The Tales of a Professional Hockey Player

Chapter 36: First

~Ben~

Even if the season officially started over a month ago, I hadn't played at all until last night. I tried to pretend I didn't mind sitting on the bench but seeing Eleanor in the bleachers and knowing she wouldn't see me play repeatedly broke my ego. 11 games. That's what it took before Coach Bailey trusted me enough to send me on the ice. 660 minutes. That's how long I sat on the bench for. Eleanor spent 420 of those minutes in the bleachers. She hasn't missed one home game since the season started. I told her she didn't have to come to every game, but she insisted, so I let it go. I love having her there, I just didn't want her to feel obligated to come. She even said she liked coming to games which I found weird since hockey has never been Eleanor's cup of tea.

"I like seeing you play," she said after the fourth game, raising her shoulders.

"But I don't play. I sit on the bench for the whole game."

"One day you will, and I don't want to miss it."

So, she kept attending, sometimes bringing Ophelia. She sat in the bleachers and watched as my teammates played for three more games until she finally saw me step on the ice. It was the middle of the third period, and I had lost all hope of playing when I heard the assistant coach call out my name.

"Johnson for Pulock," he said, giving me a tap on the back. I immediately rose up from my seat and hurried on the ice before he had the chance to change his mind. The score was equal, 1-1, and with only ten minutes to play, an immense amount of pressure fell on me.

The only thing I heard as I stepped on the ice was: "Rocket. Let's do the rocket." It was Nathan's voice and "the rocket" was a strategy we had practiced about a week ago. We had stayed late after a morning practice in Philadelphia before a game and we started talking about the things we used to do in Major Junior or in Midget. We ended up mixing two of our famous tactics to create "the rocket." He was right, last night's game was the perfect time to test our strategy. The second I saw Nathan receive the puck, I skated as fast as I could towards the opposite team's goaler. Nathan was skating at the same speed as me but on the other side of the ice. The goalie's eyes were strictly on Nathan since he was the one who had the puck. We met behind the goal where Nathan gave me the puck. The goaltender, who was still sure Nathan had the puck, turned on the side he thought Nathan would come out of, totally exposing the other side for me to take my shot. And I did. I took my time and positioned myself to slap the puck into the net perfectly. Almost instantly, the red light went on and the bell rang. We scored with only three minutes to spare making it almost impossible for the other team to equal the score again. I couldn't hear or feel anything after that. Not only had I scored my first goal in the NHL, but it was a victory goal. Every other member of my team ran to me to congratulate me and rejoice over our almost certain win. And we did win, 2-1.

I have been on a cloud ever since. Everyone came to see me after the game, gushing over our victory. I had interviews lined up until eleven pm last night and even a few this morning. Older players whom I had never talked to before came to invite me to celebrate with them afterwards, and even if I had to decline because of the terms of my contract, they still insisted on shaking my hand before leaving the changing rooms. Even Mr. Bailey told me he was proud. "I knew you were ready," he simply said as he shook my hand. "The GM had doubts on you, but I had a feeling and you just proved me right, so thank you. Congratulations, Benji." I thanked him; way too amazed to say anything else.

Eleanor waited for me in the VIP room, holding Ophelia who had fallen asleep during the game. She was sitting beside Tracy who was watching as her two boys ran around the almost empty room. Nathan and I walked in at the same time since we were interviewed together. The two women ran to us, well Tracy ran and Eleanor walked, hugged, kissed and congratulated us profusely.