2015 Top Ten Gay Romance

Hat Trick Overtime: Summer Camp by Jeff Adams-3

For the morning session we were on the large, regulation rink. We worked with the campers on power plays, both offense and defense. Alex was on the opposite end of the ice from me, coaching ten of our players on penalty kill strategies, and even working for shorthanded goals. Meanwhile, I worked with the rest of our players on power play tactics. The two goalies from our cabin were in the nets. I was pleased Alex’s side hadn’t broken out to come down to our goalie. They’d iced the puck a few times, and that was fine. I didn’t want to see my guys open up any shorthanded opportunities.

We didn’t work in this rink often, but I enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of the rink I worked at during my senior year of high school. There were bleachers on only one side since there usually weren’t spectators. It was the coldest rink, too. Even though it was in the upper eighties outside, in here you could see your breath.

Dylan had a real knack for standing up players at the blue line. My guys were good on offense, but if they tried to cross the line near Dylan he’d get right up on them, leaving them no space to maneuver and he’d strip the puck and ice it. What he wasn’t doing was making a breakout, even when he had the chance. As a winger, it didn’t make sense for him to not go for the shorthanded goal.

As Dylan’s group cycled up for another go at the drill, I blew my whistle to stop things and then did two short blows, which was a signal Alex and I used when we needed to talk. I told my guys to hang out for a second, and take shots on our goalie. Alex’s did the same as he skated over to meet me in the ref’s circle.

“‘Sup?” Alex said, as he approached.

“Dylan’s excellent at standing up these guys,” I said.

“Yeah, now if he’d only carry the puck instead of icing it.”

“Exactly. You’ve talked to him?”

“He says there hasn’t been the right opportunity, which is bogus. A couple of the other guys have told him to carry it, too.”

“Okay. We’re going to have to switch sides soon and I really want to see him carry once. Let’s you and I run one and show them what a carry can look like with the setup he’s doing. You take his spot, I’ll drive down with my guys and you’ll take it from me. Then I want to do another where you and I do it again, but I show how to avoid you. Sound good?”

“Yup, yup,” he said. “See you on the blueline.”

As I skated back to my guys, they stopped shooting and gathered in the corner we were taking off from. I explained that I was taking wing position for two runs because we wanted to show something specific. The only thing they needed to do was make sure I got the puck near the redline.

We setup to go. I nodded at Alex and he blew his whistle so everyone got moving. Everything went perfectly. Alex stepped up and caused me to lose the puck, leaving it behind me. He immediately charged forward to pick it up, giving him a breakaway. He headed towards our goalie as one of our defensemen moved to cut him off. To the defenseman’s credit, the kid got in Alex’s way and forced him to take a bad shot that the goalie was able to glove.

Alex and I bumped fists and we crossed center ice back to our starting sides. Another set of guys were ready to drive down with me. I gave the same instruction as before and we went. This time, despite his best efforts, I out maneuvered Alex and managed to get a pass to the guy playing center. He made a quick shot, sending the puck under the goalie.

“Perfectly executed, Butler,” I called out to the scorer as there were cheers from the other end of the ice. I spoke up louder so everyone would hear, “We’ll run everyone through one more cycle and then we’ll switch up offense and defense.”

I enjoyed going against Alex. It only happened during practices, but it was fun. We loved each other, but we took our competition seriously when we were pitted against each other. Even for this demo, I felt the spark between us and we wanted to do our absolute best against the other.

Alex sent Dylan out on the very next run. I saw them talk before Dylan took his position, this time as forechecker. That was unexpected, but I figured Alex had a plan. I blew the whistle to get the drill going.

Dylan took immediately to being the active forechecker and picked the puck off one of my guys just as he crossed the red line. He proceeded to skate the puck and fire a slap shot from just inside the offensive zone. He skated towards the goalie, even after the shot, which was exactly right. The goalie gave up the rebound and Dylan was on the puck before the goalie could do anything to clear it. Dylan’s shot sailed over the goalie’s outstretched leg. It was a beautiful goal.

The other players saw it, too and applauded him. It wasn’t a surprise, this group really supported each other. As Dylan skated around the back of the goal, he pumped his fist into the air three times, obviously pleased with his shot.

We finished the cycle and switched up offense and defense. Dylan did well on power play offense, although his passing was a little off, but the shots he made looked good. He even netted another goal before we broke for lunch. I held Dylan back as the rest of the guys took off.

“You did great in that drill,” I said. “Your shooting is coming along. And your ability to defend is excellent. I think you claimed more pucks than anyone else on the kills.”

“Thanks,” he said, giving a slight smile. “The shooting feels better, like the puck’s going where I want it to. Was really hoping that slapper would’ve gone in on the breakout.”

“That was a tough one. You did everything right though.”

“Except get the goal.”

“But you got the rebound. Not every good shot goes in. You have to expect the goalie to do their job most of the time. Alex didn’t make his shot during our demo either.” Even though Dylan nodded his head, I could tell he wasn’t buying it. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” he said as he shrugged.

“Why are you so down on yourself?” I decided to confront it head on. “You’re a good player. Just last night you said you were at the bottom of the lot here. Alex and I don’t think so and we don’t think your teammates think so either. You were right when you talked to us last week, your passing and shooting needed work and you’re improving.”

“I told you,” he said, starting to grow frustrated, “I’ve got to nail this stuff. Every mistake, missed shot, or flubbed opportunity is a chance that I’ll get overlooked.”

“You need to appreciate the progress you’ve made,” I said, trying to curb his frustration. “It’s important that you recognize and have confidence in your abilities. It’s essential to being a good player and teammate, too.”

He was quiet, but didn’t turn away either.

“Just think about it, okay? You’re making great progress, but you don’t want to sabotage it because you’re in your head too much.”

“Okay.” He smiled, a little more broadly. I hoped it was genuine. He might have been saying what he needed to get me to back off. I hoped not. I’d know watching him play over the next few days.