Chapter 35 Knox
KNOX
The puck drops in five minutes, and the locker room is in chaos as guys complete their pregame rituals and suit up.
I’m already dressed, but my stomach’s got more twists than a pretzel.
It’s been four days since our last game—four days that feel like a lifetime—and tonight, the stakes are higher than ever.
We aren’t just playing for the win. We aren’t playing for personal records or team records, or even a spot in the playoffs.
We’re playing for Ollie. For Ava. For everyone who’s believed in us and helped us to get this far.
I close my eyes and breathe deeply.
Everything will be fine.
This is going to work.
It has to work.
There’s too much riding on the line for it to fail.
I can’t let Ava down, or the guys on the team.
No, that’s not right. We’re in this together. All of us, equally committed.
Well, except for Ava. She has no clue what’s about to go down, but it’s better that way.
She would have protested, told us she’d handle it on her own, but the thing is, her termination affects us too.
Not only did we lose a valuable resource, but we also lost a trusted advisor, one every guy on this team invested time and energy in.
Ava is more than just a mental performance coach; she’s our confidante.
“Alright, settle down.” Coach waves his hands in the universal sign for silence.
“It’s been a tough week with Ollie’s accident and personnel changes on the team, but we can’t let our emotions get the best of us tonight.
We need to focus on the game.” He looks around the locker room, making eye contact with every player on the team.
“I want to see smart hockey. Clean plays. And when the clock runs out, I want to see the Devils running home with their tails between their legs,” he shouts, hooking a thumb over his shoulder.
A raucous agreement breaks out with shouts of “Hell yeah!” and “Let’s go!”
Coach grins and claps his hands together. “Let’s hit the ice!”
He turns to go, and not a single player rises.
This is it.
The moment of truth. We’re about to make history, but only time will tell if it’s the good kind.
One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be memorable.
I catch Hardy’s eye, and he gives a sharp jerk of the chin. The D will hold the line.
Coach makes it all the way to the door before he realizes no one is following.
Slowly, he turns to stare at us, eyes narrowed. “What’s going on? Are y’all waiting for a personal invitation?”
I stand. “Sir, we won’t be taking the ice until Ava is reinstated as the Gliders’ mental performance coach. Her termination was unjustified, and in removing her without cause, the organization has stripped us of a valuable resource.”
Coach stares at me, his face blank.
Hell, I think he might be in shock.
“Coach?”
He blinks, and then his arm shoots out, and he points to the door. “This isn’t a contract negotiation. Get your asses on the ice.”
“Sorry, Coach.” D-Vo shrugs. “No can do. You heard the man.”
“You’re really doing this?” Coach plants his hands on his hips and scans the room.
“Free Ava!” McGinnis chirps, punching his fist in the air.
Fontaine snickers. “Wrong protest, dumbass.”
Coach turns his attention back to me. “Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we have a sold-out crowd tonight. If we don’t take the ice, fines will be the least of your worries.”
Waiting until puck drop to voice our demands was a hell of a risk. If we don’t take the ice, it’s likely to alienate our fans. It will definitely piss off the commissioner. But it also strips Jonathan Powers of his negotiating power.
He doesn’t have time to jerk us around or bring up guys from the AHL. He’s got to deal with us, and he’s got to do it quickly unless he wants a forfeit and a massive fine.
One of the assistant coaches peeks her head through the door. “Coach Carlyle, they’re calling for us on the ice.”
Coach stares at me, and I stare right back.
Finally, he turns to the AC. “Stall. We have a situation here.”
Her eyes dart to the team, and then she backs out quietly, the door clicking shut behind her.
Coach turns to one of the other assistants and barks, “Get Jonathan Towers down here right away.”
The assistant makes a beeline for the coaches’ suite. There are no phones allowed in the locker room, but calling him will be faster than running up to the executive suite.
Coach shoots me a stern look, and I feel like a kid who’s just been sent to the principal’s office.
“You couldn’t at least give me a head’s up?” he mutters.
“I thought it would be better this way. Plausible deniability and all that.”
He shakes his head, but a grin tugs at the corner of his mouth. “I’ll give you this much, you don’t do anything halfway.”
“Speaking of which,”—I grin—“you should probably send for Ava. She’s in section 101. Row 12, seat 8.”
He stiffens. “She’s here?”
“Begrudgingly.” It wasn’t easy to convince her, but I pulled it off in the end.
Coach sends our last AC to have security locate Ava.
“Let’s just hope this gamble of yours pays off,” he says wryly. “Otherwise, Ava won’t be the only one looking for a new job. We’ll all be shitcanned.”
He’s not wrong, but I can’t think about that right now. I’ve got to stay sharp if I want any chance of convincing Jonathan Towers to reinstate Ava.
Coach stares at the rest of the team. “That goes for y’all too, you know.”
The atmosphere in the locker room is tense as we wait for the GM to make his way down from the executive suite. When Towers rolls through the door, his jaw is set, and there’s a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead.
“What the hell is going on?” he demands, laser-focused on Coach. “Why isn’t the team on the ice? The ref is going to issue a bench penalty any minute.”
It’s a foregone conclusion at this point.
