The Junior Goodwill Games *Gunnar Stahl*

Chapter Two

We skated on the ice toward Coach Bombay and a man we came to know as Tibbles, a representative from Hendricks hockey apparel who wanted to endorse us for the Junior Goodwill Games. It was huge that a company like Hendricks wanted to endorse us. Thankfully, that meant we'd all get an update on our gear as well as a lot of media coverage.

When I was on the ice, there wasn't any other way I could describe it other than walking on air. Every sound of friction against my skates gave me so much satisfaction, something about it made me feel such a sense of nostalgia. I felt so safe out here, especially being surrounded by the Ducks once again.

"Alright guys, come on in," Bombay said, smoothing his red, white, and blue windbreaker. He really went all out with this Team USA thing. He turned to Tibbles who stood next to him, "Tell me about my new kids."

"New kids?" Jesse almost scoffed.

"Jesse, chill," uttered Charlie, "We're not exactly a full team, plus if 'Team USA' only really comes from Minnesota, don't you think people might be pissed?"

"Why you always gotta be right though?" Jesse asked with a small chuckle.

"Why do you think I'm team captain?" Charlie shot back, getting a small nod from Coach signalling for them to quiet down.

"That's Luis Mendoza," Tibbles pointed to a skater with dark brown hair, he skated forward from the goal. Four players remained there behind him.

"Good- looking skater," Connie commented, watching him skate across the ice.

"The correct term is hot. What do you think, Guy?" Averman jested.

"Shut up, Averman," Guy then elbowed Les in the stomach who lost balance and fell straight on his ass. The rest of us tried not to laugh as Tibbles continued.

"Just one minor problem," Tibbles warned when Luis came to the edge of the rink and ran right into it, "He's got a little trouble stopping."

"I'd say so," Goldberg remarked, Jesse and Guy laughed in return.

"Are you alright?" the other four new players had skated onto the ice to make sure Luis was okay, helping him stand after the hard fall. One of them was a girl who had goalie gear on, Goldberg was going to love that.

"Yeah, I'm good. I almost had it that time," Luis insisted after taking his helmet off.

"That's Dwayne Robertson from Austin," Tibbles pointed to the player wearing a Crockett jersey.

"Hey, how is everyone?! You all ready to play some hockey?!" his voice was so loud and his accent was so thick, I knew right away the rest of the guys were gonna have some smart remark.

"Hey, it's Hopalong Gretzky," and there it was, of course coming from Jesse.

"Wow, I'm sure he's never heard that before, Jess," I rolled my eyes with a slight smile.

"He's the best puck handler I've ever seen, Bombay. This kids got it," Tibbles commented.

"You mean for his age," Coach corrected, shaking his head slightly.

"No, I don't," he insisted, all eyes widened as Dwayne started puck handling. He was definitely skilled, I looked over at Adam and could tell his confidence was shot. Tibbles continued, "He does have a tendency to be a bit of a showoff."

"What about her?" Coach asked, pointing to the girl in the goalie pads who took her position at the goal. Goldberg followed suit and went to the other goal.

"That's Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney. She won the state championship for Maine three years in a row."

"Well we have a goalie, Goldberg," the man in the red, white, and blue replied, gesturing to Goldberg across the rink.