Page 24 of King

King laughs, looking down at me. “Fair enough, although it was by no means a chore to help you up.”

He turns away and I’m left wondering if he was just flirting with me. Because I think I was flirting with him. I’m a proficient skater and chances of him peeling me off the ice are nil. Or maybe he’s the world’s most easygoing guy, finding amusement in the smallest things and making those around him feel good by his teasing.

Regardless, I take up my position near the rail and open my eyes and ears to watch King work his magic, hoping I will glean something useful for those practices and games he won’t be able to attend.

Putting his fingers in his mouth, King lets out a shrill whistle and calls, “Okay, Ice Pups… assemble.”

They all stop their skating and tussling, turning to face him with curious eyes.

“Any time I sayassembleit means get those little legs moving and come to me,” he says, waving them over. They all start a mad dash, eager to be the first one there. Two of the kids go sprawling but scramble back up pretty quick.

When they’re all around him in a semicircle, the first thing he does is lay down the ground rules. “All right, team, let’s talk about a few things you need to remember. First, we are out here to have fun. Does everyone understand that?”

They all nod.

“Repeat after me… We’re out here to have fun.”

Their tiny voices echo the words.

King cups his hand around his ear. “I didn’t quite hear that. Yell it out to me.”

“WE’RE OUT HERE TO HAVE FUN!” they scream at him, and all heads in the arena turn our way.

“Exactly,” King says and then praises, “Excellent job. Now, although we’re here to have fun, we’re also here to learn. And what do you think is the most important thing you can do in order to learn?”

A few hands shoot up and he points to a little boy in the front. “You… what’s your name?”

“Christian.”

“And what do you think is the most important thing?”

“Well, our teacher at school says if we’re not listening, we can’t learn.”

King grins and points at the boy. “Excellent. Exactly right. So that means if I’m talking, you’re listening. If Coach Willa is talking, you’re listening. Think you can all do that?”

The kids nod their assent.

“All right, then. That covers the rules. Have fun and listen. Now let’s get started.”

For the next fifteen minutes, King works on basic skating drills, emphasizing balance and posture, which is a slightly different skill on hockey blades versus figure skates. I just watch, absorbing.

He has them skate back and forth, calling out encouragement as he learns all the kids’ names. “Keep your knees bent, Carrie, and push off with the inside edges of your skates.”

I’m amazed at the ease with which he can communicate with kids this age. It’s obvious that King has a natural ability to connect with them, his instructions clear and inspiring. Even theusually distracted Amelia is focused, her pigtails bouncing as she tries to follow along.

For the last ten minutes, King moves on to stick handling. He produces a handful of pucks from his gear bag and shows the kids how to control them while skating. “Keep your blade on the ice and the puck close to it. Use only small taps to guide it in the direction you want to go.”

Some of the kids try to get fancy, picking the stick up to move the puck on both sides of the blade, but they lose control quickly. King is patient as he reins them in, telling them we have to start off slow and master the easy way first.

Max, ever the eager beaver, manages to knock his puck halfway across the rink. “Oops!” he exclaims, giggling as he chases after it. King grins and doesn’t get angry, despite the fact Max must not have had his listening ears on.

Instead, King calls out encouragement. “You’ll get it, Max. Just keep trying.”

As the practice continues, one thing becomes abundantly clear—they are having a blast, their confidence growing with each passing minute.

By the end of the session, although I’ve not contributed a single thing other than praise and a few moments of wrangling wayward kids, I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment. The kids learned a lot, but I learned more. King showed me that very simple skills are all that’s needed for this peewee league. While I’m sure he’ll level up the instruction, it really is about teaching them the basics. I now know enough I can handle reiteration of these skills at the next practice or game if he can’t attend.

But truly… I hope he can attend because it’s been a pure pleasure to watch someone so self-assured, kind and committed to these kids. I dare say… it’s also sexy as hell, and although I feel slightly guilty for even thinking that, I can’t help it.

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