Page 31 of The Waiting Game

Their bench erupted with cheers and Jonah held his hand out for his captain to bump knuckles as he cruised by.

Jonah shook his head in wonder. “I’ve been playing with him for how long now and I still don’t know how he gets a goal in from that angle.”

Felix grinned. “Seriously. He’s unreal sometimes.”

And then they were over the boards for their next shift.

Unfortunately, a sloppy turnover from Dom a few minutes later led to a goal from St. Louis’ second line center and Jonah groaned under his breath as they tied up the game.

Thirty seconds later, St. Louis got another goal.

The play felt messy after that, like the Cats couldn’t quite get their feet under them, but Jonah battled hard, getting the puck to their goalscorers as often as possible.

Yates managed another goal but unfortunately, so did St. Louis.

Unfortunately, St. Louis’ goaltender was quick tonight, ready with his glove or stick so none of their other attempts went in.

By the time the first period ended, the scoreboard had St. Louis ahead 3-2.

“Okay,” Coach Casey said during the first intermission, serious and focused as he looked around the locker room. “I saw some mistakes, some sloppiness out there earlier, but overall, I liked what I saw, boys. The hustle was good, and if we can tighten a few things up, I know we’ll be able to stay in this fight. Clean up the unnecessary penalties and grab the momentum back, you got it?”

The guys thumped their sticks in agreement.

“Olson, keep an eye on those turnovers.”

Dominic nodded, jaw tight, and Jonah knew he was beating himself up for the messy pass that had led to the second goal for St. Louis.

“Brewer, I like what you did on the penalty kill. Keep it up!”

Jonah nodded.

“Nice goal, Yates. How about a few more of those?” Casey said, lightening the mood as he smiled at their current first line center.

“Sure, no prob!” Yates said, his freckled nose scrunching up as he laughed. “Three or four tonight, easy.”

Jonah grinned at his sense of humor.

Colton Yates was a good kid and a great hockey player. With all of the pressure that had been on him since last season, he was handling it well.

The Fisher Cats had snagged him in the draft the summer before last and he’d proven to be an excellent pick. A low first-rounder who had surprised everyone by having a monster rookie season.

The start of this season had been a bit of a slump for Colton but that was hardly unusual in a guy’s sophomore season and when he was good, he was excellent.

They were lucky to have him.

Unfortunately, their former first line center, Dominic, had been struggling all year. Once famed for his speed and puck-handling, he seemed to be slowing down and some of his turnovers had been atrocious lately.

He looked frustrated now, jaw clenched and head down as he gripped his stick.

Coach Casey had recently shifted Dom to their second line center role and bumped Colton up to first.

Although Dom would never say it aloud, losing ice time had to have stung. But even with Colton’s earlier slump, his scoring was well above what Dom was producing.

Dom was still important to the team. He won faceoffs and led the team as alternate captain and in other, more subtle ways, but his career was definitely on the decline.

“Okay, boys, let’s grab the momentum back,” Casey shouted, wrapping up the speech that Jonah had apparently zoned out on. Whoops.

With a holler of agreement, everyone rose to their feet, heading out onto the ice.

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