Eden Hall Ducks - Adam Banks

Chapter 16 - (Almost) the End

The next few days were treacherous for the junior varsity hockey team. Everyone had become so focused on beating the varsity team that every practice felt like their last. Schoolwork faded to the back of their minds as every class became a new seating area to think about the game and varying strategies they could use to win. The junior varsity team were driving themselves insane.

Indiana and Adam had reunited on the top line together, making the both of them extremely happy. Their chemistry off the ice had only gotten better as their relationship strengthened, along with their on-ice chemistry. The two of them put together were unstoppable.

"You got it, Connie!" Indiana skated with the girl as the team did their final lap, eventually skating back into a huddle with coach Orion.

"All right, I've been doing my homework on the varsity. I'm not gonna lie to you, they're good. The way they wiped your faces in the dirt last time was no fluke. So if you want your pride back, you better be willing to work," Coach Orion explained, having the group once again go through various skating and edge work drills.

"There's nothing glamorous about it. In the pros, we call it blue-collar hockey. Now there's one thing the varsity does very well. They're vultures around the net. They pick up every piece of loose trash. That's how they beat you. Not with the first shot; the second and the third. They bang in the junk. So if you wanna win, you're gonna have to pick up the trash," Coach Orion held up a piece of trash, throwing it onto the ice. Then, he picked up a trash barrel, dumping its contents all over the ice.

"Old Duck's hockey," Charlie whispered to Indiana.

"So, the rumors were true? You guys really learned how to play hockey by picking up trash?" Indiana asked the boy, who smirked as he nodded.

"Whew, man." Russ scrunched his nose as the disgusting trash smell flooded the ice surface.

"Have any cream cheese?" Averman asked, holding up a moldy bagel.

Indiana shook her head, "Averman put that down, it's full of mold!" The boy dropped it, Indiana getting up from her knee and shooting it into the net. "I like this kinda hockey!" Everyone followed behind her, beginning to shoot around with the trash and clear it out of in front of the net. Orion began shooting on Julie, who stopped almost every piece of trash shot on her while various junior varsity players slid in front of her, attempting to block or clear out the trash. If anyone was there to see it, they probably looked like idiots. But this was their favorite kind of hockey-- fun hockey.

"Julie the Cat, nice save!" Orion called out as Julie entered the splits to save the puck.

While they couldn't get on the ice, the junior varsity team found themselves doing an unusual type of community service. They would skate around the town as a team, picking up the trash much like they had done in practice-- but this time, it benefited multiple causes.

"Come on! Throw that garbage in there!" Orion held out a trash barrel as his team skated past him, throwing various pieces of trash into the can.

"All right, it looks like this place is pretty clean!" Julie stated, as she pushed away some trash from her net. Indiana skated over, dangling some trash around and shooting it into the net.

Adam grabbed a soda can with his stick, passing it over to Indiana. The girl passed it back quickly, allowing Adam to score.

"Wow," Guy came up behind the two. "Couples who clean up the trash together stay together, huh?" Indiana lifted her hand and pushed his head down playfully as the three of them laughed.

As they were continuing their drills, Orion called them over. His voice was deeper and angrier than usual, causing Indiana to wonder what they had done wrong. "Let's go! Get over here! Grab a knee!" All of the junior varsity players skated in quickly, gathering around on one knee. "You guys are not skating like Warriors!" Orion's voice calmed as he smirked at each player,"You look like something else. You look like Ducks."