“Clean hit, motherfucker,” Huck called, skating off.
I gained control of the puck from Cooper, rounding the goal before shooting off my backhand and hitting the far corner of the net, taking us four - three up. The crowd roared, the ones near the board banging on the plexiglass and I skated over, the boys all jumping on me.
“You fucking rock star!” Jasper yelled as he smacked his helmet against mine. “A couple more and we’re golden.”
With seconds left we’d scored twice more, not letting Philly near the puck. The tension between the teams was high and it was clear we were heading for another brawl, especially as Felix had been baiting Devon Walls for the entire period.
The final buzzer went while Huck chased down Billy McKenzie, right wing for Philly, but before he could reach him, he went flying into the boards, smashed at full speed by Walls.His head smacked against the plexiglass and he slid to the floor, his helmet falling off.
The green light for battle had been switched on.
Felix immediately pounced on Walls, gloves flying before they started punching each other, Walls tried to get loose, but Felix was holding him with an iron tight grip on his jersey. I jumped in, Cooper and Jas swarming with the rest of the Philly team, smaller fights breaking out around us.
Cooper was going at it with Jack Howards, their left wing, while Jasper was holding the Philly goalie when another of their team collided into them, knocking them all into the net which sent it skidding across the ice. The noise levels from the crowds increased, echoing off the arena walls and made louder by the rest of the teams still on the benches banging their sticks against the boards.
The refs quickly followed, whistles blowing like crazy, trying to pull us all apart - unsuccessfully.
I tried to grab Walls who was on top of Felix, the pair of them sliding on the ice as they each attempted to land a punch, neither of them willing or able to get up.
“Go fuck yourself, Walls!” Felix caught him with a decent left hook.
He retaliated with a cross that missed. “I’m good, thanks.”
“Really, you sure? Because no one else is going to do it, you irrelevant piece of shit.”
I lurched backwards as a fist hit me square on my left cheekbone, which stung like fuck. Righting myself, I saw Cooper with his arms around Billy McKenzie, holding him from punching me again.
“Fuck off, McKenzie.” I caught him with a swift jab before Brogan took over, having skated up from his goal, wanting a piece of the action.
I moved to where Huck was sitting against the boards, the team physicians checking him over.
“Dude, you okay?”
He looked up at me, his eyes not totally focused. “Yeah.”
The refs were still tearing the different fights apart. Jasper had succeeded in pulling Walls off Felix and was holding him in a headlock, pulling him back with the help of one linesman. Another one had taken position in between the two of them, trying to stop their fists from connecting with each other.
I helped the officials get Huck to his feet and moved off the ice, away from the continuing fracas. The rink was littered with discarded gloves and sticks, along with most of our helmets. As we neared the benches, Huck went off with the doctors to get fully checked out and I headed down the tunnel to the locker room.
I could hear the showers running in the distance. Most of the guys were already stripped down when I walked in. The attendant handed me an ice pack and I held it over my cheek, which was fucking throbbing. Taking a seat on the benches, I leaned back, puffing out my cheeks and watching the rest of the guys slowly wander in.
“What a fucking game.” Cooper opened his locker, taking out his phone and letting out a loud groan. “Well, Freddie was watching.”
“Yeah?” I glanced up at him for an explanation.
“Fucking hormones, man,” he complained and shook his head.
“She not happy about the game?”
“Not exactly.”
Yeah, I can’t imagine that fight looked pretty from the comfort of home. Hopefully they’d cut to commercials before we’d really started laying into each other. It always looked worse than it really was, although this one had been bad.
“To be fair, we haven’t fought like that in a long time, and that fucktard’s had it coming for ages.”
“Yeah, she’ll be fine. At least I didn’t get hit. How’s your face?”
“Bit sore, but no big deal. Come on, let’s hit the showers and get a drink. We fucking need one.”
