Sacrifice

Chapter 10

Ryan woke up with suitcases full of his things and ready to head to the airport. He was driven to the Toronto airport by his parents for an hour flight to Montreal. As he hugged his parent's goodbye it really hit him all at once that he was leaving everyone to move to another province. It really felt real once he sat there alone on the plane looking out the window. The plane ride went by quickly and he touched down in Montreal with the assistant coach ready to pick him up.

"Hey Ryan, nice to meet you, I'm Derek, Assistant Coach of the Montreal Junior Canadiens"

"Hi Derek, I'm super excited to get going and extremely happy to be here"

Derek drove Ryan from the airport to his new billet house. They talked about the team and where Ryan would fit in the line up. Ryan would start first line centre with Xavier on his right wing.

"Xavier and I have been battling since we were ten years old. Not to mention he gave me a concussion earlier in the year," Ryan said.

"Oh, we know, everyone knows that. It's a little bit of an elephant in the room but I'm sure once you get to know him, you guys will be great buddies," Derek replied.

"Well I guess we'll find out," Ryan wasn't as optimistic as Derek was.

When they arrived at the house, the first thing he realized was how beautiful the house was. This seemed to be a multi million-dollar house and a huge change for Ryan, who grew up in a middle-class house.

"Hi, I'm Tracy, your new billet Mom," She was a mid forties looking woman with kind eyes and blonde hair.

"This is my son Kevin, he's twelve years old and this is my daughter Leah, she's sixteen."

"Hey guys I'm Ryan, nice to meet you all," He replied.

They gave him a tour of the house and quickly made him feel right at home. Ryan had the entire downstairs to himself which included a massive bedroom with an en suite bathroom and walk in closet. There was a theatre room and his own kitchen, unfortunately he wasn't a great cook. This was such a beautiful house and Ryan knew he would fit right in with Montreal.

They had a nice dinner together and Ryan talked about his life, family and hockey. The family knew how good Ryan was and the potential future he had ahead of him.

"We're huge hockey fans, I remember watching you play last year against Montreal and being mesmerised by your skill and speed on the ice."

Ryan smiled, "Thank you, I'm so excited to get started and play my first game here."

After dinner Ryan went to bed and talked to Alyssa on Facetime for an hour, talking about how amazing the house was and how nice the family was to him.

The next day Ryan woke up ready for his first practice with his new team. He arrived two hours early for practice to get a tour of the facility by the Head Coach. They had a massive dressing room more than double the size of Brampton's. They had a hot tub, cold tub, sauna, weight room and a player lounge connected to the room. It was a first-class luxurious facility and dressing room. As players started to arrive for practice, Ryan met with each of them. He already had the respect from all his peers because his name was known throughout the country as a top player in Canada. As Xavier entered the dressing room his eyes locked with Ryan's.

"Good to see you, happy to have you," Xavier said with a thick French accent.

It was tough to read Xavier because he didn't seem sincere in his greeting. But Ryan was just happy to be there and get the introductions out of the way. Everyone had their gear on and was ready for practice when the coach came in and posted the forward line combinations. Ryan was on the first line centre with Xavier on his right wing. Ryan took Xavier's spot as the number one centre on the team and Xavier was visibly angry about it. Once they got on the ice Ryan felt comfortable and looked around at all the empty seats and beautiful arena. The first drill was a two on one attack from the neutral zone and first in line was Xavier with Ryan. Xavier carried the puck with speed and dished a saucer pass over the defenceman stick to Ryan who spun around to make a backhand pass to Xavier who one timed the shot top shelf. Everyone was in awe and tapped their sticks on the ice. The coach had a huge grin on his face aware of the talent he had just acquired and it was only the beginning.