Page 100 of Scoring Position

They were still chatting several minutes later when Diane texted.Confirmed, Mr. Team Canada. Have arranged everything. Call me ASAP!

“Shit. Tara. I’m going.”

“You’re going?”

“Yes!” He fist-pumped the air. “Okay. I have to call Diane and get the details. I’ll let you know everything as soon as I do.” There would be so many things to do, people to contact. He should call Mom and Dad. Shit, Yorkie too.

And Nico. He desperately wanted to tell Nico.

“You better! I need details so I can book some flights.”

Ryan paused. “What?”

“If you think I’m not going to be there to see you play for Canada, you are mistaken, sir. So text me details.”

He grinned helplessly. “Yeah, okay. I’ll text.”

Later, after he called Diane and texted Tara all the details, after he’d heard Diane say, “This is not a prank,” at least twice, Ryan opened up his text stream to Nico.So I have good news and bad news.

Nico’s reply was succinct.???

Bad news: Won’t be seeing you in Vancouver for a while. Good news.… because I’m playing at Worlds.

Congratulations! That’s amazing. I can’t talk now, but call you soon? Want to hear everything.

Can’t wait.

Grinning, Ryan put his phone away and turned back to his luggage. Time to rethink his packing plans.

Overtime

Orcas’ First-Round Flop

Eric Doyle

April 21

It’s heartache for Vancouver hockey fans as the Orcas squandered a 3–1 series lead against Vegas to be eliminated in game seven of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Despite plentiful scoring, the Orcas could not overcome the fluky loss of first-string goaltender Noah McIlroy to a concussion. It’s a disappointing end to an otherwise banner season.

However, there’s plenty to look forward to come October. Newcomer Nico Kirschbaum proved his worth and found a new gear, putting up six goals and eleven points over seven playoff games—the kind of performance one might expect from a future franchise cornerstone. The Orcas’ second line also produced strong results, with forward Mark Sullivan notching a hat trick to nail down the win in game three. Aside from injury-plagued veteran Daniel Svensson, the team’s core is young, healthy, and committed. McIlroy should be healthy come October, and minimal off-season maneuvering should see the team in excellent shape for a deep run next season.

NICO JIGGLEDhis foot throughout the last forty-five minutes of his flight to Berlin. He couldn’t even count the number of hours he’d been on a plane. Vancouver wassofarfrom Europe. He’d gotten a few hours’ sleep on the leg to Toronto, then another couple as they crossed the Atlantic, but as a result, his body had no idea what time it was inanytime zone, and he was simultaneously wired and exhausted.

The seven-game playoff series that ended in disappointment had definitely taken a lot out of him. Nico had played his heart out, but after Noah went down, there was only so much they could do. You could next-man-up with forwards and defensemen if you had other top talent to share the workload. But most teams couldn’t afford a backup goaltender with the skill to pull off a playoff-series win.

So losing sucked, the long flights weren’t his favorite, and his eyes felt gritty.

But now he got to play for Germany—to go to camp in Berlin and play with the best his country had to offer.

And it would be just a short train ride from where Ryan was training with Team Canada, living the dream of all Canadian hockey lovers.

Because Nico’s life could never be simple, Germany and Canada were in separate groups. Germany was in group A with Sweden, the defending champs, and would play their round-robin matches in Brno, while Canada was in group B with the host team in Prague.

Which meant that even though they were playing in the same tournament, they wouldn’t see each other for almost a month. Then, if both Canada and Germany ended the round-robin in the top four, they might play against each other in the quarterfinals, or potentially the semifinals or finals.

Basically, once they faced each other on the ice, one of them would be getting eliminated.

---