Page 59 of Wrong Pucking Jersey

“Now, how would I know that?” I choke and elbow him in the rib.

“Ow! Pucking ass!” He huffs and punches me, but it’s not even hard enough to hurt with his padded gloves.

The entire team is getting undressed after that introduction play madness that was so unnecessary—but was really fucking necessary to set a few pinchers straight.

I was still shirtless with my bottom gear but wasn’t going to take my equipment off until after I spoke to Coach Cyrus. He’s having a discussion with Coach Johnson and Mr. Champion on the ice, which is why we go to our coordinated changing rooms, so we can enjoy the rest of the day celebrating our “loss.”

Far from losing.We fucking won the jackpot.

Mikayla Cross Johnson is our team nurse.

I don’t think the guys know exactly how good our team is as a whole.

Sure, I had my hardcore crush on my girl—most of the guys know she’s ‘still’ my ex—but they didn’t see the records of Mikayla when it comes to her qualifications as a team nurse.

Perfect 4.0 GPA with honors, various specializations, and all that fancy medical shit that would take other people years to achieve.

Apparently, she was offered to take the Nursing Practitioner Degree in a year at the University of Toronto because she had more than enough credits to do so. From the looks of it, she went to school throughout the year with no breaks. That’s why she was able to finish getting her degree a year early and complete additional scholars in sports medicine.

She decided she wanted to hold off and get a feel of the sports industry from what the comments stated. To determine if she really needed it. It was a smart move because if things go the right way with Strattonville Stadium, they’ll not only hire her but pay for her further education. Pay for everything from her getting her degree, residency, meals, transportation, and anything else she needs to be a badass nurse practitioner.

My sweet baby is a smart cookie.

Her qualifications were making Coach Johnson jealous because she was matched with Dr. Bridgett Anderson, who was one of the best doctors in sports medicine in Florida practice. She decided to come back to her roots in Canada for this opportunity, which makes our medical support team solid.

Mr. Champion’s son, Dimitri, was bonus points because he wasn’t too far behind in qualifications from Mikayla. He was really good at thinking on his feet, which in this field is needed when an injury happens during the game, and we need a prompt game plan to ensure our players can recover well without extensive injury.

Some would say the team and medical support aren’t important in the whole of hockey. That the team is all that matters and nothing more, but I always disagree with that thought process.

Like they say with ‘there’s no I in team,’ without the various teams that work behind the scenes to help us get onto the ice, we wouldn’t be solid enough to perform at our best.

I always believed in that philosophy, no matter what sport or industry you’re in.

During Firefighter training, I followed the same motto, but my team didn’t think like that at all. They weren’t “team” orientated like in the shows and movies. My department craved the sensation of power and authority it gave them. Before I could even officialize my career, I watched someone we all respected get left behind in a burning building.

Gone… all because a few bad apples believed the number of people we saved was some sort of competition.

If they had listened to our head chief and those watching the working cameras and monitoring system to find the right path to saving the remaining individuals in the building, none of that would have happened.

We would have all gotten out of there.

I knew from there onward, the next path I took that involved a team would learn to respect the foundation of team play and work even harder to secure our unity. Knowing all our teammates helped a lot, especially being captain. We already made a group chat, and it looked like we all had something in common.

Hockey.

A few of the guys were still quiet, but they would warm up in time. I’m sure we were all pumped, especially after Mr. Champion’s speech.

Five hundred thousand applicants across the world.

Just proved how replaceable we could be.

That’s why we have to give this everything we got.

“Yo, Captain. You seriously knew?”

I look over to Marcus Everson, our backup goalie. His expression confirms he’s impressed about something.

“About?” I question.

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