Starting the game with a two-minute penalty isn’t ideal, but we’ve come back from worse.
“The team is refusing to take the ice,” Coach says, sweeping his arm to encompass every player in the room.
Towers pulls a face. “Excuse me? I must have misheard because there is no way you just said the Gliders are refusing to take the ice.” Ignoring me, he turns to glare at the rest of the team.
“That would be a violation of the collective bargaining agreement and would get this organization fined a minimum of one million dollars.”
Coach nods. “Yes, sir. That is correct.”
Towers plants his hands on his hips. “This is completely unacceptable. Tell them to get their asses on the ice right now.”
“Jon, they’re grown men,” Coach drawls. “I can’t actually force them to do anything against their will.”
Smoke rises from Towers’s ears like an old-fashioned cartoon character, but we’re not about to back down.
“What exactly is the problem?” he asks, jaw tight, voice strained.
I step forward. “The team feels Ava Washington’s termination was unjustified, and we’d like her reinstated immediately.”
“You can’t be serious.” He rubs his jaw as if he’s thinking. “All of this for a performance coach who’s only been here, what? Two months?”
“No disrespect to the coaching staff, but it was Ava’s team building efforts and mental performance training that helped this team turn the corner.
We’re more cohesive than ever, and it shows on the ice.
That’s why we’re winning games. We always had the skills.
We just needed the right lines and better communication on the ice. ”
Towers scoffs. “I understand y’all like her, but I have to believe you’re overstating her role in the Gliders’ record. One person can’t make that big of an impact.”
Says the man who led his team to a Stanley Cup.
“Would you say the same about a head coach?” D-Vo counters. “Or a star player?”
Towers is silent for a long time before he finally concedes. “Point taken, but it was my understanding that Ms. Washington was fired for fraternizing with a member of the team, specifically, you, Mr. St. James.”
I knew I’d have to defend our relationship, but hearing the accusation from Towers is still a shock.
“It’s true that Ava and I have a personal relationship, but it has no bearing on her work for the Gliders and shouldn’t be leveraged to terminate her employment or withhold her services from the rest of the team.
” I hold Towers’s steely gaze. “Sir, I’m happy to sign a waiver stating that we have a personal relationship, and if needed, I’m also willing to seek private coaching at my own expense.
The team has bonded with Ava, and they shouldn’t be penalized for our relationship.
It certainly wasn’t planned, but these things happen. ”
Towers sighs. “Yes, which is why we have a fraternization clause.”
“Respectfully, sir, we can’t un-eat the sandwich. What’s done is done. We need to focus on moving forward.”
Towers’s expression hardens. “You’re walking a fine line, Mr. St. James. I don’t appreciate being extorted.”
“It’s not extortion,” I say evenly. “We’re just a team that is concerned about mental health and player safety. We want what’s best for everyone involved. And for what it’s worth, I did leave a message with your assistant on Monday. I guess it was misplaced because I didn’t receive a call back.”
Towers presses his lips flat. “I’ll talk to Ms. Washington. That’s all I can promise until I get more information.”
“With all due respect, sir, that’s not good enough. If Ava isn’t reinstated, we’ll forfeit tonight’s game.”
“You can’t be serious.” Towers leans forward, his face filling the screen. “Do you have any idea what kind of precedent that sets?”
“I do,” I say quietly. “But I also know what Dr. Banks did to Ava—and to Ollie Davis—and I won’t stand by and let him get away with it.”
Boosh steps up beside me, his presence solid and reassuring. “Neither will I, and I think that goes for the rest of the team too, right guys?”
A chorus of support fills the room.
Towers’s eyes dart between Boosh and me. “What are you talking about? What did Banks do?”
I take a breath and lay it all out. “Banks has been undermining Ava since day one. He dismissed her work, took credit for her ideas, and created a hostile work environment. When Ollie Davis went to him for help, Banks turned him away because he didn’t have an appointment.
Then, when Ava tried to advocate for Ollie, Banks fired her and blackmailed her into silence by threatening to destroy her reputation. ”
“Maybe if Banks had actually done his job, the accident could have been avoided and Davis could be taking the ice tonight,” Bash says gruffly. “Instead, he’s laid up in a trauma ward, staring down months of recovery and the possibility of a career-ending injury.”
“That’s a serious accusation,” Towers says slowly.
“It’s the truth,” Coach says, crossing his arms and widening his stance. “I overheard the conversation myself. Banks admitted to seeing Knox and Ava together weeks ago and used it as leverage to fire her and cover his own ass for refusing to see Ollie.”
Towers is quiet for a long moment, his expression unreadable.
Finally, he speaks. “If what you’re saying is true, this is a much bigger problem than a simple fraternization violation.”
“It’s true,” I say firmly. “This is about more than Ava and me. It’s about Banks’ pattern of misconduct and the fact that he’s failed every player on this team.”
“Ava’s done more for us in a few months than Banks has done in the last year and a half,” Smitty adds.
Towers rubs his temples. “This is a PR nightmare.”
“Only if you don’t fix it,” D-Vo says. “Reinstate Ava. Investigate Banks. Do the right thing.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then we forfeit,” I say without hesitation. “And we’ll make damn sure everyone knows why.”