Page 4 of Conner

One of the young rookies was late to the ice. “Murphy. Why are you late?” Conner asked him.

“I was just talking to the new lady that was at the meeting. She was asking me some questions.”

Conner shook his head. “You’re here to play hockey, not become a social media sensation. Laps, then get in line.”

The rookie grumbled but took off skating laps. It looked like the beautiful woman he met this morning would be a distraction to more than just him.

After warmups, the specials coach came out to run their power play. They had been struggling with the power play all season.“Alright guys, we are running a simple 1-3-1. I want Cash up top and Niko at the net. Wes and Sven on the wings and Conner center.”

They all skated into formation. This was a switch up, but the s-play they had been running wasn’t working.

“I want a strong zone entry, then get the puck to Conner. Conner, take the shot if you can if not back up to Sven and then Wes. Let’s try it.”

The first time they ran the play without even a goalie just to get the feel. Conner took the shot. It should have been easy. A shot he could have made as a kid. Center with an empty net. No brainer. But he felt his wrist twitched at the end of the shot, sending the puck straight into the post. As the puck hit the steel pole the sound rang through the rink. That was weird, but Conner tried to shake it off.

The next run, he passed to Wes, and it was easy. Then they added the Goalie. Again, after a clean zone entry Conner went to take his shot and he felt the little twitch and once again sent the puck careening straight into the post.

The practice continued like that until the coach finally called it and called in the second power play unit into practice. Conner went into the locker room and slammed his helmet down on the bench next to him.

“Brush it off. We all have shit practices,” Wes said as he followed Conner into the dressing room.

While that was true, it wasn’t something Conner was used to. He knew Wes was just trying to help and was saying exactly what Conner would have said to him if he’d had a mess of a practice like he just did. It was meant to be comforting, but it only succeeded in pissing him off more.

But with one deep breath he tried to remind himself, Wes was right. It was one practice. It didn’t mean anything.

“It looks like someone has the yips,” said Niko in his thick Russian accent.

Conner shot him a glare.He didn’t fucking have the yips. Yips were the typically psychosomatic twitch he was pretending he didn’t feel. Sometimes your game was just off for a practice, sometimes it was off for a season. Conner wouldn’t even entertain that thought. He didn’t utter a word as he took off his skates and pads and got ready to go to a training session.

“Shut the fuck up man,” Cash said sitting down next to Conner “One bad practice doesn’t mean shit.”

“We’ll see…” said Niko before disappearing into the weight room.

“You got this,” Wes told him. “You’re the most consistent player I’ve ever played with.”

Conner nodded. His strength training session would hopefully help get his head back on straight. He wasn’t used to whatever this was. He wouldn’t even think about what Niko had said. As much as Conner liked all his teammates, that guy was an ass.

He did not have the yips…. He had an off practice. At least that’s what he was telling himself. What were the odds that the day he couldn’t make a fucking shot on an empty net was the same day the distraction with perfect pouty lips showed up? He was going to steer clear of her. That was it. He was going to get in a good workout and get a good night’s sleep and by tomorrow’s game it would all be fine.

After that awful practice Conner left the center. He just needed to put today behind him. With a deep sigh he flung his gym bag over his shoulder and headed to the parking lot.

“Conner, hey wait up,” he heard a voice call to him.

He turned to see Sasha walking quickly down the hallway towards him. Her chest jiggled as she walked quickly to catch up with him, but he wouldn’t watch, because he was not that kind of guy. Though today he seemed to have poor control of his eyes.

“Hey, I was just headed out. What can I help you with?” he grumbled. He was trying not to connect his shitty practice to the sudden arrival of their new social media manager, but hockey players were a superstitious bunch and that was hard to do right now.

“I wanted to talk to you about that video series. I’m going to do your ‘getting to know the players’ video tomorrow since you are captain. Can I ask you a few questions?”

“Sure,” Conner sighed. He was tired and sore and wanted to get home. He didn't spend much time on social media, but he would do it for the team.

“Okay, here are the questions,” she said, passing him a sheet of paper. “If you could just fill that out and get it back to me. I have all the players doing them.”

“Oh ummm, okay.” he said looking over the sheet. “Do you think the fans really care about my favorite candy?”

“Yeah, I think they care, and I think the candy companies care. There is a lot of activity on social media, lots of fans and sponsorships to be found. Now tomorrow can I get you to make a couple videos? I was hoping you could show me a slapshot and some pointers.”

“I’m not going to be in tomorrow. It's a game day.”

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