I left my drop pass in place but skated hard toward the Vancouver defenseman. I bounced off him, but because he had been making the move toward me, there wasn’t an interference call.
Quick glance behind me. Nate had swooped on the puck and gone wide. I drifted a little toward center ice. I wanted to give him an outlet if he needed it. He did.
The other defenseman cut him off. Nate shoveled the puck back. As soon as it hit the tape on my stick, I flicked it back to him. A classic give-and-go.
Nate got the puck at their blue line. Clear ice between him and the net.
I tangled briefly with the Vancouver center but had plenty of steam to beat him in a race to their net.
I was skating at top speed. No chance to catch Nate. He was in full stride too. My job now was to get ready for a rebound.
Good thing I was watching so closely.
Nate pulled the goalie with a great move to his backhand. With the wide-open net, Nate did something I’d never seen before. He passed it back to me.
Even though I was watching so closely, even though our radar system seemed to be working again, it still surprised me.
I almost missed his pass.
I caught it with my stick, bobbled it briefly; then I kept my knees low and fired a screamer into the upper right side of the net.
I raised my hands in the air!
Nate caught up to me as I circled.
“It’s the new me,” he said. No one else would have been able to hear him above the noise of the crowd. I didn’t need to. I saw his face clearly. Not only how his lips moved. But that he meant it. “From here on, brother, it’s going to be more equal.”
I grinned back. High-fived him.
We scored another goal that shift.
Two more by the time the game ended. With a victory for the Hitmen.
It was great to have my brother back.
Sigmund Brouwer is the best-selling author of many books for children and young adults. He has contributed to the Orca Currents series (Wired, Sewer Rats) and the Orca Sports series (Blazer Drive, Titan Clash, Cobra Strike). Sigmund enjoys visiting schools to talk about his books.
Interested teachers can find out more by e-mailing [email protected].
For more titles in the Orca Sports series, please click here.
To view titles in the Orca Currents series, please click here.
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