Bombay's Twins

Learning to Work Together

On the ice in their gear, Team USA listened and obeyed the directions given by Coach Bombay. It was going to be a long practice for some and a short one for others. The twins needed to get in their head that they needed to start passing the puck around more often and not just to certain players. At first, Elliott didn't realize that she wasn't passing enough to other players and when Adam Banks was on the ice, she simply didn't want to pass to him. Adam Banks was the dream star player that each kid talked about and she couldn't allow that. Everyone was equal, if Banks didn't receive the puck, he wouldn't be a total hotshot because he wouldn't score, right? That's what Ellie came to in the end, after her bad puck passing.

Elliott stood in the now messy line of tall and short players. Coach had told everyone to stop where they were and get in line. Ellie stood between Charlie Conway and Dwayne Robertson, meanwhile her brother stood between Jesse Hall and Lester Averman, staring at the ground as he listened.

"I want Banks, Portman, Fulton, Julie, Elliott, and Garrett on that side of the rink and the rest of you here." Coach demanded, pointing in the directions of where he wanted his players to go. The six that got named headed to the far side of the rink while the remaining nine stayed and got told what to do. Goldberg took net and eight other split into two groups of four. On either side of the net, they'd practice rebounded pucks.

Bombay walked over to the eight while the six stood on their own, talking among themselves while they waited to know what to do. Garrett stood facing the others with his sister and Julie next to him. "Why do they get to do that?" He asked.

"Because you need to learn to pass the puck." Portman spoke.

"I do." Garrett called back. "I just forget Ellie and I aren't the only ones on the ice." He shrugged.

Bombay approached the kids, placing four on one side of the rink and four across from them at the same distance from the net. Standing in front of them, blocking Goldberg from them, he spoke up. "So, you four, Charlie, Connie, Luis,and Ken. You will be shooting the puck, different angles, heights, and techniques in the net. Now, you four, Dwayne, Averman, Jesse, and Guy. You'll be catching any rebounds from them. I don't care where they go, you will get them and shot again."

"What if we," Jesse spoke, pointing to the three in his line, besides himself. "Miss the rebound shot?"

"You shouldn't, but if you do, you'll go back to the line and try again." Bombay explained. "I'll watch quickly. Charlie and Averman, go." He explained.

Charlie skated forward with the puck and took a shot. A beautiful save by Goldberg, glove side. "Now what happens if he catches it in his glove or something?" Luis asked, a little confused after watching this.

"Well, Goldberg will try to do the least amount of glove saves, that way it'll rebound off his pads and you guys have a chance at getting it." Bombay explained to them, again.

They nodded and he saluted them, saying he'd be back in ten minutes. Miss MacKay wasn't at the practice because she was getting her class ready for later today. As Bombay approached, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "Guys, are kidding me?" He asked them, getting some of the attention from the players on the other side of the rink.

Garrett was in the middle of Portman and Fulton, putting up a small fight. There was arguing and Adam had joined in, attempting to stop all of them, but kinda failed and Elliott stood with Julie, laughing and cheered all of them on. Bombay pulled his defense away from his forwards and stood in the middle.

"No more fighting, do you realize you're our power line. If you fail, we all do." He told the six players, including the two girls who stood by.

They all nodded. "Good, now line up like you normally would in offense."