Page 15 of Grace on the Rocks

It was only a few minutes into the game when a fight broke out. Almost as though the crowd was one cohesive unit, everybody jumped onto their feet and started to cheer. Both players – a Prisoner and Alec Schumacher – each had a tight grip on his opponent’s jersey and had already disposed of their gloves, currently littering the ice, in order to get crisper shots. Alec got clipped on the side of his forehead even though he tried to duck while the Gull managed to get at least three hits on the Prisoner’s face. Somehow, they managed to balance on the ice while fighting, which was something Emma couldn’t fathom doing herself.

What had caused the fight in the first place? Emma had been talking to her father, not quite paying attention. The people behind her were discussing it, and she managed to overhear that the Prisoner was nudging and pushing Alec while play was elsewhere on the ice. It also looked like the Prisoner said something, too, probably about Thorpe or even the new owner. As a result, Alec turned around and the fight broke out.

The linesmen let the fight go on for a few minutes – which seemed to shock Jeremy because he started yelling at them to break it up – before stopping it. Interestingly enough, it was the Prisoner that got sent to the penalty box, which definitely elicited some boos from the crowd due to the fact that the San Francisco had a big fan base down in Southern California.

The power play.

Emma felt herself lean forward unconsciously. Kyle was on the ice, along with Matt Peters and Alec. The rookie defenseman Michael Thompson and another right winger from the second line, Dimitri Petrov made up the roster. The goalie in for Brandon Thorpe was bent at the knees, preparing himself for the possibility of a turnover.

“Who’s that?” Emma asked in a quiet voice, motioning towards the Gulls’ new goalie.

“Sam Miller,” her father replied in the same tone. “Ken picked him up from the American Hockey League. He’s not the best and he’s not the worst. I think Ken grabbed him because he sees a lot of potential in the kid. Miller’s only twenty but you can tell with the way he plays that he’s eager to please and that he wants to do his best. But that over eagerness also causes him to fumble sometimes. I think this is a good idea, though. It’s only preseason, and I’m sure Henry Wayne wants to feel the kid out, see where he’s at in terms of skill. It’s only a couple of minutes into the game, but he seems to be doing okay.”

Thirty seconds had passed. Jeremy explained that Wayne called the players on the ice back to the bench in order to have them rest, sending in another group. After a minute and fifteen seconds went by, he pulled the second group and sent back in the first group. The Gulls had lost the puck a couple of times, but the Prisoners merely cleared it.

Forty-five seconds left.

Matt Peters stood just above the blue line on the offensive zone. To his right, nearly along the boards, was Alec Schumacher. To his left, near the boards as well, was Michael Thompson. Kyle Underwood stood near the left goalpost while Dimitri Petrov was on the right. They were set, and Matt had the puck.

Instead of rushing Matt, the four Prisoner defensemen huddled in the middle of the Gulls’ formation, each individual with their eyes on the puck. He passed it over to Michael. The rookie wasn’t able to settle the puck down, and as such, a Prisoner rushed towards him. Michael managed to get a puck over to Matt before being checked into the boards. This gave Matt a good passing opportunity to Dimitri. A Prisoner managed to get in front of the puck but he couldn’t control it. Alec picked up the rebound, skating up along the boards, before crossing it across the ice. Originally, the pass was for Dimitri but he couldn’t quite reach it. But Kyle was in a perfect position to, tilted his stick so the curve of it faced the black rubber, and tipped it into the left side of the net.

Goal, with fourteen seconds left of the power play. The crowd jumped up and started cheering.

The Gulls skated over to their teammate and started tapping him on his helmet, pulling him into quick hugs.

“That kid,” Jeremy said over the roar of the crowd, “is the one to watch. I’m telling you.”

Emma couldn’t help but smile as her eyes took in the pure and utter happiness written on Kyle’s face. She knew this wasn’t his first season of hockey, and yet every time he scored, it was as if he was a kid who just found out he was going to Disneyland. And his delight caused Emma, and probably lots of others, to feel that ecstasy as well.

“Speaking of which,” Jeremy said as the crowd quieted and sat down once again, “how was your dinner last night? Don’t give me that look, Emma. Surely you had to know I’d figure it out. He pretty much wrote it on the stick he gave you.”

Emma felt herself blushing at her father’s question, but he was right. She couldn’t deny it.

“We thought it would be better if we were friends,” she managed to say. The Prisoner who had been occupying the penalty box got up and skated out onto the ice, taking his position as the referee dropped the puck. “He’s young, doing what he loves to do, and has no intention of settling down any time soon. And, well, you know me. I’m a dancer and that’s a top priority. Dating could possibly distract me, and I don’t want to take that chance.”

Her father made a sound that didn’t sound as if he fully believed her reasoning, but he didn’t question her. Instead, he leaned back in his chair.

“That’s probably for the best,” he agreed. “I really like the kid now, and I’m not sure how I would feel about him if the two of you were dating. I’d probably want to injure him, which would hurt our first line.”

“Well, I’m glad you don’t have to go through that,” Emma said flatly.

Almost as though he knew the two were talking about him, Kyle looked across the ice from his place on the Gulls’ bench and locked eyes with Emma. He gave her a small, knowing smile and she felt herself reciprocate the gesture. She even mouthed ‘Congratulations’ to which he tilted his head down in a mock-bow. Looking away, Emma pointedly ignored the slight skip in her heart and instead focused on the game before her.

“Who is Dimitri Petrov?” Emma asked, needing to distract herself from a particular player who was trying to fully consume her thoughts. “And why was he on the ice during the power play? He’s a forward, right? Why didn’t the coach send in a second defenseman like normal?”

As Jeremy explained that Dimitri Petrov was a fan favorite right wing defenseman for the second line, that he was pushing forty but still one of the most dominating players on the ice, not just as a Gull but among all clubs in the league. He was warm, friendly, and never rejected a fan wanting an autograph or a picture. He was also from Russia, so when he spoke, it was hard to understand him. The reason Wayne put him in the play instead of a defenseman was because the power play afforded them a better opportunity to score so the coach wanted a good number of forwards rather than defensemen.

“Another thing about Petrov,” Jeremy added as an afterthought. “He’s sort of like the spirit of the team. See the A he wears on his jersey? It stands for alternate. So if anything happened to Peters, Petrov would take over.”

Emma nodded. More information to take in. Power plays, second lines. And then she saw Kyle with the puck and forgot everything her father had just told her.

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