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What if I don’t make it past the minors?
What if I get hurt?
To me there are no what if’s. I was sure I'd be drafted, but now that confidence has dwindled. What if I don’t get drafted?
Not after a knee surgery, I tried to keep quiet. They’ll find out. They always find out. What if I’m labeled as too much of a risk?
“Hey Nick!” Greg calls out as I walk to the stands of the arena as he’s stuffing his face with a bag of chips.
“Are you going to lay off the snacks and get your ass to the gym with me tomorrow?” I ask, tapping his gut.
Compared to the other guys on the team, he’s a marshmallow. He’s also the tallest and broadest.
“Yeah yeah, summer’s officially over.” He tips the rest of the bag in his mouth. “This isn’t a snack gut, it’s a bonafide beer gut. Which I have no plans of stopping.”
“Yeah ok, we’ll just have to work extra hard to get you in shape each week.” I tease him, knowing how much he hates working out with me.
Greg is my roommate and my best friend on and off the team. I make him join in every workout during the season. If we’re going to make the Frozen Four again I need my team there with me. That includes my number one defenseman.
Greg is the only one who needs the extra attention to keep him from slacking off. His mind is always in the gutter. Especially when there’s a girl involved. He doesn’t do casual. Anytime a girl shows interest in him, the guy full-on crushes over her. He fell head over heels on numerous occasions. And every time, it has messed with his game.
No girls. This season is for hockey.
Coach had us meet at the arena to go over just that. With the school year starting comes distractions. Lots of them. Usually walking around in miniskirts and heels. Then there are the parties.
Coach goes over the rules and guidelines.
No binge drinking the night before a game. In general, we should lay off any binge drinking. No illegal drugs, there will be random drug testing. No bringing girls back into the locker room. Apparently, that was a thing a few years ago they had to add it in. Don’t do anything too risky that could cause injuries. No stunts. He can’t tell us not to date, but as a reminder women can be distracting. That’s one I understand well.
My freshman year I had a girlfriend, long distance. My high school sweetheart. The jealousy was consuming and a major distraction.
I wasn’t a starter until the next year because of that, even though I was technically better than the goalie we had starting. My head wasn’t in the game.
If your head isn’t in it, it doesn’t matter how technically good you are. And my head definitely wasn’t in it.
“So, Nick, if your focus is solely on hockey, does that mean you are becoming celibate?” Greg jokes on the drive back to our house.
“Oh, no sex? This could be good!” Luca coos from the backseat.
Luca plays defense on the same line as Greg. A freshman with a wicked block. If we had him starting last year maybe that goal wouldn’t have even made it to the net.
“What do you think, I’m becoming a priest or something?” I shudder at the thought of no sex for an entire season. That’s way too long. “Don’t worry boys, there will be lots of extraneous activities happening in my bedroom. Just no dating and no commitments.”
“I second that!” Luca agrees with me.
Greg isn’t on board with that. He likes to joke about it, but he loves being in love.
“Speaking of casual sex…” Luca trails off just as the women’s figure skating team walks out of their rink located right next to ours.
Luca leans out the window.
“Well hello, ladies! Looking good!” He whistles at them.
“Luca, get your desperate ass in the car!” I say, trying to stop my laughter.
As soon as I stop for the stop sign around the rink’s parking lot Luca jumps out and jogs over to the girls.
“Shit, what is this fool doing?” I pull over to the side as we watch Luca talking to one of them.
