Page 83 of Slapshot Baby

The second stride is faster. Third, faster still.

My edges hold. My balance is precise.

The months of rehab and therapy and grinding through exercises while staring at the ceiling crystallize into this exact sensation: my body doing what it was built to do.

I take the first turn wide, testing the crossovers. Left over right, weight transfer, lean into the curve. Clean. No wobble. No hesitation.

I push harder. Full speed down the far boards, stop on a dime at the goal line. My legs burn and it feels like a reward.

Wyatt races past, tapping my shin with his stick.

"Still fast, old man."

"Faster than you," I retort.

"Prove it."

I prove it.

We run the length of the ice three times and I beat him twice. The third one is close enough that he'll argue about it for days.

Theo feeds me a pass from the half wall. I receive it, settle it, fire it on net.

The puck hits the back of the mesh with the sound that used to be the most reliable thing in my life.

I do it again and again, each shot finding its target. The release feels natural, the accuracy intact.

The team falls into drill formations. I slot into the rotation like I never left. Neutral zone regroups, breakout patterns, cycling drills in the offensive zone.

My reads are sharp.

When Wyatt cheats to his forehand on the zone entry, I call it before the defenseman strips him. When Jordan pinches at the wrong moment, I cover the point instinctively.

My body is ready, my instincts are intact.

So when Brennan blows his whistle and points at me, I assume he's rotating lines.

"Kai. Off."

I skate to the bench. "What's the rotation?"

"You're done."

I stand at the boards, stick across my knees. "Done for the drill?"

"Done for practice."

The words don't register at first. They float in front of me like a puck I can see but can't reach.

"I just got here."

Brennan's face is flat. He's got that expression he wears when a decision is final before the conversation starts.

His arms are crossed, jaw set under the silver threading his temples.

"Take a seat, Kai."

I don't sit. "What's going on?"