frozen Four.
We persevered. We pushed ourselves harder than before.
And we had some unnecessary obstacles like two of our key players getting benched for several games from a stupid, drunken night.
But that was nothing compared to finding out my girlfriend’s abusive ex-boyfriend was on our biggest rival team.
I ended up in the penalty box, but his face is still intact, which means I handled myself much better than I should have.
Playing East Michigan while he’s on the team will always infuriate me.
With what Nathan Kovek did to Lauren . .
. he should be in jail. Regardless of all the ups and downs, it’s a season I will always be proud of—proud of myself as a player, proud of myself as a captain, and proud of myself as a man handling unnavigable situations.
Now, it’s summer at West. Summer always takes more of a toll on me than I like to admit. Most people love the sun, the beach, time off and vacations. I was born to be on the ice as much as possible, which doesn’t go hand in hand with any of those things.
Keith Hall, my roommate, best buddy and Wyvern’s goalie, saunters into the living room from upstairs. I’ve got the TV and have been jumping from show to show, trying to find something to watch and relax.
“You excited to leave for the beach?” He asks blooping down next to me .
“I guess so.” I shrug, pausing on the travel channel.
Somehow, Laur still convinced me to take a trip with plenty of sun and sand, but absolutely no ice rink.
When she said “It’s our last shot at summer before being in the real world—it’s our summer shot.
” I couldn’t argue. I’m not sure how I’m going to survive without ice time, but if anyone is worth it, it’s her.
We agreed I would get at least three hours everyday for what I needed to do and the rest of the time to enjoy vacation. Two of those hours are designated for working out and forcing the rest of the team to join me. The other hour is just for myself to try to unwind without chaos around me.
“Why do you have such a hard time relaxing?” Keith asks.
I release my shoulders, not realizing they were tensed up.
“I’ve got a lot on my plate this season—” I flip through the channels“—you know that.”
“Yeah, but the Wyverns are going to kick ass this season.” Keith gets up to go to the kitchen, grabs himself a beer from the fridge, then sits at the table, scrolling through his phone.
I guess he’s taking summer by the reins.
Meanwhile, my stress level seems to rise daily, knowing I need to bring my suggestions on three players for alternative captains this year to Coach the day after we return from this trip.
The team takes a vote and the coaching staff weighs in, but Coach Andres made it clear to me my recommendation will have the most weight on his final decision.
Keith is the most obvious choice. Despite his current 11:00 a.m. beer, Keith has always been a leader on the team. Not to mention he’s one of the best goalies in college hockey.
Tyler Barret, one of our other close friends, is another option. Like me, Tyler lives and breathes the sport and will likely play for the NHL after our final season as Wyverns. Laur will deny this until her dying breath—but Tyler is a playboy.
In Laur’s defense, he does hide it well.
My number one focus right now is hockey and it should be the main priority for the entire team if we want to make it to the finals this year.
Tyler might love hockey, but I think he’ll put meeting girls and getting laid first on this trip.
I’m curious to see how much he focuses on keeping up his workouts and helping me wrangle in the guys who complain about it.
Keith is another no brainer. If we didn’t have such stellar seniors last year, I’m sure he would’ve already been an alternate captain.
There are a few other seniors that could fit the bill, but I’m partial to adding a junior or even sophomore to the captain roster.
If all the alternate captains are seniors, leadership will be gone after this year, which is the situation we’re in now.
Last year, Liam Welsh and Conner Rizzo, were both alternate captains, while I was captain as a junior.
Liam has been my ride or die since I came to West my freshman year.
It feels a little off without him around.
Once the season starts, it’s going to feel even weirder with the two of them gone.
I still talk to them both every now and again, but they are super busy being big shots in the national hockey league—Liam playing for the Seattle Kraken and Conner for the New York Rangers.
I’m insanely happy and proud of them both, but it doesn’t make me wish they were here any less.
The junior candidates for alternate captain are plentiful. Blaine Mitchell might be a contender, but I’m not hopeful that he’ll step up. He used to be the biggest problem child on the team, but he did turn things around at the end of last season.
For some reason, Blaine is coming on the beach trip with us.
Last year, none of my friends would have wanted to be around him.
So far this summer, he hasn’t gotten in any brawls or tried to convince anyone else to get in any.
Granted it’s only been a few weeks of summer, but it’s progress over his delinquent antics from last year.
The trip will give me a better idea on how Blaine and Tyler are as leaders outside of the typical campus environment.
That leaves Ryder King, the godsend golden boy coming to West as a freshman, as my final contender. Every major college team chased him last year to recruit the kid. Rumor is he’s better than Nick Bellinger, better than me, and the next Sidney Crosby.
We’ll see about that.
I met him briefly when he came to watch us play a few games—he seemed like a normal, eager player to me, but there are countless rumors about him being demanding, selfish, and cocky as hell.
There have never been any freshmen in Wyverns history to be alternative captains. Even if he’s a prodigy, I’m hesitant to make a freshman alternate captain when other players have put their blood, sweat, and tears into the team for countless hours over the years.
“Hey, when is Ryder King coming to campus?” Keith calls from the kitchen, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Tomorrow,” I respond. “But he still hasn’t said if he is coming to the beach with us.”
He’s the only new player who was invited to join. Sure, he doesn’t know any of us, but it would be a good opportunity for him to connect with the team off the ice. If I were him, I would be going, even if only to start making connections with my new teammates.
“I bet he’ll join.” Keith flops back down on the couch.
“If I were him, I’d be wanting to get to know the upperclassmen on the team as soon as possible and prove myself.” I hand him the remote, unable to find anything worth putting on the TV.
“He’s going to make us better this year.” Keith’s voice is full of excitement. “We are going to kick ass. I feel it in my bones.”
I’m hopeful and optimistic about this upcoming season too. Last season, the team played harder than ever before, and we dominated. Sure, we no longer have some of our best players, but with the new talent, I’m hopeful we can make it to the Frozen Four college hockey championship again.
My focus will have to be split between myself and the team this year, while I try to impress scouts and secure a future with an NHL team.
I won’t admit it to anyone, but when I think about the pressure of playing, knowing scouts are watching, where every move I make could impact my future, I feel my stomach tighten, my hands grow clammy, and my throat starts to close.
The first thirty minutes of my “alone time” at the beach needs to be dedicated toward reviewing my notes. It’ll help me recommend alternate captains. The other thirty minutes will be working through this new anxiety I have, which I’m still unsure how to really do.
“Want to watch Family Feud?” Keith asks, finally stopping on a channel. “It’s my comfort show.”
“Sure man,” I chuckle, walking to the kitchen to get water.
I wish I had a comfort show. Or honestly, a comfort anything because nothing seems to help me unwind and deal with my stress lately.
I need to put more effort into finding ways to handle it before the season starts and the real stress begins.
I’ve done some research on meditation and think I need to give it more of a try.
Some great players in the NHL seem to find it helps them.
I really hope it helps me. Nothing has helped to ease my mind.
“Damn, I’ve already seen this episode,” Keith complains before a loud laugh erupts from him. “Hurry up, Luc. The next round is about to get juicy!”