Page 29 of Slew Foot
His knee didn’t seem to be bothering him now though as he glided over. “Hey, guys,” he said. “You would like some help?”
“Yeah,” Rafe said.
“You don’t want me to get Andy? He should still be around.”
Andy Munroe was the defensive coach for the team.
“I talked to him earlier,” Mickey said. “He had an appointment today he needed to leave for so he couldn’t stay. I know what drills to do. We just need someone to help.”
“Then tell me what to do.” Rasmussen smiled at them.
Privately, Rafe didn’t think he’deverbe okay telling a coach what to do, but Mickey didn’t hesitate, talking about a Neutral Zone Exchange drill that was better with a full D-corps but doable for two guys, plus a coach.
Rafe had certainly done the drill before, but it had been a little while. When he said that, Mickey pointed to where Rafe needed to go, told Rasmussen where he should stand, then skated into position along the half wall like he expected them to follow his orders.
Rafe glanced over at Rasmussen before he skated to the opposite half wall, but Rasmussen didn’t look upset or anything. He was smiling at little as he skated to his position at center ice.
Mickey was pretty ballsy for a rookie, Rafe thought, impressed.
Mickey started it off, and it was easy enough. They passed to the coach and one another, banking their passes around the boards behind the net and practicing their reverse passes off the back of their sticks. Rasmussen helped with the passing and kept an eye on their gap control.
Rafe felt better by the time they ended, getting a feel for Mickey’s stride and pacing.
“Thanks,” Rafe said softly as they tromped off the ice a while later.
“Like I said, it’s for me too.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. We can do this,” Mickey said firmly.
“If you say so.” Rafe bumped his gloved knuckles against Mickey’s, giving him a big smile.
The locker room had pretty much cleared out by the time they got there, and Mickey went to the gym to do a light workout.
Rafe’s back was feeling a little weird, so he went to the training room to get that looked at.
“Looks like you’re a bit tight. Probably from all the travel you did,” the trainer said, after he’d done some poking and prodding. “Lie face down on the table and I’ll work it out. You might talk to Dakota Crane too. See if he can help you gently stretch those muscles with some yoga.”
“Okay,” Rafe said, following the guy’s instructions. The vinyl cushion on the table was cold against his bare chest. He turned his head to one side and saw Connor O’Shea on his back at the table next to him while another trainer worked on his shoulder.
Connor smiled at him, though it turned into a grimace when the guy hit a sore spot. “Hey, I was hoping I would catch you before you left for the day.”
“Oh?” Rafe asked a little warily.
“Yeah. Nothing bad,” Connor said. “Just wanted to be sure you were settling in okay and that you didn’t need anything.”
“No, no, I’m good,” Rafe said, at once grateful everyone cared and tired of being asked.
“The hotel’s fine?”
“Yeah. Very comfortable,” he assured his new captain.
“Any thoughts on where in the city you want to live?”
“Uhh, no,” Rafe admitted, grunting at the trainer digging in. He always felt like a big slab of meat when he was being worked on like this. “I barely know where anything is here.”
Connor smiled faintly, the expression almost hidden behind his auburn beard. “You sound like Jesse did when he arrived.”
