by David Skuy
He could feel the winger closing in. Rocket had to make a split-second decision. Late in the third, up one goal, this wasn’t the time to get fancy. He lowered his shoulder and curled hard on his edges, sending the puck behind the net with his backhand. The second the puck left his stick, the winger pounded him. Rocket’s sideways momentum let him avoid most of the impact.
Rainer had the puck on his stick. He passed it to Bossy, up the middle, for an easy breakout. Rocket rounded the net and hustled to catch up.
“Awesome play, Rocket,” Glassy called out.
Bossy got over centre and then banged the puck in deep, peeling off for a change. Rocket cut his own charge off at the blue line and came off as well. Cash’s line came over the boards. On the bench, Alvo high-fived Bossy, Fryer and Rocket.
“I need to see you play with patience,” Alvo said to the guys on the bench. “This isn’t the time for goals. We have to finish this off, a complete game, both ends. Look for your chances and score if you can, but not at the expense of an odd-man rush. We need to learn how to play in a tight game with a lead. Rocket, that’s the perfect play in our end. That’s what I want. Nice and simple, and out of our zone.” He turned back to watch the game.
“Sounds better than Gold’s goon-it-up strategy,” Bossy said to his linemates.
“What sounds good is putting this game away with another goal,” Fryer said. “We’ve got to get the next one.”
Kyle leaned over and patted Rocket on the helmet. “Trying to kill yourself?”
“I wanted to test the board’s softness,” Rocket said.
“I like the kamikaze, but let’s try and last the season,” Kyle said.
“Can’t live forever, bro.”
“Righteous words, Little Guy,” Kyle said.
Rocket burst out laughing. He high-fived Kyle. Bossy and Fryer joined in.
“Let’s keep our head in the game,” Alvo growled. “It’s not over yet.”
Rocket reached for a water bottle, still giggling a bit.
Cash had the puck at the red line. Ty moved forward to pressure. Hoffer was open on the left by the boards. Cash tried to slip the puck between Ty’s skates and jump around him. Ty brought his skates together and blocked it. Suddenly, there was a three-on-two. Rocket stopped laughing and got to his feet.
“Hustle back, forwards,” Rocket yelled.
Ty whipped the puck to his hard-driving right winger, who carried it over the blue line and gave it back to Ty.
Ty dragged the puck on his forehand, waiting. Glassy was deep in his net.
“This is bad,” Rocket said.
He’d seen Ty do this a thousand times. Two metres inside the top of the circle, with Glassy still back, Ty let it fly. He rarely missed from there. He didn’t this time, either. The puck whistled over Glassy’s shoulder into the top corner. Rocket slapped the top of the boards.
Bourque’s line filed out.
“Get it back, Kyle. Let’s go, Bourquey — all you!” Rocket shouted.
A few London Knights fans began chanting their team’s name. That motivated the Axmen’s supporters to get back into it.
Go Axmen Go! came raining down.
Cash smashed his stick on the ice as he came off.
“Third period, up a goal — you can’t turn the puck over in the neutral zone. You’ve got to chip it in deep,” Alvo snapped. “I can’t see that again.”
Cash kept his head down and shuffled to the middle of the bench.
“Quick shift. Come on, Coach!” Rocket looked into the stands. Chris and Dawn were on their feet a couple rows up. He figured they should save their breath. Gold was gone. Cash didn’t have a free pass anymore. From now on a dumb play would be rewarded with a seat on the bench. Things had changed for Cash today.
Things had changed for Rocket, too. He’d gone from being kicked off the team to playing on the first line. At least for tonight. He wondered where else this hockey journey would take him.
In three seasons he’d be eligible for the NHL draft. That meant he had three years to convince the hockey world that he deserved a shot, three years to grow those three or four inches. It almost seemed like forever, but he had a lot of work to do.
The referee skated to centre and blew his whistle. The Axmen fans began to cheer even louder.
A picture of himself as a little kid flashed into his mind. He was nine, playing with Ty and Ad-man for the Oakmont Huskies. Their coach had put them together on a line for the first game. Rocket had been almost out of his mind with excitement for the game to start. As soon as the puck had dropped, he’d pleaded with his teammates to skate harder and faster. And he’d repeated two words so often that they became his line’s favourite hockey expression.
He got to his feet.
“Let’s motor, Axmen,” he yelled. “Bring it!”
OTHER BOOKS BY DAVID SKUY
Rocket Blues
eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-3376-0
Bryan “Rocket” Rockwood is faced with the unthinkable: being cut from the Huskies — the AAA hockey team he has played on for three years. With no other teams interested in him, Bryan reluctantly joins a AA team, the Blues, at his best friend Maddy’s insistence.
