Page 18 of Second Round

“Is that it?” Dom asked. I didn’t know him that well yet, but he was a prettyquietguy.

“Uh yeah. What else would there be? Youdonegood.”

His eyes widened. “Um,thanks.”

I pointed out a few other plays I’d noticed that worked out well. To be honest, there wasn’t a ton of good stuff happening on the ice yet. Zero response. I moved into an overview on our opponents for tomorrownight.

Afterwards, I motioned for Ian Lee to come in myoffice.

“What the hell was that?” I asked. “It’s like the guys have never done a game reviewbefore.”

Lee nodded. “Well, nobody’s ever told them they were doing anything right before. Usually we go over all the mistakes that got made and whose fault it was. Especially during a loss. Even after wins, the focus was on tightening upourgame.”

“That’s not the way to get better. We need to build up everyone’sconfidence.”

He blinked at me. “Wow. This is the way it goes, right? Management alternates a negative coach with a positivecoach.”

I laughed. “I’m no fucking Pollyanna, and it’s not going to take the team long to find that out. But nobody ever played his best game looking over his shoulder thewholetime.”

It was a matter of psychology. Right now the whole team acted like a beaten dog. It wasn’t about winning at this point, but in order to genuinely evaluate the players, we needed to boost their faith in themselves. We talked more about what we needed for tomorrow’s game. I was a big believer in preparation or even over-preparation. Lee left, and I was getting hungry. I decided to pack up and head home. I could have dinner and finish my work there. Now that I was out of the hotel, I could really get things done with all my stuffathand.

There was a knock on the half-open door, and Amanda Richardson leaned in. “Hi, Leo. I noticed you were still working. I thought I’d check and see how you’resettlingin.”

“Everything’s good,thankyou.”

So far, I liked Amanda. She was smart and dedicated to improving the Vice. But her motivations puzzled me. With her designer suits and tied-back hair, she looked like a stereotype—rich, sophisticated, and cool. She came from a wealthy Vancouver family who still owned sixty percent of the team. But if she was as rich as reported, why did she work so hard? Her car was often the only one in the staff parking lot whenIleft.

She wasn’t exactly the type of woman I would have pictured with Lucky, but he was completely head over heart. But as promised, they were absolute professionals at work. If it wasn’t for the heated way they looked at each other occasionally, I wouldn’t have even known they weredating.

Amanda perched on the corner of my desk. “You’ve lived in a lot of different places, but I don’t think you’ve lived on the West Coastbefore.”

“Yeah, I’ve spent most of my career back east—both coaching and playing. Mostly in Quebec. I played in the Q, then at McGill, then Europe. I went back to McGill to start my coaching career. I’ve moved around a lotsincethen.”

“Yes, you’ve changed jobs every couple of years.” She smiled, but I sensed uneasiness inhertone.

“I go where the problems are. Like afixer.”

She laughed at that. “Then you’ve come to the right place. And how is the apartment working outforyou?”

It must have been Amanda who arranged for my new place. I’d only been there a week and it already felt like home. “I can honestly say that it’s the best equipped place I’ve ever lived in. And I’ve had a number of furnished suites.” I was surprised at all the little details, from the welcoming fruit bowl to the toothpaste in the bathroom. It was like someone actually thought about what I needed for my everyday routine. Charlotte’s room wasn’t complete yet, but the designer people were coming in when I went on theroadtrip.

“Did they do a good job on the interior design part?” Amanda asked. “It’s the first time I’ve worked with thiscompany.”

I shrugged. “It looks fine to me, but I’m no judge. Feel free to drop by anytime and checkitout.”

“I’ve got houses on the brain because I’m closing on a new condo myself.” Her steady gaze reminded me of mygrand-maman, a woman who always saw through to whatever bad things I might be up to. “I’m sure it must be lonely for you to move in the middle of the season. Do you know anyone inVancouver?”

“Hockey’s a small world, so you always know people. Besides, I’m used to it.” Used to being self-contained and self-sufficient. Used to moving andstartingover.

Her eyes were still boring into me. “I have a vision for the Vice to be more of a family organization—we’ll appeal to families and the organization will feel like a family. I know we have a long way to go, but you’re going to be a key player in making thathappen.”

“My opinion is that winning will go a long way to making the guys feel good about themselves and each other. And that’s whyI’mhere.”

Amanda nodded. “Chris said something similar. But there’s more to life than justwinning.”

That was bullshit. The Vice were a hockey team, not a life philosophy. If you took the focus off winning, you wasted energy. Winning was the key. Winning sold tickets and made a team profitable. It helped good players make it to the next level. Being a winning coach was why I got hired, and how I was going to getpromoted.

I hadn’t said a word, but Amanda read my mind. “I can see you don’t agree. I’m interested to hear your point ofview,Leo.”

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