The Mighty Ducks Imagines

Interviews

With the Junior Goodwill Games being a highly televised event - essentially acting as a mini Olympics - there's a lot of media coverage. That includes interviews with the athletes, coaches, trainers and anyone they can get their hands on really. Being part of the USA hockey team, we've been instructed to be on our best behaviour in front of the reporters, especially when the cameras are rolling. There's a range of pairings they want to interview as well as solo interviews. The press is draining.

Nobody has to do more than Julie. Not only does she have to do solo interviews whenever they demand it, but she has the new guys group, girls only and goalies only interviews. She's a trooper. She doesn't want to complain to Bombay because it's a big opportunity - but she's not exactly pleased about the high demand. Though she is grateful that I'm in the girls and goalies ones with her.

Goldberg and I had very different reactions when we found out that there was gonna be another backup. He was (and still kind of is) bitter about it. I was just happy to have another girl on the team. I knew I'd relate to Julie a little more than Connie just because we have the goalie thing in common.

Despite the fact that Julie and I are much better goalies, Bombay puts Goldberg in the net as if he's the only option. In a twist that I'm surprised hasn't happened sooner, Goldberg has fallen to an injury and is out until further notice. That means that Julie is the backup and I'm the new starter. Personally, I think Julie is a better goalie, but I'm not missing my chance to play. Time for yet another goalie interview - minus Goldberg.

"Good morning, ladies. How are we doing today?" One of the female reporters greets us as she walks into the room to find us already in our seats.

"Good, thanks." We keep it short so we can get this done quicker.

"Alright, so, just a quick run through of how this is going to work. I'll give you a thumbs up when we're recording, you introduce yourselves and I'll ask you some basic questions. We'll start by talking about our missing man and transition into life on ice. Any questions?"

"No, I think we're good." Julie responds after glancing at me.

"Great."

We sit patiently as the cameras get set up with paired lighting. Catching us slightly off guard, a PA runs in and hands us some water whilst someone else tries to make sure our hair looks okay. It's a bit excessive for what we're doing - I can tell Julie agrees by how she looks completely over it. A minute or so later, we receive the signal from the reporter. Showtime.

"I'm Julie Gaffney."

"I'm Y/N L/N." I continue.

"We're the goaltenders for team USA hockey." Julie finishes - giving a small yet uninterested smile.

"This morning, we got word that USA's primary goaltender Greg Goldberg has sustained an injury. Could you elaborate and give us some insight on what's going on?"

"Uh, yeah. We had our normal morning skate a couple of hours ago and Goldie took a bad hit from one of Fulton's slapshots. So, he's out until further notice with an upper body injury." I explain the situation.

"I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. Pucks are deadly when Fulton's involved." Julie takes some weight off my shoulders as she senses a few nerves.

"Yeah, you should see all the glass he's broken." I joke to ease the tension. "He's hit my mask a few times - it doesn't tickle. Goldberg is lucky to be alive." I let out a nervous laugh - Julie picks up on it and laughs to put me at ease. "He's probably gonna be out for the rest of the competition."

"So, what does this mean for the roster?" The reporter doesn't seem to care for our attempted light-hearted attitude.

"Y/N will be the new starter and I'll be the secondary."