Things only get worse when Rocket sees that the Blues don’t take hockey seriously. Facing the Huskies in the round robin will give Rocket the chance to prove his skills, but to keep his hockey dreams — and his friends — Rocket must realize that while hockey is his passion, it is not his entire life.
Undergrounders
eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-2464-5
After his mom dies, and the landlord kicks him out, 12-year-old Jonathan faces the loneliness and danger of life on the streets — until he meets Lewis. Lewis takes him under his wing and leads him to his new home among a group of kids living in an abandoned underground shopping mall who call themselves the “Undergrounders.” Now renamed “Mouse,” Jonathan runs errands, delivers packages and panhandles for food money.
An escape from this life underground comes to him in the form of hockey gear. Stolen hockey gear, but hockey gear nonetheless. He suits up and heads to the community rink, where he befriends regular kids who welcome him into their game and onto their team. He agrees, knowing he can never tell them about being homeless.
Playing hockey makes him feel like a kid again, but keeping his double life a secret proves to be more difficult and dangerous than he ever could have imagined.
Off the Crossbar
eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-1980-1
Things are not going well for 14-year-old Charlie Joyce. Tragic circumstances have forced his family to move to a new town, and now, as the new kid at Terrence Falls High School, he has a lot to prove. This school and town take their hockey seriously and Charlie wants to be on the team, but the best players in the school have taken a disliking to him and warn him not to bother trying out. Charlie knows he can’t back down, and decides to let his game do the talking — no matter how unpopular it will make him.
Rebel Power Play
eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-1981-8
Charlie is unhappy that he has missed tryouts for the local league. Just when he thinks he won’t be able to play AAA hockey he meets Tom Dunn, a sponsor, who encourages Charlie to try out for his new team, The Hawks. Things are looking up until practices start and the team realizes that Dunn is not coach material. As they lose game after game and lose half the team to fighting, it is left up to Charlie and some others to take matters into their own hands. But can they rebuild the team on their own?
Making the Cut
eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-1982-5
In this third book in the Game Time series featuring teenage hockey player Charlie Joyce, a summer hockey program promises to provide the opportunity of a lifetime. There will be visits by NHL coaches, top trainers, and expert analysts, not to mention the chance to play with the best players in his age group, including his friends Scott and Nick … and his arch-rival Jake. Charlie is stoked.
But things don’t go as planned. While Ch
arlie makes Team 1, things are going wrong between him and the other guys, and even the coaches seem to be down on him. To make things worse, the NHL coach’s Stanley Cup ring goes missing. That is, until it shows up in Jake’s gear. Charlie is pretty sure Jake didn’t do it … and he’s pretty sure he knows who did.
Overtime
eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-1983-2
The year has barely begun when Charlie finds out his school is in jeopardy because of some damage to the building. Under threat of being separated and bussed to different high schools, Charlie and friends leap into action to raise some money and keep their high school (and hockey team!) intact.
Using all of their skills, they cook up as many fundraising events as they can — until one day a gift comes to them in the form of a hockey tournament with a $5000 prize. Charlie is ecstatic to get his team on the ice — until he realizes that their line-up must be co-ed to compete.
It’s a whole new lesson in good sportsmanship at Terrence Falls High School. Can they pull it off and save their school?
Double Shift
eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-1975-7
One night, Charlie’s mom entrusts him with closing up the café while she runs an errand. Distracted by the rivals who come in to taunt him, Charlie completely forgets to turn off the stove when he leaves.
When Charlie and Pudge come back after their hockey game, they’re devastated to find there has been a fire at the café. And the insurance company won’t pay for the damage because Charlie is underage and shouldn’t have been using the stove.
Charlie is overwhelmed by guilt. His hockey game and friendships suffer. And with bank payments looming, his mom decides she must take a job in another city.
When he finally tells his teammates what happened, they all suggest ways to help.
With support from the community, and relying on green principles, like using building materials that have been thrown out or are no longer needed (freecycling!), they pull together and pull it off at the last second!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Skuy spent most of his childhood playing one sport or another — hockey, soccer, football, rugby. Now he is a writer and lawyer who lives in Toronto, Ontario with his wife and two kids. He still plays hockey, coaches at minor league level, and remains a die-hard Leafs fan. He began writing the Game Time series to try to capture the competition, the challenges, the friendships and the rivalries that make sports so much fun.
His book Undergrounders won the Silver Birch Award in 2012. Rocket Blues, his first book about Bryan “Rocket” Rockwood, was a Best Books for Kids and Teens starred selection and is nominated for the Snow Willow Award and the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award.
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ISBN: 978-1-4431-4670-8
Cover photo © Volkova Irina/Shutterstock.com
Text copyright © 2015 by David Skuy.
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First eBook edition: October 2015