Forever and Always | Adam Banks

Eating Ice Cream with the Enemy

The team was gathered in the locker room, waiting for Coach Bombay to come in. This was the game everyone had been the most nervous for. They were finally going up against Iceland, but were feeling extremely unprepared. Bombay had been off with sponsors rather than focusing on coaching them. The only ones on the team that were slightly prepared were Adam and Ellie because they had decided to watch the Iceland versus Germany game. Since Bombay wasn't around to actually coach them, Ellie thought it would be a good idea to at least learn something about them. However, Iceland liked to play rough, so they knew it was going to be a difficult game. 

"Alright, are we ready for warm-ups?" Coach Bombay finally walks in and he earns a few snickers from some players on the team. He looked like a total dufus, and pretty much the entire team was annoyed with his lack of coaching. He deserved to be made fun of. However, he did earn a few compliments, but it was hard to tell if they were sincere or not. 

"Nice jacket. Did you get two pairs of pants with that?" Averman's comment got the entire team to laugh. The sponsorships had really gotten to coach's head. He didn't even look like their coach anymore. It was a shame he was letting it all go to his head. 

The team was on the ice, finishing up their warm-ups. Averman was standing with Goldberg, acting like a newsreporter. "Live from Los Angeles, welcome to the Junior Goodwill Games. Tonight's match up, Team USA faces off against Team Iceland. We have with us Greg Goldberg, goaltender for Team USA. Greg, what is it gonna take to beat these fiesty Icelanders tonight?" 

"I think it'll take a supreme individual effort by me, Greg Goldberg." Ellie was getting one more lap in for warm up as she overheard the two conversating. She slaps the both of them on the back of the head as the ref blows the whistle. 

"You guys are idiots if you think this game is going to be as easy as the last two. You have no idea what we're up against." Ellie and Adam had done their best to warn the team about what they were up against, but a lot of them didn't seem worried. Many of them thought this game was going to be a cakewalk like the others. 

Ellie skated onto the ice and took her place on the wing. Her mere 5'5 frame made her look like a mouse compared to the Iceland team. Jesse was at center ice for the faceoff and Adam took the opposite wing. She tried her best to think positive about this game, but she had a feeling it wasn't going to end well. 

Just as she thought, Portman had gotten thrown out of the game three seconds in. That was bad sign number one. A few seconds later, Iceland had scored their first goal. It was going to be a long night. It also didn't help that the same kid who had been heckling the team since their first game was back at it again tonight. "Hey, Goldberg! I bet if that puck was a cheeseburger, you'd stop it!" 

Ellie watched as her teammates on the ice were getting slammed left and right. These Iceland players played dirty and it was going to be hard to keep up with them, seeing as some of Team USA was half their size. Dwayne's showboating wasn't helping the team either. Instead of passing the puck to Fulton, who was wide open, he got shoved to the ice. Luis, who still hasn't learned to stop, got tripped up and slid right into the boards. Again, not helpful for Team USA. Even Kenny's ice skating moves didn't help as he got blocked and shoved to the ice. 

"Where's our concentration?" Bombay asked his team, who was huddled around him on the bench. They were now down 2-0. "You guys are runnin' around like a bunch of chickens with your heads cut off!"

"We're doing our best," Jesse mumbles. Coach didn't understand what it was like out there. Everyone was taking hits left and right. It was hard to do anything when there was at least one dude, twice your size, knocking the wind out of you. 

"Well, your best isn't good enough anymore. Blow this game and we are one loss away from elimination. You guys might want to go home early, but I sure as hell don't." This wasn't the same coach they had at the beginning of the tournament. Whoever that was, wasn't even recognizable. That was truly the most uninspiring speech he had ever given. 

Heading into the final period, they were now down 4-0. Iceland was outplaying USA in every aspect. To no one's surprise, Iceland had scored yet another goal just seconds after the faceoff. Bombay pulled Goldberg and put in Julie. Connie and Ellie were especially ecstatic because Julie was finally getting her chance to play. Hopefully with her in the net, Iceland won't be able to score anymore. However, Julie didn't even get a chance to play before she was kicked out of the game. Though, her reaction to the sexist comment was completely understandable. Ellie and Connie would've done the same thing. 

Even Fulton's slapshot couldn't help them. It was immediately stopped by Iceland's goaltender. Getting a goal was going to be harder than Ellie originally thought. However, her mind was quick to change as her boyfriend was headed down the ice on a breakway. She was at center ice when the puck goes in the net. That's one! Maybe they could make a comeback after all. Her eyes went wide as the stick of an Iceland player made contact with Adam's wrist and a scream came out of his mouth. Something was wrong. She along with the rest of the team on the ice immediately skated to the player who hurt him, all of them ready to fight him.

Once the ref had started taking him toward the penalty box, they focused their attention on Adam. "Are you okay?" Ellie was the first to ask. How come he was always the one getting injured? Though she had to admit, she was happy it wasn't another head injury. 

"I'm alright," Adam responds. Truthfully, he wasn't alright. When he took his hand out of his glove, he knew something was wrong. However, a wrist injury wasn't going to stop him from playing, so he had to lie. 

As the rest of the team made their way back to center ice, Ellie looked back at Adam, who was still in the same spot. She watched him as he turned his wrist. She knew something was wrong. But why would Adam lie?  

When the final buzzer went off, Ellie didn't even want to look at the scoreboard. She just knew it was that bad. Not to mention, the new version of Coach Bombay was going to have their heads when they got back to the locker room. He was starting to remind her of Coach Reilly. That was a comparison she never thought she would make. 

The team was already feeling defeated, but they knew it was going to get worse when coach walked into the locker room. "Twelve to one. Twelve to one! You know what word comes to mind when you think of that? Hmm? Pathetic! You guys were brought here to play hockey."

Coach Bombay just has a way with words to make the team feel better. "What about you?" Jesse challenges him. The team was already annoyed with him but after that speech, he was on everyone's last nerve. 

"What about me, Jesse?"

"Coach Stansson knew everything about us. They were ready for us," Ellie chimes in. She had tried her best to learn something about the Iceland team, but that wasn't her job. Coach Bombay's job was to prepare them for who they were up against. But when it came time for him to do that, he was nowhere to be seen. 

"And you spend your time driving around in convertibles talking to all those sponsor fools," Luis adds. He was brought here to coach hockey and instead he was doing the opposite. 

"Or hanging with the Iceland lady. We saw you two Saturday night." Fulton's revelation had shocked the entire team. Coach Bombay always said Iceland was the enemy, yet here he was being a total hypocrite. 

"Eating ice cream with the enemy, huh, coach?" The team's attention focused from the Bash Brothers to their coach. Everyone's eyes filled with betrayal and disgust. No one could believe what they had just heard. 

"Hey. Hey, what I do is none of your business. Is that clear?" Of course, he tried to turn his faults back on the team. He had gotten busted by his own players and he didn't know how to defend himself. The statement earns a few eye rolls and everyone starts taking off their gear, not wanting to be around Coach Bombay anymore. "Don't take those pads off. Everyone stay in your gear. We have practice." 

By the time practice was over and the team got back to their dorms, it was past midnight. He had kept them for god knows how long. Everyone filled with pure exhaustion, not ready to be up in a few hours to meet Miss MacKay for tutoring.